.........it's the 30th, 1 full day left to go and my assumption was correct: a $500 month in electricity. I have never, personally, had an electric bill that high, ever. It's stunning to see such numbers posted on the reader. Right now at $486.00, but the end of tomorrow, definitely $500.
The humidity here right now is atrocious. If I'm going to live in a DESERT, with high heat, at least give me the occasion for being able to live in a "dry heat", as EVERYONE from around the country continually reminds us.
No, my friends, it is NOT a dry heat. This morning it was 80 degrees at 86% humidity. I don't know what that feels like to people that always live in high humidity, I can say that it felt cool this morning. Yes, it really felt quite nice out in that.
However, as the day wore one, the sun popped out of the cloud cover and the temperature increased, it became quite uncomfortable. Now? The humidity going down: 95 degrees at 36% humidity. Getting better. However, the AC at the temp I have it set at - isn't enough. It does not come on enough an then, you have humidity in the house. Well, I don't LIKE humidity and I'm not going to sit here feeling like I'm sitting in the middle of a swamp. Yup, turned it down a couple of degrees and it feels much better in here.
Monday, I am finally getting a trip to Miami again. Arizona,that is, not Florida. Why does this excite me? Because I can use my 30 minute break time to pick up more rocks. And now, I know that it's legal to do so up to a certain amount. Well, I am not trying to bring back 10 tons of the stuff, just more for my ponds. Plus I love the out of town trips up into the mountains, ESPECIALLY during the summer.
Weight still in the 195 to 196 area. I am not concerned about it. It is WELL down from what it was. People continue to tell me I don't need to lose more weight. Yes, I do, but at the same time, I also need to start working out again and start building a little muscle mass again. Pushups are the only thing I am going to do. I am not going to join a gym - I have no extra finances for that, and I am not going to use my weight set outside, I just don't have the motivation to do so in the sweltering heat. But, just to say I am still off the cheese; creamy dressings; watching fat content on most everything; denying the impulses. Today, I DEARLY wanted to stop at a Dairy Queen that was RIGHT there where I was at at a delivery. A large, German Chocolate Blizzard. Yummm. NOPE, it took everything within me, but I got in the truck and drove.
Interestingly, later on, a man that OWNS a DQ right down the road from our shop came INTO our shop looking for plumbing parts. Unbelievable. Not the man, the idea that whatever it is you are trying to avoid on a diet, it seems to come plant itself, uninvitedly, on your doorstep.
Donuts. Get back to the shop and there are a dozen Entenmann's donuts sitting in the break room. Are you serious? I'm looking at that stuff just shaking my head. Again, when you are dieting, this stuff comes at you from all sides. When you are not, you never see this kind of thing around. Crazy stuff. I ended up cutting less than a one inch sliver off a donut just because.
Home. The ex-Marine who is going to chef school starting next month has cooked a HUGE thing of lasagna. I LOVE lasagna. Cheese? Diets hate cheese.
However, I did not resist this time. I ate a chunk of that stuff and didn't feel bad about it. Not near as calorie laden as a German Chocolate Blizzard, yet full of calories anyway. OH well, after an entire day of resisting, I gave in. My breakfast and lunch were a Subway ham sub - no cheese, no fat filled dressings. Just vinegar and honey mustard - which may have some calories, but no fat calories.
It's a battle, that's all that I can say about it, it's a huge battle.
The trailer tenants got their SS check today. They are welcomed to stay as long as they need to, but it seems to me that spending money on all kinds of stuff is going to inhibit their ability to get out of that trailer and into an apartment. Okay, so the stuff they are spending it on are necessities, still. He came in and handed me $40 to help me out. Great, I'm not turning it down, above and beyond the normal rent of a grand total of $25 per week. I'm guessing I'm losing money on the deal, frankly. That Mastercool is running 24 hours a day and there is small refrigerator in there plus DirectTV box and TV, microwave, whatever else. I hoped I was breaking even but I'm not sure about that at this point and also probably what is pushing my electric bill over the top.
That and SRP getting a 5% increase approval earlier this year, obviously dumped onto it's customers, one of which happens to be me.
No biggies. July is almost over, the 3rd month of earthly, Arizona hell to come and then, it starts to slowly cool down. 100's. 90's. 80's and then - paradise.
I have other things I would love to write about, but I have yet to replace this keyboard and it is getting VERY annoying. The c and d tabs are not working properly and it just isn't a good keypad. It sucks, frankly and (I just punched that and that and that several times to get the d to work) I am at the point that I MUST replace it if I'm going to keep writing anything.
I'm done (2 tries on that d).
G'nite.
ben
Friday, July 30, 2010
Friday
Friday.
Appears to have poured rain again last night, very nice. Yes, I checked the ponds this morning to ensure the circuit breaker wasn't popped, still in good shape.
I was also - pleasantly - surprised to come into work this morning and find a lot of stuff to do in the truck routing system. Mostly pickups and 1 delivery in Coolidge.
So, the big news? "Hundreds protest as Arizona's immigration law takes effect".
Hundreds? ROFL!!! That's all these mouthy people could muster, 500 or so protestors? If so many people, as they claim, are against this law, then how is it they couldn't even must a thousand people? When the government is taking some eggregious action that "most" people don't like, thousands of people show up to protests, not hundreds.
A bunch of those people were arrested yesterday, they were warned in advance that they would be arrested, good riddance to them. That law's teeth were taken out of it and they are STILL complaining about it.
The funny part about all of this is Sheriff Joe. Love him or hate him, he is STILL out there conducting his sweeps to find illegal "immigrants", basing his activities on 2 state laws. I neither love him or hate him. I love what he's doing with illegal immigration, I hate the fact that he has been sued so many times and lost millions of dollars in damages against him/the county, which, of course, the county has had to pay out. Still, anti-immigration law people hate him and apparently a drug cartel or smuggling cartel lord has placed a huge bounty on his head to kill him.
It's just beginning, there is no end to this nonsense. So, I sit back and find entertainment in it, somehow, though I certainly don't want to see our Sheriff killed by some crackpots - it would still be nice if Mexico, it's president and some of it's politicians would SHUT THE BLEEP UP and deal with THEIR issues instead of wasting time coming over here attempting to influence the inner workings of OUR country.
ENOUGH. Work day approaches. Weekend almost here. A full day's work (which is awesome, I HATE slow days) ahead, no clue what I'm doing this weekend, but I am sure pulling weeds and grass will be in that picture since the ground is saturated and makes for pulling that stuff out much easier.
Perhaps I'll force the boys out there to help me : )
Oh, and, of course, continue on with digging the pond.
G'day.
ben
Appears to have poured rain again last night, very nice. Yes, I checked the ponds this morning to ensure the circuit breaker wasn't popped, still in good shape.
I was also - pleasantly - surprised to come into work this morning and find a lot of stuff to do in the truck routing system. Mostly pickups and 1 delivery in Coolidge.
So, the big news? "Hundreds protest as Arizona's immigration law takes effect".
Hundreds? ROFL!!! That's all these mouthy people could muster, 500 or so protestors? If so many people, as they claim, are against this law, then how is it they couldn't even must a thousand people? When the government is taking some eggregious action that "most" people don't like, thousands of people show up to protests, not hundreds.
A bunch of those people were arrested yesterday, they were warned in advance that they would be arrested, good riddance to them. That law's teeth were taken out of it and they are STILL complaining about it.
The funny part about all of this is Sheriff Joe. Love him or hate him, he is STILL out there conducting his sweeps to find illegal "immigrants", basing his activities on 2 state laws. I neither love him or hate him. I love what he's doing with illegal immigration, I hate the fact that he has been sued so many times and lost millions of dollars in damages against him/the county, which, of course, the county has had to pay out. Still, anti-immigration law people hate him and apparently a drug cartel or smuggling cartel lord has placed a huge bounty on his head to kill him.
It's just beginning, there is no end to this nonsense. So, I sit back and find entertainment in it, somehow, though I certainly don't want to see our Sheriff killed by some crackpots - it would still be nice if Mexico, it's president and some of it's politicians would SHUT THE BLEEP UP and deal with THEIR issues instead of wasting time coming over here attempting to influence the inner workings of OUR country.
ENOUGH. Work day approaches. Weekend almost here. A full day's work (which is awesome, I HATE slow days) ahead, no clue what I'm doing this weekend, but I am sure pulling weeds and grass will be in that picture since the ground is saturated and makes for pulling that stuff out much easier.
Perhaps I'll force the boys out there to help me : )
Oh, and, of course, continue on with digging the pond.
G'day.
ben
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Pond Trouble
It rained last night. It dawned on me today that I had left the property without checking the ponds. I do that every morning to make sure the pumps are on and the water is being aerated.
I spaced it out because I was checking out the ground to see if it was saturated - would I need to water plants today or not? NO, was the definitive answer.
Not checking the ponds this morning? BIG mistake. I'm guessing those pumps were off since early last night. Trailer tenants said it started raining shortly after I brought the dogs in for the last time last night, which was right before I went to bed - which - was at 8:30 pm.
The point is that the pumps are running on a GFCI circuit - the outlet has it's own circuit breaker which will shut off electricity to whatever right then and there if something is wrong, compared to having to have much more disruption and possibly, yes, even fire, if it has to wait for the main circuit breaker to shut it off.
Well, a little rain will in one of the outlets will shut off that GFCI breaker in a heartbeat. It's actually the recommended setup, yes, but...........then you have fish in water that isn't being aerated. Fish cannot live in stagnant water that has no means for the water to have air circulate in.
I was worried when I got home, went out and - yup, the pumps were off. I had the strip outlet covered, but, it wasn't good enough. The fish, however, were not dead. In fact, they were at the bottom of the pond. NOT moving around, but definitely not dead. Pretty easy to spot a giant, dead goldfish floating around a 165 gallon pond.
The bad sign would be them at the top of the pond, attempting to "gulp" air. That means the air levels are SO low in there, it isn't going to be much more time and they are dead. Ahh, yes, I checked on them, they are moving around as normal again - which for them, is VERY active. They are always moving all over that pond.
Well, that answers a nagging question I have had for a while now: if the pumps go off, how long will those fish survive in there? Should I think about finding a way to get a second breaker going on these ponds to have a failsafe?
Well, I'm guessing around 18 hours on the first question, I'm thinking I don't need anything more since the fish are doing quite fine - now, that is. So, breathing a little easier. However, these are goldfish, a very hearty creature, from what I have been reading and from what I have seen. They can with stand, from what I have read, MUCH more than any Koi will ever dream of being able to accept as livable.
Well, the point is that I want some Koi. I see them advertised for free - frequently. They do not, however, at least from what I have read, endure harsh conditions nearly as well as goldfish do.
Whatever the case, it has started pouring rain, and I do mean, pouring. I haven't seen it rain - well I haven't seen it rain in any amount for 4 or 5 months? 3 months at least. But yes, it IS pouring. The pond with the fish will be overflowing onto the ground. Not a problem, however, the water isn't tainted with chemicals and garbage, no big deal.
What IS good is that the ground is getting saturated. Totally. For free. Don't have to pay the City of Phoenix to do it, Mother Nature is doing it for me : )
Bad part about heavy rain? Satellite goes off, and though I don't watch a lot of television, I recently fell in love with "Kitchen Nightmares" with chef Gorden Ramsay, it's freaking hilarious. He goes into some pathetic, gross, vile places that are named as restaurants and gives the chefs, cooks, managers, owners - everyone - total hell.
So, I'm making frequent trips to the "back, side, door". The door is not used by anyone but me. It opens to the east side of the house - which - no-one else is interested in. That's my future little paradise. It's coming along. The bigger pond is right there, on the cement slab in front of that door. I can still walk in and out, yes. I wouldn't have done that if people were using it, but, again, I am the only soul that goes over there besides Great Danes and Catahoulas that are following me, or, people that are trying to find me. Yes, if I am not in the house and my car is out front, you'll probably find me over there.
I am checking my new setup to eliminate water from getting into electrical outlets, I am pretty sure it is a good setup and I won't have to worry about that again....but.....of course, you never know. Rain all but done. Pumps running. New setup to keep electrical outlets dry - working.
I have other things - especially the stuff that was going on in downtown Phoenix today - all the people being bused in from all over demonstrating against the new immigration law that has had most of it's teeth stripped from it anyway - highly amusing. I was listening to the radio while driving the semi and hearing all the screaming and chanting and - bs - while the reporter was giving his report. I dunno how many of them got arrested.
I was further amused that supposedly, 11 Greyhound buses full of opponents were going to be dropped off. Do you know how freaking unbelievably, miserably hot and humid it was out there? Unless those people have been here before, they were in for a wondeful surprise: Mother Nature handing out hell.
I have no current information to say whether that actually happened - those people all showing up - or not. I'm sure tomorrow, or perhaps even right now, I will find out the end results.
G'nite.
ben
I spaced it out because I was checking out the ground to see if it was saturated - would I need to water plants today or not? NO, was the definitive answer.
Not checking the ponds this morning? BIG mistake. I'm guessing those pumps were off since early last night. Trailer tenants said it started raining shortly after I brought the dogs in for the last time last night, which was right before I went to bed - which - was at 8:30 pm.
The point is that the pumps are running on a GFCI circuit - the outlet has it's own circuit breaker which will shut off electricity to whatever right then and there if something is wrong, compared to having to have much more disruption and possibly, yes, even fire, if it has to wait for the main circuit breaker to shut it off.
Well, a little rain will in one of the outlets will shut off that GFCI breaker in a heartbeat. It's actually the recommended setup, yes, but...........then you have fish in water that isn't being aerated. Fish cannot live in stagnant water that has no means for the water to have air circulate in.
I was worried when I got home, went out and - yup, the pumps were off. I had the strip outlet covered, but, it wasn't good enough. The fish, however, were not dead. In fact, they were at the bottom of the pond. NOT moving around, but definitely not dead. Pretty easy to spot a giant, dead goldfish floating around a 165 gallon pond.
The bad sign would be them at the top of the pond, attempting to "gulp" air. That means the air levels are SO low in there, it isn't going to be much more time and they are dead. Ahh, yes, I checked on them, they are moving around as normal again - which for them, is VERY active. They are always moving all over that pond.
Well, that answers a nagging question I have had for a while now: if the pumps go off, how long will those fish survive in there? Should I think about finding a way to get a second breaker going on these ponds to have a failsafe?
Well, I'm guessing around 18 hours on the first question, I'm thinking I don't need anything more since the fish are doing quite fine - now, that is. So, breathing a little easier. However, these are goldfish, a very hearty creature, from what I have been reading and from what I have seen. They can with stand, from what I have read, MUCH more than any Koi will ever dream of being able to accept as livable.
Well, the point is that I want some Koi. I see them advertised for free - frequently. They do not, however, at least from what I have read, endure harsh conditions nearly as well as goldfish do.
Whatever the case, it has started pouring rain, and I do mean, pouring. I haven't seen it rain - well I haven't seen it rain in any amount for 4 or 5 months? 3 months at least. But yes, it IS pouring. The pond with the fish will be overflowing onto the ground. Not a problem, however, the water isn't tainted with chemicals and garbage, no big deal.
What IS good is that the ground is getting saturated. Totally. For free. Don't have to pay the City of Phoenix to do it, Mother Nature is doing it for me : )
Bad part about heavy rain? Satellite goes off, and though I don't watch a lot of television, I recently fell in love with "Kitchen Nightmares" with chef Gorden Ramsay, it's freaking hilarious. He goes into some pathetic, gross, vile places that are named as restaurants and gives the chefs, cooks, managers, owners - everyone - total hell.
So, I'm making frequent trips to the "back, side, door". The door is not used by anyone but me. It opens to the east side of the house - which - no-one else is interested in. That's my future little paradise. It's coming along. The bigger pond is right there, on the cement slab in front of that door. I can still walk in and out, yes. I wouldn't have done that if people were using it, but, again, I am the only soul that goes over there besides Great Danes and Catahoulas that are following me, or, people that are trying to find me. Yes, if I am not in the house and my car is out front, you'll probably find me over there.
I am checking my new setup to eliminate water from getting into electrical outlets, I am pretty sure it is a good setup and I won't have to worry about that again....but.....of course, you never know. Rain all but done. Pumps running. New setup to keep electrical outlets dry - working.
I have other things - especially the stuff that was going on in downtown Phoenix today - all the people being bused in from all over demonstrating against the new immigration law that has had most of it's teeth stripped from it anyway - highly amusing. I was listening to the radio while driving the semi and hearing all the screaming and chanting and - bs - while the reporter was giving his report. I dunno how many of them got arrested.
I was further amused that supposedly, 11 Greyhound buses full of opponents were going to be dropped off. Do you know how freaking unbelievably, miserably hot and humid it was out there? Unless those people have been here before, they were in for a wondeful surprise: Mother Nature handing out hell.
I have no current information to say whether that actually happened - those people all showing up - or not. I'm sure tomorrow, or perhaps even right now, I will find out the end results.
G'nite.
ben
Thursday
If FINALLY rained over my house last night. I didn't hear it - I wear ear plugs and have a large fan near my head to help me sleep. The ground looked saturated. I put off water plants for another 2 days simply because I was hoping it would rain - the water is free, thank you very much. MORE rain would be welcomed.
Key portions of the Arizona Immigration Law were struck down, but, Sheriff Joe Arpaio is still all over one particular portion of it where it says it's illegal to pick up day laborers from the side of the street. Yes, portions of the law WERE let through, in fact, in reading one portion of it, I'm wondering if the judge actually created a loophole. I'll wait and see what the experts have to say about it before I comment further on it. The portions that were denied are, of course, going to the appeals court.
The judge claimed that the law places and undue burden on the federal government. In other words, the federal government's mandate to secure our borders is an undue burden, apparently, in dealing with the illegal aliens that are coming through those borders.
Huh? Health care bill can go to crap and that money can go to protect our borders. A trillion bucks would MORE than do that very nicely. Obama's money tree doesn't extend to dealing with this issue, that the feds ARE mandated with, instead dealing with all kinds of other issues, which the feds have NO business getting into, AT ALL.
No need to rehash all of that, I have doubts this judge's ruling is going to stand in an appeals court. Who knows, I just don't see how the federal government is overly burdened by dealing with a thing that is it SUPPOSED to be dealing with.
Yes, I did more digging out there yesterday. The high heat and 50% humidity combine to make some rather hellish conditions. Wherever this humidity came from, it can go back. You say you are at 99% humidity. Yes, but I doubt you are at 105 degrees or higher. I got a lot done on it is all I'm saying, there is plenty more to go, but the progress is encouraging.
The non-paying, paying tenant showed up yesterday. She is behind in rent, but not enough to make me evict her. She just started school and allegedly has been applying all over the place for a new job. I believe she had real opportunity at the place she was at. Mistakes are one thing, intentional acts are another. If 2 weeks comes and goes and she is behind that much, then she gets the eviction notice. I'm sorry, but - not that sorry. Just have to take care of myself. I have not seen my financial condition this low in a long time. Electricity - eating up everything. The lowered temps this week should help bring the usage down by $5 or more per day. Every little bit helps, is all I can say about that.
I am going to look into leasing a solar panel array. Allegedly - that's all I can say without first-hand knowledge - it will take care of your power needs and actually cause the meter to run backwards, giving you credit. Well, since it obviously doesn't work at night, I assume the credit goes to the hours in the day that it isn't working since the sun ain't out. I dunno, just going to look into it and see what the costs are. I'm sure there is an elongated contract, which means that I am going to have to find out beforehand whether it REALLY does everything they say or not. The only way to do that is to find people that are in the program and see how it is working out for them.
As for everything else? Michael is still around, allegedly has found a job starting today. I informed him that showing up to work late usually gets a person fired. He and his entire family have this idea that you can show up to appointments, school - whatever - whenever you want to. It might work for everything else, it won't work at your place of employment. I threw that little tidbit of advice out to him in case he was serious about KEEPING the job, not just getting one.
I have my doubts, honestly. He has no clue. If he sticks it out, it will be a great reality check for him. Caleb has already gotten a reality check - working out in the sun, pushing all those carts around, yes, nice life-wake-up-call.
Yesterday at work was very slow. One delivery and then nothing. Today, there is a pickup and then delivery. That should consume around 2 to 3 hours and then.......nothing in the system.
Oh well.
Have a great day!
ben
Key portions of the Arizona Immigration Law were struck down, but, Sheriff Joe Arpaio is still all over one particular portion of it where it says it's illegal to pick up day laborers from the side of the street. Yes, portions of the law WERE let through, in fact, in reading one portion of it, I'm wondering if the judge actually created a loophole. I'll wait and see what the experts have to say about it before I comment further on it. The portions that were denied are, of course, going to the appeals court.
The judge claimed that the law places and undue burden on the federal government. In other words, the federal government's mandate to secure our borders is an undue burden, apparently, in dealing with the illegal aliens that are coming through those borders.
Huh? Health care bill can go to crap and that money can go to protect our borders. A trillion bucks would MORE than do that very nicely. Obama's money tree doesn't extend to dealing with this issue, that the feds ARE mandated with, instead dealing with all kinds of other issues, which the feds have NO business getting into, AT ALL.
No need to rehash all of that, I have doubts this judge's ruling is going to stand in an appeals court. Who knows, I just don't see how the federal government is overly burdened by dealing with a thing that is it SUPPOSED to be dealing with.
Yes, I did more digging out there yesterday. The high heat and 50% humidity combine to make some rather hellish conditions. Wherever this humidity came from, it can go back. You say you are at 99% humidity. Yes, but I doubt you are at 105 degrees or higher. I got a lot done on it is all I'm saying, there is plenty more to go, but the progress is encouraging.
The non-paying, paying tenant showed up yesterday. She is behind in rent, but not enough to make me evict her. She just started school and allegedly has been applying all over the place for a new job. I believe she had real opportunity at the place she was at. Mistakes are one thing, intentional acts are another. If 2 weeks comes and goes and she is behind that much, then she gets the eviction notice. I'm sorry, but - not that sorry. Just have to take care of myself. I have not seen my financial condition this low in a long time. Electricity - eating up everything. The lowered temps this week should help bring the usage down by $5 or more per day. Every little bit helps, is all I can say about that.
I am going to look into leasing a solar panel array. Allegedly - that's all I can say without first-hand knowledge - it will take care of your power needs and actually cause the meter to run backwards, giving you credit. Well, since it obviously doesn't work at night, I assume the credit goes to the hours in the day that it isn't working since the sun ain't out. I dunno, just going to look into it and see what the costs are. I'm sure there is an elongated contract, which means that I am going to have to find out beforehand whether it REALLY does everything they say or not. The only way to do that is to find people that are in the program and see how it is working out for them.
As for everything else? Michael is still around, allegedly has found a job starting today. I informed him that showing up to work late usually gets a person fired. He and his entire family have this idea that you can show up to appointments, school - whatever - whenever you want to. It might work for everything else, it won't work at your place of employment. I threw that little tidbit of advice out to him in case he was serious about KEEPING the job, not just getting one.
I have my doubts, honestly. He has no clue. If he sticks it out, it will be a great reality check for him. Caleb has already gotten a reality check - working out in the sun, pushing all those carts around, yes, nice life-wake-up-call.
Yesterday at work was very slow. One delivery and then nothing. Today, there is a pickup and then delivery. That should consume around 2 to 3 hours and then.......nothing in the system.
Oh well.
Have a great day!
ben
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Wednesday
1 Day To Arizona Immigration Armageddon
Now, there is an anti-immigration group that is demanding that Obama ensure that illegal “immigrants” – we used to call them illegal aliens (love that term far better) – are allowed peaceful, safe, DEPARTURE from the U.S.
Elton John – slams musicians that are boycotting Arizona by not coming here to perform concerts.
Arizona Tourism is UP, not down, even IF there are boycotts coming from all over the place.
Desperate anti-immigration law people are threatening civil disobedience.
Keep your eyes/ears tuned to the news, cause’ it should get interesting tomorrow, very interesting indeed. These people have marched and marched and marched out in this Arizona heat. Can I say there aren’t that many of them? I laugh just because of the waste of time it is for them to be out there in sweltering heat and high humidity, a toxic combination that undoubtedly kept emergency personnel busy handing out water and inserting IV’s to rehydrate people.
The judge has not ruled yet whether there will be an injunction, though, she certainly could at any time.
Look, I find this stuff to be at least mildly amusing. The fact that so many people are for this bill is one reason why. The other is simply that these folks continue to speak about racial profiling, yet, this law isn’t even in effect yet. How can they possibly know if there will be rampant racial profiling until after it is in full force and arrests start being made by using this law? They can’t. The loudest voices, sometimes anyway, are from those that are not here legally. Well of course you are against the law, you are a criminal, you broke the law by coming in here – illegally!
Yes, tomorrow should be very interesting and I hope the judge does not issue a temporary injunction.
Changing the subject, I walked out of my house this morning to be greeted by a few, fine droplets of rain. So small and so insignificant, it’s as if there wasn’t anything happening at all. This isn’t my idea of a monsoon. Let it RAIN!!!!
My diet is stuck around 195 to 196. I worked my butt off yesterday outside after work – well during work too, but after work intentionally to try and give this thing a kick start in the @$$. Dunno if it did any good and probably won’t look on the scale today to find out. I think I’ll try to get some good old fashioned shoveling labor another try after work today to give it a 2 day punch. In fact, several days in a row and then check the scale.
Well, work day is here and I must get signed in and get started on the day.
G’day.
ben
Now, there is an anti-immigration group that is demanding that Obama ensure that illegal “immigrants” – we used to call them illegal aliens (love that term far better) – are allowed peaceful, safe, DEPARTURE from the U.S.
Elton John – slams musicians that are boycotting Arizona by not coming here to perform concerts.
Arizona Tourism is UP, not down, even IF there are boycotts coming from all over the place.
Desperate anti-immigration law people are threatening civil disobedience.
Keep your eyes/ears tuned to the news, cause’ it should get interesting tomorrow, very interesting indeed. These people have marched and marched and marched out in this Arizona heat. Can I say there aren’t that many of them? I laugh just because of the waste of time it is for them to be out there in sweltering heat and high humidity, a toxic combination that undoubtedly kept emergency personnel busy handing out water and inserting IV’s to rehydrate people.
The judge has not ruled yet whether there will be an injunction, though, she certainly could at any time.
Look, I find this stuff to be at least mildly amusing. The fact that so many people are for this bill is one reason why. The other is simply that these folks continue to speak about racial profiling, yet, this law isn’t even in effect yet. How can they possibly know if there will be rampant racial profiling until after it is in full force and arrests start being made by using this law? They can’t. The loudest voices, sometimes anyway, are from those that are not here legally. Well of course you are against the law, you are a criminal, you broke the law by coming in here – illegally!
Yes, tomorrow should be very interesting and I hope the judge does not issue a temporary injunction.
Changing the subject, I walked out of my house this morning to be greeted by a few, fine droplets of rain. So small and so insignificant, it’s as if there wasn’t anything happening at all. This isn’t my idea of a monsoon. Let it RAIN!!!!
My diet is stuck around 195 to 196. I worked my butt off yesterday outside after work – well during work too, but after work intentionally to try and give this thing a kick start in the @$$. Dunno if it did any good and probably won’t look on the scale today to find out. I think I’ll try to get some good old fashioned shoveling labor another try after work today to give it a 2 day punch. In fact, several days in a row and then check the scale.
Well, work day is here and I must get signed in and get started on the day.
G’day.
ben
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Thursday Is Coming.
Unless an injunction is set forth by the judge, the AZ Immigration law goes into effect Thursday. You cannot believe the hype and even declarations of civil disobedience that are coming from the - what amounts to in relativity - handful of opposers. That's because the supporters of this law - again - are in a LANDSLIDE majority.
More later. I lost an entire entry that I was writing, even the draft had nothing.
So, tomorrow, or more probably, Thursday.
I worked my @$$ off today. Besides all the driving and loading and unloading the truck, I had a finale of having to do a return. Doing returns in the direct sunlight in this heat and humidity? Yes, I can handle it, but, I ran out of water. Sweating like a running water faucet, that isn't good. I was starting to get a headache and not feeling well when I finally got it all done and drove out of there. First convenience store I saw? I stopped and got a bottle of water.
Drive home in a car with broken AC.
Get home. I promised myself that I would get that huge chunk of concrete out of there - TODAY - when I was hacking away at it yesterday.
Yes, I got it out, no, it wasn't a 10 minute thing, yes I am totally, absolutely trashed right now. Getting that thing out of there was MORE than enough.
I cannot write anymore because, I simply don't have it in me. I am going to bed today 2 hours earlier than normal, it's the only thing to do at this point.
G'nite.
ben
More later. I lost an entire entry that I was writing, even the draft had nothing.
So, tomorrow, or more probably, Thursday.
I worked my @$$ off today. Besides all the driving and loading and unloading the truck, I had a finale of having to do a return. Doing returns in the direct sunlight in this heat and humidity? Yes, I can handle it, but, I ran out of water. Sweating like a running water faucet, that isn't good. I was starting to get a headache and not feeling well when I finally got it all done and drove out of there. First convenience store I saw? I stopped and got a bottle of water.
Drive home in a car with broken AC.
Get home. I promised myself that I would get that huge chunk of concrete out of there - TODAY - when I was hacking away at it yesterday.
Yes, I got it out, no, it wasn't a 10 minute thing, yes I am totally, absolutely trashed right now. Getting that thing out of there was MORE than enough.
I cannot write anymore because, I simply don't have it in me. I am going to bed today 2 hours earlier than normal, it's the only thing to do at this point.
G'nite.
ben
Monday, July 26, 2010
Monday
My entries - for now anyway, will no longer be in the morning with the occasional afternoon addition. I have no access to my blog at work anymore. That, after 3-1/2 years. I was only getting on before work, before signing in, but, it has been blocked by my company.
Well, no big deal. I'm eating frozen Talapia - okay, sounds bad but it's really good, actually and was my price range. Yes, delicious.
Onto other things. This morning, my first delivery, these people at a construction site I was delivering to had no equipment to unload the one stick of pipe I had on my truck plus a pallet full of fittings.
That one stick of pipe weighed 360 pounds. Those 2 plus me - equals 120 pounds a piece, I can do that. However, their idea was to take off one end of the pipe and set it on the ground and then get the other end off. Okay. We lift the pipe, turn it, set it on the ground.
Unfortunately, I was on the wrong side of the pipe to be able to do anything about what happened next: it started sliding down the rail of the trailer. I would have jumped over there to save the truck from being hit, but, I couldn't and those guys? No idea. Was it amusing to see the pipe crashing into the battery box cover and destroying it, along with one of the batteries under neath it? They made no move whatsoever to stop it.
99% of unloads are customer unloads. I always help, yes, unless they either don't want my help, or need it or - they are being reckless. Loader operators that have no clue take the top of that list. NOT that all loader operators are reckless, but when I see one that is, I just back off, however, if the equipment is going to be damaged by that recklessness, then I do intervene.
Well, the battery is probably $200 and the cover is more than that.
I have been out twice this afternoon hacking with a pick and digging with a shovel a VERY stubborn area where I am digging out the pond hole. I found the reason why, too: a huge chunk of cement. NO idea how it got there, none of my doings, but it's a pain to see the least. I am digging around it and will get that sucker out of there.
LONG interlude. I have been out there hacking with the pick, digging with the shovel and hauling wheelbarrow loads of dirt from point A to point B. Sweating profusely. Felt good - heat be damned.
G'day.
ben
Well, no big deal. I'm eating frozen Talapia - okay, sounds bad but it's really good, actually and was my price range. Yes, delicious.
Onto other things. This morning, my first delivery, these people at a construction site I was delivering to had no equipment to unload the one stick of pipe I had on my truck plus a pallet full of fittings.
That one stick of pipe weighed 360 pounds. Those 2 plus me - equals 120 pounds a piece, I can do that. However, their idea was to take off one end of the pipe and set it on the ground and then get the other end off. Okay. We lift the pipe, turn it, set it on the ground.
Unfortunately, I was on the wrong side of the pipe to be able to do anything about what happened next: it started sliding down the rail of the trailer. I would have jumped over there to save the truck from being hit, but, I couldn't and those guys? No idea. Was it amusing to see the pipe crashing into the battery box cover and destroying it, along with one of the batteries under neath it? They made no move whatsoever to stop it.
99% of unloads are customer unloads. I always help, yes, unless they either don't want my help, or need it or - they are being reckless. Loader operators that have no clue take the top of that list. NOT that all loader operators are reckless, but when I see one that is, I just back off, however, if the equipment is going to be damaged by that recklessness, then I do intervene.
Well, the battery is probably $200 and the cover is more than that.
I have been out twice this afternoon hacking with a pick and digging with a shovel a VERY stubborn area where I am digging out the pond hole. I found the reason why, too: a huge chunk of cement. NO idea how it got there, none of my doings, but it's a pain to see the least. I am digging around it and will get that sucker out of there.
LONG interlude. I have been out there hacking with the pick, digging with the shovel and hauling wheelbarrow loads of dirt from point A to point B. Sweating profusely. Felt good - heat be damned.
G'day.
ben
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Sunday/KCL
Look, folks, I am NOT the type of person to take delight in another man's disaster. I don't care if we had our differences, I feel very bad for Matt and Susan and all that they must be going through. I don't know if they lost their entire home or what, but I HAVE and I can tell you that going through that is right up there with going through divorce or a death in the family, it is THAT traumatic.
Someone left a comment on my blog yesterday saying something like "an act of God" took down KCL. I had no idea what they were referring to. The Bible plainly says "do not take joy in another man's calamity lest the same thing befall you". I believe that's the wording, anyway. I hope they didn't lose their entire home and I hope that they can get on with their lives in relatively short order.
Sunday mornings. I always love them - if - the boys are still sleeping and the tenants are either not here, or here and in their rooms. In other words, sitting out here in my kitchen/living room area with some degree of privacy/solitude. And such I presently have and hope to for at least an hour or so. It's amazing what sitting here in peace and silence can do for the heart and soul. Even IF the boys come out, I have a long-standing Sunday morning rule: NO TV's on and if they are going to play video games, sound will be turned all the way down. I normally push that rule until noon. The point is that there is more to life than TV, video games and constant "background noise" going on. In fact, there is much to be said to being in an environment where, at least at times, there are NO noises and the constant buzzing is eliminated.
I admit that I am going pathetically slow on getting that pond hole dug. I dig some out, water it to help dig out the soil, then leave it. Come back to it later and so on. At that rate, it will be weeks before that single hole is dug. I can honestly say that I am good with that. As long as I am getting something done on it, no big deal. I was tearing my bedroom apart in between digging episodes yesterday cleaning it. It is about 2/3rd's done. I wanted to vacuum and then use the carpet cleaner on the carpet.
Yesterday, I sat out with the fish for about an hour, just sitting there, listening to the sound of the water, watching these giant fish swimming around. I can envision myself putting an air mattress out there in the fall and sleeping out there a few nights. Way too hot to do that now. One very nice thing about my property at this point is that there are virtually no mosquitos and no flies. The flies were getting to me - oh yes, they were. We got even more vigilant in cleaning up an keeping clean any dog dung out there and that was the course of action that virtually eliminated them from the property.
The trailer tenants, well, they are wishing they had double checked the address that that SS check was sent to, because, of course, getting the government to reissue a check is like telling the moon to go bounce off of Mars. More like talking to brick walls, really. Yes, it can be done, yes, there is a very LENGTHY process to getting it done, not my fault is all I can say. They want to get into their own apartment - badly. I don't blame them, but that trailer is better than homelessness.
The female tenant that lost her job left yesterday evening saying that she was going to ask family for help with rent. I did not even bring up the subject, but I did make it clear when she moved in here that I am not very tolerant at this point with late payers. I have been burned too many times. If you can't pay your rent, please find someplace to live - I assume she would have to move back in with her parents - free up the room and let me get someone else in there. It may not sound very compassionate, but it's the difference of keeping this house or not. When MY back is against the wall, rest assured I am going to do whatever needs to be done to rectify any situation.
I'm still waiting for these monsoon rains that are hitting the valley every day, just not hitting HERE. I am watering the plants bare minimum. They show signs of drooping, they get 15 minutes of drip watering. A couple of plants are good for showing me if they are not doing so well. I am not going to experience another water bill like last month's if I can at all help it. RAIN would GREATLY help.
Well, that's it. I started my Sunday cleaning rituals early - a stack of laundry that needs done. Kitchen floor.....on and on.
Have a great day!
ben
Someone left a comment on my blog yesterday saying something like "an act of God" took down KCL. I had no idea what they were referring to. The Bible plainly says "do not take joy in another man's calamity lest the same thing befall you". I believe that's the wording, anyway. I hope they didn't lose their entire home and I hope that they can get on with their lives in relatively short order.
Sunday mornings. I always love them - if - the boys are still sleeping and the tenants are either not here, or here and in their rooms. In other words, sitting out here in my kitchen/living room area with some degree of privacy/solitude. And such I presently have and hope to for at least an hour or so. It's amazing what sitting here in peace and silence can do for the heart and soul. Even IF the boys come out, I have a long-standing Sunday morning rule: NO TV's on and if they are going to play video games, sound will be turned all the way down. I normally push that rule until noon. The point is that there is more to life than TV, video games and constant "background noise" going on. In fact, there is much to be said to being in an environment where, at least at times, there are NO noises and the constant buzzing is eliminated.
I admit that I am going pathetically slow on getting that pond hole dug. I dig some out, water it to help dig out the soil, then leave it. Come back to it later and so on. At that rate, it will be weeks before that single hole is dug. I can honestly say that I am good with that. As long as I am getting something done on it, no big deal. I was tearing my bedroom apart in between digging episodes yesterday cleaning it. It is about 2/3rd's done. I wanted to vacuum and then use the carpet cleaner on the carpet.
Yesterday, I sat out with the fish for about an hour, just sitting there, listening to the sound of the water, watching these giant fish swimming around. I can envision myself putting an air mattress out there in the fall and sleeping out there a few nights. Way too hot to do that now. One very nice thing about my property at this point is that there are virtually no mosquitos and no flies. The flies were getting to me - oh yes, they were. We got even more vigilant in cleaning up an keeping clean any dog dung out there and that was the course of action that virtually eliminated them from the property.
The trailer tenants, well, they are wishing they had double checked the address that that SS check was sent to, because, of course, getting the government to reissue a check is like telling the moon to go bounce off of Mars. More like talking to brick walls, really. Yes, it can be done, yes, there is a very LENGTHY process to getting it done, not my fault is all I can say. They want to get into their own apartment - badly. I don't blame them, but that trailer is better than homelessness.
The female tenant that lost her job left yesterday evening saying that she was going to ask family for help with rent. I did not even bring up the subject, but I did make it clear when she moved in here that I am not very tolerant at this point with late payers. I have been burned too many times. If you can't pay your rent, please find someplace to live - I assume she would have to move back in with her parents - free up the room and let me get someone else in there. It may not sound very compassionate, but it's the difference of keeping this house or not. When MY back is against the wall, rest assured I am going to do whatever needs to be done to rectify any situation.
I'm still waiting for these monsoon rains that are hitting the valley every day, just not hitting HERE. I am watering the plants bare minimum. They show signs of drooping, they get 15 minutes of drip watering. A couple of plants are good for showing me if they are not doing so well. I am not going to experience another water bill like last month's if I can at all help it. RAIN would GREATLY help.
Well, that's it. I started my Sunday cleaning rituals early - a stack of laundry that needs done. Kitchen floor.....on and on.
Have a great day!
ben
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Saturday
I haven't been to KCL in weeks, I just tried going there - several times actually - "Internet explorer cannot display the webpage".
Has it been shut down, is it a problem with my puter (though,I can access any other site I try), has my ip been blocked? Dunno.
I'm waiting for North Korea to shut up and back up their statements. Now, they are threatening nuclear war against the U.S. and South Korea if the military exercises occur in the South Sea. That's right, folks, they're going to drop nukes on - what - the ships out there? I'm sure they have at least a clue what would happen to them if they started using nukes on ANYONE.
Pretty much: annihilation. Certainly: all nuclear facilities being destroyed and possibly a takeover of the entire country (better idea than annihilation, since I personally doubt all those people living there in abstract poverty are in agreement with their government's stance, rhetoric and the fact that the sanctions ARE working, the government just doesn't want to admit it - yet).
The military exercises are going to occur whether NK likes it or not. Put up or shut up. This crap about SK being turned into a sea of flames?
Alright, enough of that. Meanwhile, "everyone" is still up in arms about the Immigrant Bill. No word yet on whether the judge will grant the temporary order to stop the law from being enforced starting Thursday. I haven't seen any polls yet that show anything different than a LANDSLIDE majority of Arizonans being FOR the bill. The liberal media showing people in tears because - they came here illegally, started a new life here, illegally, have had their entire families here, illegally, and now can't understand why we don't want them here - illegally. One lady, in thick accent, crying profusely about her repeated attempts since the 80's to become a legal citizen and her case has been closed.
Well, maybe go back to Mexico and try it the legal way. Or, wait until Obama gives all of you carte blanch citizenship. There is absolutely nothing in me that has one iota of sympathy for any of these people. If I wanted to move to another country, you can be rest assured that I would want to do the whole thing through whatever legal process I would have to go through, not just go there and hope I can somehow survive without being caught.
As bad as it is getting here with Obama and his idea that the bigger the government, the better, it still isn't near as bad as it is in MOST other nations around the world. Obama will not be in that office forever, hopefully whatever damages that have been done can be reversed. He wants to spend even MORE money. Apparently, he also wants to raise taxes. Well duhhh, you can't just spend trillions of dollars that don't exist and not have to somehow PAY for it.
Whatever the case, Saturday is here, I have done absolutely nothing and it's already 10:00AM. That will be changing shortly, I don't know what the expected high is today, hol'on, I"ll check: 104. Good. Not great, but FAR better than the 116 it got to last week. Yesterday, "only" $13 was used cooling this house - along with the rest of the electric usage - because the temps came way down. I can deal with $13 per day, I cannot deal with $20 per day.
Oh, well I'm going outside to work. I have grass to pull, more digging for the pond hole, all kinds of stuff going on out there. I also want to clean areas of the carpet that need it this weekend. Dogs need a bath, but I think I'll make one of the boys do that. Yes, I have an agenda and sitting here isn't getting it done, so, with that, adios!!!
ben
Has it been shut down, is it a problem with my puter (though,I can access any other site I try), has my ip been blocked? Dunno.
I'm waiting for North Korea to shut up and back up their statements. Now, they are threatening nuclear war against the U.S. and South Korea if the military exercises occur in the South Sea. That's right, folks, they're going to drop nukes on - what - the ships out there? I'm sure they have at least a clue what would happen to them if they started using nukes on ANYONE.
Pretty much: annihilation. Certainly: all nuclear facilities being destroyed and possibly a takeover of the entire country (better idea than annihilation, since I personally doubt all those people living there in abstract poverty are in agreement with their government's stance, rhetoric and the fact that the sanctions ARE working, the government just doesn't want to admit it - yet).
The military exercises are going to occur whether NK likes it or not. Put up or shut up. This crap about SK being turned into a sea of flames?
Alright, enough of that. Meanwhile, "everyone" is still up in arms about the Immigrant Bill. No word yet on whether the judge will grant the temporary order to stop the law from being enforced starting Thursday. I haven't seen any polls yet that show anything different than a LANDSLIDE majority of Arizonans being FOR the bill. The liberal media showing people in tears because - they came here illegally, started a new life here, illegally, have had their entire families here, illegally, and now can't understand why we don't want them here - illegally. One lady, in thick accent, crying profusely about her repeated attempts since the 80's to become a legal citizen and her case has been closed.
Well, maybe go back to Mexico and try it the legal way. Or, wait until Obama gives all of you carte blanch citizenship. There is absolutely nothing in me that has one iota of sympathy for any of these people. If I wanted to move to another country, you can be rest assured that I would want to do the whole thing through whatever legal process I would have to go through, not just go there and hope I can somehow survive without being caught.
As bad as it is getting here with Obama and his idea that the bigger the government, the better, it still isn't near as bad as it is in MOST other nations around the world. Obama will not be in that office forever, hopefully whatever damages that have been done can be reversed. He wants to spend even MORE money. Apparently, he also wants to raise taxes. Well duhhh, you can't just spend trillions of dollars that don't exist and not have to somehow PAY for it.
Whatever the case, Saturday is here, I have done absolutely nothing and it's already 10:00AM. That will be changing shortly, I don't know what the expected high is today, hol'on, I"ll check: 104. Good. Not great, but FAR better than the 116 it got to last week. Yesterday, "only" $13 was used cooling this house - along with the rest of the electric usage - because the temps came way down. I can deal with $13 per day, I cannot deal with $20 per day.
Oh, well I'm going outside to work. I have grass to pull, more digging for the pond hole, all kinds of stuff going on out there. I also want to clean areas of the carpet that need it this weekend. Dogs need a bath, but I think I'll make one of the boys do that. Yes, I have an agenda and sitting here isn't getting it done, so, with that, adios!!!
ben
Friday, July 23, 2010
Tenants/Truck Drivers
Pretty much an on-going thing, but I am learned to read the "BS" that is coming out of people.
The female tenant that has been paying me weekly just lost her job.
She has gone to work late, she has gone to work after being out all night long - tired, she is screwing up, bad.
This is the one that is coming off of meth.
I will be observing her for signs of fresh meth use.
She was written up no too long ago for forgetting to put in an order. The customers had waited 45 minutes and then started complaining. She was written up after that for the tired stuff.
How do you expect to perform well at work if you've been out all night long?
There are more things, but the plain, simple, fact of the matter is that I am probably going to have to evict her and now? I am now waiting for weeks to "find out" if they are going to get a job anymore. I have bills to pay - very high electric use and water bills are always higher in the summer.
I cannot, in other words, afford to have sympathy. I MUST have the money
coming in from that room. As time goes on, I have far less patience with people who are screwing up their own lives and then, by their own admission of doing something that cost them - in this case their job - expect me to wait around, have the room occupied, costing me money and KNOWING I won't see ANY of what is owed to me.
She asked when you can apply for unemployment. I said right away. In fact, you could do it today. No, she wants to go look for a new job. Well, that's nice, but provides for me a further glimpse of what her MO is. If I lost my job, the FIRST thing I would do is to head to the unemployment office. It takes 2 weeks (at least) to get the first check, an in this economy, finding a new job? Good luck. She went in her room to mope, I am guessing since she was crying out here.
Look, if she had been laid off from work, that would be one thing, but she was FIRED for - screwing up. I mean, the stuff she has done isn't something that was out of her control: ALL of it was IN her control.
She is just a bit over a week late in her rent. She gave me $33 today before she left. I was glad to get that, she would have given me nothing, undoubtedly, if she had been fired before giving me that money.
No, I don't see any hope here. This is a person with serious, personal issues and it isn't going to work out.
Look, pretty much expect this stuff. I find good tenants here and there, but there is always the bad apple. Deal with it and move on.
Welcome to the weekend, aye?
Here's some good news, for me anyway: the temps have cooled WAY off and the electric use has gone down proportionately. I'm looking at a $13 to $14 day in electricity instead of $18 to $20. Bad time for tenant issues, is all I can say about that. But then again, when is a good time? Well, the dead of winter when neither ac nor heat is running........
Numerous times in the past, completely changing the subject, I have tried to alert other truck drivers to problems with their truck or load that they are unaware of. EVERY single time, I get these drivers giving me attitude.
Case in point: a driver has left the cap off of his fuel tank. The tank is sloshing out diesel fuel all over the place. I wave at him and motion towards his fuel tank. He gives me "the look", throws his hands up basically asking me WHAT my problem is. After the tude', I continue to motion towards his fuel tank.
He finally stops the vehicle, gets out and sees the problem. Not hard to see with gallons of diesel fuel all over the ground and the fuel tank covered with diesel fuel. He settled down quite a bit after he realizes I am trying to HELP him, not start a freakin' fight with him. Do you know what they can do to him for having diesel fuel spilling out onto the ground? It's hazardous material, the fine, if a cop chose to give him a ticket, would be QUITE steep. With the new rules coming into place sometime this year, he would probably LOSE HIS CDL.
Another case in point: A truck is approaching me. It's in a private driveway, but still. He has a box door open. It is sticking out some 3 feet to the side of his vehicle. I am frantically waving at the dude - first he's about to hit my vehicle and second, whatever he hits, that door is going to be ruined and 3rd, he might also damage someone else's property or who knows what. Sign of a bad driver? Yes, all he had to do was look in his mirrors and he would have seen the door without my ever having to motion to him.
As it was, I ended up swerving out of the way, which finally clued him in that SOMETHING must be wrong. He FINALLY looks in his mirror - after giving me the look, throwing up his hands, acting like he wants to get into a fistfight, all of this stupid stuff - slams on the brakes, now has the gall to wave at me, gets out and closes the door.
So, today, I am a a stop light. Waiting to go under the freeway overpass, I was not getting on the freeway. A truck waiting for the left hand turn light to go green is facing me in the opposing lanes. He gets the green arrow, as soon as he starts moving, I see fuel gushing out the side of his 200 gallon tank (at least 200 gallons). You know how fast the mind can work - thinking through things in a fraction of a moment when something happens and you need to act, fast.
However, my mind went straight to the experiences in the past, why bother?
But, I couldn't do that. He was losing gallons of fuel, turning onto the freeway, this particular freeway and this particular part of the freeway he is getting on is a favorite haunt for Highway Patrol pickup trucks - whose almost sole mission is to pull over commercial vehicles and do inspections. IF one of THOSE guys/gals see that stuff, he is in BIG trouble.
I had to open up the door of my truck, hang out the side of it and wave my ararms to get his attention. When he saw me, I starting pointing down and towards the side of his truck. He was looking in mirrors, looking at me - but not with the attitude crap. He must have finally looked in his spot mirror and saw the problem, because a look of shock came over his face, he looked at me, waved, got out of the intersection and yes, stopped in the middle of the lane he was in on the on-ramp, temporarily blocking traffic to get out and put the cap on.
The caps have small chains on them, if you forget to put them back on, they still hang there, waiting for you to - yes, screw it back on.
I was reading about these new rules coming into place today. When the new rules come into play, they are RETROACTIVE. If this guy had been caught NOW with this situation, ina few months or whenever they put this into play, that little act of forgetfulness to put that cap on would instantly put POINTS on his record, the SAME as if you get a speeding ticket.
He was an older gentleman and I thought he might be old school, which is why I decided to go ahead and try yet again.
I am a very observant driver, you have to be in a truck, watching out for everyone else, because most of the other drivers are NOT watching out for you.
Weekend is here. A few work days this week were very slow. Umm, Monday and Tuesday, the last 3 days were nice and busy, just the way I like it (and would prefer it stay that way).
I let my plants go for 2 and a half days hoping some of these monsoons would hit around HERE and water the plants for me, but to no avail. So, I watered them today, but only for a short time, there is still the possibility of rain. A good soaking rain right now would be awesome!
Umm, this entry is getting long.
Have a great evening!
ben
The female tenant that has been paying me weekly just lost her job.
She has gone to work late, she has gone to work after being out all night long - tired, she is screwing up, bad.
This is the one that is coming off of meth.
I will be observing her for signs of fresh meth use.
She was written up no too long ago for forgetting to put in an order. The customers had waited 45 minutes and then started complaining. She was written up after that for the tired stuff.
How do you expect to perform well at work if you've been out all night long?
There are more things, but the plain, simple, fact of the matter is that I am probably going to have to evict her and now? I am now waiting for weeks to "find out" if they are going to get a job anymore. I have bills to pay - very high electric use and water bills are always higher in the summer.
I cannot, in other words, afford to have sympathy. I MUST have the money
coming in from that room. As time goes on, I have far less patience with people who are screwing up their own lives and then, by their own admission of doing something that cost them - in this case their job - expect me to wait around, have the room occupied, costing me money and KNOWING I won't see ANY of what is owed to me.
She asked when you can apply for unemployment. I said right away. In fact, you could do it today. No, she wants to go look for a new job. Well, that's nice, but provides for me a further glimpse of what her MO is. If I lost my job, the FIRST thing I would do is to head to the unemployment office. It takes 2 weeks (at least) to get the first check, an in this economy, finding a new job? Good luck. She went in her room to mope, I am guessing since she was crying out here.
Look, if she had been laid off from work, that would be one thing, but she was FIRED for - screwing up. I mean, the stuff she has done isn't something that was out of her control: ALL of it was IN her control.
She is just a bit over a week late in her rent. She gave me $33 today before she left. I was glad to get that, she would have given me nothing, undoubtedly, if she had been fired before giving me that money.
No, I don't see any hope here. This is a person with serious, personal issues and it isn't going to work out.
Look, pretty much expect this stuff. I find good tenants here and there, but there is always the bad apple. Deal with it and move on.
Welcome to the weekend, aye?
Here's some good news, for me anyway: the temps have cooled WAY off and the electric use has gone down proportionately. I'm looking at a $13 to $14 day in electricity instead of $18 to $20. Bad time for tenant issues, is all I can say about that. But then again, when is a good time? Well, the dead of winter when neither ac nor heat is running........
Numerous times in the past, completely changing the subject, I have tried to alert other truck drivers to problems with their truck or load that they are unaware of. EVERY single time, I get these drivers giving me attitude.
Case in point: a driver has left the cap off of his fuel tank. The tank is sloshing out diesel fuel all over the place. I wave at him and motion towards his fuel tank. He gives me "the look", throws his hands up basically asking me WHAT my problem is. After the tude', I continue to motion towards his fuel tank.
He finally stops the vehicle, gets out and sees the problem. Not hard to see with gallons of diesel fuel all over the ground and the fuel tank covered with diesel fuel. He settled down quite a bit after he realizes I am trying to HELP him, not start a freakin' fight with him. Do you know what they can do to him for having diesel fuel spilling out onto the ground? It's hazardous material, the fine, if a cop chose to give him a ticket, would be QUITE steep. With the new rules coming into place sometime this year, he would probably LOSE HIS CDL.
Another case in point: A truck is approaching me. It's in a private driveway, but still. He has a box door open. It is sticking out some 3 feet to the side of his vehicle. I am frantically waving at the dude - first he's about to hit my vehicle and second, whatever he hits, that door is going to be ruined and 3rd, he might also damage someone else's property or who knows what. Sign of a bad driver? Yes, all he had to do was look in his mirrors and he would have seen the door without my ever having to motion to him.
As it was, I ended up swerving out of the way, which finally clued him in that SOMETHING must be wrong. He FINALLY looks in his mirror - after giving me the look, throwing up his hands, acting like he wants to get into a fistfight, all of this stupid stuff - slams on the brakes, now has the gall to wave at me, gets out and closes the door.
So, today, I am a a stop light. Waiting to go under the freeway overpass, I was not getting on the freeway. A truck waiting for the left hand turn light to go green is facing me in the opposing lanes. He gets the green arrow, as soon as he starts moving, I see fuel gushing out the side of his 200 gallon tank (at least 200 gallons). You know how fast the mind can work - thinking through things in a fraction of a moment when something happens and you need to act, fast.
However, my mind went straight to the experiences in the past, why bother?
But, I couldn't do that. He was losing gallons of fuel, turning onto the freeway, this particular freeway and this particular part of the freeway he is getting on is a favorite haunt for Highway Patrol pickup trucks - whose almost sole mission is to pull over commercial vehicles and do inspections. IF one of THOSE guys/gals see that stuff, he is in BIG trouble.
I had to open up the door of my truck, hang out the side of it and wave my ararms to get his attention. When he saw me, I starting pointing down and towards the side of his truck. He was looking in mirrors, looking at me - but not with the attitude crap. He must have finally looked in his spot mirror and saw the problem, because a look of shock came over his face, he looked at me, waved, got out of the intersection and yes, stopped in the middle of the lane he was in on the on-ramp, temporarily blocking traffic to get out and put the cap on.
The caps have small chains on them, if you forget to put them back on, they still hang there, waiting for you to - yes, screw it back on.
I was reading about these new rules coming into place today. When the new rules come into play, they are RETROACTIVE. If this guy had been caught NOW with this situation, ina few months or whenever they put this into play, that little act of forgetfulness to put that cap on would instantly put POINTS on his record, the SAME as if you get a speeding ticket.
He was an older gentleman and I thought he might be old school, which is why I decided to go ahead and try yet again.
I am a very observant driver, you have to be in a truck, watching out for everyone else, because most of the other drivers are NOT watching out for you.
Weekend is here. A few work days this week were very slow. Umm, Monday and Tuesday, the last 3 days were nice and busy, just the way I like it (and would prefer it stay that way).
I let my plants go for 2 and a half days hoping some of these monsoons would hit around HERE and water the plants for me, but to no avail. So, I watered them today, but only for a short time, there is still the possibility of rain. A good soaking rain right now would be awesome!
Umm, this entry is getting long.
Have a great evening!
ben
Friday
Friday, at last.
I’m still just shaking my head about all this preparation for court and then, getting there and finding out the rep from the State of Arizona isn’t there, isn’t going to be there, therefore case dismissed. One person came out of the courtroom with an attorney. I’ll bet she’s reeling a bit about having to pay that lawyer for …….. nothing. Lol.
Well, anyway, it’s dark and overcast this morning. On the drive to work, they were talking about how it’s raining all over the place. They have BEEN saying that for days. Yes, well, in no place that I have been in the valley, including my home, have I seen a single drop of rain. I WISH it would rain at my house!! I think today’s high because of this weather is going to be low 100’s or high 90’s.
Neighborhood news:
Juice, the nickname for one of the black brothers that comes over to my house, had to go to court yesterday. He was riding another kid’s mini bike on the street a while back and crashed into a UPS truck. It WASTED his leg, he spent 2 days in the hospital and it was a month before he was walking right again. He was in extreme pain and his leg looked pathetic. He never came back. He is in juvenile detention. He was already on probation for shoplifting at Fry’s Electronics sometime last year. Going to juvi last year got his attention: neither he nor his brother go around trying to steal stuff from stores anymore. But, because he was on probation, buh-bye.
Next door neighbor, the one with the giant, 40-foot trailer that I called the city about. That trailer is gone, he is in Michigan, but it’s obvious they are not happy with me. I couldn’t care less. That thing had been parked there for months, blocking the entire view of the street going west. His ex-girlfriend started ragging on one of the boys about one of my tenant’s cars being parked in his driveway. Yes, well, he told her she could park it there, I wasn’t even a part of that equation. If I ever get out of that neighborhood, it won’t be soon enough.
Matthew: Another of the black brothers. He locked the gate open some time ago and I banned him from my property. I tend to get upset when the gate is left open and the potential for my dogs getting out. Well, it’s been months and he just last night finally came back and profusely apologized for the act, as well as getting an attitude at the time (which is what really triggered me to tell him to take a hike), tears in his eyes, the whole 9 yards. I’m not heartless, he’s a good kid otherwise, he has no parents (present) – one is in prison the other left those kids long ago, moved to Philadelphia and that was the end of that, their grandmother, 84 years old I believe, is taking care of them along with help from extended family (so kudos to the grandmother for doing that for those kids, otherwise they would all be separated and sent to wherever).
Ponds:
I haven’t done any digging for 2 days now. I intend on getting out there this weekend and digging away. Perfect weather for doing that is right NOW, it’s actually “nice” out there, certainly in context to the weather we have been seeing. My electric usage at home should go down, at least for today, because of the cooler temps. My 8, large goldfish are doing very well. I’m telling you, if 2 of them aren’t carrying eggs, then they are very fat fish.
News: As usual, North Korea is threatening both the U.S. and South Korea, saying they will intervene militarily if the intended war games/practice/whatever occurs this weekend. Does anyone really believe these mouthy, arrogant, SOB’s are going to strike the U.S. military? An act of war? Would we just sit there and let them destroy our ships and our servicemen and women on those ships? No, I didn’t think so, and I am sure they are well aware of that. But, I love watching the news about this stuff. You know, I am not a Clinton fan, but she does take a pretty firm and strong stance against this kind of crap and doesn’t back down. I don’t want her for a president, but I don’t know that she’s doing a bad job in her present position.
Oil: Well, I just hope the cap holds, what else is there to say? You can’t tell Mother Nature not to send storms over the ocean. I mean, I certainly don’t expect those BP crews to stay out there while the seas go crazy and pose potential life-threatening hazards.
Immigration: 7 people went to jail yesterday after protesting in downtown Phoenix against the Immigration Bill. The court is hearing arguments – well now the arguments are over – and opponents are hoping for a temporary injunction. I support the bill, I hope there is no injunction and that the law goes into effect next Thursday. We’ll see – but if the signs of trouble are in the air as they appear to be, violence may be the next thing these opponents resort to.
Well, the work day approaches. There is a lot to do in our truck routing system – but – if it rains, that will shut down jobsites. I dunno, but it’s only 7 and a half hours til’ the end of this work week : )
G’day.
ben
I’m still just shaking my head about all this preparation for court and then, getting there and finding out the rep from the State of Arizona isn’t there, isn’t going to be there, therefore case dismissed. One person came out of the courtroom with an attorney. I’ll bet she’s reeling a bit about having to pay that lawyer for …….. nothing. Lol.
Well, anyway, it’s dark and overcast this morning. On the drive to work, they were talking about how it’s raining all over the place. They have BEEN saying that for days. Yes, well, in no place that I have been in the valley, including my home, have I seen a single drop of rain. I WISH it would rain at my house!! I think today’s high because of this weather is going to be low 100’s or high 90’s.
Neighborhood news:
Juice, the nickname for one of the black brothers that comes over to my house, had to go to court yesterday. He was riding another kid’s mini bike on the street a while back and crashed into a UPS truck. It WASTED his leg, he spent 2 days in the hospital and it was a month before he was walking right again. He was in extreme pain and his leg looked pathetic. He never came back. He is in juvenile detention. He was already on probation for shoplifting at Fry’s Electronics sometime last year. Going to juvi last year got his attention: neither he nor his brother go around trying to steal stuff from stores anymore. But, because he was on probation, buh-bye.
Next door neighbor, the one with the giant, 40-foot trailer that I called the city about. That trailer is gone, he is in Michigan, but it’s obvious they are not happy with me. I couldn’t care less. That thing had been parked there for months, blocking the entire view of the street going west. His ex-girlfriend started ragging on one of the boys about one of my tenant’s cars being parked in his driveway. Yes, well, he told her she could park it there, I wasn’t even a part of that equation. If I ever get out of that neighborhood, it won’t be soon enough.
Matthew: Another of the black brothers. He locked the gate open some time ago and I banned him from my property. I tend to get upset when the gate is left open and the potential for my dogs getting out. Well, it’s been months and he just last night finally came back and profusely apologized for the act, as well as getting an attitude at the time (which is what really triggered me to tell him to take a hike), tears in his eyes, the whole 9 yards. I’m not heartless, he’s a good kid otherwise, he has no parents (present) – one is in prison the other left those kids long ago, moved to Philadelphia and that was the end of that, their grandmother, 84 years old I believe, is taking care of them along with help from extended family (so kudos to the grandmother for doing that for those kids, otherwise they would all be separated and sent to wherever).
Ponds:
I haven’t done any digging for 2 days now. I intend on getting out there this weekend and digging away. Perfect weather for doing that is right NOW, it’s actually “nice” out there, certainly in context to the weather we have been seeing. My electric usage at home should go down, at least for today, because of the cooler temps. My 8, large goldfish are doing very well. I’m telling you, if 2 of them aren’t carrying eggs, then they are very fat fish.
News: As usual, North Korea is threatening both the U.S. and South Korea, saying they will intervene militarily if the intended war games/practice/whatever occurs this weekend. Does anyone really believe these mouthy, arrogant, SOB’s are going to strike the U.S. military? An act of war? Would we just sit there and let them destroy our ships and our servicemen and women on those ships? No, I didn’t think so, and I am sure they are well aware of that. But, I love watching the news about this stuff. You know, I am not a Clinton fan, but she does take a pretty firm and strong stance against this kind of crap and doesn’t back down. I don’t want her for a president, but I don’t know that she’s doing a bad job in her present position.
Oil: Well, I just hope the cap holds, what else is there to say? You can’t tell Mother Nature not to send storms over the ocean. I mean, I certainly don’t expect those BP crews to stay out there while the seas go crazy and pose potential life-threatening hazards.
Immigration: 7 people went to jail yesterday after protesting in downtown Phoenix against the Immigration Bill. The court is hearing arguments – well now the arguments are over – and opponents are hoping for a temporary injunction. I support the bill, I hope there is no injunction and that the law goes into effect next Thursday. We’ll see – but if the signs of trouble are in the air as they appear to be, violence may be the next thing these opponents resort to.
Well, the work day approaches. There is a lot to do in our truck routing system – but – if it rains, that will shut down jobsites. I dunno, but it’s only 7 and a half hours til’ the end of this work week : )
G’day.
ben
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Court
Well, that was interesting.
I got to court, checked in, another lady there for the same thing: defend a photo radar ticket.
She didn't have a clue.
I gave her some help - her citation had been "signed" by the computer.
We were out waiting and were called in.
The judge - actually not a judge, it was a hearing officer, was pleasant enough.
The redflex employee was sitting there as well.
However, this court was totally different than everything I have read about going to court to defend this type of ticket: the Justice of the Peace set it up so that a DPS officer MUST be in the court room giving the presentation. The Redflex employee is there as additional testimony.
Well, that would have blown my defense about the contract that Redflex has with the State being ended and the Redflex employee having no business representating the State because of it - right out of the water. I had plenty more, however, I wasn't worried.
Well, the DPS officer wasn't there. Apparently, they hadn't been there all day long. The hearing officer, the bailiff and the Redflex employee - required to be there since there were scheduled appearances, were doing nothing.
The lady was up first. The HO stated to her that it was required to wait 15 minutes after the hearing was supposed to start. If the DOT officer didn't show up, walaah, case dismissed. We sat there and talked about all kinds of things. 15 minutes passed, she was declared not responsible for the ticket. She was, however, required to pay the $40 process server fee.
I was appalled. How can they charge you a process server fee when your case is dismissed? The STATE should have to pay that fee since THEY lost and by their OWN doings: their representative didn't show up!!
My 15 minutes comes and goes. I spent the entire time going over my notes: if this person shows up at the last minute, I am going to be ready.
Didn't happen. My case is dismissed, but, I still have to pay the process server fee. I asked the hearing officer about it: WHY? He didn't know. I wasn't going to go all nuttied about it: I just got out of a $201.50 fine (and would have had to pay the process server fee on top of that) and more importantly, points do not go on my record.
So, I'll let that one go. AS probably everyone does. I have more at stak than most people: points on my commercial driver's license. NOT a good thing.
So, it's over. I won't be getting any more photo tickets from the freeway since they shut the cameras down. For the record, when I'm driving the semi, I might push the speed limit, but by only a couple miles per hour, 5 at the most. I got the ticket while driving my car.
I won on a technicality that I didn't even think of.
I would go on, but my keyboard is giving me serious problems. I need to replace it - again.
G'day.
ben
I got to court, checked in, another lady there for the same thing: defend a photo radar ticket.
She didn't have a clue.
I gave her some help - her citation had been "signed" by the computer.
We were out waiting and were called in.
The judge - actually not a judge, it was a hearing officer, was pleasant enough.
The redflex employee was sitting there as well.
However, this court was totally different than everything I have read about going to court to defend this type of ticket: the Justice of the Peace set it up so that a DPS officer MUST be in the court room giving the presentation. The Redflex employee is there as additional testimony.
Well, that would have blown my defense about the contract that Redflex has with the State being ended and the Redflex employee having no business representating the State because of it - right out of the water. I had plenty more, however, I wasn't worried.
Well, the DPS officer wasn't there. Apparently, they hadn't been there all day long. The hearing officer, the bailiff and the Redflex employee - required to be there since there were scheduled appearances, were doing nothing.
The lady was up first. The HO stated to her that it was required to wait 15 minutes after the hearing was supposed to start. If the DOT officer didn't show up, walaah, case dismissed. We sat there and talked about all kinds of things. 15 minutes passed, she was declared not responsible for the ticket. She was, however, required to pay the $40 process server fee.
I was appalled. How can they charge you a process server fee when your case is dismissed? The STATE should have to pay that fee since THEY lost and by their OWN doings: their representative didn't show up!!
My 15 minutes comes and goes. I spent the entire time going over my notes: if this person shows up at the last minute, I am going to be ready.
Didn't happen. My case is dismissed, but, I still have to pay the process server fee. I asked the hearing officer about it: WHY? He didn't know. I wasn't going to go all nuttied about it: I just got out of a $201.50 fine (and would have had to pay the process server fee on top of that) and more importantly, points do not go on my record.
So, I'll let that one go. AS probably everyone does. I have more at stak than most people: points on my commercial driver's license. NOT a good thing.
So, it's over. I won't be getting any more photo tickets from the freeway since they shut the cameras down. For the record, when I'm driving the semi, I might push the speed limit, but by only a couple miles per hour, 5 at the most. I got the ticket while driving my car.
I won on a technicality that I didn't even think of.
I would go on, but my keyboard is giving me serious problems. I need to replace it - again.
G'day.
ben
Thursday
Writing this one from home (morning). Our company sent out an email saying they were doing some sort of changes to internet access and that only IE 7 or less will work after those changes are implemented. I had my work computer using IE 8. Dunno where to get a copy of IE 7, probably could burn a CD I guess and take it into work.
Today is court day. I'm actually looking forward to it. The challenge gets the blood pumping. I have a good idea, now, what the rep from Redflex is going to say, they say the same thing at every hearing and if you know in advance what they are going to do, makes it much easier to prepare a defense. Defense - you are guilty until you prove yourself innocent in photo radar cases.
An aberration of the law, yes, but, it's there and unless someone challenges the constitutionality of it in the U.S. Supreme court, likely these cameras are never going away.
Anyway, just a short entry. I intentionally got up later and gave myself less time - just going to work in time to sign in and start working instead of going in early.
G'day.
ben
Today is court day. I'm actually looking forward to it. The challenge gets the blood pumping. I have a good idea, now, what the rep from Redflex is going to say, they say the same thing at every hearing and if you know in advance what they are going to do, makes it much easier to prepare a defense. Defense - you are guilty until you prove yourself innocent in photo radar cases.
An aberration of the law, yes, but, it's there and unless someone challenges the constitutionality of it in the U.S. Supreme court, likely these cameras are never going away.
Anyway, just a short entry. I intentionally got up later and gave myself less time - just going to work in time to sign in and start working instead of going in early.
G'day.
ben
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Wednesday
Long day.
I was at work at 4:30 am - signed in - working - got out of there, downtown, switched trailers, strapped load, back to east valley, unload at jobsite, back to downtown, switch trailers again, strap down new load, aroun to several vendors, day cashed.
Reading numerous sites about photo radar. Much of it is different authors saying the same thing. I am not going to fret it. I have my defense, it is enough to pass legal muster, even if it has to go to a higher court. My court date is 3:00 pm tomorrow afternoon. I hope to get off an hour early - get home, get nicely dressed, get my head into it - and get to court.
Well, I stopped writing this in favor of reading, reading, reading photo radar junk. In the midst of that, I also looked at news about BP and the feds at an alleged disagreement about whether to leave the cap as it is or install piping on it - going to a ship - to reduce the pressure.
Who knows? Then there's "lindsay lohan" - who cares, I most assuredly do NOT. This garbage about seeing TV and movie star personalities in the news all the time is repulsive at best. I don't CARE about the problems they are having in their personal lives and the media attempting to make hysteria out of it - EVERYONE has problems, some more so than others.
I'm tired, getting up early does that to me. Not only that, but this keyboard is irritating me. The c (I had to press c 3 times to get it to work) button has to be pressed hard or have to hit it several times to make it work, now the d button is doing the same thing! I was going to replace it a while back - but - money is tight and I have to be careful.
However, I have had enough of this garbage and I am going to replace it.
It's 17 minutes after 8 pm and yes, folks, I am going to bed.
G'nite.
ben
I was at work at 4:30 am - signed in - working - got out of there, downtown, switched trailers, strapped load, back to east valley, unload at jobsite, back to downtown, switch trailers again, strap down new load, aroun to several vendors, day cashed.
Reading numerous sites about photo radar. Much of it is different authors saying the same thing. I am not going to fret it. I have my defense, it is enough to pass legal muster, even if it has to go to a higher court. My court date is 3:00 pm tomorrow afternoon. I hope to get off an hour early - get home, get nicely dressed, get my head into it - and get to court.
Well, I stopped writing this in favor of reading, reading, reading photo radar junk. In the midst of that, I also looked at news about BP and the feds at an alleged disagreement about whether to leave the cap as it is or install piping on it - going to a ship - to reduce the pressure.
Who knows? Then there's "lindsay lohan" - who cares, I most assuredly do NOT. This garbage about seeing TV and movie star personalities in the news all the time is repulsive at best. I don't CARE about the problems they are having in their personal lives and the media attempting to make hysteria out of it - EVERYONE has problems, some more so than others.
I'm tired, getting up early does that to me. Not only that, but this keyboard is irritating me. The c (I had to press c 3 times to get it to work) button has to be pressed hard or have to hit it several times to make it work, now the d button is doing the same thing! I was going to replace it a while back - but - money is tight and I have to be careful.
However, I have had enough of this garbage and I am going to replace it.
It's 17 minutes after 8 pm and yes, folks, I am going to bed.
G'nite.
ben
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Tuesday - Serious Trucking Information
"- 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
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
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
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