"- The following is the latest scoop on the changing world of logistics. The trucking shortage is still there although more trucks have successfully made it back onto the roadways. Now we have something new to worry about. By the end of this year our government (the DOT) is expected to roll out the "Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010" which is a safe trucking directive. A driver's bad safety record will become a liability to a motor carrier's safety rating. A driver's history of tickets, crashes, and other violations will effect their employer's safety rating. Trucking company's will be expected to keep ratings above a certain level to stay in business. Motor carriers will be forced to employ the safest drivers available. This will probably raise freight rates. Furthermore, the government will require on board electronic recorders that monitor driver activity. The hours of service laws will be enforced. Motor carriers who do not abide by the hours of service laws will have their licence revoked. All this adds cost. The government expects 10% of the current driver pool will be disqualified as soon as the new laws are announced. If drivers get wrote up for a load securement violation such as an improperly hooked chain, it will carry the same penalty as a driver getting a DUI. The new laws will also place some liability on the shipper. If a service center uses the cheapest carriers and disregards their low "rating" they could be held liable if an accident occurs. All of the above points to higher cost shipping and a new facet to sourcing transportation based on a safety record. Maybe our freight quotes next year will look like rental agreements. Would you like to waive the logistics liability insurance mister customer? Initial here and sign here ...... "
WHAT is wrong with this crap?
I heard even MORE from other sources today. Body fat index will be used. At whatever level they determine, if you are above that, the doc will not pass you, you don't get a renewed med card, you're driving career is toast. There are plenty of "fat" people out there that are quite healthy. This is nothing short of an outrage. I am not fat, well, I'm 10 pounds overweight, not enough, I would hope, to have me disqualified.
The entire thing is outrageous. 10% of drivers will be disqualified when this new system is put into place? Folks, that is a LOT of drivers - I just looked it up: there are an estimated 3.5 million truck drivers in the U.S. Take out 350,000 of them and then what? Take out even more for minor infractions as this thing evolves, inspections are one and drivers are faulted.
This is scary stuff - to say the least. My career - and really ANY trucker's career - is in jeopardy. We apparently are supposed to be perfect, make no mistakes and one mistake is going to cost you - DEARLY.
But, that isn't really the worst of it. A huge portion of America's goods are transported on trucks. For the material transported on rail, a good portion of that has to be transported from a rail station to - wherever - via a truck. Alleged statistics declare that 70% of America's freight is delivered via truck. Estimated 255.5 BILLION total revenues generated. That's a quarter of a TRILLION dollars. Let's NEVER get too comfortable with the word trillion and the government being put together in the same sentence. BILLIONS - when first coming into the horizon years and years ago, was appalling to me. But TRILLIONS? NO-ONE should EVER be comfortable with a government that is willing to get into THAT kind of indebtedness to the likes of nations such as China.
Of the material that is directly delivered via rail to a corporation with the use of a truck, it is almost always true that a TRUCK has to take that material from that place to wherever it is sold.
The point is clear and obvious. First off, 350,000 truck drivers instantaneously out of work. Second, as truck drivers are disqualified after that initial fact, less and less goods will make it to the stores on time. Meaning empty shelves in your grocery stores. Kmart's and Sears and WalMarts will be short of qualified drivers. The remaining pool? What, you think we're going to sit here and be forced to live under all these EXTREME baggage of regulation and not want more in terms of pay rates to compensate?
There is no perfect driver, we all make mistakes. It becomes obvious that making a mistake can cost a driver - and dearly. What am I going to do if I get caught in a mistake - a simple one - it puts points onto my record and I lose my job?
This is going to escalate out of control. Public outcry will occur when all of this starts hitting the stores and shops and outlets that you go to which rely on trucks to bring your goods there. News stories will start cropping up and people are going to see WHY the store's shelves are empty.
The economy is already trashed, this is going to make it MUCH worse. I haven't read that ANYWHERE, but I am making a logical assumption.
So, I get a ticket from a camera that tells Redflex that I am speeding and I am issued a ticket. I was NOT driving a commercial vehicle. It goes against my commercial driver's license, anyway, if I lose in court. I can't go to driving school because the feds revoked that opportunity years ago now: commercial license = no school, period.
Now, I have to be nervous about this situation again. I MUST win, however that entails within moral limits. I have done my homework, I am doing more. BUT, if I lose in the lower court, is it not now prudent for me to get a lawyer for an appeals court? Too bad I can't possibly afford a lawyer right now.
However, I have identified yet another "loophole", if you will, in the signage. I took pics while driving down the freeway today - no warning signs that you are about to enter a photo radar enforcement zone. MUST have by state law. Let them prove that they were there at the time of the offense, they can't, there are no pictures of it on that day.
My head is full of this stuff. I would have made a good lawyer, I do believe. I love the challenge, I love reading endless documents, state law, articles, opinions about a court challenge when I am personally involved with it. I stopped writing this entry to read even more. Another hour's worth.
Well, onto other things. I will be prepared for court in 2 days, yes I will. No guarantee of a win, but I WILL be prepared.
Ummm, well, I got a raise today. I will not speak here what the amount is because - I have no idea if, out of some remote possibility, co-workers from other branches might possibly know about my blog here and perhaps, happen to read this blog at any given time. I have no idea what other drivers might have received, therefore, I am only going to say that it was a decent raise considering the economy and I was happy to get it. You don't expect a raise when the economy is sour - even toxic. Kudos to my company, I have always liked working for this corporation. Even greater kudos to our region's general manager - he's down to earth, has an open-door policy and makes it easy enough for a man in his position to talk to and even make requests.
Though, I am not making requests right now. I am happy to be employed. Whatever problems - small problems I would add considering employment I have had in the past - I have are moot. I care but I don't care. I swirl things around in my mind and then dismiss them - it's bad times we're going through, deal with it, benb, deal with it.
It just sucks that on the homefront, I have such severe financial problems. It isn't all bad, just FAR from optimal.
I did go out there and dig today - but only for a short while. It is very humid out there coupled with high heat, I don't want anything to do with it.
I have to be AT work at 4:45 am in the morning. That means getting up at or even a little before 4:00 am. I'm tired thinking about it. I'm going to bed in 1 hour - 8:00 pm. I have been sleeping better for several days in a row now.
There is more, but I have enough to do in the next hour before bed that I must be about it.
G'nite.
ben
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Learning How To Beat Photo Radar Ticket In Arizona
I have dived fully into the real of this business since my court date is only 3 days away. The more I read, the more I am convinced that I can win. However, I am also convinced that to be able to win, I will have to appeal it to the next higher court, as the lower courts apparently ignore law, procedural error and rules concerning such.
There are several fronts I will attack this on.
1. The contract that Redflex had with the State of Arizona has ended, as of July 15th. Redflex sends EMPLOYEES to court, not lawyers. The state made a provision to allow those employees to present evidence -- but it is becoming clear that that is ONLY while a contract it in full force.
There IS no contract with the State of Arizona now, they have no legal standing to represent Arizona in the courts.
2. The signature on the complaint. I looked at the complaint today as I read that by Arizona law, the complaint MUST be signed by a police officer - hand signed. The lawyers win -- in appeals court because lower courts ignore it -- these cases because the complaints are COMPUTER GENERATED. Yes, my complaint was signed by a computer, not by a living, human being. The signature is placed there BEFORE the facts are reviewed, was I the driver of the car and so forth.
3. Because the contract ended, the signs indicating that you are about to enter a Photo Enforcement Zone have been taken down. 2 signs are REQUIRED by state law to be posted before you get to the cameras. Were those signs present when I entered the Photo Enforcement Zone? Don't know, don't care. I ignore the signs, I have seen the signs over and over - whatever they say, it's irrelevant, you KNOW you are coming into a photo enforcement zone.
Those are 3, irrefutable ways for me to win my case. I fully expect that I will have to file an appeal in Superior Court to win. There are more grounds, however, to bring up.
Was my speed "reasonable and prudent"? A police officer uses his/her judgement in such cases. Are there pedestrians? Is it near a school? In a residential area? Is there a broken down car? Is there an accident? on and on. I was on a freeway with none of that going on. The cameras ONLY see the car, nothing else that is going on. A computer generated system cannot determine what is reasonable and prudent. Further, the zone where these cameras are located had the speed limit raised from 55mph to 65mph. Apparently the engineers who determined the speed were - what - wrong about the first assumption?
The picture itself. I look at the picture and there is glare on the windshield. I was leaning back - alleging that it is me driving - the rear view mirror is partially blocking my face. The glare is so bad, I cannot tell that it's me driving the car.
If I lose in the lower court, I WILL be appealing. 3 points on my record if I lose, I have a commercial license, I MUST fight it.
Onto other things (so if you came here looking for info on photo radar and how to beat it, well, it ends here. I suggest you get the book written by Susan Kaylor: SMILE for the speed camera! I got my copy on Amazon. Also, do a lot of reading on the internet, search Arizona statute photo radar. The book, btw, is not Arizona specific but does have a lot of references to Arizona, good luck!)
Fish. Well, they were having sex again today when I came home and went out there. Lol. Busy beavers. A crow keeps coming around - I don't know if he's looking for a meal, but those fish are much bigger than that crow. I suppose it's just interested in the water and bathing itself. Heron cannot access that pond, that I know of anyway, they have to be able to step into the pond and since it isn't in the ground, they cannot do that.
The humidity - along with high heat - is still up. You will sweat just standing there, as I was for over an hour dealing with a pump that decided to quit and cleaning out the bio-filter. The pumps get clogged with junk and you have to take them apart and clean them out. No biggies, but both pumps were clogged. One of them wasn't pumping water. Yes, they are now both working again. This is why I got the air pumps. Their only job is to pump air through plastic tubing to long aeration blocks. This is a backup - if the pumps quit, the water is still being aerated.
Will I get out there and dig today? Not sure yet, I am spending time reading all kinds of stuff about photo radar, though, at this point, I think I have enough to win the case, even if it has to be appealed. Still, I like to be ready for court. I mean THOROUGHLY ready, as much as a non-lawyer can be. I am not just reading the book and going through websites with all kinds of people chiming in, I am also going through ARS – TITLE 28 TRANSPORTATION of State statutes - and not finding anything but one blurp about photo radar. Either more is found elsewhere or there IS not more, I'm not sure yet, will continue searching.
I have come up with my own arguments now that this program is ended, the contract is severed and I do not believe that Redflex has any statutatorial right to even BE in the courtroom unless they are spectators.
Oh, my water Hyacinth. They are coming back to life. I believe the reason they were dying is that the goldfish were eating their roots. They float with their roots drifting down below them. The roots are the beneficial thing for your pond - they absorb nasty stuff. Basically, water Hyacinth and that pond are not going to work. I will bring them back to life - fully - and simply have a large container full of them as a plant feature in itself. I have the other ponds, a smaller pond with smaller fish - maybe it would work.
Of course, digging out the holes for such is a totally different story......
I received the new pump today. I'm new to this, I am learning as I go. The pump is WAY too big. I should have gone with a 500 or 600 gph pump, not an almost 900 gph pump. I'm not sure that I'm going to be able to even use it in the new setup - but one can be assured that I will try, cause' now? I own it. I'm thinking it might work very well for the waterfall that I almost completed building and have not finished yet. A lot of water, a lot of aeration and cooling. Who knows? Cross that bridge when I get the pond installed.
Onto something that has been bugging me for a long time. But only briefly here, this entry is getting long and to dive into all the facts of this issue - would take 20, long entries. A "man" that I was under on the mission field - who founded the ministry I was serving in - well, he moved to Arizona. I didn't know this until someone brought it to my attention. As I said, it would take FAR too long to go into all of this, but there wa a lot of wrong done. I contacted him - he had his cellphone number posted on his website, based out of Tucson.
When I called, he was in a big church with a pastor in a back room, apparently getting ready to "minister" in church. I began confronting him on these issues. Now that he is only 100 or so miles away, I have no problem driving down there and confronting him, face to face, on these things. He - handed the phone to the pastor. The pastor was totally full of himself. Apparently, his fame is far and wide - I have never heard of him. I don't give respect to men because of their fame, respect is EARNED, not GIVEN AWAY. So you have your face and name plastered all over the place, what does THAT mean? When I told him I had no clue who he was - being totally honest - he got offended! Lol.
But, that pastor isn't the issue. There are lots of pastors around in big churches that are just full of themselves, this is nothing new. The fact that this man I am dealing with handed me over to this pastor was the issue. As in the past, he cannot deal with situations on his own. He has to drag other people that have NOTHING to do with the situation into it to defend him. This pastor? Had NO clue what was going on. He said he was going into church in a few minutes, but could he call me back? Sure, I asked him to write down my number since it was the "minister's" phone I had called. Dunno if he did or not, he said he would call back .......... and never did.
Not surprising. "Big" men in ministry overextend themselves and make promises that they - from my view of it - never intend on keeping. Oh, I could go on, and on, and on from my personal experience with some of these people when I was on the mission field and actively involved in the church - the fact of the matter is - it's a complete waste of time.
Well, I contact this man through his website - the founder, not the pastor. I bring up the past. It is very dark, trust me, it is. I want to get this situation resolved. What does he do? Instead of responding to me, he forwards my email to another leader that was his 2cd in command during the time I was in that ministry. This guy writes him back but puts my email as a cc.
So, I write HIM, since he contacted me. He was and is also - totally full of it. Another long story, I don't have the time or the desire to go into it. He writes back, full of himself, of course, denies everything I stated and tells me to "deal with it". The world loves to tell everyone to deal with it. Well, in this case, to deal with it, I must have open, honest dialogue with the people involved. Since they won't admit blatant, obvious past, there is no connection.
I wrote him again. I have no idea where this is leading, though this number 2 guy used to get physically aggressive in the past and in reading his tones, he has the same views now. I suppose he will threaten me - this is his standard, modus operandi, at least from the 80's and early 90's - if he does then I will have to decide what to do about it.
I have had years to deal with this in my own soul and heart. I am not nearly as affected by this as they obviously are. I would LIKE to have a resolution to it, yes, but if it isn't possible, then so beit. Still, I am going to ride this one out until/if/when it becomes obvious that I am wasting my time, if such a time indeed presents itself.
ben
There are several fronts I will attack this on.
1. The contract that Redflex had with the State of Arizona has ended, as of July 15th. Redflex sends EMPLOYEES to court, not lawyers. The state made a provision to allow those employees to present evidence -- but it is becoming clear that that is ONLY while a contract it in full force.
There IS no contract with the State of Arizona now, they have no legal standing to represent Arizona in the courts.
2. The signature on the complaint. I looked at the complaint today as I read that by Arizona law, the complaint MUST be signed by a police officer - hand signed. The lawyers win -- in appeals court because lower courts ignore it -- these cases because the complaints are COMPUTER GENERATED. Yes, my complaint was signed by a computer, not by a living, human being. The signature is placed there BEFORE the facts are reviewed, was I the driver of the car and so forth.
3. Because the contract ended, the signs indicating that you are about to enter a Photo Enforcement Zone have been taken down. 2 signs are REQUIRED by state law to be posted before you get to the cameras. Were those signs present when I entered the Photo Enforcement Zone? Don't know, don't care. I ignore the signs, I have seen the signs over and over - whatever they say, it's irrelevant, you KNOW you are coming into a photo enforcement zone.
Those are 3, irrefutable ways for me to win my case. I fully expect that I will have to file an appeal in Superior Court to win. There are more grounds, however, to bring up.
Was my speed "reasonable and prudent"? A police officer uses his/her judgement in such cases. Are there pedestrians? Is it near a school? In a residential area? Is there a broken down car? Is there an accident? on and on. I was on a freeway with none of that going on. The cameras ONLY see the car, nothing else that is going on. A computer generated system cannot determine what is reasonable and prudent. Further, the zone where these cameras are located had the speed limit raised from 55mph to 65mph. Apparently the engineers who determined the speed were - what - wrong about the first assumption?
The picture itself. I look at the picture and there is glare on the windshield. I was leaning back - alleging that it is me driving - the rear view mirror is partially blocking my face. The glare is so bad, I cannot tell that it's me driving the car.
If I lose in the lower court, I WILL be appealing. 3 points on my record if I lose, I have a commercial license, I MUST fight it.
Onto other things (so if you came here looking for info on photo radar and how to beat it, well, it ends here. I suggest you get the book written by Susan Kaylor: SMILE for the speed camera! I got my copy on Amazon. Also, do a lot of reading on the internet, search Arizona statute photo radar. The book, btw, is not Arizona specific but does have a lot of references to Arizona, good luck!)
Fish. Well, they were having sex again today when I came home and went out there. Lol. Busy beavers. A crow keeps coming around - I don't know if he's looking for a meal, but those fish are much bigger than that crow. I suppose it's just interested in the water and bathing itself. Heron cannot access that pond, that I know of anyway, they have to be able to step into the pond and since it isn't in the ground, they cannot do that.
The humidity - along with high heat - is still up. You will sweat just standing there, as I was for over an hour dealing with a pump that decided to quit and cleaning out the bio-filter. The pumps get clogged with junk and you have to take them apart and clean them out. No biggies, but both pumps were clogged. One of them wasn't pumping water. Yes, they are now both working again. This is why I got the air pumps. Their only job is to pump air through plastic tubing to long aeration blocks. This is a backup - if the pumps quit, the water is still being aerated.
Will I get out there and dig today? Not sure yet, I am spending time reading all kinds of stuff about photo radar, though, at this point, I think I have enough to win the case, even if it has to be appealed. Still, I like to be ready for court. I mean THOROUGHLY ready, as much as a non-lawyer can be. I am not just reading the book and going through websites with all kinds of people chiming in, I am also going through ARS – TITLE 28 TRANSPORTATION of State statutes - and not finding anything but one blurp about photo radar. Either more is found elsewhere or there IS not more, I'm not sure yet, will continue searching.
I have come up with my own arguments now that this program is ended, the contract is severed and I do not believe that Redflex has any statutatorial right to even BE in the courtroom unless they are spectators.
Oh, my water Hyacinth. They are coming back to life. I believe the reason they were dying is that the goldfish were eating their roots. They float with their roots drifting down below them. The roots are the beneficial thing for your pond - they absorb nasty stuff. Basically, water Hyacinth and that pond are not going to work. I will bring them back to life - fully - and simply have a large container full of them as a plant feature in itself. I have the other ponds, a smaller pond with smaller fish - maybe it would work.
Of course, digging out the holes for such is a totally different story......
I received the new pump today. I'm new to this, I am learning as I go. The pump is WAY too big. I should have gone with a 500 or 600 gph pump, not an almost 900 gph pump. I'm not sure that I'm going to be able to even use it in the new setup - but one can be assured that I will try, cause' now? I own it. I'm thinking it might work very well for the waterfall that I almost completed building and have not finished yet. A lot of water, a lot of aeration and cooling. Who knows? Cross that bridge when I get the pond installed.
Onto something that has been bugging me for a long time. But only briefly here, this entry is getting long and to dive into all the facts of this issue - would take 20, long entries. A "man" that I was under on the mission field - who founded the ministry I was serving in - well, he moved to Arizona. I didn't know this until someone brought it to my attention. As I said, it would take FAR too long to go into all of this, but there wa a lot of wrong done. I contacted him - he had his cellphone number posted on his website, based out of Tucson.
When I called, he was in a big church with a pastor in a back room, apparently getting ready to "minister" in church. I began confronting him on these issues. Now that he is only 100 or so miles away, I have no problem driving down there and confronting him, face to face, on these things. He - handed the phone to the pastor. The pastor was totally full of himself. Apparently, his fame is far and wide - I have never heard of him. I don't give respect to men because of their fame, respect is EARNED, not GIVEN AWAY. So you have your face and name plastered all over the place, what does THAT mean? When I told him I had no clue who he was - being totally honest - he got offended! Lol.
But, that pastor isn't the issue. There are lots of pastors around in big churches that are just full of themselves, this is nothing new. The fact that this man I am dealing with handed me over to this pastor was the issue. As in the past, he cannot deal with situations on his own. He has to drag other people that have NOTHING to do with the situation into it to defend him. This pastor? Had NO clue what was going on. He said he was going into church in a few minutes, but could he call me back? Sure, I asked him to write down my number since it was the "minister's" phone I had called. Dunno if he did or not, he said he would call back .......... and never did.
Not surprising. "Big" men in ministry overextend themselves and make promises that they - from my view of it - never intend on keeping. Oh, I could go on, and on, and on from my personal experience with some of these people when I was on the mission field and actively involved in the church - the fact of the matter is - it's a complete waste of time.
Well, I contact this man through his website - the founder, not the pastor. I bring up the past. It is very dark, trust me, it is. I want to get this situation resolved. What does he do? Instead of responding to me, he forwards my email to another leader that was his 2cd in command during the time I was in that ministry. This guy writes him back but puts my email as a cc.
So, I write HIM, since he contacted me. He was and is also - totally full of it. Another long story, I don't have the time or the desire to go into it. He writes back, full of himself, of course, denies everything I stated and tells me to "deal with it". The world loves to tell everyone to deal with it. Well, in this case, to deal with it, I must have open, honest dialogue with the people involved. Since they won't admit blatant, obvious past, there is no connection.
I wrote him again. I have no idea where this is leading, though this number 2 guy used to get physically aggressive in the past and in reading his tones, he has the same views now. I suppose he will threaten me - this is his standard, modus operandi, at least from the 80's and early 90's - if he does then I will have to decide what to do about it.
I have had years to deal with this in my own soul and heart. I am not nearly as affected by this as they obviously are. I would LIKE to have a resolution to it, yes, but if it isn't possible, then so beit. Still, I am going to ride this one out until/if/when it becomes obvious that I am wasting my time, if such a time indeed presents itself.
ben
Monday
Weekends = disappear like magic.
Poof, they're gone.
Well, so it is.
Drive to work today under dark, overcast skies.
Too bad it doesn't bring the temps down any, it is muggy and nasty feeling outside right now.
Our company announced merit increases as of - this morning when I got in and saw an email about it. I'll take anything I can get right now, the increase starts in August.
Well, anyway, I was on the phone with Direct TV last night - for like 2 hours. I don't really like to put up with their bs, so, sometimes they hang up on me. I talked to - 5,6 don't really remember how many different people I talked to, I kept asking for an American IN America, I didn't want to talk to India, Philippines or Mexico, thank you.
I had no idea they had opened call centers in Tijuana. The manager I was speaking with there lives in San Diego but works in Mexico. Long story, it always is, my desired end result was a reduction in the amount I am paying the company.
My premise was the deals that they had on their website: $34.99 for the same amount of channels I currently have per month; $39.99 for even more channels. I am currently paying $68.99 per month plus the receivers. I FINALLY got to an American manager - it took quite a while and a lot of persistence to get to this person, the conversation was probably 40 minutes just with this one guy.
I did not know that Direct TV was charging me (and everyone else) $7.95 per month for "recording priviledges". Meaning if you have a DVR, you have to pay that fee to be able to record on your DVR. Further, they said that since I had "only" been with them a little over 2 years, I couldn't get the same deal as if I had been with them much longer. Yes, I said, I HAVE been with your company, at least a decade now on 2 separate accounts.
Cutting off the account and starting a new one also, according to them, cuts off your "tenure" with them. Even IF the reason the contract is cancelled is because of a minor little thing such as your house burning down.
Whatever. I removed the "free"movie channels that were no longer free, got the $7.95 fee removed, but only for 6 months (the man adamently stated that was as long as he could go with it, that's all the computer would give him) and then decided to start looking into Dish Network. Dish Network does not require as many receivers as Direct TV - but - the man at Direct TV claims that even though that's true, they charge $14.95 per month for the single receiver. Yes, this conversation went from the depths of the sea to outer space in it's broad ranging aspects of topic.
Oh, and I did get 2 months of other channels free - Showtime to be precise, though I doubt Showtime is any better than Starz. But, free is free, so who cares.
I expected a long, drawn out ordeal to get the information I wanted and I was not let down in that particular aspect. One guy was being cocky and a smart-@$$ - in the Philippines, I wanted to speak to an American representative - so I asked him how his nation's cannibal tribes are doing. Yes, they have cannibals, yes, they eat humans. He replied that one lives at ....and read out my address plus Phoenix, AZ.
Whatever. I got some sort of reduction, I am now going to hone in on Dish Network, get into some conversations over there and ask some pointed questions.
However, I can't do that right now, cause the work day is here, and though there is nothing to do in the truck routing system, I must be offa here.
G'day.
ben
Poof, they're gone.
Well, so it is.
Drive to work today under dark, overcast skies.
Too bad it doesn't bring the temps down any, it is muggy and nasty feeling outside right now.
Our company announced merit increases as of - this morning when I got in and saw an email about it. I'll take anything I can get right now, the increase starts in August.
Well, anyway, I was on the phone with Direct TV last night - for like 2 hours. I don't really like to put up with their bs, so, sometimes they hang up on me. I talked to - 5,6 don't really remember how many different people I talked to, I kept asking for an American IN America, I didn't want to talk to India, Philippines or Mexico, thank you.
I had no idea they had opened call centers in Tijuana. The manager I was speaking with there lives in San Diego but works in Mexico. Long story, it always is, my desired end result was a reduction in the amount I am paying the company.
My premise was the deals that they had on their website: $34.99 for the same amount of channels I currently have per month; $39.99 for even more channels. I am currently paying $68.99 per month plus the receivers. I FINALLY got to an American manager - it took quite a while and a lot of persistence to get to this person, the conversation was probably 40 minutes just with this one guy.
I did not know that Direct TV was charging me (and everyone else) $7.95 per month for "recording priviledges". Meaning if you have a DVR, you have to pay that fee to be able to record on your DVR. Further, they said that since I had "only" been with them a little over 2 years, I couldn't get the same deal as if I had been with them much longer. Yes, I said, I HAVE been with your company, at least a decade now on 2 separate accounts.
Cutting off the account and starting a new one also, according to them, cuts off your "tenure" with them. Even IF the reason the contract is cancelled is because of a minor little thing such as your house burning down.
Whatever. I removed the "free"movie channels that were no longer free, got the $7.95 fee removed, but only for 6 months (the man adamently stated that was as long as he could go with it, that's all the computer would give him) and then decided to start looking into Dish Network. Dish Network does not require as many receivers as Direct TV - but - the man at Direct TV claims that even though that's true, they charge $14.95 per month for the single receiver. Yes, this conversation went from the depths of the sea to outer space in it's broad ranging aspects of topic.
Oh, and I did get 2 months of other channels free - Showtime to be precise, though I doubt Showtime is any better than Starz. But, free is free, so who cares.
I expected a long, drawn out ordeal to get the information I wanted and I was not let down in that particular aspect. One guy was being cocky and a smart-@$$ - in the Philippines, I wanted to speak to an American representative - so I asked him how his nation's cannibal tribes are doing. Yes, they have cannibals, yes, they eat humans. He replied that one lives at ....and read out my address plus Phoenix, AZ.
Whatever. I got some sort of reduction, I am now going to hone in on Dish Network, get into some conversations over there and ask some pointed questions.
However, I can't do that right now, cause the work day is here, and though there is nothing to do in the truck routing system, I must be offa here.
G'day.
ben
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Sunday
Those goldfish sure do like to get it on!! I catch them all the time doing their form of sex. As soon as I walk out there they freak out and disappear at the bottom of the pond.
The 4 new fish are losing their fear of me - I feed them next to a chair I have set up out there and if they wanna eat, they have to come near me to get it. Apparently they are a little less skittish around me at this point - probably because they are hungry!! lol.
Caleb at work today. He said yesterday they were shorthanded and he was out there, in the heat, for 4 straight hours moving carts. Some woman left her 2 little doggies in her car. Another "bust out the window and call the police episode" - people are absolutely STUPID for leaving their animals in the car for even a few minutes. It is also against the law and they can face jail time and serious fines.
I'm cruising towards a $500 month - or even more - in electricity. I have set the thermostat so that's it's about 80 degrees in here during the daytime and a couple degrees cooler at night. Yes, it helps, but there is also the issue of all the showers and laundry. I'm considering a 3 load per week maximum allotment of laundry for each tenant. At least one of them likes to dump small loads in the machines - a waste of water and electricity. Yes, some landlords charge extra for laundry use, or by the load. Others don't even let tenants use their machines, they have to go to a laundromat. I don't want to do any of that, but I do think the freebies run out at 3 loads. Maybe 2, now that I think of it.
Anyway, I have been outside today - yes - but only to take Caleb to work. I have not done anything on the pond holes and probably won't for a while. I will get SOMETHING done on it today, but probably not that much. I have this book to read and get into my head for traffic ticket court on Thursday. Instead, I stopped at Fry's and dumped another $170 onto the card reader card, inserted it into the machine where it told me that that is about 9 days worth of electricity.
Nice. I just realized that the air filter in the AC is probably getting pretty clogged up - going to deal with that in a few minutes. Done.
Cooking 3 inch thick Texas Broil Steak - I have never even seen this stuff at the store I normally shot at. HUGE, thick steaks - HUGE sale as well. $1.77 per pound. Unbelievable. Pan frying it until it's almost done and then take it outside and sear it on the grill for a few minutes on each side. Serving with potatoes, gravy and vegetables.
I'll have to eat a small portion to keep on my diet. Which isn't much of a problem anymore, you know, the stomach shrinking stuff? It doesn't take much at this point and I'm full. I don't get hungry again for quite a while, either.
This entry has been spread out over an entire day, including now - which is 4 hours beyond the last paragraph. I got on the phone with DirecTV.
Direct TV has an incoming call center in Tijuana, Mexico. Umm, I've been calling that company for over a decade now, this was a first. All of it used to be directed to India. Then it was either India or the Philippines. Now, it's the Philippines or Mexico, I have no idea whether India is still in the equation.
Yes, I'm going to complain. Actually, I was just trying to get a better deal rather than switch over to Dish Network.
Ummm, entire day gone, I am ready to go to bed, g'nite.
ben
The 4 new fish are losing their fear of me - I feed them next to a chair I have set up out there and if they wanna eat, they have to come near me to get it. Apparently they are a little less skittish around me at this point - probably because they are hungry!! lol.
Caleb at work today. He said yesterday they were shorthanded and he was out there, in the heat, for 4 straight hours moving carts. Some woman left her 2 little doggies in her car. Another "bust out the window and call the police episode" - people are absolutely STUPID for leaving their animals in the car for even a few minutes. It is also against the law and they can face jail time and serious fines.
I'm cruising towards a $500 month - or even more - in electricity. I have set the thermostat so that's it's about 80 degrees in here during the daytime and a couple degrees cooler at night. Yes, it helps, but there is also the issue of all the showers and laundry. I'm considering a 3 load per week maximum allotment of laundry for each tenant. At least one of them likes to dump small loads in the machines - a waste of water and electricity. Yes, some landlords charge extra for laundry use, or by the load. Others don't even let tenants use their machines, they have to go to a laundromat. I don't want to do any of that, but I do think the freebies run out at 3 loads. Maybe 2, now that I think of it.
Anyway, I have been outside today - yes - but only to take Caleb to work. I have not done anything on the pond holes and probably won't for a while. I will get SOMETHING done on it today, but probably not that much. I have this book to read and get into my head for traffic ticket court on Thursday. Instead, I stopped at Fry's and dumped another $170 onto the card reader card, inserted it into the machine where it told me that that is about 9 days worth of electricity.
Nice. I just realized that the air filter in the AC is probably getting pretty clogged up - going to deal with that in a few minutes. Done.
Cooking 3 inch thick Texas Broil Steak - I have never even seen this stuff at the store I normally shot at. HUGE, thick steaks - HUGE sale as well. $1.77 per pound. Unbelievable. Pan frying it until it's almost done and then take it outside and sear it on the grill for a few minutes on each side. Serving with potatoes, gravy and vegetables.
I'll have to eat a small portion to keep on my diet. Which isn't much of a problem anymore, you know, the stomach shrinking stuff? It doesn't take much at this point and I'm full. I don't get hungry again for quite a while, either.
This entry has been spread out over an entire day, including now - which is 4 hours beyond the last paragraph. I got on the phone with DirecTV.
Direct TV has an incoming call center in Tijuana, Mexico. Umm, I've been calling that company for over a decade now, this was a first. All of it used to be directed to India. Then it was either India or the Philippines. Now, it's the Philippines or Mexico, I have no idea whether India is still in the equation.
Yes, I'm going to complain. Actually, I was just trying to get a better deal rather than switch over to Dish Network.
Ummm, entire day gone, I am ready to go to bed, g'nite.
ben
Saturday, July 17, 2010
A Conversation With Myself
I have complained about the heat long enough. I have been out in it working 5 days a week. I help my manager move 3 days in a row - in extreme heat, in direct sunlight. I have lived in this nonsense for decades now. I shouldn't be complaining. Yes, I am.
However, my excuses, I decided, are not enough to not dig those freaking holes for those ponds. Where do I get off complaining about heat? Okay, it IS hot here - this week saw 2 days of 115 degree highs. It was 109 out there today.
I'm not going to have unfinished projects around here simply because of my whining about how hot it is. START THE FRICKIN' PROJECT, WORK THROUGH IT AND GET IT DONE. Thank you. This was my conversation to myself today - if only in my head.
So, I put on my old boots, my straw, wide-brimmed hat, got a huge cup of ice water and went out there with pick and shovel and started in on this deal. 4 separate times I have been out there today. My modus operandi is to water the ground, dig out what I can and water it some more. The ground I am digging is both very hard and full of rocks. HARD digging and picking. Water helps to loosen up the soil and make the digging easier.
I am now, finally, motivated. I will have that large pond hole dug in a few days - or sooner. There will be a feeder pond to it, I will be happy to get the big one done.
That's it. I have nothing more. There is plenty going on - in my life and in this world, but - today was enough.
G'day.
ben
However, my excuses, I decided, are not enough to not dig those freaking holes for those ponds. Where do I get off complaining about heat? Okay, it IS hot here - this week saw 2 days of 115 degree highs. It was 109 out there today.
I'm not going to have unfinished projects around here simply because of my whining about how hot it is. START THE FRICKIN' PROJECT, WORK THROUGH IT AND GET IT DONE. Thank you. This was my conversation to myself today - if only in my head.
So, I put on my old boots, my straw, wide-brimmed hat, got a huge cup of ice water and went out there with pick and shovel and started in on this deal. 4 separate times I have been out there today. My modus operandi is to water the ground, dig out what I can and water it some more. The ground I am digging is both very hard and full of rocks. HARD digging and picking. Water helps to loosen up the soil and make the digging easier.
I am now, finally, motivated. I will have that large pond hole dug in a few days - or sooner. There will be a feeder pond to it, I will be happy to get the big one done.
That's it. I have nothing more. There is plenty going on - in my life and in this world, but - today was enough.
G'day.
ben
Friday, July 16, 2010
Late Edition
Another one - I didn't finish it, really don't know WHAT happened, posting it anyway.
Number one, I am just as ecstatic as anyone else about the oil gusher being capped, but, I still refrain from becoming too optimistic. They have no idea whether that cap is going to hold or not. Oh, yet, let's hope it does, but after all the past failures, this thing could shoot right off of there and we would be back a square one.
There has, obviously, never been any REAL pre-planning or REAL technology devised to deal with this issue. They are engineering this stuff NOW, not decades ago when they SHOULD have started coming up with this kind of equipment. They aren't fooling anyone. Even if it is a fix that will hold until the well is plugged, the cleanup? How many years? Decades? How much more marine life will die? If their super boat thing that sucks up the oil and water from the ocean, spits out the water and keeps the oil - works, they need to build 20 more of them.
Of course, the real questions I haven't heard answered. Why didn't their failsafes work? Why did they ignore the warning signs that "something" wasn't right? On and on.
I came home from work to find my pond with the fishies in it warm. TOO warm, I'm surprised those fish were still alive, but I have been reading about goldfish. They are a VERY hearty fish - MUCH more so than Koi. Koi LOOK better, but - dunno. What I do know is that if I hadn't added those air pumping machines to aerate the water, I doubt any of them would have been alive when I came home from work today. The hotter it is, the more air fish take out of the water. There is all kinds of science to this stuff - reading about it you wonder if you're talking about keeping fish in a pond or building nuclear bombs. Okay, nothing quite near that kind of disparity, but there is definitely a lot of applied science to keeping fish in a pond that I am still learning about.
Electric use off the wall. I turned the thermostat to 81 degrees, up from 78. Daytime only, cooler at night. If tenants don't like it, they can either pay more - and I don't have a problem asking for that - or they can find a new place to live. Not to sound crass about it, I just can't afford $550 per month electric use. No, it is going to come down one way or the other - the only way I know of is to turn the thermostat to a bit warmer setting.
Number one, I am just as ecstatic as anyone else about the oil gusher being capped, but, I still refrain from becoming too optimistic. They have no idea whether that cap is going to hold or not. Oh, yet, let's hope it does, but after all the past failures, this thing could shoot right off of there and we would be back a square one.
There has, obviously, never been any REAL pre-planning or REAL technology devised to deal with this issue. They are engineering this stuff NOW, not decades ago when they SHOULD have started coming up with this kind of equipment. They aren't fooling anyone. Even if it is a fix that will hold until the well is plugged, the cleanup? How many years? Decades? How much more marine life will die? If their super boat thing that sucks up the oil and water from the ocean, spits out the water and keeps the oil - works, they need to build 20 more of them.
Of course, the real questions I haven't heard answered. Why didn't their failsafes work? Why did they ignore the warning signs that "something" wasn't right? On and on.
I came home from work to find my pond with the fishies in it warm. TOO warm, I'm surprised those fish were still alive, but I have been reading about goldfish. They are a VERY hearty fish - MUCH more so than Koi. Koi LOOK better, but - dunno. What I do know is that if I hadn't added those air pumping machines to aerate the water, I doubt any of them would have been alive when I came home from work today. The hotter it is, the more air fish take out of the water. There is all kinds of science to this stuff - reading about it you wonder if you're talking about keeping fish in a pond or building nuclear bombs. Okay, nothing quite near that kind of disparity, but there is definitely a lot of applied science to keeping fish in a pond that I am still learning about.
Electric use off the wall. I turned the thermostat to 81 degrees, up from 78. Daytime only, cooler at night. If tenants don't like it, they can either pay more - and I don't have a problem asking for that - or they can find a new place to live. Not to sound crass about it, I just can't afford $550 per month electric use. No, it is going to come down one way or the other - the only way I know of is to turn the thermostat to a bit warmer setting.
Thursday
I "posted" this yesterday, but it ended up as a draft for some reason, posting it now.
Driving to work this morning, I'm thinking: WHAT is WRONG with this picture? The expected high today will be 116. That wasn't the problem, I KNOW it's going to be hot, I will stay inside as much as possible, drink a lot of ice cold water the time I am outside.
No, the problem: It's 5:30 am and it's 92 freaking degrees outside! The overnight low was 91!!
Michael's family, a thing I haven't discussed here for a while, is homeless again. I don't know why, but those people are always homeless in the worst, hottest part of summer. It has happened every year since they lost their home. Michael has plans on moving back "in" with them again when they get a new place. I'm not sure how they are going to get a place with no money to pay for it.
Don't get me wrong, I am not mocking these people - it's hell out there right now, it would totally suck to be living on the streets. Somehow they seem to manage to come up with the money to rent a hotel - not sure how that works. I do know that if you add up that kind of money for a couple of weeks, you have the money to pay for a whole month of a low-grade apartment. There are places that rent apartments for $399 per month with electricity included. I don't know how they do that - make money - with electricity included, but they have been doing it for years and years.
I think a big problem is that they want to stay in the area, for some unknown reason.
Meanwhile, as I thought would happen, the desperate pleas from people needing rent money, food, gas for their vehicles, this that and the other thing on Craigslist continue to pour in. I read them and wish I could help them. I can't. I helped one lady with her kids last week, that was the extent of it for a while for me. Yes, I won some money at the casino but that money is spoken for. Bills, mostly.
I'm concerned for my son - if they have him scheduled to work today, I want to ensure that he's going to take care of himself out there moving those shopping carts around in 116 degree heat. He will be out in it since he's working until 4 this afternoon, if he is, indeed, scheduled to work. I'll be calling him in a little while - water water water.
Another kid found dead in a hot car. 3 year old. The 911 tape was out already, the kid's mother has no clue where the kid is, the operater is instructing her to go check the pool - like twice. Check the whole house, in the course of this entire scenario, I never once hear the 911 operator tell her to go check vehicles. I would think that would be standard, modus operandi for the computer screen telling the operators to tell the people what to do. I mean, one of the FIRST things you do: check the pool, check the vehicles.
The tape ends with the arrival of the police, and still hadn't found the kid. They find him after the tape is over - body core temperature of 108 degrees. No, you can't survive getting that hot. A 2 year old killed last week - left in the car. I'll tell you right now, if I see a kid or a dog stuck inside a hot car, I'm busting the windows out of that car, letting the human or animal out, calling the police and the parent of the kid or the owner of the dog better not show up while I'm out there waiting for police, because I will be tempted to use whatever instrument on the windows - on their stupid head. I am NOT a violent man, but this has gone on far enough. People need to be held accountable for their STUPIDITY - some of these people KNOWINGLY leave living beings in the car.
Their excuse is that they are only going to be in the store for a short time. With windows rolled up, in direct sunlight, it only TAKES a short time for the interior of a car to heat up DRAMATICALLY. I hate to say it, but the justice system problably needs to make an example out of someone who has forgotten their kid in the car - charge them with whatever and send them to prison. I think that dad that left his kid in the car a few weeks ago was being charged with 2cd degree homocide.
I'm not really wanting to see a family further torn apart, but at the same time: HOW DO YOU LEAVE YOUR BABY IN A HOT CAR? HOW DO YOU JUST FORGET ABOUT HIM? I know I NEVER left my kid in the car during hot summers, not one single time did I just somehow "forget" about my kid.
Yes, this is really starting to bug me, seeing this stuff on the news. They either die in a hot car or get past pools gates and drown in pools. I still cannot imagine the torture a kid must go through in basically burning up on the inside until he's dead.
Whatever and sighing. Didn't even get to the news. Okay, well, 9 states are joining together to file a petition FOR the state of Arizona for the Immigration bill. Yes!!! Gee, the whole country really is NOT against this bill, as the news media attempts to make it appear by showing a handful of people - 100 or less - standing outside of a giant stadium protesting the Diamondbacks. Bud Selig is, so far, standing his ground against both fans and now even players stating they will boycott the All Star game if it is held in AZ next year.
You know, who the bleep cares about that All=Star game anyway? I never watch it. I heard on the news this morning that this year's All Star game? The lowest ratings EVER. EVER. Nobody cares that much about the thing. But, I'm sure it brings money to whosever economy where it is held.
Regardless,the work day has arrived. 2 more days of work including today and this work week is over. I'll be very glad when that happens, too. Ozone levels have been high and health alerts have been issued every day this week. My allergies are out of this world - sneezing, watery and itchy eyes, very poor feeling. They advise you to stay inside when they do the ozone warnings - bad for your heatlth apparently. Yes, well I drive a semi truck, I have no choice but to be outside. Oh well.
G'day.
ben
Driving to work this morning, I'm thinking: WHAT is WRONG with this picture? The expected high today will be 116. That wasn't the problem, I KNOW it's going to be hot, I will stay inside as much as possible, drink a lot of ice cold water the time I am outside.
No, the problem: It's 5:30 am and it's 92 freaking degrees outside! The overnight low was 91!!
Michael's family, a thing I haven't discussed here for a while, is homeless again. I don't know why, but those people are always homeless in the worst, hottest part of summer. It has happened every year since they lost their home. Michael has plans on moving back "in" with them again when they get a new place. I'm not sure how they are going to get a place with no money to pay for it.
Don't get me wrong, I am not mocking these people - it's hell out there right now, it would totally suck to be living on the streets. Somehow they seem to manage to come up with the money to rent a hotel - not sure how that works. I do know that if you add up that kind of money for a couple of weeks, you have the money to pay for a whole month of a low-grade apartment. There are places that rent apartments for $399 per month with electricity included. I don't know how they do that - make money - with electricity included, but they have been doing it for years and years.
I think a big problem is that they want to stay in the area, for some unknown reason.
Meanwhile, as I thought would happen, the desperate pleas from people needing rent money, food, gas for their vehicles, this that and the other thing on Craigslist continue to pour in. I read them and wish I could help them. I can't. I helped one lady with her kids last week, that was the extent of it for a while for me. Yes, I won some money at the casino but that money is spoken for. Bills, mostly.
I'm concerned for my son - if they have him scheduled to work today, I want to ensure that he's going to take care of himself out there moving those shopping carts around in 116 degree heat. He will be out in it since he's working until 4 this afternoon, if he is, indeed, scheduled to work. I'll be calling him in a little while - water water water.
Another kid found dead in a hot car. 3 year old. The 911 tape was out already, the kid's mother has no clue where the kid is, the operater is instructing her to go check the pool - like twice. Check the whole house, in the course of this entire scenario, I never once hear the 911 operator tell her to go check vehicles. I would think that would be standard, modus operandi for the computer screen telling the operators to tell the people what to do. I mean, one of the FIRST things you do: check the pool, check the vehicles.
The tape ends with the arrival of the police, and still hadn't found the kid. They find him after the tape is over - body core temperature of 108 degrees. No, you can't survive getting that hot. A 2 year old killed last week - left in the car. I'll tell you right now, if I see a kid or a dog stuck inside a hot car, I'm busting the windows out of that car, letting the human or animal out, calling the police and the parent of the kid or the owner of the dog better not show up while I'm out there waiting for police, because I will be tempted to use whatever instrument on the windows - on their stupid head. I am NOT a violent man, but this has gone on far enough. People need to be held accountable for their STUPIDITY - some of these people KNOWINGLY leave living beings in the car.
Their excuse is that they are only going to be in the store for a short time. With windows rolled up, in direct sunlight, it only TAKES a short time for the interior of a car to heat up DRAMATICALLY. I hate to say it, but the justice system problably needs to make an example out of someone who has forgotten their kid in the car - charge them with whatever and send them to prison. I think that dad that left his kid in the car a few weeks ago was being charged with 2cd degree homocide.
I'm not really wanting to see a family further torn apart, but at the same time: HOW DO YOU LEAVE YOUR BABY IN A HOT CAR? HOW DO YOU JUST FORGET ABOUT HIM? I know I NEVER left my kid in the car during hot summers, not one single time did I just somehow "forget" about my kid.
Yes, this is really starting to bug me, seeing this stuff on the news. They either die in a hot car or get past pools gates and drown in pools. I still cannot imagine the torture a kid must go through in basically burning up on the inside until he's dead.
Whatever and sighing. Didn't even get to the news. Okay, well, 9 states are joining together to file a petition FOR the state of Arizona for the Immigration bill. Yes!!! Gee, the whole country really is NOT against this bill, as the news media attempts to make it appear by showing a handful of people - 100 or less - standing outside of a giant stadium protesting the Diamondbacks. Bud Selig is, so far, standing his ground against both fans and now even players stating they will boycott the All Star game if it is held in AZ next year.
You know, who the bleep cares about that All=Star game anyway? I never watch it. I heard on the news this morning that this year's All Star game? The lowest ratings EVER. EVER. Nobody cares that much about the thing. But, I'm sure it brings money to whosever economy where it is held.
Regardless,the work day has arrived. 2 more days of work including today and this work week is over. I'll be very glad when that happens, too. Ozone levels have been high and health alerts have been issued every day this week. My allergies are out of this world - sneezing, watery and itchy eyes, very poor feeling. They advise you to stay inside when they do the ozone warnings - bad for your heatlth apparently. Yes, well I drive a semi truck, I have no choice but to be outside. Oh well.
G'day.
ben
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Wednesday
I'm totally out of it. I almost slept through the night - a thing that hasn't occured in quite some time. Sounds good, right? Not. When I am sleeping that heavily and for that long, I wake up very groggy. And groggy I am. I cannot wake up - yet anyway - I've been up for an hour and 15 minutes and still feel like the alarm just went off.
It'll be a very long workday if this doesn't subside.
Show your kindergartener graphic, sexual detail and teach them about sex. I mean, really. Who are the bright minds that come up with this trash? I would just yank my kid from that school system - instantly. Or the idiots that wanted to give the same age grouping condoms. A condom to a 5 year old, what are they going to do with it, blow it up like a baloon? The more of this crap I see, the more I know: we're doomed.
Lol. Okay, not really. Yes, really on the sex ed for kids as young as kindergarten age, doomed not. Crazy stuff.
""The American people are saying to us: 'You're spending too much, you're running up too many debts, and we expect you to do something about it,'" said Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.""
Really? Did this information just come over the wire? Did we just find this out today? We're REALLY spending too much? And the GOP is proposing a 20 billion decrease in Obama's budget? How about a trillion dollar trim in it and then I will be impressed. They throw 20 billion around like it's chump change, give me a break. Political grandstanding at it's finest. It is PURELY a political move. EVERYTHING that is being done by either side, as far as I'm concerned, is fabricated out of purely political motivations, not because it's for the good of the people. Freaking JOKE we have for a House, Senate AND a President right now. The whole thing is a convoluted mess of individuals who care about nothing but their political careers.
I'll vote for none of them. If I were to consider myself anything at this point, it would have to be an independent. I don't like either party anymore, I want no affiliation with any of it. They're all selfish, greedy morons.
Enough of that. I spent so much time baking out in the sun yesterday that I had zero motivation to do any digging on the pond setup, a thing I really wanted to get started yesterday. I was out in the heat 4 separate times at work for extended periods and by the time I got home? Forget it. I got stuff done, but no digging. The expected high tomorrow and Friday? 116 degrees. That, my friends, is HOT. This summer will not be over soon enough. I figure we are at the crux of the hottest months of the summer. June, July and August - the month before and after is also warm or even hot, just not AS hot.
With that, the work day approaches and I need to get offa here.
G'day.
ben
It'll be a very long workday if this doesn't subside.
Show your kindergartener graphic, sexual detail and teach them about sex. I mean, really. Who are the bright minds that come up with this trash? I would just yank my kid from that school system - instantly. Or the idiots that wanted to give the same age grouping condoms. A condom to a 5 year old, what are they going to do with it, blow it up like a baloon? The more of this crap I see, the more I know: we're doomed.
Lol. Okay, not really. Yes, really on the sex ed for kids as young as kindergarten age, doomed not. Crazy stuff.
""The American people are saying to us: 'You're spending too much, you're running up too many debts, and we expect you to do something about it,'" said Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.""
Really? Did this information just come over the wire? Did we just find this out today? We're REALLY spending too much? And the GOP is proposing a 20 billion decrease in Obama's budget? How about a trillion dollar trim in it and then I will be impressed. They throw 20 billion around like it's chump change, give me a break. Political grandstanding at it's finest. It is PURELY a political move. EVERYTHING that is being done by either side, as far as I'm concerned, is fabricated out of purely political motivations, not because it's for the good of the people. Freaking JOKE we have for a House, Senate AND a President right now. The whole thing is a convoluted mess of individuals who care about nothing but their political careers.
I'll vote for none of them. If I were to consider myself anything at this point, it would have to be an independent. I don't like either party anymore, I want no affiliation with any of it. They're all selfish, greedy morons.
Enough of that. I spent so much time baking out in the sun yesterday that I had zero motivation to do any digging on the pond setup, a thing I really wanted to get started yesterday. I was out in the heat 4 separate times at work for extended periods and by the time I got home? Forget it. I got stuff done, but no digging. The expected high tomorrow and Friday? 116 degrees. That, my friends, is HOT. This summer will not be over soon enough. I figure we are at the crux of the hottest months of the summer. June, July and August - the month before and after is also warm or even hot, just not AS hot.
With that, the work day approaches and I need to get offa here.
G'day.
ben
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Tuesday
Always weird stuff in the news. There are 2 large dogs running around the Tempe area this morning, approaching people walking small dogs and - attacking and killing the dogs. 2 dead so far. Somebody's big dogs have gotten out, I am assuming, and apparently they have been raised to be very aggressive dogs.
Not a fan. Why? Dogs that are aggressive a huge liability to the owner. Something happens, bam, you get hit with a lawsuit, the dogs get put down, and who knows what else.
BP cap. Let's pray people that this one is going to work until they can get that thing plugged. That's all I can say about it, I'm sure BP is REALLY hoping this thing works as well.
I could go on with the news, such as the woman who lets her kid up for adoption, seeks him out 16 years later and ..... has SEX with him? That is as gross/disgusting/vile as it gets. I can't EVEN imagine having SEX with my OWN kid. I'm sure MOST people wouldn't even think about doing such a thing.
Anyway, ponds are my "thing" these days. I don't need any more ponds, I need to get my @$$ out there and start digging holes. Yes, easier said than done in 110 degree heat with 30% humidity. Oh pleeeeease spare me the "we have 99% humidity" stuff - you DON'T have 110 degrees to go along with it. It really is a moot point, I fully intend on getting out there and digging regardless of heat and humidity factors, in fact, I may just start today.
I did put the dying water hyacinth in to a 40 gallon container - there are about 8 different plants now from the original 3 I bought, they grow quickly and branch out from the main one - they are actually coming back to life. But, apparently one cannot have his cake and eat it too with these things, meaning many people cannot have them in their ponds because they simply die. Also, fish like to eat their roots. I actually think that was the problem in this case, the roots on them were MUCH smaller than when I originally put them in there. I'm thinking if I can nurse them back to health to rig something up so that the roots are not exposed to hungry fish.
Dunno why the fish are hungry, it's not like I don't feed them - 3 times a day as recommended by the manufacturer when it's hot outside.
Regardless, work day is here.
And I must get offa here.
G'day.
ben
Not a fan. Why? Dogs that are aggressive a huge liability to the owner. Something happens, bam, you get hit with a lawsuit, the dogs get put down, and who knows what else.
BP cap. Let's pray people that this one is going to work until they can get that thing plugged. That's all I can say about it, I'm sure BP is REALLY hoping this thing works as well.
I could go on with the news, such as the woman who lets her kid up for adoption, seeks him out 16 years later and ..... has SEX with him? That is as gross/disgusting/vile as it gets. I can't EVEN imagine having SEX with my OWN kid. I'm sure MOST people wouldn't even think about doing such a thing.
Anyway, ponds are my "thing" these days. I don't need any more ponds, I need to get my @$$ out there and start digging holes. Yes, easier said than done in 110 degree heat with 30% humidity. Oh pleeeeease spare me the "we have 99% humidity" stuff - you DON'T have 110 degrees to go along with it. It really is a moot point, I fully intend on getting out there and digging regardless of heat and humidity factors, in fact, I may just start today.
I did put the dying water hyacinth in to a 40 gallon container - there are about 8 different plants now from the original 3 I bought, they grow quickly and branch out from the main one - they are actually coming back to life. But, apparently one cannot have his cake and eat it too with these things, meaning many people cannot have them in their ponds because they simply die. Also, fish like to eat their roots. I actually think that was the problem in this case, the roots on them were MUCH smaller than when I originally put them in there. I'm thinking if I can nurse them back to health to rig something up so that the roots are not exposed to hungry fish.
Dunno why the fish are hungry, it's not like I don't feed them - 3 times a day as recommended by the manufacturer when it's hot outside.
Regardless, work day is here.
And I must get offa here.
G'day.
ben
Monday, July 12, 2010
More On Ponds
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
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 - 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
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