It was an interesting discussion with the man and lady at the house with the free fish the other day. Some of their information totally opposed information I had received elsewhere - elsewhere being people with their own ponds.
From talking to dozens of pond owners now - all of them people that have had ponds anywhere from 7 years to 20 plus years - I find no unilateral agreement on most things ponding.
Apparently, one is left to try this, that and the other thing and use whatever works for you. Probably, you invent your own things - as I have seen many of these people do to pass by having to shell out huge bucks for expensive equipment.
And yes, when you start talking a large pond, you are talking some serious money if you cannot find ways to bypass the purveyors of all things pond related. I don't see that the man and lady I visited yesterday, however, were able to bypass on some of the stuff. For example, he showed me his version of a UV sterilizer after I started talking about them and the fact that - without it - my pond was pea soup green. First, he stated that if you could handle the look of it, the fish are perfectly fine in such water.
Yes, I know. I grew up in Pittsburgh, I visited many places in the east, I saw many natural ponds that were extremely green, yucky green. Fish thrived in them. No doubting that. I don't believe that a pea green soup pond complements my property in any way, shape or form. I do like the murky look - water this isn't green, but is "dark". Dark is in blackish, not greenish. I have seen plenty of natural ponds in such a state as that as well, and I find that very appealing. So much so that I shut my UV sterilizer off a few days ago. I intend on allow "whatever" to grow in there until it turns such. I will experiment with how often I need to keep the sterilizer on to get it fine tuned.
The man yesterday was a BIG fan of aeration. I am as well, though he was able to give comprehensive explanation of WHY the water should be aerated. For example, he had a small, plastic, blue, kiddie swimming pool filled with plant. There were no fish in it and there was not that much water, either. I was about 5 feet in diamter, a foot tall or so, maybe 5 inches of water - yet he had a huge aeration device in there.
Why, I asked, do you have aeration in a swimming pool that only has plants in it? Mosquitos. His explanation was that it keeps algae down and that keeping water well aerated keeps mosquitos away. Really? Yes, he explanation was they like standing, putrid water, not water that is well aerated. Okay. Good information.
I had already been thinking about getting an air pump and aerator stones after getting more fish, I don't think my small pond with what I have going will be enough aeration for all those fish to be able to breath well. And so it was, on my way home from work today, I stopped at Walmart. They had an aerator for $9.99 with 2 air outlets. I spent $2.49 a piece on 2, long aeration strips and less than $2 for some tubing. I have 8 very large goldfish in a pond that is averaging about 4-1/2 feet wide by 7 feet long.
Getting beyond all the advice and "information" that I have received from all these different sources, my 4 new, large goldfish are terrified of me, just as the previous 4 were when I first got them. It's worse. The 4 that would come right up to the edge of the pond to me to be fed? No more. The fish apparently speak their own language: fear. I don't blame them, plenty of natural predators that would like to eat them. In my area, specifically: Heron. I am still quite amazed that such birds dwell in these parts. I thought they only lived in much cooler climates. I guess nature will dwell where it wants to.
One thing I have heard over and over from many pond owners is the fact that, sooner or later, Heron have come and "visited" their ponds. In some cases, completely wiping out the stock of Koi and Goldfish. In others, people found out quickly and took measures to make sure the Heron could not step into their ponds again. A Heron wants to be able to walk into the water. If it's too deep, they aren't going to try.
I'm not going to address the potential problem yet. I acquired all 8 of these fish for free. I don't WANT them to be eaten, but it is the natural way of things. I love fish - I wouldn't eat a goldfish if you paid me, but certainly, fish is good eating. In fact, I have read about some people that have developed HUGE pond systems in their massive properties, stocked with fish, for the sole reason to attact aquatic wildlife.
You can build ponds with natural escape hatches for the fish. They can hide and the birds most certainly won't get at them. I have seen several of them now. One recurring them is to build a wooden walkway over the pond - in some cases very wide walkways - for a place to let the fish hide. No birds are going under there, I can guarantee that.
I will say that, in my pond that I have all 8 of those large fish, it is amazing at how well they can all disappear out of site. Oh yes, I do have the plastic containers with the plants sitting on the bottom of the pond and situated so the fish can fit between them and yes, hide there. Fish are very good at hiding.
I don't want them to hide from me. I wear a wide-brimmed, straw-style hat out there every time I visit them. That is, I believe, how the 4 fish started to recognize me and realize that I am not out to eat them. I will get them all eating right up next to me eventually.
However. I am going to split them up. As soon as I receive the pump I just purchased with the "rebate" money from eBay, I will be putting fish into the other pond. I would put them in there now, but it gets HOT in that pond during the day. I'll have to take a video to show you how I am keeping the bigger pond cool - but here's what I did: I took "pavers" that you buy at Home Depot and stacked them up on to of each other until just below the water surface level. I then stacked the small boulders I got from up North - nice looking rock - and build it so that that top had a rock that angles on both sides.
I then put a pump next to the rock, stuck a short tube into the pump standing vertically. The tube sort of angles - very little - but enough. The water comes out of the tube about 8 inches above the rock and falls back down onto the rock. It splashes over the pond and also runs down the rock. I fathomed that "evaporative cooling" would work as well in a pond as it does here in the dry, arid (and hot) climate we are in, and I was right. There is a 15 degree diffence between the pond that doesn't have that rock structure and the pond that does during the middle of the day.
Okay, okay, I will admit it. With a part of my casino winnings, I bought that pond that had been listed on Craigslist for a long, long time. It is MUCH larger than any of the ponds I have. It is big enough. I got another pond with that deal. I got all KINDS of stuff with that deal. I talked the guy down - I had been working on him for a while.
They are sitting out there, waiting for me to dig the holes to fit them into. I have not had the umption to endure this heat and humidity. I am getting closer, though. Yes, I am starting to get accustomed to this heat again. It's taken much longer this year than any other year I can remember. I was out there today doing all kinds of things - but not digging.
Actually, I am going to fill both of them with water and make sure there are no leaks. I do not see anything in them that suggests any kind of abuse, I don't see leakage, but there is only one way to tell for sure.
My quest continues. There will definitely be a pond in my front yard, yes, there will. I have the setup for it, it's just even getting to it. I'm not a lazy person, trust me, I'm not. I have been going at it all day long - at work and at home. I just haven't found it within me to go out there and start digging. It's coming back to me. If it were fall, spring or winter this wouldn't even be an issue. If you think standing out in 111 degrees (in the shade) in direct sunlight is easy while you're swinging a pick and "operating" a shovel, you might have second thoughts if you are here, actually engaging in it. You can get used to it, yes, and then, you might say it's "easy".
Well, anyway, the quest is to simply formulate in my mind how I want to build my big pond. The funds are simply not there, but, I am finding, it is irrelevant, there is so much information out there to sort through, well, I will be happy with my small pond setup.
Me? It's getting late - for me. I'm going to bed soon.
G'nite.
ben
Monday, July 12, 2010
Monday - End Of Vacation
It's always a somewhat strange thing to come back to work after you have been gone so long. Don't ask me why - even trepidation as to whether my key will still work in the lock......I am always the first one here.
What did I accomplish during that vacation? Well, nothing grand. $300 win at the casino; 4 very large goldfish for free (I gave a small donation just to help the folks out with the food they had to feed the things while they had these fish in their stock, they were given to them by a friend who wanted them to give them away); gave away around $40 worth of food; got some very interesting and troubling news and information from my middle brother (I simply cannot go into it on a public, open forum such as this that is available to anyone on the planet) - and the best part: MOSTLY NOTHING!!
But, I am ready to go back to work. I spent the weekend getting my head back into that "realm". I got up earlier than normal this morning for a - silly - reason I guess: Cafe World is having a short time where cooking times are reduced by 50% on your Lightning Stoves, I am taking advantage of it while it's there. I became addicted to that game for about 3 months, got bored with it, then they started adding a lot of stuff to it - all kinds of things to make it interesting again - so I'm sort of half addicted to it now. 50% off cooking times comes only every so often, I wanted to get some of the dishes that take a day to cook out of the way. I probably shouldn't go any further with this, if you don't play Cafe World you undoubtedly will have absolutely no idea what I am talking about.
And, of course, I showed up to work early never-the-less. I came in here to find that the lady who is moving to this building had her stuff all set up and apparently is back at work - she was on maternity leave for quite some time. Heyyyy, a lady around here - cool! Yes, she's taken, but still.
Right now? I surf the web while I am writing these entries, I am on eBay looking for another pond pump. I have that free money in my PayPal account and yes, I need another pump. The free money was the money I paid that dufus seller who would not return my messages, sent me the wrong item, I made a claim against him with eBay, it took a while but eBay found me right and him in the wrong, they refunded my money AND let me keep the product. It was about $50 worth.
I am also trying to get one of the Australian Bottle Tree seeds I bought on eBay to grow. I am trying one at a time, I got 10 of them for about $5. If I even get one of them to grow, I'll consider it a deal. I'm not necessarily the greatest at getting things to grow from seed. I can get small saplings to take off, but seeds I just haven't really ever been good at. I'm hoping that trend will change as I saw a small little bittle of green coming out of the green where I planted that seed. Hoping, hoping.
Of course, reading the news in the morning is usually good for some entertainment, today was no letdown. Democratic governors are terrified that the lawsuit that the Obama administration is bringing against the immigration bill in Arizona is "toxic" to their bid to win re-election. I'm not sorry to say that the Democratic party is in SERIOUS trouble right now and they are going to be hurting come November. I hope so anyway, I want to see and immediate stop to all this outrageous spending that Obama seems to think prudent - just spend spend spend spend spend, don't worry about the HUGE tax burden that is coming, yes folks, you wait and see, our taxes are going to go WAY up if at least some of this nonsense isn't reversed, starting with that totally bogus healthcare bill.
I hope, very much so, that BP's latest bid to put a "tighter sealed cap" on that gusher works. They claim if it does, it will all but stop the leaking into the ocean. Please, God, let it work. The damage to the Gulf is already done, what I don't want to see is it spreading OUT of the Gulf and into the huge currents that could carry that S*** all over the world's oceans.
I have seen no statements that that is going to happen, but I am still concerned about that possibility, anyway.
Oh, here we go: a Libyan "aid" ship headed to the Gaza strip. Good luck with that. If you think Israel is going to give you carte blanche pass, think again.
Well, work day approaches. I was AMAZED this morning to get on the scale and find my weight at 195 pounds. Amazing because I haven't necessarily made good eating choices during this vacation - on purpose. I will be back to "normal" dieting stuff today, but I feared that I would get on that scale and it would be back over 200. Not even close! THAT made me very happy!
G'day.
ben
What did I accomplish during that vacation? Well, nothing grand. $300 win at the casino; 4 very large goldfish for free (I gave a small donation just to help the folks out with the food they had to feed the things while they had these fish in their stock, they were given to them by a friend who wanted them to give them away); gave away around $40 worth of food; got some very interesting and troubling news and information from my middle brother (I simply cannot go into it on a public, open forum such as this that is available to anyone on the planet) - and the best part: MOSTLY NOTHING!!
But, I am ready to go back to work. I spent the weekend getting my head back into that "realm". I got up earlier than normal this morning for a - silly - reason I guess: Cafe World is having a short time where cooking times are reduced by 50% on your Lightning Stoves, I am taking advantage of it while it's there. I became addicted to that game for about 3 months, got bored with it, then they started adding a lot of stuff to it - all kinds of things to make it interesting again - so I'm sort of half addicted to it now. 50% off cooking times comes only every so often, I wanted to get some of the dishes that take a day to cook out of the way. I probably shouldn't go any further with this, if you don't play Cafe World you undoubtedly will have absolutely no idea what I am talking about.
And, of course, I showed up to work early never-the-less. I came in here to find that the lady who is moving to this building had her stuff all set up and apparently is back at work - she was on maternity leave for quite some time. Heyyyy, a lady around here - cool! Yes, she's taken, but still.
Right now? I surf the web while I am writing these entries, I am on eBay looking for another pond pump. I have that free money in my PayPal account and yes, I need another pump. The free money was the money I paid that dufus seller who would not return my messages, sent me the wrong item, I made a claim against him with eBay, it took a while but eBay found me right and him in the wrong, they refunded my money AND let me keep the product. It was about $50 worth.
I am also trying to get one of the Australian Bottle Tree seeds I bought on eBay to grow. I am trying one at a time, I got 10 of them for about $5. If I even get one of them to grow, I'll consider it a deal. I'm not necessarily the greatest at getting things to grow from seed. I can get small saplings to take off, but seeds I just haven't really ever been good at. I'm hoping that trend will change as I saw a small little bittle of green coming out of the green where I planted that seed. Hoping, hoping.
Of course, reading the news in the morning is usually good for some entertainment, today was no letdown. Democratic governors are terrified that the lawsuit that the Obama administration is bringing against the immigration bill in Arizona is "toxic" to their bid to win re-election. I'm not sorry to say that the Democratic party is in SERIOUS trouble right now and they are going to be hurting come November. I hope so anyway, I want to see and immediate stop to all this outrageous spending that Obama seems to think prudent - just spend spend spend spend spend, don't worry about the HUGE tax burden that is coming, yes folks, you wait and see, our taxes are going to go WAY up if at least some of this nonsense isn't reversed, starting with that totally bogus healthcare bill.
I hope, very much so, that BP's latest bid to put a "tighter sealed cap" on that gusher works. They claim if it does, it will all but stop the leaking into the ocean. Please, God, let it work. The damage to the Gulf is already done, what I don't want to see is it spreading OUT of the Gulf and into the huge currents that could carry that S*** all over the world's oceans.
I have seen no statements that that is going to happen, but I am still concerned about that possibility, anyway.
Oh, here we go: a Libyan "aid" ship headed to the Gaza strip. Good luck with that. If you think Israel is going to give you carte blanche pass, think again.
Well, work day approaches. I was AMAZED this morning to get on the scale and find my weight at 195 pounds. Amazing because I haven't necessarily made good eating choices during this vacation - on purpose. I will be back to "normal" dieting stuff today, but I feared that I would get on that scale and it would be back over 200. Not even close! THAT made me very happy!
G'day.
ben
Sunday, July 11, 2010
More Free Fish
If winning $300 at the casino wasn't enough, I scored 4 more, VERY large goldfish this morning going into the afternoon.
A couple had posted on Craiglist giving away a few free goldfish and a few free koi fish.
I assumed it another foreclosed/short-saled home that someone had bought and was shutting down the ponds. I guess ponds with fish and plants in them don't appeal to everyone.
It was nothing of the sort. They had transformed their entire back yard into giant conundrum of ponds. 1 pond was very large and was a traditional, built into the ground, pond. Very nice with HUUUUUUUUGE fish in it. The rest of them were above ground swimming pools and sundry giant plastic containers. I am not dissing the people, but there was no landscaping, the ground was bare dirt.
They have made a business out of it and unbashedly said so. I thought they were going to try to talk me into buying fish - a thing I am not going to do right now - they weren't. They showed me around. A very ingenuitive man, he had built his own filters out of all kinds of materials.
They had excellent specimens of Koi for sale - at pretty steep prices I might add. He stated those particular fish were imported clear from Japan and the because of special shipping needs, it costs $300 in shipping costs to bring them over. The cheapest started at $30 and went up from there.
I was getting a bit nervous - so I brought up the ad - said you had a few goldfish and some Koi for free. Yes, he confirmed, a friend had given them to them to give away to whosoever. Thank you. It took 2 hours to catch 4 of the goldfish. They could not, for as long as they kept trying, land any of the Koi, which is the reason I went over there.
But, for free, who cares, I certainly don't MIND goldfish, I just want some Koi. I thought the goldfish I already had in there were big - these fish were even larger.
They were gasping for air by the time I got them home - fish that large in a 5 gallon bucket are going to remove the oxygen in the water quickly. I got them in the pond as fast as I could, so far so good. It's really quite miserable temperature conditions out there. It is humid, I hate humidity coupled with high temps. I can deal with it at lower temps, but this is ridiculous. The water has warmed up - but - their water was not exactly cool, either. Shade from the house is almost over the pond now, it should cool down by 10 or more degrees relatively quickly.
Anyway, that was my detour from house-cleaning today. I am always looking for freebies: if someone WANTS to give something away, I have no problem assisting them in that endeavor if it's something I want or need.
A couple had posted on Craiglist giving away a few free goldfish and a few free koi fish.
I assumed it another foreclosed/short-saled home that someone had bought and was shutting down the ponds. I guess ponds with fish and plants in them don't appeal to everyone.
It was nothing of the sort. They had transformed their entire back yard into giant conundrum of ponds. 1 pond was very large and was a traditional, built into the ground, pond. Very nice with HUUUUUUUUGE fish in it. The rest of them were above ground swimming pools and sundry giant plastic containers. I am not dissing the people, but there was no landscaping, the ground was bare dirt.
They have made a business out of it and unbashedly said so. I thought they were going to try to talk me into buying fish - a thing I am not going to do right now - they weren't. They showed me around. A very ingenuitive man, he had built his own filters out of all kinds of materials.
They had excellent specimens of Koi for sale - at pretty steep prices I might add. He stated those particular fish were imported clear from Japan and the because of special shipping needs, it costs $300 in shipping costs to bring them over. The cheapest started at $30 and went up from there.
I was getting a bit nervous - so I brought up the ad - said you had a few goldfish and some Koi for free. Yes, he confirmed, a friend had given them to them to give away to whosoever. Thank you. It took 2 hours to catch 4 of the goldfish. They could not, for as long as they kept trying, land any of the Koi, which is the reason I went over there.
But, for free, who cares, I certainly don't MIND goldfish, I just want some Koi. I thought the goldfish I already had in there were big - these fish were even larger.
They were gasping for air by the time I got them home - fish that large in a 5 gallon bucket are going to remove the oxygen in the water quickly. I got them in the pond as fast as I could, so far so good. It's really quite miserable temperature conditions out there. It is humid, I hate humidity coupled with high temps. I can deal with it at lower temps, but this is ridiculous. The water has warmed up - but - their water was not exactly cool, either. Shade from the house is almost over the pond now, it should cool down by 10 or more degrees relatively quickly.
Anyway, that was my detour from house-cleaning today. I am always looking for freebies: if someone WANTS to give something away, I have no problem assisting them in that endeavor if it's something I want or need.
Sunday
Got up at 7:00am, shave/shower/dress, out the door. Took Caleb to Albertson's where he gets to try his hand at his first day of work - an 8 hour shift. I asked him what time he went to bed - midnight! "I'm not used to going to bed early yet". I informed him after 8 hours of standing and moving and working, he'll be quite ready to go to bed much earlier : )
I hope it doesn't affect his job performance today - but - he got the job all on his own, he can deal with any consequences on his own. I have read about parents intervening in their kid's workplace - an unfathomable idea to me. Only if they were somehow abusing him - managers yelling/berating/threatening - I do not tolerate such from the workplace from anyone, I don't care what the title is, you can get your point acros without the yelling, without the threatening and definitely without the berating/humiliation - then they would have to deal with papa. Even then, only if he asked for such intervention (which I doubt he would) Otherwise, it's all good. And it's a good life experience. Unless he figures a way out to get rich quick, he's going to be working the rest of his life, the earlier he starts, the better as far as I'm concerned.
On the way home, a stop at McDonald's. I love McDonald's coffee - I love their food, too, but in these days I have to take a pass on it for diet's sake. Then to Home Depot. Had to buy another door handle for the bathroom, I have tried twice already, they don't sell the correct hardware, I had to buy an adapter deal and then when that didn't work, I also had to buy a different style door handle to make it work. Haven't started on that yet, as when I got home, I decided the kitchen floor was dirty enough and got to sweeping and mopping it.
Next up: living room and rest of house carpeting. I may even use the carpet cleaning on the heavy traffic stuff - hallway and an area in the living room where kids walk through. If I ever get new carpeting in there, shoes are going to be banned from that area permanently.
That's my day thus far, and it's only 9:30. I'm just trying to get geared up in the mind for work tomorrow. I don't WANT to do anything - 9 straight days off are great, excepting for what it did to my mind in terms of working, I wanted to laze around and I did - much more than I have in probably a couple of years anyway.
You know what? It's easier to keep moving and stay moving, cause' when you think you're ready to get back into the swing of things, well, I can tell you starting yesterday and moving into today, it ain't as easy as I thought it would be. Not even close. I feel like going back to bed, honestly, all the more reason to drive myself to get the stuff done around here that I normally would - and then some - on a Sunday.
Dunno what's in store tomorrow at work. Hopefully there will be orders to pull and deliveries to make.
As for now, going to finish something else I was doing on the net and then - back to housecleaning.
Happy Sunday = this is the day that the Lord hath made and I will rejoice and be glad in it!
ben
I hope it doesn't affect his job performance today - but - he got the job all on his own, he can deal with any consequences on his own. I have read about parents intervening in their kid's workplace - an unfathomable idea to me. Only if they were somehow abusing him - managers yelling/berating/threatening - I do not tolerate such from the workplace from anyone, I don't care what the title is, you can get your point acros without the yelling, without the threatening and definitely without the berating/humiliation - then they would have to deal with papa. Even then, only if he asked for such intervention (which I doubt he would) Otherwise, it's all good. And it's a good life experience. Unless he figures a way out to get rich quick, he's going to be working the rest of his life, the earlier he starts, the better as far as I'm concerned.
On the way home, a stop at McDonald's. I love McDonald's coffee - I love their food, too, but in these days I have to take a pass on it for diet's sake. Then to Home Depot. Had to buy another door handle for the bathroom, I have tried twice already, they don't sell the correct hardware, I had to buy an adapter deal and then when that didn't work, I also had to buy a different style door handle to make it work. Haven't started on that yet, as when I got home, I decided the kitchen floor was dirty enough and got to sweeping and mopping it.
Next up: living room and rest of house carpeting. I may even use the carpet cleaning on the heavy traffic stuff - hallway and an area in the living room where kids walk through. If I ever get new carpeting in there, shoes are going to be banned from that area permanently.
That's my day thus far, and it's only 9:30. I'm just trying to get geared up in the mind for work tomorrow. I don't WANT to do anything - 9 straight days off are great, excepting for what it did to my mind in terms of working, I wanted to laze around and I did - much more than I have in probably a couple of years anyway.
You know what? It's easier to keep moving and stay moving, cause' when you think you're ready to get back into the swing of things, well, I can tell you starting yesterday and moving into today, it ain't as easy as I thought it would be. Not even close. I feel like going back to bed, honestly, all the more reason to drive myself to get the stuff done around here that I normally would - and then some - on a Sunday.
Dunno what's in store tomorrow at work. Hopefully there will be orders to pull and deliveries to make.
As for now, going to finish something else I was doing on the net and then - back to housecleaning.
Happy Sunday = this is the day that the Lord hath made and I will rejoice and be glad in it!
ben
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Absolutely Appalling
I have done almost nothing for the last 7 or so days while on staycation. Sweep the kitchen daily, make sure trash is taken out, water the plants, take care of doggies and fishies, make sure someone is cleaning up the dog mess outside, stuff like that.
I replaced the toilet seat earlier this week. I had not actually cleaned that bathroom in a while. I sometimes do that to see if anyone will bother to break down and help me out. I left a note up some time ago asking for help in that bathroom, once one of the female tenants scrubbed it, but that was it.
I think it's 2 and a half weeks since I scrubbed out the tub. The only people using that tub/shower are tenants. It was gross. I greatly dislike soap buildup on the sides of the tub, this was nasty. Not just a buildup of soap, but dirt. As the title says, absolutely disgusting. I wouldn't take a shower in THAT if you paid me. MY shower stall is QUITE clean, it always is. How can you take a shower, in attempting to get clean, when the shower itself is dirty? It's just not something I will do, cleaning it frequently is the better option.
There are fully 5 people taking showers in that tub in the main bathroom on a daily basis. It doesn't take long - that shower/tub should probably be cleaned DAILY, at least several times a week. Yes, I went in there and yes, I scrubbed it clean. 3 applications of soap scum remover before it all came off. I scrubbed the entire bathroom clean. I also tried to install a glass shelf, the screw heads were too big causing the shelf holder to not work properly. Have to go to Home Depot to get smaller drywall screws with the plastic inserts.
I'm not a fan of a dirty bathroom, I'm also not a fan of cleaning up after EVERYONE else, pubic hairs included. My Craigslist ads specifically state that any potential renters should be prepared to clean up after themselves, including helping keep the bathroom clean.
I don't know, man, it gets old. I know many people have told me that they would have just walked from this house rather than having to put up with having to deal with tenants. I go through this thought process in cycles. After cleaning up that pig stye, I'm back at the stage of cycle where I wonder about keeping the house, I always come up with the same arguments - better to keep than leave, but what a price to pay.
Well, it's done. Put that behind me for now and start in on the kitchen floor. Save the rest for tomorrow. Go out and continue work on pruning and dealing with "unruly" plants that want to grow in all different directions. It's HOT out there, even if overcast skies, the humidity must be way up because when I went out there a while ago, it felt like a hot steam room.
Well, whatever, back to work.
I replaced the toilet seat earlier this week. I had not actually cleaned that bathroom in a while. I sometimes do that to see if anyone will bother to break down and help me out. I left a note up some time ago asking for help in that bathroom, once one of the female tenants scrubbed it, but that was it.
I think it's 2 and a half weeks since I scrubbed out the tub. The only people using that tub/shower are tenants. It was gross. I greatly dislike soap buildup on the sides of the tub, this was nasty. Not just a buildup of soap, but dirt. As the title says, absolutely disgusting. I wouldn't take a shower in THAT if you paid me. MY shower stall is QUITE clean, it always is. How can you take a shower, in attempting to get clean, when the shower itself is dirty? It's just not something I will do, cleaning it frequently is the better option.
There are fully 5 people taking showers in that tub in the main bathroom on a daily basis. It doesn't take long - that shower/tub should probably be cleaned DAILY, at least several times a week. Yes, I went in there and yes, I scrubbed it clean. 3 applications of soap scum remover before it all came off. I scrubbed the entire bathroom clean. I also tried to install a glass shelf, the screw heads were too big causing the shelf holder to not work properly. Have to go to Home Depot to get smaller drywall screws with the plastic inserts.
I'm not a fan of a dirty bathroom, I'm also not a fan of cleaning up after EVERYONE else, pubic hairs included. My Craigslist ads specifically state that any potential renters should be prepared to clean up after themselves, including helping keep the bathroom clean.
I don't know, man, it gets old. I know many people have told me that they would have just walked from this house rather than having to put up with having to deal with tenants. I go through this thought process in cycles. After cleaning up that pig stye, I'm back at the stage of cycle where I wonder about keeping the house, I always come up with the same arguments - better to keep than leave, but what a price to pay.
Well, it's done. Put that behind me for now and start in on the kitchen floor. Save the rest for tomorrow. Go out and continue work on pruning and dealing with "unruly" plants that want to grow in all different directions. It's HOT out there, even if overcast skies, the humidity must be way up because when I went out there a while ago, it felt like a hot steam room.
Well, whatever, back to work.
Saturday
I'm calling this the final day of staycation. Sunday I will undoubtedly go into massive cleaning mode and it will be work, just like work - work - just not getting paid for it Well, okay, tomorrow is the last day, in reality, but - I have plenty to do around here.
Anyway, I dearly paid for staying out that late on Friday night. Yesterday, I was tired all day long. The outing was fun, but I have no plans to do that again anytime soon. I am definitely NOT a night owl anymore. At a younger age I could stay up all night AND get up early. Now? I go to bed early and get up early.
The 3rd and final tenant equation finally showed up yesterday. She has been staying at her mother's for over a week, I think now. Rent was past due since the 1st. Well, I was handed a bit of money and told a lot of reasons why this person couldn't pay and that - other things obviously took priority.
The priority that I always love - and have heard numerous times from tenants - is that they "had" to replace their cellphone. Or the cellphone monthly plan payment was due. I've never seen a cellphone that was big enough for a human to fit into, much less have a bed and all that human's belongings stuffed inside of it. Of course, in the space age, I'm sure they'll invent something like that, until then, one imagines a place to live being of far greater priority then cellphones.
Apparently younger generations simply don't see it that way. I think the next time I hear a cellphone excuse from a tenant, I am going to give some smart-@$$ remark back, because, frankly, it is totally unacceptable. Trying giving that excuse to an apartment complex manager. They aren't even going to give you the time of day - the rent is due, pay it up or get an eviction notice.
The other one I love is "well I'm not going to be here, so I shouldn't have to pay" or something like that. A person going on vacation or doing whatever is not going to be here for a week so, that week should be free. Really? Again, if you were renting an apartment, go to the apartment manager and tell her that you won't be there for a week, therefore, please take off a week's worth of rent out of this month.
I can imagine laughter coming from that individual as part of the responsory equation. I would like to hear if, for some reason, you think I'm somehow being unreasonable in demanding that every day a person is living here - whether they're physically present or not - they should not have to pay rent. Heck, if that were true, I'd just start sleeping on the floor at work. Call my mortgage company and tell them I didn't come home that day, take a day's worth of the mortgage off of the next month's payment, please and thank you.
Lol.
Now, when I talk about my finances - which I do frequently - and how things aren't going so great, well, usually, things COULD be going great if tenants pay and pay on time. But, I never count that money until I actually HAVE that money. I'm one of those don't count your chickens before they hatch people, especially with tenant money simply because of the way it gets shuffed off at times by people who think other things in their life are more important. Of course, then there's those that lose their jobs and have no income. I'm afraid that this person I started this entry out with is heading to the road of unemployment. She seems to get reprimanded often. She said they gave her one for showing up to work tired and not functioning well.
I know about showing up to work tired going through sleepless nights, I have gotten used to forcing myself to perform and function regardless. You can't keep a good job if you are going to -- mess up a lot. In my job, there is quite a lot to remember in any given day's worth of deliveries, quite a lot. If I forget one thing, the delivery is at least partially screwed up. Usually there are numerous deliveries and lots of different things that have to be done to make that delivery a success. I don't give myself the "excuse" that "I'm tired". Well, what is your employer going to say when you tell them that? Obviously, as in this person's case, nothing good. They have to show up to work and be ready to get at it just as much as you do, you think they're going to somehow want to have sympathy?
It's overcast outside. What a relief. It will still get hot today but it would be awesome if the sun stayed hiding behind some cloud cover. There is a huge difference between "shaded" hot and the extreme temperatures that are created by the direct sunlight. I am referring to keeping this house cool. If the AC doesn't have to deal with the heat being generated in the roof and the walls of whereverthe sun happens to be baking down, it doesn't have to work near as hard - meaning less electricity.
We are officially in monsoon season here, but no monsoons have actually occured - at least not where I live. I would gladly take some rain and cut back on water usage to water plants.
Tomatoes. I made a huge mistake in planting my tomatoes earlier this year. I forgot - since I haven't tried to grow tomatoes in over 30 years - that you are supposed to prop the plants up with poles or sticks - or whatever. I have been pulling the tomatoes off green because of it. Otherwise, they are sitting on the ground and they start to rot as soon as they show any sign of redness. My bad. Live and learn - or remember in this case. Well, I figure lots of produce growers pull stuff off early to keep them from rotting in the "transit" part of it - pulling them; processing them; putting them on a truck and getting them out. Or do they? I dunno. They're sitting on my counter and I will see if they ripen or not. It was fun to watch them grow regardless - though they do need a lot of water.
I don't remember whehter I wrote this the other day or not, but the ex-Marine is not leaving - yet. He was going to move out at the end of this month. Not happening now. Personally, unless I was already homeless, I would have serious reservations about moving into a house that is going to be foreclosed upon. He and his buddy - whose parents own the house - were going to move in there as the parents stopped making payments earlier this year. Well, when they show up to put locks on the house, you are going to be leaving. I would think that kind of thing looming - whenever as you really don't know WHEN they are going to do it - would be extremely stressful at best. He went on vacation this week and his mother pretty much talked to him about that possibility: what if you move in there and then a month - or even less - later they come and force you out?
Well that's enough. No great plans today, I'm taking one more lazy day and then tomorrow, I will be back at it. Hmmmm, maybe I should revise that. Perhaps I better start putting the truck into gear today and getting the motion started again - do some cleaning stuff anyway around here. Ummm, also, I smoked fully 3 cigars this week. Too many. I'm cutting it off for at least a month, maybe 2 or 3. I do not want to get addicted to nicotine and the potential cancer junk from smoking. That thought hit me yesterday and I set the 3rd one down and stopped. Okay, I've seen too many people dying of smoking related illnesses, time to stop.
Anyways, I plan to enjoy the last day of at least partial laziness, why not? When Monday gets here, the alarm will go off at 4:30 am and I will happily or focibly get out of bed and get .......back to work!
ben
Anyway, I dearly paid for staying out that late on Friday night. Yesterday, I was tired all day long. The outing was fun, but I have no plans to do that again anytime soon. I am definitely NOT a night owl anymore. At a younger age I could stay up all night AND get up early. Now? I go to bed early and get up early.
The 3rd and final tenant equation finally showed up yesterday. She has been staying at her mother's for over a week, I think now. Rent was past due since the 1st. Well, I was handed a bit of money and told a lot of reasons why this person couldn't pay and that - other things obviously took priority.
The priority that I always love - and have heard numerous times from tenants - is that they "had" to replace their cellphone. Or the cellphone monthly plan payment was due. I've never seen a cellphone that was big enough for a human to fit into, much less have a bed and all that human's belongings stuffed inside of it. Of course, in the space age, I'm sure they'll invent something like that, until then, one imagines a place to live being of far greater priority then cellphones.
Apparently younger generations simply don't see it that way. I think the next time I hear a cellphone excuse from a tenant, I am going to give some smart-@$$ remark back, because, frankly, it is totally unacceptable. Trying giving that excuse to an apartment complex manager. They aren't even going to give you the time of day - the rent is due, pay it up or get an eviction notice.
The other one I love is "well I'm not going to be here, so I shouldn't have to pay" or something like that. A person going on vacation or doing whatever is not going to be here for a week so, that week should be free. Really? Again, if you were renting an apartment, go to the apartment manager and tell her that you won't be there for a week, therefore, please take off a week's worth of rent out of this month.
I can imagine laughter coming from that individual as part of the responsory equation. I would like to hear if, for some reason, you think I'm somehow being unreasonable in demanding that every day a person is living here - whether they're physically present or not - they should not have to pay rent. Heck, if that were true, I'd just start sleeping on the floor at work. Call my mortgage company and tell them I didn't come home that day, take a day's worth of the mortgage off of the next month's payment, please and thank you.
Lol.
Now, when I talk about my finances - which I do frequently - and how things aren't going so great, well, usually, things COULD be going great if tenants pay and pay on time. But, I never count that money until I actually HAVE that money. I'm one of those don't count your chickens before they hatch people, especially with tenant money simply because of the way it gets shuffed off at times by people who think other things in their life are more important. Of course, then there's those that lose their jobs and have no income. I'm afraid that this person I started this entry out with is heading to the road of unemployment. She seems to get reprimanded often. She said they gave her one for showing up to work tired and not functioning well.
I know about showing up to work tired going through sleepless nights, I have gotten used to forcing myself to perform and function regardless. You can't keep a good job if you are going to -- mess up a lot. In my job, there is quite a lot to remember in any given day's worth of deliveries, quite a lot. If I forget one thing, the delivery is at least partially screwed up. Usually there are numerous deliveries and lots of different things that have to be done to make that delivery a success. I don't give myself the "excuse" that "I'm tired". Well, what is your employer going to say when you tell them that? Obviously, as in this person's case, nothing good. They have to show up to work and be ready to get at it just as much as you do, you think they're going to somehow want to have sympathy?
It's overcast outside. What a relief. It will still get hot today but it would be awesome if the sun stayed hiding behind some cloud cover. There is a huge difference between "shaded" hot and the extreme temperatures that are created by the direct sunlight. I am referring to keeping this house cool. If the AC doesn't have to deal with the heat being generated in the roof and the walls of whereverthe sun happens to be baking down, it doesn't have to work near as hard - meaning less electricity.
We are officially in monsoon season here, but no monsoons have actually occured - at least not where I live. I would gladly take some rain and cut back on water usage to water plants.
Tomatoes. I made a huge mistake in planting my tomatoes earlier this year. I forgot - since I haven't tried to grow tomatoes in over 30 years - that you are supposed to prop the plants up with poles or sticks - or whatever. I have been pulling the tomatoes off green because of it. Otherwise, they are sitting on the ground and they start to rot as soon as they show any sign of redness. My bad. Live and learn - or remember in this case. Well, I figure lots of produce growers pull stuff off early to keep them from rotting in the "transit" part of it - pulling them; processing them; putting them on a truck and getting them out. Or do they? I dunno. They're sitting on my counter and I will see if they ripen or not. It was fun to watch them grow regardless - though they do need a lot of water.
I don't remember whehter I wrote this the other day or not, but the ex-Marine is not leaving - yet. He was going to move out at the end of this month. Not happening now. Personally, unless I was already homeless, I would have serious reservations about moving into a house that is going to be foreclosed upon. He and his buddy - whose parents own the house - were going to move in there as the parents stopped making payments earlier this year. Well, when they show up to put locks on the house, you are going to be leaving. I would think that kind of thing looming - whenever as you really don't know WHEN they are going to do it - would be extremely stressful at best. He went on vacation this week and his mother pretty much talked to him about that possibility: what if you move in there and then a month - or even less - later they come and force you out?
Well that's enough. No great plans today, I'm taking one more lazy day and then tomorrow, I will be back at it. Hmmmm, maybe I should revise that. Perhaps I better start putting the truck into gear today and getting the motion started again - do some cleaning stuff anyway around here. Ummm, also, I smoked fully 3 cigars this week. Too many. I'm cutting it off for at least a month, maybe 2 or 3. I do not want to get addicted to nicotine and the potential cancer junk from smoking. That thought hit me yesterday and I set the 3rd one down and stopped. Okay, I've seen too many people dying of smoking related illnesses, time to stop.
Anyways, I plan to enjoy the last day of at least partial laziness, why not? When Monday gets here, the alarm will go off at 4:30 am and I will happily or focibly get out of bed and get .......back to work!
ben
Friday, July 9, 2010
Friday
I cannot possibly imagine how it is that I'm awake right now - at 9:30 am - but I am. I forced myself out of bed.
Odd? Oh yes, very odd, but very true. I went to the casino last night. I didn't get home until 4:30 am. I know, I know, very uncharacteristic of me, but - I had to get ahead. I have not been to the casino in a long, long time and the gnawing at me to go was just too much. I left at 5:30 pm, to give you an idea of how long I was there.
I was playing anchor position. It was the only seat available when I sat down at the final table that I was sitting at - which - I was there about 6 hours at that same table. In fact, the entire table sat there for that long and over the course of time, we were all winning. I walked out about $300 richer and never looked back - though the table was not happy about my departure.
However, the reason I stayed so long was because in the first couple of hours, I was DOWN over $200. I wasn't about to leave that place broker than I walked in, and anyway, it was a good time if I do say so myself.
Of course, being out that late? I'll be paying for that one.
Anyway, this isn't really a good time for me to be writing an entry, I'm totally out of it!
Odd? Oh yes, very odd, but very true. I went to the casino last night. I didn't get home until 4:30 am. I know, I know, very uncharacteristic of me, but - I had to get ahead. I have not been to the casino in a long, long time and the gnawing at me to go was just too much. I left at 5:30 pm, to give you an idea of how long I was there.
I was playing anchor position. It was the only seat available when I sat down at the final table that I was sitting at - which - I was there about 6 hours at that same table. In fact, the entire table sat there for that long and over the course of time, we were all winning. I walked out about $300 richer and never looked back - though the table was not happy about my departure.
However, the reason I stayed so long was because in the first couple of hours, I was DOWN over $200. I wasn't about to leave that place broker than I walked in, and anyway, it was a good time if I do say so myself.
Of course, being out that late? I'll be paying for that one.
Anyway, this isn't really a good time for me to be writing an entry, I'm totally out of it!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Thursday
3 full days after today of staycation.
On the downside, definitely.
Down is in time, not a downer. Lol.
I came home today from a run. I went to the doc's office to get sleeping medication refilled: my scrip was not in that I had called in 3 days earlier. In typical benb fashion, well I had to almost make a scene out of it to get anything done. I HATE driving over there. I just do. When the person at the front told me, after much rigarmoroo (that I had to make a scene out of to get anything done), that "the nurse would call me", well, that was totally unacceptable.
WHAT, I asked, is the problem? I just had a physical, the doc said he was good with it - very good with it in fact, if the doc says it's okay, what is YOUR problem? This led to several individuals getting involved until one particular person took over, and I do mean she took over.
I did not further complicate the situation, whe was obviously a person in a position to get things done, I gave her the limited information that she wanted and I went and sat down as she - firmly - requested. No problem with me - my commotion starting is over when I hear from someone that is going to get something done.
It was a solid 15 minutes, anyway. They have plenty of literature, I was reading away. Mr. BenB, please come up to the front. A very beautiful, if I do say so myself, woman in nursing attire was standing there. She apologetically explained that the prescription request I had placed fully 3 days earlier had not been transferred to them via whatever intermediary is supposed to do it, she had sent it over to the pharmacy.
Thank you, thank you very much, end of story. I went to their pharmacy: 6 people in line. I have waited in that line before, I decided to leave, taker her word for it that they have the prescription, already know it's 15 to 20 minute wait to fill it, headed to the bank. I was depositing my dad's check.
Thank you dad, yes. I always thank him, but, I don't mind making it public.
There was a man sitting the lobby talking very loudly on a cell phone, arguing with his wife or mate. Whatever the case, it was unbearable. Banks are not known for loudless, they are much like libraries, it's usually pretty quiet in those places. I was tempted to say something to this guy - take it outside, whatever - I bit my tongue, did the transaction and left.
Over to the Phoenix Ranch Market. They are shut down. Apparently for a long time. In fact, they are remodelling the entire strip mall. The market was gutted and there was a chain link fence around it. Time for an upgrade, oh well.
Over to the 99 cents store. I wanted some coasters, on my budget, 99 cent coasters are just as good at $10 a piece fancy coasters. Yup, they had 6 packs of them at 99 cents. Got a few other things and left.
Back to the pharmacy, prescription ready.
Over to Fry's Food Stores. Picked up a few things, left there as well.
When I finally arrived home, I was very surprised to see the ex-Marine standing in my kitchen, a money order for the full month's rent. Jubilation may have crossed my facial expression, I don't know, but I was ecstatic. He didn't make up excuses because of a vacation that he couldn't make rent, no, instead, he handed me that AND a cigar he acquired from Tampa (Florida, of course). Ohh, I can't tell you how it gladdened my heart that I wasn't getting screwed by yet another tenant. This month's money woes are over. I thanked him - sincerely but not too profusely, you must keep a bit of "air" about you in such things - I have learned - I am thankful for the things that come my way, whether owed, deserved or earned.
He left. But, shortly before he left, he declared that he must stay yet a little while longer. I'm not going to say I was surprised. His situation with his friend and their ability to take on a place - well, it isn't a forged in steel or written in stone contract. He WILL be receiving a lot of money from the government for his living expenses. His time in the Marines have paid off well and I don't besmurch him for that: those that risk their lives in our military should receive some recompense afterward for that time served.
I am a firm believer of that. They are paying his entire way through schooling, plus monthly living expenses. There are government subsidies - plenty of them - that should go by the wayside, this is not one of them. If the government were operating - the federal government that is - as it should, we wouldn't BE in the deficit chaos we are. Give to those who deserve it or truly need it, the rest of it - BUNK. Regardless, the school starts in a few more months and that's when his monthly stipends also kick in.
Yes, I am sighing some relief here. The rest of my staycation will be even that more the best with this worry out of my mind.
I was just outside, doing my usual thing: watering plants (okay, so I just turn on valves to do so, none-the-less, I WAS out there) in 112 degree heat. I had NO idea it was getting that hot today. Dogs followed me out there, wanted nothing to do with it but stuck by me anyway. No, I did not call them out there, I did not make jestures for them to come, they just do that. That's Great Danes for you, one of the most loyal dogs to be found on the earth.
When they were laying in the shade breathing heavily, I just motioned them to go inside. They wouldn't go. I went inside myself to get them out of this heat. It's too much for large dogs. Take that back: VERY large dogs. I don't want loyally DEAD dogs. It's great that they have that sense of loyalty, but to the exclusion of their own health, well - I am not going to just sit there and see that happen.
So, today is another great day of staycation. I have no regrets. It's been wonderful. I have REALLY been lazy - much more so than you would ever see me otherwise. I will start kicking into normal gear around Saturday. Sunday I will be working around the house, getting my mind ready for a week of work.
ben
On the downside, definitely.
Down is in time, not a downer. Lol.
I came home today from a run. I went to the doc's office to get sleeping medication refilled: my scrip was not in that I had called in 3 days earlier. In typical benb fashion, well I had to almost make a scene out of it to get anything done. I HATE driving over there. I just do. When the person at the front told me, after much rigarmoroo (that I had to make a scene out of to get anything done), that "the nurse would call me", well, that was totally unacceptable.
WHAT, I asked, is the problem? I just had a physical, the doc said he was good with it - very good with it in fact, if the doc says it's okay, what is YOUR problem? This led to several individuals getting involved until one particular person took over, and I do mean she took over.
I did not further complicate the situation, whe was obviously a person in a position to get things done, I gave her the limited information that she wanted and I went and sat down as she - firmly - requested. No problem with me - my commotion starting is over when I hear from someone that is going to get something done.
It was a solid 15 minutes, anyway. They have plenty of literature, I was reading away. Mr. BenB, please come up to the front. A very beautiful, if I do say so myself, woman in nursing attire was standing there. She apologetically explained that the prescription request I had placed fully 3 days earlier had not been transferred to them via whatever intermediary is supposed to do it, she had sent it over to the pharmacy.
Thank you, thank you very much, end of story. I went to their pharmacy: 6 people in line. I have waited in that line before, I decided to leave, taker her word for it that they have the prescription, already know it's 15 to 20 minute wait to fill it, headed to the bank. I was depositing my dad's check.
Thank you dad, yes. I always thank him, but, I don't mind making it public.
There was a man sitting the lobby talking very loudly on a cell phone, arguing with his wife or mate. Whatever the case, it was unbearable. Banks are not known for loudless, they are much like libraries, it's usually pretty quiet in those places. I was tempted to say something to this guy - take it outside, whatever - I bit my tongue, did the transaction and left.
Over to the Phoenix Ranch Market. They are shut down. Apparently for a long time. In fact, they are remodelling the entire strip mall. The market was gutted and there was a chain link fence around it. Time for an upgrade, oh well.
Over to the 99 cents store. I wanted some coasters, on my budget, 99 cent coasters are just as good at $10 a piece fancy coasters. Yup, they had 6 packs of them at 99 cents. Got a few other things and left.
Back to the pharmacy, prescription ready.
Over to Fry's Food Stores. Picked up a few things, left there as well.
When I finally arrived home, I was very surprised to see the ex-Marine standing in my kitchen, a money order for the full month's rent. Jubilation may have crossed my facial expression, I don't know, but I was ecstatic. He didn't make up excuses because of a vacation that he couldn't make rent, no, instead, he handed me that AND a cigar he acquired from Tampa (Florida, of course). Ohh, I can't tell you how it gladdened my heart that I wasn't getting screwed by yet another tenant. This month's money woes are over. I thanked him - sincerely but not too profusely, you must keep a bit of "air" about you in such things - I have learned - I am thankful for the things that come my way, whether owed, deserved or earned.
He left. But, shortly before he left, he declared that he must stay yet a little while longer. I'm not going to say I was surprised. His situation with his friend and their ability to take on a place - well, it isn't a forged in steel or written in stone contract. He WILL be receiving a lot of money from the government for his living expenses. His time in the Marines have paid off well and I don't besmurch him for that: those that risk their lives in our military should receive some recompense afterward for that time served.
I am a firm believer of that. They are paying his entire way through schooling, plus monthly living expenses. There are government subsidies - plenty of them - that should go by the wayside, this is not one of them. If the government were operating - the federal government that is - as it should, we wouldn't BE in the deficit chaos we are. Give to those who deserve it or truly need it, the rest of it - BUNK. Regardless, the school starts in a few more months and that's when his monthly stipends also kick in.
Yes, I am sighing some relief here. The rest of my staycation will be even that more the best with this worry out of my mind.
I was just outside, doing my usual thing: watering plants (okay, so I just turn on valves to do so, none-the-less, I WAS out there) in 112 degree heat. I had NO idea it was getting that hot today. Dogs followed me out there, wanted nothing to do with it but stuck by me anyway. No, I did not call them out there, I did not make jestures for them to come, they just do that. That's Great Danes for you, one of the most loyal dogs to be found on the earth.
When they were laying in the shade breathing heavily, I just motioned them to go inside. They wouldn't go. I went inside myself to get them out of this heat. It's too much for large dogs. Take that back: VERY large dogs. I don't want loyally DEAD dogs. It's great that they have that sense of loyalty, but to the exclusion of their own health, well - I am not going to just sit there and see that happen.
So, today is another great day of staycation. I have no regrets. It's been wonderful. I have REALLY been lazy - much more so than you would ever see me otherwise. I will start kicking into normal gear around Saturday. Sunday I will be working around the house, getting my mind ready for a week of work.
ben
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Give And It Shall Be Given To You..............
.........pressed down, shaken together, a blessing that you cannot contain......
I have lived my adult life following the Biblical principle: Give when it hurts. Be especially glad about it. Rejoice in it, thank God for the opportunity.
So I did. This isn't going to set well with certain readers, I'm not sorry. Please ignore this "religious" posting if it offends you - or not - it really matters not to me.
I gave away a half ham; 2 2-pound chubs of 93% lean ground beef; 3 large packages of boneless, skinless chicken meat; several cans of tuna fish and some cans of lean chicken breast.
Why would you do that? Because I am a believer and a follower of Christ. That's the only reason I need or need give, if I even feel I "need" to give a reason to anyone.
There are many, many hungry families out there. I cannot possibly feed all of them, but I can help one of them, and I did. It is the highlight, for me anyway, of my staycation. I am doing nothing here, which is a grand feeling - put my mind into the frame of being at an (oil-free) beach, listening to the waves crashing on the sand and the sounds of people running and playing in the water, laying there with a sheet and taking it all in.
I'm not there and I can't be there, but I can put my mind into the mindset. I have done that. If you looked at my eyes right now, you would think I am not there. Here, but not here. In a distant place, far away. So it is.
If it has any meaning at all, it was a mother of several kids plus taking care of other people's kids who was broke and had nothing to look forward to for the next 8 days. And that's it. I didn't prolong the interaction, the food was handed off, the lady gave me a great big hug and she left.
I have been questioned throughout my life how I could possibly think to give away perfectly good food when I am in want myself. I can honestly answer that in every single occasion, God has risen to the content of my need and has taken care of me. I couldn't possibly "prove" to you that it was God, I put my trust and faith in Him. Whether anyone chooses to believe it or not is irrelevant to me. We are only going to be here for a fraction of a second in comparison to eternity, I would like to make the most of it - at least in the eyes of Him who matters most to me.
If I end up in a pauper's grave, then that is what I was destined to do, by Him and I will be perfectly content with it. Yes, I will sit here and fret about bills, I'm only human, but in the innermost being, I will believe that He will come through for me.
If you look at your life span - 70 years more or less - and contrast it to the time of known earth - perhaps you might see that you are not going to live very long here. Oh, your friends and family might say you lived a long life, in reality, none of us will live a "long" life. It will be "long" according to the temporal perception, it will be very, very short in contrast to eternity.....and yes, the Kingdom of Heaven.
I'm not patting myself on the back or attempting to lift myself up in any way, no, instead, I point to the Lord. He is our Maker. He is our Redeemer. He is the source of life and life eternal.
ben
I have lived my adult life following the Biblical principle: Give when it hurts. Be especially glad about it. Rejoice in it, thank God for the opportunity.
So I did. This isn't going to set well with certain readers, I'm not sorry. Please ignore this "religious" posting if it offends you - or not - it really matters not to me.
I gave away a half ham; 2 2-pound chubs of 93% lean ground beef; 3 large packages of boneless, skinless chicken meat; several cans of tuna fish and some cans of lean chicken breast.
Why would you do that? Because I am a believer and a follower of Christ. That's the only reason I need or need give, if I even feel I "need" to give a reason to anyone.
There are many, many hungry families out there. I cannot possibly feed all of them, but I can help one of them, and I did. It is the highlight, for me anyway, of my staycation. I am doing nothing here, which is a grand feeling - put my mind into the frame of being at an (oil-free) beach, listening to the waves crashing on the sand and the sounds of people running and playing in the water, laying there with a sheet and taking it all in.
I'm not there and I can't be there, but I can put my mind into the mindset. I have done that. If you looked at my eyes right now, you would think I am not there. Here, but not here. In a distant place, far away. So it is.
If it has any meaning at all, it was a mother of several kids plus taking care of other people's kids who was broke and had nothing to look forward to for the next 8 days. And that's it. I didn't prolong the interaction, the food was handed off, the lady gave me a great big hug and she left.
I have been questioned throughout my life how I could possibly think to give away perfectly good food when I am in want myself. I can honestly answer that in every single occasion, God has risen to the content of my need and has taken care of me. I couldn't possibly "prove" to you that it was God, I put my trust and faith in Him. Whether anyone chooses to believe it or not is irrelevant to me. We are only going to be here for a fraction of a second in comparison to eternity, I would like to make the most of it - at least in the eyes of Him who matters most to me.
If I end up in a pauper's grave, then that is what I was destined to do, by Him and I will be perfectly content with it. Yes, I will sit here and fret about bills, I'm only human, but in the innermost being, I will believe that He will come through for me.
If you look at your life span - 70 years more or less - and contrast it to the time of known earth - perhaps you might see that you are not going to live very long here. Oh, your friends and family might say you lived a long life, in reality, none of us will live a "long" life. It will be "long" according to the temporal perception, it will be very, very short in contrast to eternity.....and yes, the Kingdom of Heaven.
I'm not patting myself on the back or attempting to lift myself up in any way, no, instead, I point to the Lord. He is our Maker. He is our Redeemer. He is the source of life and life eternal.
ben
Wednesday
The only thing that has been somewhat of a downer during this staycation - which is almost exactly half over now - off until time to show up at work on Monday morning - is all this fretting about finances. In reality, if the ex-Marine pays when he gets back, I'm in good shape. The female tenant is also in arrears - though only for this week. I pretty much give her leniency because her situation is rather sucky in the financial real, but, she has managed to keep up with the rent by paying $30 here, $20 there as she gets tips at work.
I cannot, however, count money I do not have. The Marine went on vacation to his parent's house I believe in Florida. They were paying his entire trip there and back, I am hopeful that he doesn't come back and try to tell me he doesn't have the money. I would not be too terribly happy about that, at all. Considering the fact he is moving out at the end of this month, that would simply mean I would be getting the shaft for a full month's rent, something I am not prepared to do. I hope this isn't a bridge that I need to cross over with him, I am hopeful he has kept the money and will pay it when he returns. He left before his monthly check from the military showed up.
The money I got from the change in my closet? Sitting in my pocket. I have made no decision concerning that money yet. I will not make such a decision until the Marine returns and I find out whether I am getting anything from him or not. If the situation was nothing, then that money has to go to help pay for child support, which is basically due by the 15th of every month. I do think I will go ahead and cash in the rest of it and see what I have - at least another $80 worth I am guessing.
Speaking of tenants, a guy that has been wanting to move in here for over 5 months now just called again. He is going through divorce, almost identical to the situation of my manager. I told him the unfurnished room is available at the beginning of next month. He at least needs a bed, apparently. I will ask my manager how much he wants for an extra bed he now has. Maybe I can make payments or something. It is much easier to rent a furnished room than unfurnished. I really would like to get dressers in all of those rooms - no, none of them have a dresser in them. I saw a freebie a while back - beautiful condition, it was gone before I could take the next breath.
Enough of that. One of my pumps wasn't pumping this morning - for the ponds. Took it apart, cleaned it out, walaah. That one had me going, I have to have those pumps operating all the time to keep the water sufficiently aerated for the fish.
I sooooo want that big pond that guy on Craigslist is trying to sell. He has been trying to sell it and 6 or 7 other ponds for almost 3 months now. Not a single taker on any of it - he wants too much money for that stuff. It's big, preformed pond, very nice. It has a big, preformed pond that feeds it and it also has a skimmer - very helpful in keeping the water clear and the debris from going to the bottom of the pond and accumulating. I have made offers, one of them he accepted but at the time, I had yet another financial emergency so I let it go. I had no idea that all of those ponds would STILL be available. This was the other option I was thinking of spending the change money on - a huge and complete pond setup.
Well, anyway, I must get on with my staycation. Lazy, lazy days!!
ben
I cannot, however, count money I do not have. The Marine went on vacation to his parent's house I believe in Florida. They were paying his entire trip there and back, I am hopeful that he doesn't come back and try to tell me he doesn't have the money. I would not be too terribly happy about that, at all. Considering the fact he is moving out at the end of this month, that would simply mean I would be getting the shaft for a full month's rent, something I am not prepared to do. I hope this isn't a bridge that I need to cross over with him, I am hopeful he has kept the money and will pay it when he returns. He left before his monthly check from the military showed up.
The money I got from the change in my closet? Sitting in my pocket. I have made no decision concerning that money yet. I will not make such a decision until the Marine returns and I find out whether I am getting anything from him or not. If the situation was nothing, then that money has to go to help pay for child support, which is basically due by the 15th of every month. I do think I will go ahead and cash in the rest of it and see what I have - at least another $80 worth I am guessing.
Speaking of tenants, a guy that has been wanting to move in here for over 5 months now just called again. He is going through divorce, almost identical to the situation of my manager. I told him the unfurnished room is available at the beginning of next month. He at least needs a bed, apparently. I will ask my manager how much he wants for an extra bed he now has. Maybe I can make payments or something. It is much easier to rent a furnished room than unfurnished. I really would like to get dressers in all of those rooms - no, none of them have a dresser in them. I saw a freebie a while back - beautiful condition, it was gone before I could take the next breath.
Enough of that. One of my pumps wasn't pumping this morning - for the ponds. Took it apart, cleaned it out, walaah. That one had me going, I have to have those pumps operating all the time to keep the water sufficiently aerated for the fish.
I sooooo want that big pond that guy on Craigslist is trying to sell. He has been trying to sell it and 6 or 7 other ponds for almost 3 months now. Not a single taker on any of it - he wants too much money for that stuff. It's big, preformed pond, very nice. It has a big, preformed pond that feeds it and it also has a skimmer - very helpful in keeping the water clear and the debris from going to the bottom of the pond and accumulating. I have made offers, one of them he accepted but at the time, I had yet another financial emergency so I let it go. I had no idea that all of those ponds would STILL be available. This was the other option I was thinking of spending the change money on - a huge and complete pond setup.
Well, anyway, I must get on with my staycation. Lazy, lazy days!!
ben
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
I Would Like To Say.................
...............that today has been a wonderful day. Vacation at home? Freaking awesome. I'm not making that up or being sarcastic. Who cares if you can't go anywhere? I'm not going to work, that's the point!!
Yes, I spent 2 hours in the AZ heat/direct sunlight pruning plants - pulling weeds - and making it look normal out front again. I noticed other things that need to be done, no biggies, I got the most important stuff done, including watering the entire property.
It's nice to water a few hundred plants by simply turning on and off valves versus walking around to every single plant with a water hose.
The mailbox also provided a much-needed stipend: the check. Thank you, dad. It is going to the water bill. Oh, yes, I thank my dad in email or on the phone, the thanks here is simply a statement of thanks to an awesome father - whether my brothers agree with that or not. Note that this money doesn't come out of his savings, it comes out of his monthly stipends from various retirement incomes. It IS a sacrifice for him. which, well it just shows the kind of dad I have, regardless of what my brothers say.
If I received nothing from my dad, I would still think just as highly of him. Let's put the little blip to rest that says that the money is the only thing that makes you say that. NOT AT ALL. I don't HAVE the memories of my father is a kid that my brothers do. I am not going into all of that again on my journal - my brothers are good with their decision to totally negate my dad out of their lives - I doubt they will think such when he passes and - then - what kind of thoughts will pervade them? Regret, remorse, a longing to connect that will never happen on this earth.
No, I am quite proud of my dad who is a renowned minister in the area he lives in and is a humanitarian. People love him because he loves the people that God puts before him to minister to. It has always been this way, my brothers simply don't get it. He has sacrificed his entire life, perhaps that's their problem with him - to the point that the family suffered when we were children. Yet, as a child, I was quite happy. My parents didn't tell me how bad we had it, I did not, therefore, "learn" how bad life is in not having "things". I was not materialistic as a child, I didn't care, really. If I had a tonka toy, great, if I didn't, there were always the tall trees in the forest behind our house that fascinated me to NO end and was FREE of charge to my parents. That love of trees and dense, thick forests has never left me.
No, as a child, I was the easiest maintenance, I didn't complain about having this,that and the other thing. I endured an entire childhood of not being able to consume ANY dairy products, chocolate and other foods, I was extremely allergic (think: GIANT hives all over your body). I just immersed myself in the world that was around me and I loved it. Oh, there were bad times, yes, not saying there weren't, but most of my childhood memories are very good.
Oh, and speaking of forests - I have these Australian Bottle Tree seeds sitting here in front of me. I have read ample material about them. No, I didn't pay a fortune for these seeds, but there are only 10 of them and I want to make it work. Oh yes, I do. These trees are drought resistant and do well in this area. I am going to go out and plant one of them in the ground in the front of my house after I finish this entry. I am in no hurry, it would be years before they would be anything "formidable" as a tree.
I was watching with no small amount of entertainment my rather large goldfish earlier. There is a big, fat pig in there. He (or she) eats and eats and eats. You would think I never feed the blooming thing for the amount of hunger it exhibits, as if it were starving. But, it's body tells a different story. It is a FAT fish. I would feed them less, but the other 3 wouldn't get enough. The fat one is a bully, really, but only at feeding time - which seems to be 24 hours a day for that friggin' thing. That big one is about 10 inches long and 2 inches (at least) wide. I was wondering if possibly it's a she and is eating for want of on the verge of laying eggs, but I believe the thing is just a pig. The only way to cut back it's food intake would be to isolate it to another pond. I don't think it a good idea, so I'm not.
Done.
ben
Yes, I spent 2 hours in the AZ heat/direct sunlight pruning plants - pulling weeds - and making it look normal out front again. I noticed other things that need to be done, no biggies, I got the most important stuff done, including watering the entire property.
It's nice to water a few hundred plants by simply turning on and off valves versus walking around to every single plant with a water hose.
The mailbox also provided a much-needed stipend: the check. Thank you, dad. It is going to the water bill. Oh, yes, I thank my dad in email or on the phone, the thanks here is simply a statement of thanks to an awesome father - whether my brothers agree with that or not. Note that this money doesn't come out of his savings, it comes out of his monthly stipends from various retirement incomes. It IS a sacrifice for him. which, well it just shows the kind of dad I have, regardless of what my brothers say.
If I received nothing from my dad, I would still think just as highly of him. Let's put the little blip to rest that says that the money is the only thing that makes you say that. NOT AT ALL. I don't HAVE the memories of my father is a kid that my brothers do. I am not going into all of that again on my journal - my brothers are good with their decision to totally negate my dad out of their lives - I doubt they will think such when he passes and - then - what kind of thoughts will pervade them? Regret, remorse, a longing to connect that will never happen on this earth.
No, I am quite proud of my dad who is a renowned minister in the area he lives in and is a humanitarian. People love him because he loves the people that God puts before him to minister to. It has always been this way, my brothers simply don't get it. He has sacrificed his entire life, perhaps that's their problem with him - to the point that the family suffered when we were children. Yet, as a child, I was quite happy. My parents didn't tell me how bad we had it, I did not, therefore, "learn" how bad life is in not having "things". I was not materialistic as a child, I didn't care, really. If I had a tonka toy, great, if I didn't, there were always the tall trees in the forest behind our house that fascinated me to NO end and was FREE of charge to my parents. That love of trees and dense, thick forests has never left me.
No, as a child, I was the easiest maintenance, I didn't complain about having this,that and the other thing. I endured an entire childhood of not being able to consume ANY dairy products, chocolate and other foods, I was extremely allergic (think: GIANT hives all over your body). I just immersed myself in the world that was around me and I loved it. Oh, there were bad times, yes, not saying there weren't, but most of my childhood memories are very good.
Oh, and speaking of forests - I have these Australian Bottle Tree seeds sitting here in front of me. I have read ample material about them. No, I didn't pay a fortune for these seeds, but there are only 10 of them and I want to make it work. Oh yes, I do. These trees are drought resistant and do well in this area. I am going to go out and plant one of them in the ground in the front of my house after I finish this entry. I am in no hurry, it would be years before they would be anything "formidable" as a tree.
I was watching with no small amount of entertainment my rather large goldfish earlier. There is a big, fat pig in there. He (or she) eats and eats and eats. You would think I never feed the blooming thing for the amount of hunger it exhibits, as if it were starving. But, it's body tells a different story. It is a FAT fish. I would feed them less, but the other 3 wouldn't get enough. The fat one is a bully, really, but only at feeding time - which seems to be 24 hours a day for that friggin' thing. That big one is about 10 inches long and 2 inches (at least) wide. I was wondering if possibly it's a she and is eating for want of on the verge of laying eggs, but I believe the thing is just a pig. The only way to cut back it's food intake would be to isolate it to another pond. I don't think it a good idea, so I'm not.
Done.
ben
Tuesday
I have done my version of absolutely nothing today. I have zero motivation, I don't care, really. I put my mind into vacation mode and decided - for today anyway - that I would enjoy a nothing existence for a spec of time, if only a spec.
Does it set well with me? Well, when it's 107 degrees outside it's easier to do nothing than to go out and start sweating. You know the problem with me writing posts like this? I'll sit here and read what I just wrote and then something will spark inside of me, suddenly, I find myself outside, digging, weeding, whatever.
I know, it's crazy but that's the way it seems to work. It just popped into my mind that I wanted to put another dose of Dawn dishwashing liquid on the plants - yes the stuff works, you just need enough of it and you apparently need to do it several times if the "invasion" is severe enough. I also just remembered that I was going to to out front and trim several plants out there.
So, who knows. Maybe a little later on I will be out there doing some of this stuff.
I haven't decided, now that time has passed, whether to engage in a time of casino activity with my change money or not. I'm now leaning towards not. If I lost the money and had nothing to show for it, I would hurt myself. I could go buy that giant pond with it's accompying feeder pond and all the hardware for that money, have something to show for it and have a GREAT pond setup. Or, I could pay bills. Or, I could use it towards fixing the car's AC. Or a lot of things, really.
Better to nothing in this particular case. Time gives me the opportunity to figure out whether I need the money for daily bill activity or can waste it as it was intended over the year plus I have been dumping change in there.
One thing for sure, I don't want to get "used" to doing nothing. That is not a great life, I am sure. I wouldn't know, but - obesity, diseases and illness, lethary, sluggardishness, sloth, nothing good can come of it for an extended period. I do not, however, have any problem with doing it for a day or two during a planned, nothing, vacation. The boys - all of them - a whole slew of them now that summer is on and school is off - have no understanding of how a person can take a vacation and go - nowhere.
But, their minds don't quite wrap around the stark reality of the current economy, or, in my personal situation, lost hours and having tenants. All they understand is that I have a house with a refrigerator full of food, a Playstation III which they dearly love (and I could care less about), Direct TV and lots of soda. The mind of a child. Okay, these are teenagers, hardly an innocent 8 year old mind. Still, a person has no real concept of what it's like to live on your own, pay your own way and face the reality of life until- they do it. I'm still quite impressed with Michael and his desire to make his own money. I suppose I should save my delight until I see whether he can stick with it. Same with my son - though I suspect he will have a bit easier time with it, he has never had a problem with the extensive amount of requests I make for getting things done around here. JR ROTC has also instilled some very interesting - realistic - and GOOD ideals in him.
Wait and see.
Oh, hey, I have something to do, I must walk out front and get the mail!! Hard work, I'm sure. Unfortunately, I can feel the call of the plants out front. If I'm going out there, why not spend and hour or 2 tending to them, even if it is 105 degrees out there right now? Oh, those people on the east coast. If you are not accustomed to 100 plus temperatures, you are in for a hellish experience. I do feel for them. I remember the house I grew up in Pittsburgh didn't have AC. No duct work, open the windows and put in a dual window fan, that's what my parents did for me during the summer. I honestly don't know what my brothers got. I think my parents had a window unit AC in their bedroom, I am, just now, after 46 years of life, remembering, if correctly, that I was the only one in the house that had to endure summers with only a fan to cool me.
You know what? I didn't care then, I don't care now. I remember thinking it perfectly normal at the time. I imagine some "counsellor" somewhere would try to tell me that I was neglected and abused because of it - they got the good stuff, I got the shaft. Yes, if that's the way you want to look at things, be my guest and carry it on your back for decades. Surely THAT will help you in life. No, I actually remember our years in Pittsburgh as both fun and very scary for a little boy. Fun - there were woods in the back of my house to play in and lots of friends to play with. Or not. I was able to have a great time whether playing with other kids or totally alone. Scary - bad part of town. Always looking behind your back. Always having to fight or get beaten up. Definitely a factor in my mentality today, some of it negative. I don't like being jerked around and I don't tolerate people mouthing off to me. My natural instinct - which surely came from a childhood of beat the s*** out of the other kid or get beaten up - is to land my fist squarely in their jaw, break their nose and knock them out with a blow or several blows to the head.
I fight that sometimes. I never carry those thoughts out - but they do rise their ugly little heads sometimes. Especially with punk 18 to 20 somethings that think that I'm an "old man" and start mouthing off over something very petty that they have started. Yeah, when I'm 60 or 70, I'm in my 40's and can outwork many people 20 years my younger. Will that last forever? Obviously not. I will enjoy it while it lasts.
If you're a person on the east coast and you are experiencing that heat right now - totally changing the subject, here a few tips from a dude that works outside in 110 - 115 degree heat on a daily basis both at work and at home:
1. WATER. WATER WATER WATER. I have a giant, plastic cup I fill with ice and water. I drink it all day long whether I am thirsty or not.
2. Just because you are not yet thirsty does not mean you shouldn't be hydrating. Drink, drink, drink. All day long. I can do that in this heat and not go to the bathroom all day long - sweating it out, not peeing it out.
3. If you are drinking a LOT of water, make sure to get a dose of Gatorade or some other drink that replenishes electrolytes. Water does not do that and if you are really sweating a lot and drinking a LOT of water, yes, you need to periodically replenish the electrolytes.
4. Hat. Wear a large brimmed hat if the heat inludes direct exposure to the sun's rays.
5. Umbrella. Yes, lots of people around these parts carry umbrellas to keep off the sun, not the rain. It makes a HUGE difference if you are standing or walking in the direct sunlight.
6. Some people carry water bottles with them and spray mist in their faces to keep them cool.
7. Wet rag. Put it around your neck, the difference it will make will be palpable.
8. Shade. As often as possible, get in the shade.
9. MORE WATER!!!
Those are tips for being outdoors, the best tip, of course, is to be indoors in the AC and you will suffer no consequences of heat related illnesses at all.
10. If you see a person that is failing and succumbing to the effects of heat, ie: heat stroke, get them in the shade immediately. Take off their clothing. Pack them in ice. I know, it sounds crazy, but I have heard this over and over again from the experts, there IS no down side to packing a person in ice that is suffering from the effects of a heat stroke - which can and will kill you if left untreated. You MUST bring the body core temperature down immediately. Call 911, the first thing they're going to do on-scene is put a needle in them and start administering fluids through an IV.
Now, what do I do? Those are just some of the things above that I have heard that others do. Me? Water. Ice water to be precise. I drink it all day long. I don't do the electrolytes - well very rarely. If you are sweating profusely and drinking large quantities of water, well, yes, I will drink a half a Gatorade. Otherwise, I have learned how to deal with the heat. I'm driving around in a car that is much hotter inside of it than the ambient temp outside.
It's more in the mind, folks, than anything. If I don't sit there feeling sorry for myself because of how hot it is, I therefore don't think that it's so terribly bad. I think: Yeaaah, I started sweating, now it's cooling off in here! Really, that's what I do. Outside? I have a huge brimmed hat on that keeps the sun off my head and a very large glass of ice water and sometimes, yes a beer. Oh, yes, I know what the experts say about alcohol and heat. I've lived in this stuff since 1974, I've learned how to deal with it, what to do and what not to do. I didn't say I'm getting DRUNK, I just said a beer. WITH water.
It sounds all so easy, in reality, I remember my first days in AZ heat, my first years, really, it took some getting used to.
Anyway, I have now talked myself into going out front, with a glass of water of course, and trimming some bushes. I am just not an inside person, I can only take so much of it.
G'day.
ben
Does it set well with me? Well, when it's 107 degrees outside it's easier to do nothing than to go out and start sweating. You know the problem with me writing posts like this? I'll sit here and read what I just wrote and then something will spark inside of me, suddenly, I find myself outside, digging, weeding, whatever.
I know, it's crazy but that's the way it seems to work. It just popped into my mind that I wanted to put another dose of Dawn dishwashing liquid on the plants - yes the stuff works, you just need enough of it and you apparently need to do it several times if the "invasion" is severe enough. I also just remembered that I was going to to out front and trim several plants out there.
So, who knows. Maybe a little later on I will be out there doing some of this stuff.
I haven't decided, now that time has passed, whether to engage in a time of casino activity with my change money or not. I'm now leaning towards not. If I lost the money and had nothing to show for it, I would hurt myself. I could go buy that giant pond with it's accompying feeder pond and all the hardware for that money, have something to show for it and have a GREAT pond setup. Or, I could pay bills. Or, I could use it towards fixing the car's AC. Or a lot of things, really.
Better to nothing in this particular case. Time gives me the opportunity to figure out whether I need the money for daily bill activity or can waste it as it was intended over the year plus I have been dumping change in there.
One thing for sure, I don't want to get "used" to doing nothing. That is not a great life, I am sure. I wouldn't know, but - obesity, diseases and illness, lethary, sluggardishness, sloth, nothing good can come of it for an extended period. I do not, however, have any problem with doing it for a day or two during a planned, nothing, vacation. The boys - all of them - a whole slew of them now that summer is on and school is off - have no understanding of how a person can take a vacation and go - nowhere.
But, their minds don't quite wrap around the stark reality of the current economy, or, in my personal situation, lost hours and having tenants. All they understand is that I have a house with a refrigerator full of food, a Playstation III which they dearly love (and I could care less about), Direct TV and lots of soda. The mind of a child. Okay, these are teenagers, hardly an innocent 8 year old mind. Still, a person has no real concept of what it's like to live on your own, pay your own way and face the reality of life until- they do it. I'm still quite impressed with Michael and his desire to make his own money. I suppose I should save my delight until I see whether he can stick with it. Same with my son - though I suspect he will have a bit easier time with it, he has never had a problem with the extensive amount of requests I make for getting things done around here. JR ROTC has also instilled some very interesting - realistic - and GOOD ideals in him.
Wait and see.
Oh, hey, I have something to do, I must walk out front and get the mail!! Hard work, I'm sure. Unfortunately, I can feel the call of the plants out front. If I'm going out there, why not spend and hour or 2 tending to them, even if it is 105 degrees out there right now? Oh, those people on the east coast. If you are not accustomed to 100 plus temperatures, you are in for a hellish experience. I do feel for them. I remember the house I grew up in Pittsburgh didn't have AC. No duct work, open the windows and put in a dual window fan, that's what my parents did for me during the summer. I honestly don't know what my brothers got. I think my parents had a window unit AC in their bedroom, I am, just now, after 46 years of life, remembering, if correctly, that I was the only one in the house that had to endure summers with only a fan to cool me.
You know what? I didn't care then, I don't care now. I remember thinking it perfectly normal at the time. I imagine some "counsellor" somewhere would try to tell me that I was neglected and abused because of it - they got the good stuff, I got the shaft. Yes, if that's the way you want to look at things, be my guest and carry it on your back for decades. Surely THAT will help you in life. No, I actually remember our years in Pittsburgh as both fun and very scary for a little boy. Fun - there were woods in the back of my house to play in and lots of friends to play with. Or not. I was able to have a great time whether playing with other kids or totally alone. Scary - bad part of town. Always looking behind your back. Always having to fight or get beaten up. Definitely a factor in my mentality today, some of it negative. I don't like being jerked around and I don't tolerate people mouthing off to me. My natural instinct - which surely came from a childhood of beat the s*** out of the other kid or get beaten up - is to land my fist squarely in their jaw, break their nose and knock them out with a blow or several blows to the head.
I fight that sometimes. I never carry those thoughts out - but they do rise their ugly little heads sometimes. Especially with punk 18 to 20 somethings that think that I'm an "old man" and start mouthing off over something very petty that they have started. Yeah, when I'm 60 or 70, I'm in my 40's and can outwork many people 20 years my younger. Will that last forever? Obviously not. I will enjoy it while it lasts.
If you're a person on the east coast and you are experiencing that heat right now - totally changing the subject, here a few tips from a dude that works outside in 110 - 115 degree heat on a daily basis both at work and at home:
1. WATER. WATER WATER WATER. I have a giant, plastic cup I fill with ice and water. I drink it all day long whether I am thirsty or not.
2. Just because you are not yet thirsty does not mean you shouldn't be hydrating. Drink, drink, drink. All day long. I can do that in this heat and not go to the bathroom all day long - sweating it out, not peeing it out.
3. If you are drinking a LOT of water, make sure to get a dose of Gatorade or some other drink that replenishes electrolytes. Water does not do that and if you are really sweating a lot and drinking a LOT of water, yes, you need to periodically replenish the electrolytes.
4. Hat. Wear a large brimmed hat if the heat inludes direct exposure to the sun's rays.
5. Umbrella. Yes, lots of people around these parts carry umbrellas to keep off the sun, not the rain. It makes a HUGE difference if you are standing or walking in the direct sunlight.
6. Some people carry water bottles with them and spray mist in their faces to keep them cool.
7. Wet rag. Put it around your neck, the difference it will make will be palpable.
8. Shade. As often as possible, get in the shade.
9. MORE WATER!!!
Those are tips for being outdoors, the best tip, of course, is to be indoors in the AC and you will suffer no consequences of heat related illnesses at all.
10. If you see a person that is failing and succumbing to the effects of heat, ie: heat stroke, get them in the shade immediately. Take off their clothing. Pack them in ice. I know, it sounds crazy, but I have heard this over and over again from the experts, there IS no down side to packing a person in ice that is suffering from the effects of a heat stroke - which can and will kill you if left untreated. You MUST bring the body core temperature down immediately. Call 911, the first thing they're going to do on-scene is put a needle in them and start administering fluids through an IV.
Now, what do I do? Those are just some of the things above that I have heard that others do. Me? Water. Ice water to be precise. I drink it all day long. I don't do the electrolytes - well very rarely. If you are sweating profusely and drinking large quantities of water, well, yes, I will drink a half a Gatorade. Otherwise, I have learned how to deal with the heat. I'm driving around in a car that is much hotter inside of it than the ambient temp outside.
It's more in the mind, folks, than anything. If I don't sit there feeling sorry for myself because of how hot it is, I therefore don't think that it's so terribly bad. I think: Yeaaah, I started sweating, now it's cooling off in here! Really, that's what I do. Outside? I have a huge brimmed hat on that keeps the sun off my head and a very large glass of ice water and sometimes, yes a beer. Oh, yes, I know what the experts say about alcohol and heat. I've lived in this stuff since 1974, I've learned how to deal with it, what to do and what not to do. I didn't say I'm getting DRUNK, I just said a beer. WITH water.
It sounds all so easy, in reality, I remember my first days in AZ heat, my first years, really, it took some getting used to.
Anyway, I have now talked myself into going out front, with a glass of water of course, and trimming some bushes. I am just not an inside person, I can only take so much of it.
G'day.
ben
Monday, July 5, 2010
Dilemna
I have been saving my pocket change for quite some time now. Take it all out, dump it into containers in my (locked) closet, forget about it.
Now, I am on vacation. I can stay home for vacation, yes - I really have no problems just - sitting here doing nothing, getting some things done, cleaning, continuing on with projects.
My finances dictate that.
Yet, I took a little over half of my coins in today and netted $182 and change. I knew I some money in there, I had NO idea I had THAT much in there. I bet I have at least $100 more in that closet that I did not take.
What did you have in mind, ben? Ummm, well, I haven't been to the casino in at least 5 months. I have the feeling - it's there. I have always had the philosophy with gambling that you don't gamble away money when you can't afford it. You can't afford it, you don't go. I haven't gone.
At the same time, I have been saving this money for - whatever. Not bills. Vacation, water park, whatever.
I look at my finances right now and prudence says to spend it on bills.
I look at life and life says you only live once. If you lose the house, you were going to lose it anyway without this money. If you don't lose the house, you weren't going to lose it anyway.
But then you get to more touchy subjects. Electricity; child support; water; satellite TV and internet.
Please, please do not think or lecture me about getting rid of internet or satellite. I have those things for tenants. I could EASILY live without satellite, tenants would have nothing to do with this place without it. A recurring theme in luring tenants is the fact that I have over 200 channels of Direct TV in here. I have not had a tenant in here yet that didn't have the TV on the entire time they were in their room, watching it and complimenting me for having it available.
It's $80 plus per month that is a granted, I must spend it to keep them. Internet is not as popular - I always have people that do not have a computer, but at the same time, I always have at least 1 that does. That "at least" one person wants wifi. That's internet access broadcast through the air from your router for those that don't know (and when I started in on this wifi thing for tenants, I most definitely did NOT know). In fact, it took quite some time to figure out this wifi stuff, how it works and how to set it up in my house. I was totally clueless at the beginning and really, wanted nothing to do with it.
I have gotten off the subject - or not. I'm still in the dilemna. I was going to go today, I think I will sit on it. I have an entire week off. I can wait until Friday to go, if I do decide to. I could also go anytime during the week - but - I am not a fan of empty tables. I like play with half to full tables at blackjack.
Okay, writing this? To my detractors - bug off. I am going to go. Not today, but sometime this week, I'm headed over there. I will put the usual $100 on the table for $5 chips and I will enjoy the adventure whether I am winning or losing. I love my casino visits and they are now so infrequent, even that much more the pleasure.
Too bad they don't let you smoke cigars in those places, as they did ages ago.
G'day.
ben
Now, I am on vacation. I can stay home for vacation, yes - I really have no problems just - sitting here doing nothing, getting some things done, cleaning, continuing on with projects.
My finances dictate that.
Yet, I took a little over half of my coins in today and netted $182 and change. I knew I some money in there, I had NO idea I had THAT much in there. I bet I have at least $100 more in that closet that I did not take.
What did you have in mind, ben? Ummm, well, I haven't been to the casino in at least 5 months. I have the feeling - it's there. I have always had the philosophy with gambling that you don't gamble away money when you can't afford it. You can't afford it, you don't go. I haven't gone.
At the same time, I have been saving this money for - whatever. Not bills. Vacation, water park, whatever.
I look at my finances right now and prudence says to spend it on bills.
I look at life and life says you only live once. If you lose the house, you were going to lose it anyway without this money. If you don't lose the house, you weren't going to lose it anyway.
But then you get to more touchy subjects. Electricity; child support; water; satellite TV and internet.
Please, please do not think or lecture me about getting rid of internet or satellite. I have those things for tenants. I could EASILY live without satellite, tenants would have nothing to do with this place without it. A recurring theme in luring tenants is the fact that I have over 200 channels of Direct TV in here. I have not had a tenant in here yet that didn't have the TV on the entire time they were in their room, watching it and complimenting me for having it available.
It's $80 plus per month that is a granted, I must spend it to keep them. Internet is not as popular - I always have people that do not have a computer, but at the same time, I always have at least 1 that does. That "at least" one person wants wifi. That's internet access broadcast through the air from your router for those that don't know (and when I started in on this wifi thing for tenants, I most definitely did NOT know). In fact, it took quite some time to figure out this wifi stuff, how it works and how to set it up in my house. I was totally clueless at the beginning and really, wanted nothing to do with it.
I have gotten off the subject - or not. I'm still in the dilemna. I was going to go today, I think I will sit on it. I have an entire week off. I can wait until Friday to go, if I do decide to. I could also go anytime during the week - but - I am not a fan of empty tables. I like play with half to full tables at blackjack.
Okay, writing this? To my detractors - bug off. I am going to go. Not today, but sometime this week, I'm headed over there. I will put the usual $100 on the table for $5 chips and I will enjoy the adventure whether I am winning or losing. I love my casino visits and they are now so infrequent, even that much more the pleasure.
Too bad they don't let you smoke cigars in those places, as they did ages ago.
G'day.
ben
Monday
Everyone - well a lot of people anyway - have today off to celebrate yesterday's holiday.
This is really my first day off - since last weekend. Spent over 16 hours spread out over 3 days helping my manager move. I went to bed last night at 9:00 and didn't get up until 7:30 am. I am totally lacking motivation to do anything, yet I have PLENTY to do around here, I'm drinking coffee and I be forcing myself into action here very soon.
As for finances, same old story, but getting worse. After I pay the mortgage, I will have $300 left to pay for internet, Direct TV, child support, water bill. I have not received the rent from the ex-marine who is out of town (but definitely returning since all of his stuff including his SUV are still here) and I am hoping my dad continues to send money - which will go straight to paying up the water bill if I get it. If he did send it, I should be receiving that tomorrow.
I have been spending money on nothing out of the "ordinary" and am forcing myself to stay on that track. I think I have $150 in my orange savings account - it's going to be transferred back to my checking account. I was saving that money to get the AC in my car fixed, tough. I am just succumbing to the idea that this summer, I am going to be sweating my @$$ off in that car whenever I drive it. I suppose it's a good thing: I don't want to drive anywhere, hence not spending money on gas.
Unfortunately, I have no choice but take a trip to Home Depot. I was going to do it the other day but moving my manager sort of blew getting anything around here done out of the water by engaging my physical exertions in helping him move (not complaining, just my explanation). I have to replace the toilet seat in the main bathroom and also the door lock for that bathroom. The lock - doesn't lock. I have female tenants, I don't think they appreciate that they cannot lock the door in there.
That's going to be around $30 - money I call ill afford to spend, money that can't be avoided BUT to be spent. Oh well. I do what I can and have to to keep tenants happy, certainly those things being kept in good order are mandatory.
I am set for food, however, for the next 3 weeks or so. If I just sit around here doing nothing but projects or just whatever - I think I can survive this. I'm not complaining, at all. I don't like to sit around and whine and have pity parties, it's not my style and it accomplishes absolutely nothing good at all.
I did write my mortgage company and yes, I did ask for further reduced interest rate and also a principle reduction. It may fall on deaf ears, but I had to try - I HAD to try, definitely. I'm guessing their rely is that I already got a modification and that a full year has to pass before they can/will do it again. Wait and see on that one, meanwhile try to figure out how to survive until this summer heat passes - another 2 full months of extreme heat and a couple of months beyond that of moderate heat. It isn't really until October that it REALLY cools down, sometimes not even until November. It's 6 months of great weather and 6 months of not-so-great weather around here, that's the way it goes. If you get lucky, the weather cools down at the beginning of October adding another full month of nice weather (also where you have no expenditure on cooling and very little on heating).
The boys want to go on a vacation. I told them it's absolutely out of the question. I have no money for such and will have none in the foreseeable future. What escaped me is both Michael and Caleb are working now. Yes, amazingly, Michael landed a job somewhere. I WAS amazed. His parents are always broke and if he wants something, well, he really doesn't get it. This came up yesterday. I told Michael if he saved $100 out of each paycheck, in 6 weeks his and Caleb's money combined would be enough to take a trip over to Six Flags.
I am not a fan - at all - of California - anything California - right now because of all their boycotting of us. But, if the boys want to spend their money over there, that's their business.
Oh, and I did find a place that will fix the car AC on payments. I almost went for it. I'm glad I didn't. You give them a small down payment, probably $100 and they take the rest out of your paychecks until it's paid off. Problem? I obviously cannot afford even that right now. Truly sucks, but I have to live within my means. I was halfway there to getting my AC fixed, I just checked - no more, I just put in a request to transfer most of the money out of it and into my checking account. A rather deflating experience, there is nothing I can do about it.
Umm, that's enough of this entry, if I continue to focus on this junk it's going to start getting depressing, considering I am on "vacation" for the rest of this week, this is no time to be going there. Happy happy happy, joy joy joy. Lol.
ben
This is really my first day off - since last weekend. Spent over 16 hours spread out over 3 days helping my manager move. I went to bed last night at 9:00 and didn't get up until 7:30 am. I am totally lacking motivation to do anything, yet I have PLENTY to do around here, I'm drinking coffee and I be forcing myself into action here very soon.
As for finances, same old story, but getting worse. After I pay the mortgage, I will have $300 left to pay for internet, Direct TV, child support, water bill. I have not received the rent from the ex-marine who is out of town (but definitely returning since all of his stuff including his SUV are still here) and I am hoping my dad continues to send money - which will go straight to paying up the water bill if I get it. If he did send it, I should be receiving that tomorrow.
I have been spending money on nothing out of the "ordinary" and am forcing myself to stay on that track. I think I have $150 in my orange savings account - it's going to be transferred back to my checking account. I was saving that money to get the AC in my car fixed, tough. I am just succumbing to the idea that this summer, I am going to be sweating my @$$ off in that car whenever I drive it. I suppose it's a good thing: I don't want to drive anywhere, hence not spending money on gas.
Unfortunately, I have no choice but take a trip to Home Depot. I was going to do it the other day but moving my manager sort of blew getting anything around here done out of the water by engaging my physical exertions in helping him move (not complaining, just my explanation). I have to replace the toilet seat in the main bathroom and also the door lock for that bathroom. The lock - doesn't lock. I have female tenants, I don't think they appreciate that they cannot lock the door in there.
That's going to be around $30 - money I call ill afford to spend, money that can't be avoided BUT to be spent. Oh well. I do what I can and have to to keep tenants happy, certainly those things being kept in good order are mandatory.
I am set for food, however, for the next 3 weeks or so. If I just sit around here doing nothing but projects or just whatever - I think I can survive this. I'm not complaining, at all. I don't like to sit around and whine and have pity parties, it's not my style and it accomplishes absolutely nothing good at all.
I did write my mortgage company and yes, I did ask for further reduced interest rate and also a principle reduction. It may fall on deaf ears, but I had to try - I HAD to try, definitely. I'm guessing their rely is that I already got a modification and that a full year has to pass before they can/will do it again. Wait and see on that one, meanwhile try to figure out how to survive until this summer heat passes - another 2 full months of extreme heat and a couple of months beyond that of moderate heat. It isn't really until October that it REALLY cools down, sometimes not even until November. It's 6 months of great weather and 6 months of not-so-great weather around here, that's the way it goes. If you get lucky, the weather cools down at the beginning of October adding another full month of nice weather (also where you have no expenditure on cooling and very little on heating).
The boys want to go on a vacation. I told them it's absolutely out of the question. I have no money for such and will have none in the foreseeable future. What escaped me is both Michael and Caleb are working now. Yes, amazingly, Michael landed a job somewhere. I WAS amazed. His parents are always broke and if he wants something, well, he really doesn't get it. This came up yesterday. I told Michael if he saved $100 out of each paycheck, in 6 weeks his and Caleb's money combined would be enough to take a trip over to Six Flags.
I am not a fan - at all - of California - anything California - right now because of all their boycotting of us. But, if the boys want to spend their money over there, that's their business.
Oh, and I did find a place that will fix the car AC on payments. I almost went for it. I'm glad I didn't. You give them a small down payment, probably $100 and they take the rest out of your paychecks until it's paid off. Problem? I obviously cannot afford even that right now. Truly sucks, but I have to live within my means. I was halfway there to getting my AC fixed, I just checked - no more, I just put in a request to transfer most of the money out of it and into my checking account. A rather deflating experience, there is nothing I can do about it.
Umm, that's enough of this entry, if I continue to focus on this junk it's going to start getting depressing, considering I am on "vacation" for the rest of this week, this is no time to be going there. Happy happy happy, joy joy joy. Lol.
ben
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Sunday
I have absolutely no desire for day 3 of this moving business. Do I have a choice? Sure, I could say no, but I committed to it, so here we go again. Leaving in 20 minutes for our store in Chandler, meet up with the manager there, go to the place he is moving out of, back to his new apartment, lug that stuff upstairs.
As for invovlement, this is absolutely the last day of this for me. I am on vacation and would like enjoy it as such. I don't mind helping people out, just that 3 consecutive days of it is as much as I'm going to do. I'm hoping today is around 3 hours instead of the 6 and 5-1/2 it was yesterday and the day before.
Besides, I have a lot to do around here. A broken toilet seat, a bathroom door handle (the main bathroom) that won't lock, cleaning stuff, laundry - the list goes on. Also, my car's ac is not working and driving around in this heat is hardly my idea of fun. The high today expected to be 104 - which does make a difference versus the 112 it was 2 days ago.
I have had zero opportunity to get caught up on the latest news - something I like to do - well, to a small degree. Mostly negative junk, so I keep it to a minimum. A precursory glance at a news source reveals- the same old stuff. Figure there is going to be Independence Day stuff all over the place.
My new TV is jammin'. I love it. As I said yesterday, if I got nothing else out of this deal, that little gem right there is more than enough. Now I have a 32 inch tv that - I'm going to get rid of.
Time running out. Just jumping in here to make an entry. I've been going through all the food I got from yesterday and determining where to put it - need it now goes one place, need it later goes another. A good sized box of it is going to my food storage - I checked the dates on almost all of it, good for a minimum 2 years most of it. Plus, this lady threw in 5 bottles of VERY fine wine. Yummmmmmmm.
Try some of that later on, when I'm home and don't have to drive anywhere : )
G'day.
ben
As for invovlement, this is absolutely the last day of this for me. I am on vacation and would like enjoy it as such. I don't mind helping people out, just that 3 consecutive days of it is as much as I'm going to do. I'm hoping today is around 3 hours instead of the 6 and 5-1/2 it was yesterday and the day before.
Besides, I have a lot to do around here. A broken toilet seat, a bathroom door handle (the main bathroom) that won't lock, cleaning stuff, laundry - the list goes on. Also, my car's ac is not working and driving around in this heat is hardly my idea of fun. The high today expected to be 104 - which does make a difference versus the 112 it was 2 days ago.
I have had zero opportunity to get caught up on the latest news - something I like to do - well, to a small degree. Mostly negative junk, so I keep it to a minimum. A precursory glance at a news source reveals- the same old stuff. Figure there is going to be Independence Day stuff all over the place.
My new TV is jammin'. I love it. As I said yesterday, if I got nothing else out of this deal, that little gem right there is more than enough. Now I have a 32 inch tv that - I'm going to get rid of.
Time running out. Just jumping in here to make an entry. I've been going through all the food I got from yesterday and determining where to put it - need it now goes one place, need it later goes another. A good sized box of it is going to my food storage - I checked the dates on almost all of it, good for a minimum 2 years most of it. Plus, this lady threw in 5 bottles of VERY fine wine. Yummmmmmmm.
Try some of that later on, when I'm home and don't have to drive anywhere : )
G'day.
ben
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Today
Pizza and I have a love hate affair: I love it, it hates me. Or, more specifically, it hates my system. I have not been able to eat more than one or 2 slices of pizza since in my early 20's. If I do, I'm toast. Eating that before bed - any amount - I won't be sleeping that night. It will just sit there, in my stomach, churning around and making me naseous.
Yesterday, my manager comes over - I was going to help him get some furniture from a house that a lady was selling out - and I do mean selling out - everything. She wasn't home yet to meet up and get the stuff, so he wanted to order pizza. I didn't want pizza because pizza and a diet have no correlation with each other. He insisted, so - we get the pizza. I eat 2 small slices and one larger one. We leave. In about an hour, I am feeling very - sick. My stomach is going crazy. I feel the urgent need to go to the bathroom. Here I am, carrying both light and heavy furniture items and this has to happen.
I spent an extended period of time in the bathroom. Didn't get home until 1111:30, didn't sleep - hardly at all.
Get up today, sit out here in my kitchen musing the day's doings: going to move even MORE stuff. In extreme heat. Well, by the time I got to the manager's new apartment to move all that stuff we had packed onto the trailer the night before, I was feeling okay. It was HOT and somewhat humid. I had no desire to drag this out - I have been moving people and families for decades now, I don't want to take breaks, I don't care how hot it is, get it OVER with as fast as possible.
I will keep a pace that guys 20 years younger than me will not be able to keep up with. I am like that. I have always been like that. Not trying to outdo everyone, just trying to get the job DONE. Today was no different. I have no idea how many times I climbed those stairs - up and down, up and down - carrying that stuff. I do know that it was about 10 minutes into it I was sweating and breathing heavily. Good, a good workout, my diet will love it, especially considering the extreme calories consumed the day before in that pizza. Pizza is one of the most fat calorie filled foods around.
The boss? He basically told me he couldn't keep up with me, had to take a few breaks. No problem, I kept carrying stuff. He came back around, we got it done. THEN, back to the lady's house for MORE. 5-1/2 hours of it yesterday, 6 hours today. I haven't had a workout like that in quite a long time. I mean, I work and it's a decent workout, but this was extended aerobic type stuff where the heart rate is up and the breathing to go along with it.
I'm now going to honestly admit that I am totally exhausted. If I don't sleep well tonight, there is nothing on earth that is going to cause it to happen.
Tomorrow? Yes, more of it. I wanted to get all of this done today, but there simply wasn't enough time unless we wanted to be out til' midnight, a thing I most certainly wasn't prepared to do, thank you very much. It's going to be about 3 or 4 hours of it tomorrow and it is done. Strange way to start a staycation, but - it's good to help people and it's good to keep the body moving. Prove to yourself that you are still around, still kicking and can still hang with whoever, wherever. I even got what I considered a compliment from my manager. He told me that a salesman - a guy that works out daily, in great shape - but - I know this guy - can't hold a candle to a working, blue collar guy that has been busting @$$ for his entire life - pushed him, my manager, a while back in moving stuff and sisaid I basically blew that guy away.
Not to be arrogant or cocky, but I did state that I know I can blow him away in work. He might be able to outlift me on the weight bench, there is no way he has near as much stamina as I do in the work field. Being able to lift a lot and being able to press yourself at a constant, heavy rate are 2 completely different things.
Regardless, I am probably going to be sore tomorrow and getting there for one more day of it may not actually be too fun, but he needs the help so I committed to doing it.
Well, I'm done. I have no energy to think about things and write out things. I'm just done. I did score: the lady selling out gave my manager - who gave me a 36 inch Sony Triniton TV that, in 2003, cost her $2,000.00. So she says, I have no context to know one way or the other, but everything else in her house was pricey stuff, no reason to disbelieve her. That TV weighs at LEAST 200 pounds. AT LEAST. It is sitting in my living room, on a specially made TV stand also sold by Sony that I also got for it. It is a VERY good quality TV with GREAT sound. Love it. Free? Well, not exactly, but I will say if that is all I got today, it would have been worth it.
It is not all I got. The lady gave me a ton of NICE Christmas stuff. A lot of canned food. 5 bottles of extremely fine wine. A $50 extension cord. Hey, I got hundreds of dollars worth of stuff today plus a very good lunch, what have I to complain about? Nothing. I was glad to help. My Staycation starts a little later than I thought - working like this is like working a job, but I have no complaints. The heat, the stairs, the lifting and carrying? Great stuff.
G'nite.
ben
Yesterday, my manager comes over - I was going to help him get some furniture from a house that a lady was selling out - and I do mean selling out - everything. She wasn't home yet to meet up and get the stuff, so he wanted to order pizza. I didn't want pizza because pizza and a diet have no correlation with each other. He insisted, so - we get the pizza. I eat 2 small slices and one larger one. We leave. In about an hour, I am feeling very - sick. My stomach is going crazy. I feel the urgent need to go to the bathroom. Here I am, carrying both light and heavy furniture items and this has to happen.
I spent an extended period of time in the bathroom. Didn't get home until 1111:30, didn't sleep - hardly at all.
Get up today, sit out here in my kitchen musing the day's doings: going to move even MORE stuff. In extreme heat. Well, by the time I got to the manager's new apartment to move all that stuff we had packed onto the trailer the night before, I was feeling okay. It was HOT and somewhat humid. I had no desire to drag this out - I have been moving people and families for decades now, I don't want to take breaks, I don't care how hot it is, get it OVER with as fast as possible.
I will keep a pace that guys 20 years younger than me will not be able to keep up with. I am like that. I have always been like that. Not trying to outdo everyone, just trying to get the job DONE. Today was no different. I have no idea how many times I climbed those stairs - up and down, up and down - carrying that stuff. I do know that it was about 10 minutes into it I was sweating and breathing heavily. Good, a good workout, my diet will love it, especially considering the extreme calories consumed the day before in that pizza. Pizza is one of the most fat calorie filled foods around.
The boss? He basically told me he couldn't keep up with me, had to take a few breaks. No problem, I kept carrying stuff. He came back around, we got it done. THEN, back to the lady's house for MORE. 5-1/2 hours of it yesterday, 6 hours today. I haven't had a workout like that in quite a long time. I mean, I work and it's a decent workout, but this was extended aerobic type stuff where the heart rate is up and the breathing to go along with it.
I'm now going to honestly admit that I am totally exhausted. If I don't sleep well tonight, there is nothing on earth that is going to cause it to happen.
Tomorrow? Yes, more of it. I wanted to get all of this done today, but there simply wasn't enough time unless we wanted to be out til' midnight, a thing I most certainly wasn't prepared to do, thank you very much. It's going to be about 3 or 4 hours of it tomorrow and it is done. Strange way to start a staycation, but - it's good to help people and it's good to keep the body moving. Prove to yourself that you are still around, still kicking and can still hang with whoever, wherever. I even got what I considered a compliment from my manager. He told me that a salesman - a guy that works out daily, in great shape - but - I know this guy - can't hold a candle to a working, blue collar guy that has been busting @$$ for his entire life - pushed him, my manager, a while back in moving stuff and sisaid I basically blew that guy away.
Not to be arrogant or cocky, but I did state that I know I can blow him away in work. He might be able to outlift me on the weight bench, there is no way he has near as much stamina as I do in the work field. Being able to lift a lot and being able to press yourself at a constant, heavy rate are 2 completely different things.
Regardless, I am probably going to be sore tomorrow and getting there for one more day of it may not actually be too fun, but he needs the help so I committed to doing it.
Well, I'm done. I have no energy to think about things and write out things. I'm just done. I did score: the lady selling out gave my manager - who gave me a 36 inch Sony Triniton TV that, in 2003, cost her $2,000.00. So she says, I have no context to know one way or the other, but everything else in her house was pricey stuff, no reason to disbelieve her. That TV weighs at LEAST 200 pounds. AT LEAST. It is sitting in my living room, on a specially made TV stand also sold by Sony that I also got for it. It is a VERY good quality TV with GREAT sound. Love it. Free? Well, not exactly, but I will say if that is all I got today, it would have been worth it.
It is not all I got. The lady gave me a ton of NICE Christmas stuff. A lot of canned food. 5 bottles of extremely fine wine. A $50 extension cord. Hey, I got hundreds of dollars worth of stuff today plus a very good lunch, what have I to complain about? Nothing. I was glad to help. My Staycation starts a little later than I thought - working like this is like working a job, but I have no complaints. The heat, the stairs, the lifting and carrying? Great stuff.
G'nite.
ben
Friday, July 2, 2010
Friday
8 hours away from the beginning of a very long vacation. Or less. If there is nothing going on today, I will ask to leave early and start it even earlier. There is only one thing to do in our truck routing system and that's a pickup going to the main branch in downtown Phoenix.
Perusing the news this morning:
I still find it unbelievable that a person that has never been a judge is being considered for a spot on the Supreme Court. For that alone I hope Kagan is not put into that position.
More sanctions against Iran? "Tough new sanctions" as the news put it as Obama signs the - whatever - decree I guess. Meaningless, totally and absolutely meaningless. Iran's stupid president will get on some talk show somewhere around the world and spout off about it and brush it off. There will be no change from Iran. You want to get Iran's attention, go over there and bomb the nuke facilities - that's the ONLY way. I'm not into war, I'm not into the terrorism that might ensue on our own soil, but they're going to bring it to us sooner or later, we might as well start now. A nuclear Iran? Unacceptable. Time is running out, I'm sure the Israeli government is well aware of that and I'm just as sure they have plans on the table to do what we apparently are too yellow-bellied to do ourselves: take out the nuke facilities, all known locations.
I sort of like Schwarzenneger as governor, but I'd rather he do a few more movies before his "time" is up. He doesn't back down, from what I can see, to any of this rhetoric going on over there with their state budget that is at an impasse. His latest move to reduce state worker pay to minimum wage? Interesting. Once the budget is passed, those workers get their back pay - back. Dunno, I have serious issues with CA anyway right now with their boycotting our state. More and more people are jumping on the reverse boycott bandwagon. Boycott them back. 2 billions dollars per year are spend by Arizonans IN California on tourism related activities alone. Take some of that away and see how they like it.
Speaking of that, Obama's worthless immigration speech yesterday. I caught about 2/3rd's of it. It's the same rhetoric that has been spewed out by presidents before him for decades now. Nothing will change, nothing will be done, hence AZ's new law. It's only a start, but it IS a start. I am reading about a bloody shootout that occured overnight on the Mexico side of the border, but very near AZ's border. 21 killed, it says, in Mexican drug gang battle.
It's not going to get better. Mexico's president wants a say in a lawsuit against the Arizona bill, the freak should get his head out of his @$$ and start dealing with his nation's OWN, very severe problems going on right now instead of attempting to interfere with the internal dealings of another nation.
Well, the news, as always, full of cheery, rosy stuff. No biggies, it's been going on forever - violence, hatred, political grand standing. I get a little concerned about the border violence because I'm less than 200 miles away from the border.
Anyway, work day approaches. I have a mind full of things that I am thinking about, especially how to pay for this month - homewise and all related bills. It'll work out if all of my tenants pay - if one of them doesn't, it's going to be a rough road. Very rough road, indeed.
G'day.
ben
Perusing the news this morning:
I still find it unbelievable that a person that has never been a judge is being considered for a spot on the Supreme Court. For that alone I hope Kagan is not put into that position.
More sanctions against Iran? "Tough new sanctions" as the news put it as Obama signs the - whatever - decree I guess. Meaningless, totally and absolutely meaningless. Iran's stupid president will get on some talk show somewhere around the world and spout off about it and brush it off. There will be no change from Iran. You want to get Iran's attention, go over there and bomb the nuke facilities - that's the ONLY way. I'm not into war, I'm not into the terrorism that might ensue on our own soil, but they're going to bring it to us sooner or later, we might as well start now. A nuclear Iran? Unacceptable. Time is running out, I'm sure the Israeli government is well aware of that and I'm just as sure they have plans on the table to do what we apparently are too yellow-bellied to do ourselves: take out the nuke facilities, all known locations.
I sort of like Schwarzenneger as governor, but I'd rather he do a few more movies before his "time" is up. He doesn't back down, from what I can see, to any of this rhetoric going on over there with their state budget that is at an impasse. His latest move to reduce state worker pay to minimum wage? Interesting. Once the budget is passed, those workers get their back pay - back. Dunno, I have serious issues with CA anyway right now with their boycotting our state. More and more people are jumping on the reverse boycott bandwagon. Boycott them back. 2 billions dollars per year are spend by Arizonans IN California on tourism related activities alone. Take some of that away and see how they like it.
Speaking of that, Obama's worthless immigration speech yesterday. I caught about 2/3rd's of it. It's the same rhetoric that has been spewed out by presidents before him for decades now. Nothing will change, nothing will be done, hence AZ's new law. It's only a start, but it IS a start. I am reading about a bloody shootout that occured overnight on the Mexico side of the border, but very near AZ's border. 21 killed, it says, in Mexican drug gang battle.
It's not going to get better. Mexico's president wants a say in a lawsuit against the Arizona bill, the freak should get his head out of his @$$ and start dealing with his nation's OWN, very severe problems going on right now instead of attempting to interfere with the internal dealings of another nation.
Well, the news, as always, full of cheery, rosy stuff. No biggies, it's been going on forever - violence, hatred, political grand standing. I get a little concerned about the border violence because I'm less than 200 miles away from the border.
Anyway, work day approaches. I have a mind full of things that I am thinking about, especially how to pay for this month - homewise and all related bills. It'll work out if all of my tenants pay - if one of them doesn't, it's going to be a rough road. Very rough road, indeed.
G'day.
ben
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Process Service In Arizona
Quite amazing. My doorbell rings a little while ago, dogs go crazy. I can't see the person on my video surveillance - strange. Bad feeling - well - just a feeling, something isn't right. I walk up to about 10 feet from my gate.
Remember, I have no front door on my house. I have block fences with gates. I have a doorbell button out there. I have video surveillance, on the gate and another on the general area.
I ask who's there. My Catahoula is going crazy, I can't see anyone. Man finally appears - I removed one of the slats from my gate so that - shorter - people could reach through the gate to remove the lock. I can see the man through the slat.
Tim? Dunno any Tim, what do you want. "Well come here and see". I don't think so. I'm thinking go back in the house, get the gun, call 911. Paranoia? No. No-one comes to my house talking in such secretive tones or trying to get me to the gate. Then I think: process server. This is the kind of game they play. He's looking for a guy that doesn't live here. He stayed here with his girlfriend for ONE week about 2 months ago, that was it. I don't know the guy, I don't have contact with him, I have no responsibility.
He realizes I ain't coming to the gate and I flatly tell him I'm not taking anything from him. He says he has papers for this guy, so what? I don't care what papers he has, go find the guy, get the bleep off of my property. He says he's leaving the papers on the fence. I inform him he's on video surveillance. He starts attempting to recite law to me - I KNOW the law on process serving, the papers actually have to be handed to the person, not left on a gate. Notwithstanding the fact that the person they are attempting to serve must ACTUALLY LIVE THERE.
He's on video surveillance, the papers are left on the top of a 6 foot block wall. I already went inside and am watching this nonsense. The wind blows the papers off the wall and onto the ground. THIS is legal process serving? Whoever the State of Arizona is using to serve these papers is using a low-life company. That man is going to have to lie about the service, there is no way he can recite verbatim what actually occured and have that be declared as a proper, legal service.
What to do? Contact the attorney general's office for one. I have read that these companies are bidding $8 per service on these photo radar situations. They can do that because - obviously. They don't care what they do with the papers, it's a done deal, it's done with impunity. It's totally outrageous that this company - or these companies - are getting away with this shit.
Remember, I have no front door on my house. I have block fences with gates. I have a doorbell button out there. I have video surveillance, on the gate and another on the general area.
I ask who's there. My Catahoula is going crazy, I can't see anyone. Man finally appears - I removed one of the slats from my gate so that - shorter - people could reach through the gate to remove the lock. I can see the man through the slat.
Tim? Dunno any Tim, what do you want. "Well come here and see". I don't think so. I'm thinking go back in the house, get the gun, call 911. Paranoia? No. No-one comes to my house talking in such secretive tones or trying to get me to the gate. Then I think: process server. This is the kind of game they play. He's looking for a guy that doesn't live here. He stayed here with his girlfriend for ONE week about 2 months ago, that was it. I don't know the guy, I don't have contact with him, I have no responsibility.
He realizes I ain't coming to the gate and I flatly tell him I'm not taking anything from him. He says he has papers for this guy, so what? I don't care what papers he has, go find the guy, get the bleep off of my property. He says he's leaving the papers on the fence. I inform him he's on video surveillance. He starts attempting to recite law to me - I KNOW the law on process serving, the papers actually have to be handed to the person, not left on a gate. Notwithstanding the fact that the person they are attempting to serve must ACTUALLY LIVE THERE.
He's on video surveillance, the papers are left on the top of a 6 foot block wall. I already went inside and am watching this nonsense. The wind blows the papers off the wall and onto the ground. THIS is legal process serving? Whoever the State of Arizona is using to serve these papers is using a low-life company. That man is going to have to lie about the service, there is no way he can recite verbatim what actually occured and have that be declared as a proper, legal service.
What to do? Contact the attorney general's office for one. I have read that these companies are bidding $8 per service on these photo radar situations. They can do that because - obviously. They don't care what they do with the papers, it's a done deal, it's done with impunity. It's totally outrageous that this company - or these companies - are getting away with this shit.
Thursday
"Who would give out free food this day and age", a question posed by a Craigslist dissenter of another CL'ers post. The lack of intellect that is showed all over Craigslist is appalling. The Dumb Mill grinds them out and apparently are hatched on Craigslist, is all I can think of. Yes, I wrote a dissenting post back to that person.
Well whatever. Iran is back in the news with their alleged hand-over of a sophisticated radar system to, of all places, Syria. Or course, Iran and Syria in bed with each other, whoda thought? The implications - well you will just have to read about it yourself on the news or see it on TV. Of course, both Iran and Syria deny that such a transferrence took place.
Meanwhile, "gobs" of oil have washed up on the coastline after Hurricane Alex hit land. Okay, okay, I'll try not to get start on this oil disaster - I think the people that held a day of prayer for that situation had it right: at this point, it's going to take God's intervention to do anything about this.
Thursday. Love the ring to it. 2 full work days to go, including today, before 9 full days off of work. Very nice, indeed.
My time has run out. I was reading a rather long string of posts on Craigslist - people running off their mouths. Amazing those ads haven't been flagged and deleted.
Anyway, have a great day!
ben
Well whatever. Iran is back in the news with their alleged hand-over of a sophisticated radar system to, of all places, Syria. Or course, Iran and Syria in bed with each other, whoda thought? The implications - well you will just have to read about it yourself on the news or see it on TV. Of course, both Iran and Syria deny that such a transferrence took place.
Meanwhile, "gobs" of oil have washed up on the coastline after Hurricane Alex hit land. Okay, okay, I'll try not to get start on this oil disaster - I think the people that held a day of prayer for that situation had it right: at this point, it's going to take God's intervention to do anything about this.
Thursday. Love the ring to it. 2 full work days to go, including today, before 9 full days off of work. Very nice, indeed.
My time has run out. I was reading a rather long string of posts on Craigslist - people running off their mouths. Amazing those ads haven't been flagged and deleted.
Anyway, have a great day!
ben
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Dawn And I
No, unfortunately, I have not found a girlfriend. Dawn is referring to dishwashing soap. It is a hundred million degrees out there, I'm sure of it. Well anyway, I was just out there using my Miracle Grow applicator to apply a coating of the Dawn liquid on the problem plants - those plants that are covered with white flies. I'm hoping it's now Miracle Death versus Grow. I put several tablespoons worth of the liquid in there and I could see the whitish layer on the plants I was spraying.
Did it work? I have no clue. I will go out and check in a while. I'm thinking that it takes several applications of the stuff to get rid of them completely.
I have 2 Koi left out of the 10, I think. I did not see any fish bodies floating around today, but, I couldn't locate them either.
A shocker.
I put the dogs outside - I do that when they are getting ancy and wandering around and starting to irritate me with unending visits. I mean, when you have dogs that big, their visits are giants head RIGHT in your face. I can only take so much of that.
Well,they bark at everything that moves by the house. I have found that they ARE barking at something, you just have to catch it. A kid on a skateboard? Bark. I click on video surveillance to catch it. To assure myself that they no, they aren't barking at blades of grass growing. A person on a bicycle, anything where humans are moving on foot or a method of motorvation that doesn't include automobiles. Fortunately, they do not bark at every friggin' car that goes by.
So, they're out their barking about 30 minutes ago. I click on video surveillance - it's always on, I just have to bring up the screen.
There is a familiar red pickup on my screen. It's the Army Reservist! In full blown military uniform, she comes walking up to the gate, ignores the barking dogs (my dogs can be ignored, they won't bite anyone, but, people that don't know them wouldn't know that), walks to my back door, knocks and walks in.
Yup, for now, she's back. A bit of a discussion ensued - I'm very interested in this life of hers in the Army Reserve and what it entails. She calls it part-time military. She stated that her unit is slated to go to Afghanistan in April of 2012, but she is volunteering to go before then. She is true blue military, she knows nothing else she wants to do in life. My hat's off to her and everyone like her. Without those people, what would the U.S. be like? She isn't there because she has to be there, she is there because she totally LOVES it.
Here's the part that, at least temporarily, saves my @$$: she hands me a full month's rent. That money will all be going to bills. There is nothing else to do with it. Well, there is, obviously, there is nothing else that I can RESPONSIBLY do with it.
If I want to do something during my staycation, which starts after work in 2 days and goes on for 9 days straight, I will be hitting up my coin stash. It's enough to go to a waterpark, the movies, whatever. Any money handed me by tenants is going to eletricity, water, bills. No, really, it is. I'm not into losing the house, car, electric going off, water being shut off, whatever.
I do remember one time, years ago, my water was shut off - non-payment. They turn the valve off out front and then put a lock on it. The lock was too big for the hole, it was easy enough to turn the ball valve head enough to get the water back on - at full pressure even if the thing wasn't turned to a fully on position.
Stealing? They thought so. I did not, I have to have water to survive and I fully intended on paying up the bill on my next paycheck after they had done that. They came back a few days later, turned the valve back off and left a note in the meter box - where the meter and valve is - to NOT disturb the valve or "serious" consequences" would ensue. I cared not. I turned it right back on. The next day, I came home from work and they had shut it off again, with a much more dramatic note - I don't remember what it said because I didn't care.
I turned the water back on. Note that turning the water back on did not mean breaking their lock, it simply meant turning the valve as far as it would go with their lock still being in place. Which doesn't actually condone my actions, but, again, a house without water is not a house. The toilet use is the first thing that comes to mind.
They shut the water off again the next day with some vivid not of police and this and that. I again turned on the water, but now? I had the money to pay off the bill, which I did. They informed me on the phone that they would be by the next day to turn the water back on, I informed them to take their time, the water was already on. Well, sir, you aren't supposed to do THAT. No, I replied, I'm probably not, but have you ever lived without running water?
The conversation was moot, I in no way tried to hide the fact that I had repeatedly turned the water back on after they had shut it off, but, again, my conscience was clear enough: I was going to repay them fully.
Well, whatever. I have "fond" memories of doing whatever in the past. In another place I lived, they shut off the gas. Yes, I have had financial issues in the past, severe. It was winter, the house was cold and shutting off the gas also meant no cooking in that particular place.
I learned, that night, how to turn the gas back on. First off, I did have to cut a lock this time. There was no getting around it. I took a Sawzall, cut it off in less than 30 seconds. Turned it on - nothing. No idea.
Unhooked that big meter from the unions that attached it to the pipe - there were rubber stoppers they had installed to keep gas from flowing in case someone like me came along thinking they were going to turn it back on. I removed those, rehooked the thing, turned the gas on, sprayed everything with a soap formula to check for leaks, no leaks, re-lighted everything, walaah.
I dunno, I guess they check up on such things, because they were back at my doorstep one night, not day, late, asking me who turned the gas back on. I said nothing, if I recall correctly. They said if it happened again, they would remove the meter. Okay, whatever.
I'm not going to say I was feeling GOOD about what I had done, but, with a kid and trying to survive and with full intention of paying up the bill, I wasn't losing sleep about it, either. They did come back - and they did remove the meter. Yes, I cut the new lock off and yes, I turned it back on after they left.
Their meter? No problem. A vacant lot across the street had a meter - all of those meters are owned by the gas company, not the lot owner, so, I justified to myself if no-one else that I was only transferring something they owned from one place to another. I installed that meter.
They apparently did not come back checking. I dunno. I finally got the money and paid up the bill. They said they would send someone out. They did. The man that showed up came knocking on my door. "I was sent out here to turn on the gas, but it looks like someone from my company already did so, the meter is installed and flowing". Did I dare tell this guy what I had done? No, I think not. I smiled and said thank you for coming, guess it's all taken care of.
Could you call it unethical? Yes, I suppose you could. Many people I know have never been in survival mode. They have had all the money and then some that they need. Their biggest worry is trying to get the new iPad, not keeping utilities on. I'm not condemning them, I'm simply saying, there is a totally different mindset when it comes to dire need. Need does not necessarily condone deceit or theft, in fact, it doesn't really. But, when it's 110 out and the electricity is off, or it's 10 degrees out and the gas isn't on, or it's WHATEVER temperature and the water isn't running, the mind can conjure up many things to justify something you normally wouldn't even think about.
Which isn't my mindset now. I have no desire to have anything shut off. Pay the freaking bill. If I can't, call them. If that doesn't do anything, figure something out. If that doesn't work, down the line of thought/analysis until whatever - it's all out. Then the lines have to be chosen to cross or not cross.
Whatever. I don't know how I get on that subject, but I do.
Monsoon season is here. Rains haven't come yet. I would like that to start, but traditionally not until next month. The sky watering my plants would help immensely. Do you remember when you could stand outside when it's raining, look up towards the sky and open your mouth? I do, as a little kid. I also used to eat raw beef. Yes, totally uncooked. Then came the age - pollutants and chemicals and this that and the other thing.
That's enough for one entry. I am finding more and more readers - not that I'm looking for them - but people I know, have known or people that found this place - however. My Cafe World posts are all over the Google internet. Other types of postings as well. Amazing some of the messages I am getting. Not comments on here, messages.
Anyway, good evening.
ben
Did it work? I have no clue. I will go out and check in a while. I'm thinking that it takes several applications of the stuff to get rid of them completely.
I have 2 Koi left out of the 10, I think. I did not see any fish bodies floating around today, but, I couldn't locate them either.
A shocker.
I put the dogs outside - I do that when they are getting ancy and wandering around and starting to irritate me with unending visits. I mean, when you have dogs that big, their visits are giants head RIGHT in your face. I can only take so much of that.
Well,they bark at everything that moves by the house. I have found that they ARE barking at something, you just have to catch it. A kid on a skateboard? Bark. I click on video surveillance to catch it. To assure myself that they no, they aren't barking at blades of grass growing. A person on a bicycle, anything where humans are moving on foot or a method of motorvation that doesn't include automobiles. Fortunately, they do not bark at every friggin' car that goes by.
So, they're out their barking about 30 minutes ago. I click on video surveillance - it's always on, I just have to bring up the screen.
There is a familiar red pickup on my screen. It's the Army Reservist! In full blown military uniform, she comes walking up to the gate, ignores the barking dogs (my dogs can be ignored, they won't bite anyone, but, people that don't know them wouldn't know that), walks to my back door, knocks and walks in.
Yup, for now, she's back. A bit of a discussion ensued - I'm very interested in this life of hers in the Army Reserve and what it entails. She calls it part-time military. She stated that her unit is slated to go to Afghanistan in April of 2012, but she is volunteering to go before then. She is true blue military, she knows nothing else she wants to do in life. My hat's off to her and everyone like her. Without those people, what would the U.S. be like? She isn't there because she has to be there, she is there because she totally LOVES it.
Here's the part that, at least temporarily, saves my @$$: she hands me a full month's rent. That money will all be going to bills. There is nothing else to do with it. Well, there is, obviously, there is nothing else that I can RESPONSIBLY do with it.
If I want to do something during my staycation, which starts after work in 2 days and goes on for 9 days straight, I will be hitting up my coin stash. It's enough to go to a waterpark, the movies, whatever. Any money handed me by tenants is going to eletricity, water, bills. No, really, it is. I'm not into losing the house, car, electric going off, water being shut off, whatever.
I do remember one time, years ago, my water was shut off - non-payment. They turn the valve off out front and then put a lock on it. The lock was too big for the hole, it was easy enough to turn the ball valve head enough to get the water back on - at full pressure even if the thing wasn't turned to a fully on position.
Stealing? They thought so. I did not, I have to have water to survive and I fully intended on paying up the bill on my next paycheck after they had done that. They came back a few days later, turned the valve back off and left a note in the meter box - where the meter and valve is - to NOT disturb the valve or "serious" consequences" would ensue. I cared not. I turned it right back on. The next day, I came home from work and they had shut it off again, with a much more dramatic note - I don't remember what it said because I didn't care.
I turned the water back on. Note that turning the water back on did not mean breaking their lock, it simply meant turning the valve as far as it would go with their lock still being in place. Which doesn't actually condone my actions, but, again, a house without water is not a house. The toilet use is the first thing that comes to mind.
They shut the water off again the next day with some vivid not of police and this and that. I again turned on the water, but now? I had the money to pay off the bill, which I did. They informed me on the phone that they would be by the next day to turn the water back on, I informed them to take their time, the water was already on. Well, sir, you aren't supposed to do THAT. No, I replied, I'm probably not, but have you ever lived without running water?
The conversation was moot, I in no way tried to hide the fact that I had repeatedly turned the water back on after they had shut it off, but, again, my conscience was clear enough: I was going to repay them fully.
Well, whatever. I have "fond" memories of doing whatever in the past. In another place I lived, they shut off the gas. Yes, I have had financial issues in the past, severe. It was winter, the house was cold and shutting off the gas also meant no cooking in that particular place.
I learned, that night, how to turn the gas back on. First off, I did have to cut a lock this time. There was no getting around it. I took a Sawzall, cut it off in less than 30 seconds. Turned it on - nothing. No idea.
Unhooked that big meter from the unions that attached it to the pipe - there were rubber stoppers they had installed to keep gas from flowing in case someone like me came along thinking they were going to turn it back on. I removed those, rehooked the thing, turned the gas on, sprayed everything with a soap formula to check for leaks, no leaks, re-lighted everything, walaah.
I dunno, I guess they check up on such things, because they were back at my doorstep one night, not day, late, asking me who turned the gas back on. I said nothing, if I recall correctly. They said if it happened again, they would remove the meter. Okay, whatever.
I'm not going to say I was feeling GOOD about what I had done, but, with a kid and trying to survive and with full intention of paying up the bill, I wasn't losing sleep about it, either. They did come back - and they did remove the meter. Yes, I cut the new lock off and yes, I turned it back on after they left.
Their meter? No problem. A vacant lot across the street had a meter - all of those meters are owned by the gas company, not the lot owner, so, I justified to myself if no-one else that I was only transferring something they owned from one place to another. I installed that meter.
They apparently did not come back checking. I dunno. I finally got the money and paid up the bill. They said they would send someone out. They did. The man that showed up came knocking on my door. "I was sent out here to turn on the gas, but it looks like someone from my company already did so, the meter is installed and flowing". Did I dare tell this guy what I had done? No, I think not. I smiled and said thank you for coming, guess it's all taken care of.
Could you call it unethical? Yes, I suppose you could. Many people I know have never been in survival mode. They have had all the money and then some that they need. Their biggest worry is trying to get the new iPad, not keeping utilities on. I'm not condemning them, I'm simply saying, there is a totally different mindset when it comes to dire need. Need does not necessarily condone deceit or theft, in fact, it doesn't really. But, when it's 110 out and the electricity is off, or it's 10 degrees out and the gas isn't on, or it's WHATEVER temperature and the water isn't running, the mind can conjure up many things to justify something you normally wouldn't even think about.
Which isn't my mindset now. I have no desire to have anything shut off. Pay the freaking bill. If I can't, call them. If that doesn't do anything, figure something out. If that doesn't work, down the line of thought/analysis until whatever - it's all out. Then the lines have to be chosen to cross or not cross.
Whatever. I don't know how I get on that subject, but I do.
Monsoon season is here. Rains haven't come yet. I would like that to start, but traditionally not until next month. The sky watering my plants would help immensely. Do you remember when you could stand outside when it's raining, look up towards the sky and open your mouth? I do, as a little kid. I also used to eat raw beef. Yes, totally uncooked. Then came the age - pollutants and chemicals and this that and the other thing.
That's enough for one entry. I am finding more and more readers - not that I'm looking for them - but people I know, have known or people that found this place - however. My Cafe World posts are all over the Google internet. Other types of postings as well. Amazing some of the messages I am getting. Not comments on here, messages.
Anyway, good evening.
ben
Wednesday
Last day of June.
I would like to hear - knowing it is impossible so a rhetorical question - a date/specific day when this oil gusher is going to be turned off? Anyone have an answer to that question? Does anyone not believe that there is enough oil down there to eventually pollute ALL of the water? You think millions and millions of gallons of oil is just going to stay in the Gulf of Mexico, that it won't eventually start heading out? If it ALL heads towards GoP's shores, the world should count itself lucky, really, the shorelines are already devastated.
I keep hearing that BP is the world's leader in knowledge about these things. Great, they haven't exactly done much of anything to stop this shit, there are other oil drilling companies and there are also companies whose sole business is to stop gushers. Is there not some other expertise out there, anywhere, that might have something to put on the table? Look, I am not opposed to drilling for oil, but what happens if this happens again? And again? Perhaps we should reconsider this technique of drilling a mile underwater and then drilling miles down under THAT. We can't exactly go down there and deal with it.
I'm getting a little spooked, I guess, about this gusher, I think a lot of people are. There is no end in sight. Meanwhile, apparently people are boycotting BP gas stations. I had no idea that Arco is owned by BP - plenty of those around here. I don't use Arco stations, if I were inclined to boycott them it would have zero impact on me. I don't use them because they charge 50 cents to use the debit or credit machinery to pay for your fuel - a thing NO-ONE else does around these parts.
Meanwhile, I remain amused at this guy who is relentlessly running an ad, day after day after day, attempting to sell his used, pre-formed ponds for $500. He has a large pond I would love to get my hands on. I really have no money for such right now - but for the right price,I would go through my change in my closet and come up with it. Yes, I have a lot of change in there. I'm guessing minimum $100, probably more worth. I have been saving it for a while now. I just empty out my pockets and dump it all in there. There are 4, good sized containers filled to the top with change, and much of it is not pennies.
He will not, however, come down to a good price. Well, I got him down to $150 for a 2 pond setup with the sump and bio filter. It's actually a killer deal, but - whatever. If I offer him $100 he will probably be insulted. At the same time, those ponds are just sitting there, in his yard, doing nothing and HAVE been since he started putting those ads up some 2 MONTHS ago. Lol.
No, money is tied up in bills right now. Better off leaving those coins in there for emergency backup if it becomes necessary. Actually, I am now seriously considering paying off one of the 401k loans and then getting a larger loan in it's place. Still in the consideration phase, I would rather not. If I can make it through the summer, my electric bills and water usage will go back down - shedding some $250 at least per month. No, more than that, minimum $300 down including water. I have 2 months of hell heat to go to make it to where the temps just start to creep back down. 100 degree days are far better than 112 - today's expected high - in terms of electricity used to cool the house.
The white flies are not gone - at all. The exterminator said when his man came out that they would put Dawn dishwashing liquid in the mixture and it would kill them off by suffocating them. Well, it didn't happen and those damned things are slowly killing off my lantannas. I bought a huge bottle of it on sale yesterday at Fry's - $2.99 was the sale plus a coupon I was given at the register. I don't know if the guy just didn't put enough of that stuff in the mixture or what, but I can't continue to watch my plants dying off. They are still quite salvagable if I can get those freaking flies out of there. I'll be doing that today or tomorrow when the sun starts going down, I want the moisture to get everywhere and stay everywhere for a while. In the direct sunlight, that stuff will just dry up - too fast - and I don't wonder if that's part of the problem.
I guess I'll find out tomorrow if this Army reservist is coming back or not, since I haven't heard a single word from her. I have had a dilemna in whether to return her mail or keep it for her waiting for her to come back. One of those pieces of a mail is an IRS tax refund that's been sitting there about a month now. If she doesn't return tomorrow or at least contact me, all of that stuff is getting returned to sender.
Umm, work day approaches and there is plenty to do. It's the last day of the month, so they will be pushing to get whatever is in the system - delivered and on the books.
Later.
ben
I would like to hear - knowing it is impossible so a rhetorical question - a date/specific day when this oil gusher is going to be turned off? Anyone have an answer to that question? Does anyone not believe that there is enough oil down there to eventually pollute ALL of the water? You think millions and millions of gallons of oil is just going to stay in the Gulf of Mexico, that it won't eventually start heading out? If it ALL heads towards GoP's shores, the world should count itself lucky, really, the shorelines are already devastated.
I keep hearing that BP is the world's leader in knowledge about these things. Great, they haven't exactly done much of anything to stop this shit, there are other oil drilling companies and there are also companies whose sole business is to stop gushers. Is there not some other expertise out there, anywhere, that might have something to put on the table? Look, I am not opposed to drilling for oil, but what happens if this happens again? And again? Perhaps we should reconsider this technique of drilling a mile underwater and then drilling miles down under THAT. We can't exactly go down there and deal with it.
I'm getting a little spooked, I guess, about this gusher, I think a lot of people are. There is no end in sight. Meanwhile, apparently people are boycotting BP gas stations. I had no idea that Arco is owned by BP - plenty of those around here. I don't use Arco stations, if I were inclined to boycott them it would have zero impact on me. I don't use them because they charge 50 cents to use the debit or credit machinery to pay for your fuel - a thing NO-ONE else does around these parts.
Meanwhile, I remain amused at this guy who is relentlessly running an ad, day after day after day, attempting to sell his used, pre-formed ponds for $500. He has a large pond I would love to get my hands on. I really have no money for such right now - but for the right price,I would go through my change in my closet and come up with it. Yes, I have a lot of change in there. I'm guessing minimum $100, probably more worth. I have been saving it for a while now. I just empty out my pockets and dump it all in there. There are 4, good sized containers filled to the top with change, and much of it is not pennies.
He will not, however, come down to a good price. Well, I got him down to $150 for a 2 pond setup with the sump and bio filter. It's actually a killer deal, but - whatever. If I offer him $100 he will probably be insulted. At the same time, those ponds are just sitting there, in his yard, doing nothing and HAVE been since he started putting those ads up some 2 MONTHS ago. Lol.
No, money is tied up in bills right now. Better off leaving those coins in there for emergency backup if it becomes necessary. Actually, I am now seriously considering paying off one of the 401k loans and then getting a larger loan in it's place. Still in the consideration phase, I would rather not. If I can make it through the summer, my electric bills and water usage will go back down - shedding some $250 at least per month. No, more than that, minimum $300 down including water. I have 2 months of hell heat to go to make it to where the temps just start to creep back down. 100 degree days are far better than 112 - today's expected high - in terms of electricity used to cool the house.
The white flies are not gone - at all. The exterminator said when his man came out that they would put Dawn dishwashing liquid in the mixture and it would kill them off by suffocating them. Well, it didn't happen and those damned things are slowly killing off my lantannas. I bought a huge bottle of it on sale yesterday at Fry's - $2.99 was the sale plus a coupon I was given at the register. I don't know if the guy just didn't put enough of that stuff in the mixture or what, but I can't continue to watch my plants dying off. They are still quite salvagable if I can get those freaking flies out of there. I'll be doing that today or tomorrow when the sun starts going down, I want the moisture to get everywhere and stay everywhere for a while. In the direct sunlight, that stuff will just dry up - too fast - and I don't wonder if that's part of the problem.
I guess I'll find out tomorrow if this Army reservist is coming back or not, since I haven't heard a single word from her. I have had a dilemna in whether to return her mail or keep it for her waiting for her to come back. One of those pieces of a mail is an IRS tax refund that's been sitting there about a month now. If she doesn't return tomorrow or at least contact me, all of that stuff is getting returned to sender.
Umm, work day approaches and there is plenty to do. It's the last day of the month, so they will be pushing to get whatever is in the system - delivered and on the books.
Later.
ben
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Tuesday
Another child has died in a pool drowning. I was writing about this yesterday and then, later on, I see that news. Unbelievable. Kid "somehow" got into the pool area, gets into the pool, dies. Again, every single year we go through this nonsense in this area. Lots of homes have pools in the back yards, replete with kids, some of them with very small children that don't know how to swim. Recipe for disaster. If I had small kids, I simply would not have a house with a pool. I don't have a pool anyway. They're a lot of work to keep clean and keep the ph levels balanced and keeping algae out of them.
Besides the fact I already have enough water being used on the property.
The pirates are at it again - well they never stopped, I should say they're back in the news again. This time, 19 sailors are captured on a chemical tanker ship carrying some sort of poisonous chemical used in making antifreeze. Nice. I'd like to see another raid of one of these pirate-held ships and see a good outcome - they die the sailors live and everyone excepting the pirates go on with their lives.
Yesterday, an old friend that I know from my missionary days wrote me a message on my Facebook account. Says Bill Lowery is doing services at a renowned Atlanta church. I write him back and tell him that I have absolutely no respect, whatsoever, for Bill Lowery and that he is a piece of garbage whose god is money.
I know, harsh words, but the name brought back vivid, vile memories of being under the "leadership" of a man whose actions caused no small amount of grief for unknown amounts of people - I say that because the implications of some of the things he has done are far-reaching. I started looking up this guy - he is STILL at it? The last I heard, he had bought a dude ranch in New Mexico and was doing some sort of cowboy stuff.
Come to find out this dude is living HERE, in Arizona!! I could go into the amazing amount of things that he did to me personally, but it would take too long. I'll relate just one of them, and this isn't even the worst of it.
I was preaching in a shopping mall in Decatur, Illinois. Long story short: I was arrested for trespassing on private property. Went to court/trial, I lost, but not really, I spent the time in the court room preaching as I had no defense and didn't really care. The judge was nice about it but still gave me a $200 fine if I recall the amount correctly. We - there was another guy with me that had also been arrested - were in jail and the ministry was taking up offerings for us so we could be released.
Bypassing too much information to go into, when I got out, I went up and asked Bill Lowery about these offerings and was he going to pay these fines with that money? Yes, was his rely. I asked him several times after that to ensure I wasn't going to end up in jail again for contempt of court. He told me it had already been paid.
Skip forward several years, I'm back in Illinois visiting a friend. I get pulled over in my pickup for having a busted headlight. I'm sitting in 10 degree weather waiting for these police to write me the ticket and I'll be on my way. Instead, I'm taken to county jail and then the next day hauled down to Decatur some 150 miles away. The sheriff that was transporting me remembered me from the incident at the shopping mall. He told me that my actions had created quite a stir and that one of the officers had actually quit the force because of the things I had told that officer who had claimed he was Christian.
I get down there, eventually get before the judge: 2 bench warrants for same thing, contempt of court, the fine had never been paid. I call Bill Lowery - he happens to be at the main headquarters in El Paso with the entire world's leaders that had come in for a conference from, yes around the world. Instead of dealing with this himself, he puts me on speakerphone. I begin to relate the story of what Bill Lowery had done. A huge argument erupts from the leaders to the point that I couldn't tell what was being said. I called Lowery a liar and a thief who had taken money that was specifically donated for my jail costs and used it for himself.
I have to tell you, I wanted to hit that man, hard, several times. I was glad we were not face to face or I would have also gone to jail all over gone for aggravated assault.
Last night, I find this guy has started a ministry in Tucson. I speak to some people that are at what used to be his old ministry and they say he is still banished from that ministry and has no part in it whatsoever, even though he was the founder of it. The reason? Money. It was always about money. The guy is a used car salesman with minister's clothing on. This is confirmed by people that know him the WORLD over.
I wonder what kind of scam he is using now and look into the website. It all looks good "on paper", but once you know a person and that person does the same thing, over and over for decades running, you know there is more to the story. Well, Lowery has his personal cell phone number posted on the site! Yes, I called it. He was sitting in a room with the pastor of that church, they were going over notes just before the service was about to begin. I wondered why he even bothered to answer the phone with that kind of impending schedule going on. I spoke to him, he didn't recognize me. He WOULD remember my name, oh yes. I started in on him, he actually hands the phone over to the pastor.
So, I started telling the pastor about his past. The pastor informs me he has known him for 36 years. Yes, well not like I and others that were WITH him know him. It went on for awhile - the man said he would call me back, love to discuss with this guy this person preaching in his church.
Yes, it stirred up old memories.
BAD memories. Like the time I went to the airport here in Phoenix to pick him and his assistant up. My ex-wife had been in a serious car accident and was in a hospital not 3 miles from the airport. Note that she had been with the ministry for something like 15 YEARS at that point. This guy? "I don't have time to go see her". I got mad. Then, we're leaving the airport, he tells me he needs the car. Huh? It was a ministry car, yes, but they had given it to me to use while she was recovering from the accident. This guy wants me to pull over and - do whatever - to get home. I was appalled. I got REALLY mad. I took the keys out of the car, I was going to throw them into the desert, if he could find them, good for him, if not, I didn't give a damn. Again, another situation where I had to walk away from this guy because I was infuriated. His assistant, a man I knew very well, got out and apologized for Lowery's stupidity and handed me enough money to take a taxi home. Lowery was just going to leave me STRANDED there. ASSHOLE. Not sorry to say it. Again, that's just one OTHER story, I could go on.
I am going to revisit this with this "man". He picked the wrong state to move to and try his shit in. I live 100 or less miles from him now. Not that I'm going to DO anything, isn't worth it. I am going to be calling him. He will have to get his cell phone number changed and will have to keep it off his website.
Anyway, the work day looms, I'm outta here.
ben
Besides the fact I already have enough water being used on the property.
The pirates are at it again - well they never stopped, I should say they're back in the news again. This time, 19 sailors are captured on a chemical tanker ship carrying some sort of poisonous chemical used in making antifreeze. Nice. I'd like to see another raid of one of these pirate-held ships and see a good outcome - they die the sailors live and everyone excepting the pirates go on with their lives.
Yesterday, an old friend that I know from my missionary days wrote me a message on my Facebook account. Says Bill Lowery is doing services at a renowned Atlanta church. I write him back and tell him that I have absolutely no respect, whatsoever, for Bill Lowery and that he is a piece of garbage whose god is money.
I know, harsh words, but the name brought back vivid, vile memories of being under the "leadership" of a man whose actions caused no small amount of grief for unknown amounts of people - I say that because the implications of some of the things he has done are far-reaching. I started looking up this guy - he is STILL at it? The last I heard, he had bought a dude ranch in New Mexico and was doing some sort of cowboy stuff.
Come to find out this dude is living HERE, in Arizona!! I could go into the amazing amount of things that he did to me personally, but it would take too long. I'll relate just one of them, and this isn't even the worst of it.
I was preaching in a shopping mall in Decatur, Illinois. Long story short: I was arrested for trespassing on private property. Went to court/trial, I lost, but not really, I spent the time in the court room preaching as I had no defense and didn't really care. The judge was nice about it but still gave me a $200 fine if I recall the amount correctly. We - there was another guy with me that had also been arrested - were in jail and the ministry was taking up offerings for us so we could be released.
Bypassing too much information to go into, when I got out, I went up and asked Bill Lowery about these offerings and was he going to pay these fines with that money? Yes, was his rely. I asked him several times after that to ensure I wasn't going to end up in jail again for contempt of court. He told me it had already been paid.
Skip forward several years, I'm back in Illinois visiting a friend. I get pulled over in my pickup for having a busted headlight. I'm sitting in 10 degree weather waiting for these police to write me the ticket and I'll be on my way. Instead, I'm taken to county jail and then the next day hauled down to Decatur some 150 miles away. The sheriff that was transporting me remembered me from the incident at the shopping mall. He told me that my actions had created quite a stir and that one of the officers had actually quit the force because of the things I had told that officer who had claimed he was Christian.
I get down there, eventually get before the judge: 2 bench warrants for same thing, contempt of court, the fine had never been paid. I call Bill Lowery - he happens to be at the main headquarters in El Paso with the entire world's leaders that had come in for a conference from, yes around the world. Instead of dealing with this himself, he puts me on speakerphone. I begin to relate the story of what Bill Lowery had done. A huge argument erupts from the leaders to the point that I couldn't tell what was being said. I called Lowery a liar and a thief who had taken money that was specifically donated for my jail costs and used it for himself.
I have to tell you, I wanted to hit that man, hard, several times. I was glad we were not face to face or I would have also gone to jail all over gone for aggravated assault.
Last night, I find this guy has started a ministry in Tucson. I speak to some people that are at what used to be his old ministry and they say he is still banished from that ministry and has no part in it whatsoever, even though he was the founder of it. The reason? Money. It was always about money. The guy is a used car salesman with minister's clothing on. This is confirmed by people that know him the WORLD over.
I wonder what kind of scam he is using now and look into the website. It all looks good "on paper", but once you know a person and that person does the same thing, over and over for decades running, you know there is more to the story. Well, Lowery has his personal cell phone number posted on the site! Yes, I called it. He was sitting in a room with the pastor of that church, they were going over notes just before the service was about to begin. I wondered why he even bothered to answer the phone with that kind of impending schedule going on. I spoke to him, he didn't recognize me. He WOULD remember my name, oh yes. I started in on him, he actually hands the phone over to the pastor.
So, I started telling the pastor about his past. The pastor informs me he has known him for 36 years. Yes, well not like I and others that were WITH him know him. It went on for awhile - the man said he would call me back, love to discuss with this guy this person preaching in his church.
Yes, it stirred up old memories.
BAD memories. Like the time I went to the airport here in Phoenix to pick him and his assistant up. My ex-wife had been in a serious car accident and was in a hospital not 3 miles from the airport. Note that she had been with the ministry for something like 15 YEARS at that point. This guy? "I don't have time to go see her". I got mad. Then, we're leaving the airport, he tells me he needs the car. Huh? It was a ministry car, yes, but they had given it to me to use while she was recovering from the accident. This guy wants me to pull over and - do whatever - to get home. I was appalled. I got REALLY mad. I took the keys out of the car, I was going to throw them into the desert, if he could find them, good for him, if not, I didn't give a damn. Again, another situation where I had to walk away from this guy because I was infuriated. His assistant, a man I knew very well, got out and apologized for Lowery's stupidity and handed me enough money to take a taxi home. Lowery was just going to leave me STRANDED there. ASSHOLE. Not sorry to say it. Again, that's just one OTHER story, I could go on.
I am going to revisit this with this "man". He picked the wrong state to move to and try his shit in. I live 100 or less miles from him now. Not that I'm going to DO anything, isn't worth it. I am going to be calling him. He will have to get his cell phone number changed and will have to keep it off his website.
Anyway, the work day looms, I'm outta here.
ben
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