Friday 2/25/2011

Friday

The kid tenant.
Unbelievable.
I'm in a conversation with Lynnette yesterday and this kid's name comes up. He's not really a kid - he's 27 years old - but he acts JUST like a little kid, and I don't mean in any good way, whatsoever.

I don't remember what got us there, but I was looking at her - he had obviously said something to her about me and she wasn't telling me, yet she wasn't exactly making it a secret, either.

What is it. She stated that he had stated to her the following: "Don't tell anyone I said this, but if I'm doing work around here, shouldn't that mean that I should get to use the computer?". Now what, exactly, was he referring to about this?

Meaning, that I should get up out of the computer chair and let him have at it whenever he sees fit. I busted out laughing when I heard this. He was dead serious, too. His "work" around the house? Empty out the dishwasher once or twice a week. Note that he uses a LOT of MY dishes. Regardless, even if he was "working" around the house, what gall this kid must have to think that he seriously should have the right to boot the computer's owner off of the computer.

Lynnnette said that when he said that, her jaw dropped. She then told Mario, as I have several times over - that the use of the computer is a priviledge.

She went on. She's sitting there in the morning doing her thing on my old computer. Mario comes along and tells her to get off of it, that he has work related stuff he must do on it. ???? Okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay......
So, he checks his work schedule on line, looks at something else and then goes to YouTube.

I looked at Lynnette, who was obviously not happy about this situation and asked her how LONG does he keep her off of it? She wouldn't say. My first guess: HOURS???!!!! Yes. Lynnette sort of doesn't want to overstep her boundaries in my house, so she doesn't really do what her mind is telling her to do: my guess would be to tell Mario to bug off.

So I asked Lynnette why should would budge for him? I mean, when she's done, he can use the computer. That's it. Mario is on that stupid computer half the night anyway. I told her that the next time he does that - which will be this morning in a couple of hours or so - to tell him that she will be happy to let him use the computer, when she's done with it. I repeated that to let it sink in - yes, I am giving permission to tell him to go take a hike and further, if he has a problem with it, tell him to call me and I will educate him on the use of MY computer in MY house. But further, the simple respect that most people learn in life that he obviously has not.

Then we go to the issue of the phone. He takes the phone into his bedroom and it stays in there with him until he leaves, apparently. Mario's days in my house, I'm slowly coming to that line which once crossed, there is no return, are numbered I am guessing.

The second he starts s*** with me about computer use, that's the second he will be banned from using it, at all. Let him go find a rental room somewhere where the owner of the house just lets anyone use the computer.........yeah, GOOD LUCK.

So, I am half expecting a phone call this morning either from him or her concerning this situation which is quickly coming to a head.

March 25, 2011 6:02 AM 

Anonymous said...

Okay, this conversation occured after Direct TV showed up. The guy comes in the house, we discuss the situation, he looks at the setup, says oh, you only have one line running to it, you know that I am going to have to run a second line, don't you? Sure, is it going to be free installation? Yes, he replies, the entire visit today is free. Thank you, please install the line however you see fit.

So, while he's doing that, my son shows up. The window in the car is down again and he can't quite figure out how to put his hand down inside the door and jimmy it back up.
I deal with that and then he starts pouring out this story that occured at Albertson's - where he works - the other day.

Seems like there's a 20-something that works there that is, apparently in the eyes of everyone but the manager of the store - at total jerk-off.

Situation: My son sees that this guy has abandoned his post at the self-checkout. There are 3 people that need help. My son gets on the intercom and calls for the attendant to please go to the station. This guy, the 20-something comes up to my son later, tells him not to do that again or "I'm going to kick you ass". Papa Ben doesn't like 20 year olds threatening his 17 year old son like that.

In fact, papa ben immediately wanted to go find that idiot, get in his face and tell the guy that his head is going to be shoved down his neck if he even looks at my son again. I tried to restrain myself, but as the story was told, it became apparent that this guy was dead serious about it. Caleb - my son - then said "I almost called you yesterday". I told him after the first incident with a customer that if he ever needed help, call me, or if it's bad enough, call the police. In fact, I told him yesterday, that "man" threatened a minor with assault, that is probably a jailable offense in itself.

I would really rather have police get involved in something like that than me. I am pretty sure I would go overboard and knock the guy on his @$$ without much conversation taking place. I'm not saying I'm a bad-@$$, but when it comes to property and family, all bets are off. Apparently management has told the guy to not even look at him funny, as I also informed Caleb: that guy starts trouble again, if you want my help, I'll be there in short order and yes, I will have a "conversation" with him. If you don't want my help, that's cool, but I am going to insist you call the police if there's another threat.

Caleb apparently got into it with this guy after the guy threatened him - he doesn't go around starting trouble, but when someone starts it with him, he flares up, to put it mildly. He inferred to the guy that "you don't want me calling my old man over here". That would be me, the dad. Lol. Okay, well, whatever.

I have no idea whether I am going to get a phone call about that situation today or not.

As for Direct TV: I got the new DVR, installed, set up, even set up to turn on and off the TV it is hooked up to, the service call and even an extra remote for free. He said he had this "extra" remote, do I want it? Yes, of course I dooooooo!

G'day.

ben

Thursday 3/24/2011

Thursday

I hope I'm wrong, but I have the first indications that I may be coming down with what's been going around for quite a while now. My mother is very sick and has been for days - I've called her a couple of times to check in on her.

Last night's study group - the 2 hour round-table discussion that ended up in a $75 prepaid Visa debit card - was somewhat interesting, but not wildly entertaining. It was asking opinions about a website covering doctors and hospitals. There were printouts of views of these websites and we were to give our opinions on it. 

There isn't much else to say about it, cause' that's all it was. I got my $75 card, thanked them and left. Yes, I would do another one of those roundtables if I were called and asked to do so, it's easy money. 

Caleb has me beat: he has started to go to church, on his own, to a place that his mother isn't going to, either. It is the organization that wants him to go up to their facility in the mountains after school is over this summer and spend 2 months as a counsellor over youth. I'm guessing troubled youth or youth of needy families considering it's the Salvation Army. 

I only think about going to church on Sundays but I pretty much don't go. It's an age-old story and long-time readers already know my reasons, no sense in going there again. If there was a church within a mile of my house that I thought I might be interested in going to, I would probably go. There's a huge Baptist church 2 blocks away of which I have absolutely no interest in, at all. There is some other church about 2 blocks away as well - not sure about that one.

It runs through my mind here and there, mostly on Sunday mornings.

Good for Caleb, is all I can say about that.

I have nothing else and anyway, it's almost time to start work.

ben

More Koi?

I get off work today and start heading for Glendale - west side basically - to get all these fish these people that are shutting down their pond said they have.  They were going to give me all of them.

I was 1/3rd of the way there when I got a phone call from the lady I had discussed this with before.  They had emptied the pond earlier in the day and found - 2 fish.  2 large Koi.  Originally, there were about 40 fish in that pond.  The lady lamented that heron had been coming to their yard frequently, but they thought the dogs were keeping the heron at bay and keeping them from actually getting at the fish.

She further lamented her shock to find only 2 fish left.  Well, if they were large Koi, I was headed out there anyway.  And yes, they are - about 17 inches long without using a measuring tape.  Not in great condition - the water that the guy had them in, in a VERY small, plastic play pool was nasty.  I was guessing not very good aeration in the original pond.  Those 2 have been living in murky, green water for over a year.  Okay, I know fish can live in that kind of condition, I just don't want MY fish living in that muck.

I have work to do.  I put those 2 in the biggest pond - but I must thin that pond out and get some in the new setup out front and also maybe put a couple in the medium sized pond.

It wasn't a wasted trip - for free, those fish aren't exactly worthless.  People are asking pretty good money for Koi that size.  I mean, if she called me and said she had 2 goldfish, I wouldn't have bothered.  Too far to drive for fish that I already have PLENTY of.

That's it.

G'nite.

ben

Wednesday 3/23/2011

Wednesday

Well what, did anyone think it was going to be free? Lol. Referring to the war in Libya and the U.S. presence there. I'm guessing the portion about us playing a "limited" role there has to do with the costs of war and the fact that we are already footing the bill for 2 other wars. 

But, those subs and ships are already out there anyway. It's not like they just decided to put a whole "extra" fleet of ships out there to deal with Libya, those expenses were being incurred regardless. The missiles - totally different story, obviously. 

Whatever. It will play out however it's going to go. If the coalition leaves before Qaddaffi, Qadaffi, Kadhafi - I have seen his name spelled so many different ways in the news, I have no idea which one is correct (and who cares, he's nothing more than a murderous tyrant). 

So enough of that. I have a busy day today (and completely ignoring all the ludicrous, crazy and insane stuff that is being "reported" in the media right now). First - work - of course. Finally something in the truck routing system to do. 

Uhh, manager just called - 20 minutes til' normal clock-in time, not so today. Anyway, after work, go get the Koi, after that, go to the survey study to earn a bit of extra cash.

With that, I'm off to the races!

ben

Tuesday 3/22/2011

Tuesday

In the case of Obama doing what he has done in basically starting a war with Libya - but through the UN Security Council, with the backing of the Arab League (for once), and apparently going to take a lessor role in the focus of who is running this campaign, I am going to have to agree that going through Congress first and having votes and all of that would not have been the greatest of ideas.

My reason being primarily because Gadhaffi's forces were about to go into Benghazi, wipe the place out, kill even more women, children and civilians, the onslaught would have been as brutal as the rest of it or more - and how long would have Congress sat on it's hands arguing back and forth over whether we should engage or not? 

I mean, if the current "budget" problem is any indicator, Libya's rivers would be flowing red with blood and the thing would be over, Gadhaffi wins, a brutal - extremely brutal dictator stays in power after snubbing the world. 

So, in this rare instance, I'll take Obama's side. I will not, however, take his side on him traipsing around South America when he should be in the Oval office/war rooms taking the position and role that is only his to take: Commander in Chief. 

Off of that. I was glad yesterday that I decided against watering my plants last weekend. I had there was a chance of rain and sure enough - it rained nicely yesterday, soaking and saturating the ground, using tap water would have been a complete and total waste. 

This Sissoo trees are putting whole new branches and they are growing quickly. It IS time to water the ground around those particular trees often and deep, yes. But when Mother Nature comes along and does it for me, for free, well, you can't go wrong with that. 

My 3 fishies out front are terrified. At least from the way they are acting. I have put a nice water lily in there to cover some of the top of the water for a hiding place - but - although that pond is smaller in circumference than the other ponds, it is deeper, meaning the leaves have to make it back up to the surface. It shouldn't take long and then there will be nice coverage for them.

Tomorrow will be a busy day. I don't know about work-wise - I'm talking after work. I have an appointment to get all of those fish, leaving directly after work and heading straight out there. Bring the fish home, hopefully have the dude that wants some of them waiting there or showing up shortly after I arrive. 

At 5:30, I have a Fieldwork Phoenix appointment - you go participate in a study group with other individuals and then you get paid a nice little sum for the time spent. 2 hours for $75. I don't make $37.50 per hour at work, might as well take advantage of it. A big plus about it is - the place is less than 2 miles from my house. I won't have to scramble to drive 20 miles or something to get there. 

So, reminding myself, I have to get my buckets cleaned out and in the car for tomorrow's little adventure. There won't be much time in between the fish endeavor and going to the study group - but it's going to all happen if I have anything to say about it, which I do. 

As for work, yesterday there was NOTHING in the truck routing system and it never changed. Today there is one delivery - albeit pretty far out east - that will eat up a couple of hours or so and that will be it for today unless something else comes up. We have been going pretty good for quite awhile all the way up until Friday and now? Dragggggggging along.

Oh well.

G'day.

ben

Click on any pic to enlarge it.

Click on any pic to enlarge it.
Various recent photos.  The last one is, yes, of the hummingbird that has been nesting, hatched the eggs and now is feeding the while still sitting on them, I guess keeping them warm.  You have probably seen a hummingbird up close enough to realize how small they are - which should give you an  idea of how small that nest is and further idea of how small the the freshly hatched birds are inside of it - 2 of them.

Ummm, first 2 pics are of the Water Iris.  Today, it has 2 more blooms on it.  Note the chair and the table right next to the above ground pond.  I have spent considerable time sitting there pondering life, listening to water falling and looking at fish swimming with, of course, my dogs at my feet.
Tunnel on US 60 in the mountains.
2 pics of fire trucks on the night of my next door neighbor's house burning down.
Pic of a "typical" property in a town called San Carlos on the San Carlos Indian Reservation.
Tour bus filled with people coming at me on AZ 70 - I know that they call these people professional drivers, but from what I have seen, I have my doubts about many of them being coupled with that status and trepidation anytime one of them is coming at me on such a road, even if I am in a tractor-trailer rig.
Correction: This is just a motorhome. I don't even remember why I snapped a shot of it.  I encountered several tour buses on the way back and thought from the smaller pic I had that it was one of them.
Pic of the scenic trip back from the Reservation, the bus is also on the trip back.

Monday 3/21/2011

Monday

The U.S. at war again. Oh, we may be clouding it under the veil of the UN Security Council. It might be lessened due to the fact that we are claiming not to be taking the primary role in the lead of the nations that have come together to stop Qadaffi's slaughter of his own people, but make no mistake: we are at war. 

If bombing another nation's military outposts and strategic military locations such as military airfields, from the skies via Cruise missiles being shot from warships and submarines, B-52's dumping bombs and jet fighters taking out tanks doesn't count as acts of war - well we all know, this is war.

Question: what is the outcome? What if Qadaffi leaves? Who is going to take his place or what entity? What if Qaddifi lays down his arms and stops the slaughter? Then what? Are the "rebels" organized enough to take on the role of running that nation? If they get control, what are they going ot do with it? Are they going to have free elections?

Perhaps that is why the U.S. isn't taking the lead in this mess, moreso, though, the expense of running 3 wars at the same time. Perhaps Iraq is done and over with, perhaps not, but we still have a lot of people over there. Afghanistan will never be done, not until we just up and pull out. Libya? Who knows.

I am not against going in that nation and shutting down Qaddafi's military, not at all, as opposed to Afghanistan where I think we should pull up the stakes and get the bleep out of there. I just wonder if they think all of the ramifications through to possible endings. I'm sure those things are brought up, at the very least, in these negotiations for a joint military task to invade another country - even if only from the air.

Well enough of that. I have been following it closely since it started and will continue to watch. They certainly are making a big deal out of the fact that his compound has been destroyed.

Productive weekend - yes. Did I get everything done? Of course not. But I was busy outside. The pond in the front is up and running. It needs more fish in it, I have to buy a much larger net to catch the fish in the other pond. That or just find more free goldfish, lol. 

I was out there much of the day yesterday - listening to that neighbor's dog barking incessantly. He stands at the fence and barks, and barks and barks. They won't do anything about it unless........call it juvenile if you like, but my peace is more important to me than however my actions might come off to the rest of the world. I make my dogs shut up, I do not allow them to stand there barking back. 

After the line was crossed - no specific thing, just have had enough of listening to a dog that can not and will not shut up - I went to the fence and shouted very loudly: SHUT YOUR DOG UP OR I AM GOING TO TURN ON THE MUSIC!!!

It was 30 seconds later that the noise stopped and the dog was behind the secondary fence they put up. They followed my lead - I put up a secondary fence shortly after my new house was finished and I was living on the property. JUST because of my dogs getting into fence fights with their dogs. They didn't care, of course until I had had enough of it and started taking whatever actions I could that aren't just out and out breaking the law. Calling the police, animal control, the city, none of that did any good. 

I mean, what are you supposed to do, live in misery because of someone else's BS? I think not. My boombox answer to this scenario has worked out quite well and I have only had to do it 2 or 3 times now. The last time I did it, I left that thing on for a couple of hours at full blast. That was - a couple of months ago? 

Well, it's Monday, there is nothing to do in the truck routing system - which is never a good start to a work week. Gag. Oh well.

G'day.

ben

Water Iris

I had absolutely no idea, whatsoever, that one variety of plant that I have been growing in my pond is a water Iris.  That's because there haven't BEEN any flowers coming out of any of them up until 24 hours ago.

I knew something was up several days ago when I saw these round shoots that seemingly appeared out of nowhere.  The plant itself is nothing but these tall, thin and semi-wide leaf-like things.  I thought they looked good enough in themselves.  I have 3 of these things growing in 2 ponds.  When I saw the tubular shoots coming up, my first thought was:  does this thing also bloom?  That is because I have a couple of other types of plants that do the same thing - leaves are thin, stalk type affairs, flowers come up in separate, tubular shoots.

Umm, 2 nights ago nothing, the next day 2 flowers in full bloom.  Absolutely beautiful.

So, someone is standing at that side door, looking at the flowers and telling me they were Irises.  I could not for the life of me remember the name of that particular flower until she said something.  That was Lynnette, who also said at least 3 times that "they are very hard to grow".

I had to laugh.  Perhaps dry ground based versions of this plant are hard to grow, there isn't anything that I have planted in the water that wasn't QUITE easy to grow.  More like weeds, do nothing and they will still grow like crazy.

I spent half this morning on the phone with Direct TV, I spent several hours working on the new pond including transferring some plants from the large pond to the new one and also  --  well -- catching fish in that larger pond isn't that easy with a small net.  I caught 3 goldfish and called it quits, the water was cloudly and all kinds of junk flowing around in it.  I also took back one very large goldfish that I first caught, put in the small pond and realized she wasn't like it at all.  She is HUGE with eggs.  I actually thought the smaller pond would be a better environment for her, but, I changed my mind and put her back in with the old population.

I then started pruning trees.  Just the Sissoo's. There are obvious points on branches where life meets death.  Yes, I cut back quite a bit of several trees back, lots more to go. In fact, this process of dealing with this winter's unusually and extremely cold nights with it's ensuing destruction of plant and tree life is going to take some time.  Much more than I expected.  I am glad this is a thing to do now at the end of winter and not at the beginning of hell summer.

The pond out front? Several more wheelbarrows of dirt left to haul out there and some decorative arranging of rocks and such and it is at least good to go for now.

The treatment of people.  Interesting topic.  How do I treat people, how am I treated.

I must needs get ready for the work week.

ben

Direct TV - AGAIN

I wrote a week or so ago about getting a new DVR from Direct TV for free, with no contract imposed.  It took me quite a bit of talking to quite a number of individuals to get it.

I went to record on it yesterday - push the record button - nothing happened.  All of my equipment is "older", meaning I have no clue what a new DVR or a new standard receiver would look like.  What I received was not a DVR, I found out quickly, it's a standard receiver.

I just spent another 2 hours on the phone with a bunch of people that denied me the request to send out a DVR, as was promised, and yes, you can have this standard receiver back.  One supervisor did get to the point of "well, we can do this:  send you out a new DVR for free, BUT, you will have to commit to another 2 year agreement.".

No, no and double no.  This is NOT what was agreed to when I was speaking with the disconnection department and after quite a bit of time wasted, I ended back at the disconnection department again.  The first woman "reviewed" my account and agreed that there was nothing they could do: it's a new DVR with the 2 year commitment or it's nothing.  Plus she threw in there that the receiver that I had already received automatically re-instated a new, 2 year commitment.  BS.  That got me going, as the original conversation with the person that was giving it to me specifically stated that there would BE no 2 year commitment.

All along, however, I have offered that if they want to replace ALL of my equipment, I would be happy to commit to 2 years again.  Nothing doing.  For whatever reason, they are not interested in doing that.  Meaning that every time one of my receivers fails, I am going to have to go through all of this as I refuse to buy equipment from them that they are giving out to new customers for free.  If I am forced to buy a receiver, it will be either off of Craigslist or Ebay.  That way, I own the blooming thing and I am not forced into a contract that has ALL KINDS of strings attached to it, been there done that.

Further, if I have a contract, I don't have near the leverage I have now without one.  I can disconnect any time without any thought of being charged for it.  It's just a tool that I can use: send me the equipment free or goodbye.

I was going to just end the call - she said she would be "happy" to disconnect my service ?!!!  if I wanted to today.  I got her supervisor on the phone.  Instead of railing on the woman that thinks it's gleeful fun to disconnect customers, I asked the man I was talking to a simple question: was the conversation I had had with the gentleman almost 2 weeks ago about getting a free DVR with no contract recorded?  Yes, sir, it would be available for review.  Then, I stated, I suggest you review that recording, because it is spelled out in that conversation to the nth degree that I was to get a new DVR, for free, with no 2 year commitment.  The ONLY caveat is that it would be treated as a leased DVR  and I would have to return it if I ever cancel my service with Direct TV.

Well who cares about that? What am I going to do with it if/when I cancel the service?  It is useless with any other company and I don't CARE if I own it or not.  In fact, NOT owning it is better: they will have to replace it for free if it ever breaks.

They like putting people on hold - for extended lengths of time. One guy put me on hold twice, for at least 5 minutes per, without any sound.  He obviously wanted me to hang up as I was asking for something that he didn't want to do.

Regardless, this situation might be over now.  I say might because I don't consider it a done deal until I have the new DVR sitting there, hooked up, activated and another call to Direct TV to ensure that there is NO contract automatically occurring.

This time, however, they are sending out a tech. Why?  I guess they want to know for sure that the one I have is defective.  Yes, it's defective.  Hook it up, it puts these blips and lines on the TV.  It's junk.

I don't care if they send out a tech, but the recorded conversation with the confirmation department included that there is no contract, no fee for the tech to come out and that the DVR is free.

Thank you.

ben

Pond Stuff

The liner did show up today.  I was going to install it and put some new fish into it - but - I decided on changing the game plan.  I am going to fill on the hole were the water line was fixed - so I am going to have to wheelbarrow quite a number of loads from the back of the property to the front to do that.

The point is to make it as level as possible, and the side of the pond where the repair on the water line was done is not level.  I will need to bring the dirt level up to at least the bottom of the pond on that side of it to make it level.

The other reason I changed my mind is that I realized that I do not want to put any Koi in that pond.  It will be, at least at first, goldfish only.

I say that because I acquired 3 more Koi today.  I am totally uninterested in goldfish at this point- I have plenty of them and don't want anymore, Koi are way cooler looking.  Today's score was a butterfly Koi and then 2 - whatever kind of Koi they are.  Underfed, apparently. I put them in the larger pond, came back later, threw some Koi pellets in there and that butterfly Koi went crazy.  I think it overfed itself.  It looked like it hadn't eaten in a long time the way it was feeding.  That one is about 6 inches long, the other 2 are around 3 plus inches long.

The smaller ones were trying to inhale the pellets, but they kept ejecting them, assuming they are too large. I tried putting in goldfish flakes but they ignored them and kept going after the Koi pellets.

Well, tomorrow, I am thinking anyway, I will be putting the liner in the pond, filling up the hold, leveling out the pond, filling it up with water, getting the pump and filter going, etc etc etc.  Put some fish stress stuff on there that also helps the fish adapt to new water.  Catch goldfish out of the large pond, dump them in there.  Put some plants in there - this will be a weekend project, at least.

But, I am at my bedtime.  Even on weekends, I mostly go to bed early.

G'nite.

ben

Friday 3/18/2011

Friday

Following the tracking on my pond liner coming from - Missouri I believe it was - it's at the FedEx facility in downtown Phoenix. Meaning I hope it comes today!! I would love to get that thing up and running with fish and plants in it this weekend.

China says the Libyan conflict should be "resolved through dialogue". Is this what happened in Tianamen square? Does China hold dialogue with the people that simply disappear off the face of the earth? Yes, I'm sure they do, before they kill some of them. Let's not forget the fact that China is a Communist nation. I am well aware of what happens to Christians in the underground movement over there, religious freedom is not tolerated.

In other words, China can go jump off a cliff. Or, at least, the government that oppresses it's own people. It is hardly surprising that they and other nations like them have their "reservations" about enforcing a no-fly zone in Libya.

The Security Council gave it's approval, let's get on with this already. From what I have been reading, the "rebels" don't HAVE days to wait, it either happens now or it's a waste of time, at least in terms of the cause of the upheaval that is quickly being smothered by Qaddafi. This enforcement needs to happen today, not Sunday or Monday as the news is reporting.

As for Obama and his wishy-washiness, the man cannot get out of Washington fast enough for me. Instead of taking the initiative, he waited for France and Britain to take the reigns. He is a gutless wonder.

I am not going out and buying iodine pills and a geiger counter today. Although, in the cause of a preparedness mentality, having those pills around might not be such a bad idea considering the largest nuclear plant in North America is about 75 miles from where I am sitting right now.......

The thought that it might melt down has crossed my dream mind a few times while sleeping. I have gotten a bit edgy when I've had to go INTO that plant and sitting in a semi not 50 feet away from one of the reactor buildings. But, I hope that technology has advanced enough that if there ever is a problem there, they can get it shut down quickly enough to avert a disaster. In Japan, however, the forces of nature took them by surprise. I don't envision earthquakes or tsunami's in Arizona, but one never knows. At least on the earthquakes, I am pretty sure in my belief that a Tsunami will never hit the Phoenix area. If it does, that would mean travelling across land around 400 miles. Yeah, highly unlikely.

As for the bullied kid picking up the bully and slamming his body on the ground - good on him. The mother of the bully wants the bullied kid to apologize. What a world full of pansies we have become. I grew up in a rough neighborhood. Kids beat up other kids every day. I had more than my share of school yard fights, I refused to be bullied. In fact, the biggest bully of them all - who had gone around to all the rest of the kids on the school play ground during a particular school year finally came knocking on my door one day. This kid was feared because he had 10 older brothers. Yes, TEN of them.

So, he decided that I was going to "bow" to him one day, of which I was having nothing to do with it. I told him where he could shove it which is when he started visibly shaking with fear - he made me mad. Even with his cohorts standing by his side, I stood up to that idiot. He then stated that he was going to get one of his brothers to come and kick my @$$. I informed him that I, too, have brothers and they have a lot of friends. One of your brothers comes after me, my brothers will come after ALL of your brothers.

It wasn't an idle threat, either, my oldest brother used to run around all over the place looking for gangs to beat up.

I was never bothered by that kid again. I did, however, have my share of fist fights starting the first day of kindergarten. I don't remember parents threatening to sue other parents and/or the entire school system. Nobody was killed or even maimed. Bloodied up, pained, yes, pride hurt, undoubtedly.

That's just one aspect of our pansied society. I know this incident didn't happen in the U.S., but it's the same mentality. When a kid that is being bullied stands up for himself and takes on the bully - and wins - that ought to put a bit of fear into the hearts and minds of other bullies who see such a video and wonder if the same thing could happen to them......

my time is up, good day.

ben

Skin Irritation

Okay, I"ve been to 5 different doctors spanning the time since the last quarter of last year about this situation.  The first 3 doctors didn't have a clue, the 4th doctor said, gee, there is a problem, you need a dermatologist and gave me the authorization to see a dermatologist.

Then our company switched insurance providers.
I then went to a dermatologist - twice - who didn't address the problem even though I repeatedly brought the subject up on both visits - $50 copay per visit.  Well, she "addressed" it:  I think you've had this problem a long time and you just haven't noticed it.

I didn't want to argue with her, she claimed sun exposure.  I have sun exposure issues, I can tell you right now that what ever is going on here?  Has nothing to do with sun exposure.  In fact, in all of these instances, I said I thought it looked like ringworm.   I have had ringworm before - a long time ago - back then it was prescription only medication.   I have asked these doctors whether there is an over the counter medication, they always tell me to go see a doctor.

The itching on my face has become unbearable.  I looked up ringworm on the internet today to find a couple of OTC remedies for it - they are used for Athlete's foot as well.  I don't KNOW if what I have is ringworm, I am only looking at it and thinking this is what it is.  Lotrimin is one such remedy.  I ran down to Walgreen's as soon as I found that - $10 is worth a try over a $50 copay for a "specialist" that doesn't even try to address the problem.  I have sun exposure on my arms as much as my face, they aren't itching.  Anyway, the symptoms are the same: itching, burning, discomfort - I haven't seen any scaling but I wash my face twice a day, so perhaps that's why I wouldn't see any.  I mean I wash my face with a special soap that was "ordered" by the dermatologist.

If this doesn't work, I am going to find another doctor and this time?  I am not taking no for an answer.  Do tests on my skin, I don't care WHAT it takes, you are going to find out what's wrong and if it is treatable, you are going to treat it.  I am not going to continue to shell out $25 or $50 copays for nothing information.

Heck, I was checking out another doctor today - I need a general practice doctor - this place charges $50 if you are a no-show. It's funny how they can charge you $50 or $25 for being a no-show if you don't cancel the appointment within 24 hours of the date, but they can do whatever they freaking please.  If the doc can't see you?  They'll call 2 hours before the appointment and cancel it.  If they have overbooked?  You are going to sit in that waiting area for a long, long time.  They aren't handing me 50 dollar bills for having to wait forever, are they?  BS.  Apparently this is the current trend: charge you for not showing up.  It's unfortunate, but I  have missed a few appointments because of my job.

The really funny thing about this is that these doc offices invariably refill that missed "position".  Not only that, but these doctors are unwilling to spend and real time with you if you have a lot to deal with.  If you get 10 or 15 minutes out of them, you are lucky.  A bit lop-sided system, I have to say.

Anyway, I'm trying this stuff for a week.  If it doesn't work, well I'll be looking for another doc in the next several days and I will make yet another appointment.

Thursday 3/17/2011

Thursday

I had thoughts of attending this family reunion in North Carolina. Besides financial factors - the cost of an air ticket to get there and back would undoubtedly be very high, not to mention a rental car, hotel and eating, plus whatever activities - I don't know any of these people.

The idea of spending a week with people I don't know? Could be an awesome time, could be a nightmare, could be a bit of both. Last time I spent a single day with an unknown family was not the greatest time on earth. That was when Caleb and I went down to visit my dad and his wife for - Thanksgiving I think it was. Some of her family was there and the dad/husband/son of my dad's wife was........more than I was willing to deal with. 

He talked and talked and talked and talked - endlessly - didn't want to hear anything anyone said, or if he did let in a word or two, he would instantly go on his own little venture of how HE had done the same thing or been through that kind of ordeal or whatever. 

I don't even have these people as FB friends - my family lines - save one. So, let's say I could magically come up with the $1,500 or whatever to go and "enjoy" myself. Lots of unknowns in that sort of situation. 

Funny that I have all of these relatives that I have never known. I saw them when I was a little kid - I mean little as in around 8 years old or younger, I really can't remember what age, I am sure it was before the age of 10. My family moved out west when I was 10 and that was the end of any visits to relatives. 

It's a strange thing to have a family that lives within 50 miles of each other but doesn't want to talk to each other, much less spend any time together. I have never really given any consideration to the fact that I have never known any of my relatives. 

Well, whatever. It is what it is and I'm not going to do anything to change at this late point in the game. 

The news is all over the scale. Japan and it's denial that the plant is going to melt down - we all hope it won't, of course, but experts from the U.S. are saying elsewise; the security council is waffling while the "rebels" are being slaughtered in Libya; but here's one that got my attention: a mayor in Florida is recalled and booted for his stance on tax, tax, tax the people. 

I would love to see that happen with certain members of the city council in the city of Phoenix and it's mayor as well. There have been proposals by one of the council members on how to save money so that taxes don't have to be increased. They seem to want to up the water bill by 5% every year. It would be a hoot if it started a trend: just recall these people who think that dumping the burden on the taxpayers even more than they are already being dumped on is, somehow, a good idea. 

That would get them ALL shaking in their boots. Gee, I better rethink this. Here's the point: these municipalities are basing their activities, expenditures, budgets on what it USED to be. You know, when the economy was good and all kinds of money was flowing into their coffers? Instead of cutting back, they seem to want to just keep things the same and make taxpayers foot the bill for it. I don't think so. The average pay and benefits for a city worked in Phoenix is $100,000 PER YEAR. 

This is what the council member was talking about cutting back, that and other things.

Whatever, just musing. I must get offa here.

ben

Direct TV Revisited (yes, another episode)

Putting it bluntly, I do not like calling Direct TV.  Like so many other companies, you call in and have to give a computer your information.  You then get sent to a live operator - after pressing 0 numerous times to get the computer to shut up and get to a real human being.

The person that answers the phone wants you to give the exact same information that you already gave to that freaking computer all over again.  You already know the person you are talking to isn't going to be able to help you - at all - unless it's a very simple problem.  The woman that answered the phone today?  Her English was so poor it was unintelligible 50% of the time I was listening to her speaking.  I won't even attempt to try to get anything done with a person that doesn't fluently speak the language that I am speaking, it is a complete waste of my time. However, she transferred me to the technical support department.

THAT person asked me the SAME information AGAIN.  NO.  WHY can't you people get software incorporated into your computer system to pass along the fact that I have already, completely, thoroughly identified myself at least twice before I got to YOU?  Yes, I did ask her that.  I have asked alot of Direct TV associates that same question over the years.  I expect, but I hate it.  It's very irritating to have to be passed from one person to another AND have to fully identify yourself every time.

This woman got rude with me, so I asked her her name and employee ID number.  "Well I want YOUR name first!".  That was enough of that.  I declared to her that she had made a huge mistake in treating me that way, I am relentless in my quest for "revenge", if that's even the correct word, when verbally assailed by a customer service agent.  I demanded to speak to her supervisor.

Lots of yada yada yada not worth going into and this guy gets on the phone.  I start telling him my issues, including the previous woman - when he starts talking over the top of me.  I usually go silent when that occurs  as I did this time.  I wait for him to finish and then I proceed, again, to inform him of why I had called since he had asked.  He starts talking over the top of me again.

This is one of the most aggravating, irritating and confrontive types of things you can do to a customer, or at least to this customer.  This means, to me anyway, that that person does no want to hear anything I have to say, he is right and I am wrong, it doesn't matter what my problem is and he is superior to me.  At least in his own eyes.  I asked him the location of corporate headquarters and informed him that I would reporting him, as well and what is HIS ID number?  He gave me it.  He told me corporate headquarters is in Colorado.

GONG.  LIAR.  I remembered it was in California somewhere, I just couldn't remember what town.  El Segundo, when I saw it, it rang the bell as I have called that number before.  Back and forth, I dialed the number and got on the phone with a person.  I tell him that I am on the phone with a supervisor.

I know, it sounds like too much to go through, but, these ordeals net me wins every time.  You see, I got my new DVR today.  It's a nice little unit, looks brand new - but who knows.  Works great is what I can say.  But what was not in the box were the 2 extra remotes I had asked for.  I'll admit that the man I was speaking to a few days ago did not actually agree to send me 2 remotes for free, but he NEVER said he wouldn't.  I had brought the subject up 3 times and he danced away from that subject and was only focusing on the issue with wanting to quit Direct TV and what would appease me to stay with Direct TV.  That day was a score, so was today, though at no small amount of aggravation.

Long story short.  No, of course not, it's already been a long story.  But - besides getting the card activated - I also got the 2 remotes for free.  This whole thing started earlier this week when I saw my bill and saw that they had raised my rate - even though I had been promised it would not.

It's a never-ending story with this company.

Wednesday 3/16/2011

Ummm, sooo. I can't really do anything that I want to do with the ponds until my new pond liner arrives in the mail/fed ex/whatever. I was thinking of putting all the Koi that I got yesterday in that pond. 

Next door - probably illegal alien - "neighbor" starting trouble again. He won't start the crap with me, he starts it with my tenants. This time, it was with the "kid". He had pulled up "too far". 

Let me just say here that there is no law on the books that I know of that says a vehicle has to be parked in front of the person's house where that vehicle's owner is staying or visiting. As long as you are not blocking a person's driveway or a fire hydrant, there isn't any law that says if someone moves 2 inches beyond a person's fence line, that is considering illegal, somehow.

So, this "man" comes running out, apparently, from his house as soon as the guy parked his car. He just stands there looking at him. I wasn't out there or I would certainly have made some nice comments directed towards this guy who has a hard-on for starting trouble. 

The kid thought that maybe it was because of that guy's driveway and the car that was parked in it. No, it isn't. They don't use that car, it never moves out of that driveway. Even if they did, you aren't anywhere NEAR blocking it or the gate. 

The kid had moved his car way back and I told him not to do that - another car won't be able to park behind his and then MY driveway will be blocked and I won't be able to get out in the morning to go to work. I also said not to let that man intimidate you - lol, THAT got him going. "I am NOT intimidated by ANYONE". Okay then, let's just park our vehicles as we have been parking them and if that guy wants to start trouble, let him call the police. Otherwise, I suggest you ignore him. 

I will be parking my old car there whenever the spot is open at this point. Oh, and to give an idea of this guy's garbage, HE had his van parked about half a foot into my side of the fence last week for several days. I didn't say anything - that's because I DON'T CARE. I don't sit at the window, waiting for someone to park "wrong" and then go running out having a cow about NOTHING.

As for the situation with Chase bank - and their giving me the wrong account number AND the wrong routing number, written down on paper - the mortgage payment finally went through. I was mad 2 days ago about this situation - I am still very unhappy with it. I have not heard back from the bank - they will be hearing from me. 

Anyway, time is running out and I want to read about Japan and also Libya - just enough time to squeeze that in, I think.

Good day.

ben

Koi

You don't see ads for Koi being given away very often, when you do and if you want them, you better drop whatever you're doing and call immediately.  I've done that over and over - sometimes I score, mostly I get "they're already gone".

Well, I have been frequenting Craigslist much more often and typing in Koi as the search and yes, I have seen the offers but haven't been able to "cash-in" on any of them.  There are a lot of people scouring the ads for free Koi.  This afternoon, the thought crossed my mind: let's take a look.  Pond being shut done, giving away my Koi and goldfish.  I called immediately.  No, no-one else had called and yes, he wants to give them away, but he wants to give ALL of them away to one person, including the goldfish.  I did not hesitate: okay.  If I couldn't take them in my pond, I have another guy who wants a lot more fish in his new pond.

I head over there.  I get 3/4's of the way there and see that my fuel gauge is just above empty.  No problem, stop and get some fuel before getting there.  Problem? I rushed out of the door so fast, I forgot my wallet!  Got to the house - it is foreclosed and already resold.  I didn't know that, I was ringing on the doorbell. If someone was home, they weren't answering.  Waiting - get a old of the guy, he is running late.

He finally shows up.  He was in LOVE with that pond. He did not want to lose his home, but he said that Bank of America would not help him.  I asked him about the HAMP program before finding out that he not only had been foreclosed on, the house was sold yesterday - for $60,000.  His loan was for $250,000.  This is the stark reality for a lot of folks in the Phoenix area: our homes are literally worthless compared to the amount we "paid" for them.

He had bought the Koi when they were very small and stated that he had had them for 2-1/2 years.  3 to 4 inches, some 5.  I got a lot of fish.  Small, fortunately, or I wouldn't have been able to deal with it in my ponds.  He came just short of crying.  He spoke about the pond and his fish as if he had grown up with the pond and as if the fish were family members.  I could only offer my apologies and sympathy for his situation in losing the home and his lifestyle.  I understand.  That's why I have fought to keep my place.  I don't want to  go rent out a property and live on a rental forever.

I was, however, very concerned when I found out these Koi had been sitting in this small, plastic tub for over a day.  No aeration.  Amazing they hadn't sucked all the air out of the water and floating, dead on the surface.

Well, I left, a bit saddened by this guy's new reality and the fact that he had to leave what he fought so desperately to keep.  As time moves on, he'll get over it, but it is still very fresh in his heart and mind right now.  No, I don't tell people to "get over it" or even think that, mostly.  Sometimes the situation warrants it, this guy was having his moment and I was not trying to deny it.  We shook hands and I left.  I did offer him that he could keep all of these fish in a small, plastic pond and they would adapt very well.  He said he had thought about it - but apparently his future includes having to move around alot.  I didn't ask, didn't think it appropriate, especially if it was going to bring up a tender/sore subject.  Better to leave it alone.

I do believe, however, I will offer to give him his fish back if he gets into a position where he will get a pond going again.  No-one talks about a thing with that much love in their voice, tone and words and doesn't think they aren't going to eventually get back into it again.  His remorse was that he had bought the fish when they were very small and had watched them grow for almost 3 years.  Wow.  What can you say to a person in that situation?  You can't really say anything, you just give them an ear to spill out on and give them a place to vent it out.

How will I identify these fish if that were to ever happen? Not too hard: they are the smallest fish in either pond.  I have good sized fish in those ponds.  Okay, they are mostly Koi and I know my Koi.  Today's addition was a LOT more Koi, but the smallest Koi is much larger than any of those.  Well, there are 3 Koi I haven't seen in a while - I don't know if they are still alive.  I bought them at PetSmart and have no idea whether they are still in those ponds or not - there are plenty of hiding places in them.  

Time for bed.

G'nite.

ben

Tuesday 3/15/2011

Tuesday

3-day weekends are nice, but there's nothing like taking a full work-week off - thusly creating 9 day span of not having to get up and go to work. I fully intend on doing that this summer. 

Allegedly, there is going to be another reunion in North Carolina again this year. Funny how the family lines in the west aren't even invited to these affairs..........

......so I probably won't be saving for a vacation to NC to spend it with a bunch of strangers I haven't seen since I was 8 years old or thereabouts..........

I'll spend my vacation doing nothing but staying home, undoubtedly, which is fine by me, it's better than no vacation at all. By the time summer hits, they are predicting $4 per gallon fuel and certainly it LOOKS like it's going to go there. The price of everything is going to go up. Including vacations.

I have a vacation on my mind, I guess, because I haven't been on one in so long. I mean, I have done the staycation thing 2 years running now, I think, or is it 3? I wouldn't mind heading to a California beach and spend several days there. Dunno if that's really in the cards or not, but one can always dream.

Oh, my pond. Well, it has a big leak. I mean, like the thing is draining out several inches per hour. I just turned the pump off and am waiting for a pond liner to arrive. Yes, I pretty much figured this thing has been moved around too much, it's probably got a crack or hole somewhere, I ordered the liner off of Ebay before I even put the thing in the ground. So, it's going to sit empty until that liner shows up. The pond itself will serve as a shield against the rocks that are so incredibly abundant in these parts.......I think I will also put an old piece of carpeting down underneath the pond for extra added protection. 

I have my large pond clear as a mirror now, the water is very clean and I moved the UV sterilizer to the medium sized pond yesterday to get the algae gook out of there as well. 

As for tenants, wellllll, it is what it is. I have a better understanding now why the female tenant has been having trouble with paying the rent - Subway only pays here $7.50 per hour. However, she has been working a LOT of hours so she got herself paid up quite a lot the other day - which I dumped almost all of onto the electric card reader. I am preparing for summer this year. Last year I said I was going to do it and I didn't - quite the mistake. By the time June hits, I want $400 on that reader so I will be AHEAD, not scrambling to come up from behind. At the moment, it has about $235 on it. As soon as another tenant pays up, I'm dumping another $100 on it and then next month $200 more on top of the regular usage and that should get me to where I want it. 

I am also going to have the entire system checked out - by a different company than the one that both installed it and fixed the broken compressor. How does a compressor go out after only 13 months of use, half of those months not even being used at all? And THEN, paying "$800 service and labor fee" even though it was under warranty. What a complete and total ripoff. 

If I had that home to do all over.........

No use complaining. It's not a bad house, it's just that I learned quite a lot after the fact. I knew in the middle of the process that there was a lot I didn't know and probably wouldn't find out until afterwards, yes, that's definitely the case here. 

Well, work day is here and fortunately, there are a couple of deliveries to be made. I dunno if those orders are pulled yet or what, but, I'm just glad there's something to do.

With that, I bid you.....Good day.

ben