Cafe World Tips 29: How To Trap Your Waiters To Make Them Teleport Food; Buzz Rating Issues

Are you having trouble with keeping your buzz rating up?  Do you constantly run around clicking on coffee cups or drinks above customer's heads to force it to go up?  Are you tired of not having customers in your cafe because your buzz rating is too low?

Hello and thanks for stopping by.  I am somewhat of an expert on buzz rating at this point in time.  It's almost 100% guaranteed that if you have a low buzz rating in your cafe, it's because there is something "wrong" with your cafe's layout.  Now, without going into all of that - though you are welcomed to leave a message below and share a screenshot of your cafe, I can pretty much tell you what is wrong with it, how to fix it and see your buzz rating go back up - another, easier way of getting it back up is to have your waiters teleport the food from the counters to the tables.

With this method, the waiters are trapped behind the counters.  They cannot get out and the "fling" the dishes to the tables instead of taking their SWEET old time picking up a dish and walking it over there.

Below is a screenshot of my cafe and how I have my waiters trapped.

Click on the picture to get a larger view of it.

My counters are set up in such a way that there is no escape for the waiters. They are completely blocked in. If you do not completely block them in, they will simply walk right through the counters as if they didn't exist. Likewise, if you put anything in the way of any of the counters from inside of the blockage, same thing, it won't work. Also, ALL counters must be accessible from inside the blockage, you cannot stack them as you can with stoves.

Follow my example - or find a neighbor if you please that also has their dishes teleporting and you will be on your way to getting your buzz rating back up!! If you have any questions about this, please simply leave them in the comment field below and I will periodically check this thread for any questions and will answer them in the comment field as well.

Cafe World Tips 28: How To Get Free Cafe Cash And Instant Thyme In Cafe World

 The complaints about how everything (that you want, anyway) costs Cafe Cash in Cafe World (CW) come from all sides and have been going on since shortly after Zynga rolled the game out onto Facebook.  If you are an avid player of the game, then you have probably seen something in the Decor section at the bottom of your cafe that you reeeeeeeally wanted but it cost Cafe Cash instead of being able to purchase it with Cafe Coins.

I have almost 80,000,000 Cafe Coins right now, sure, you can redecorate with it, but you can't do the really nice stuff unless you want to spend cash.  There are several ways that you can earn or get Cafe Cash in the game, but my "plan", if you want to call it that, gets you MUCH more albeit takes a bit of time and sometimes, a bit of confrontation.  

There are 3 ways you can get cash and instant thyme - usually a good amount of it - for free.   These actions are all directed towards Zynga itself in the form of filing a "Service Ticket" with a complaint or issue about the game.  EVERYONE has an issue with the game: who HASN'T been on the receiving end of one of Zynga's unending problems that go hand-in-hand with Cafe World?

So, here it is.  First, you can contact them via written message/email.  Copy and paste this URL into your internet browser:  http://support.zynga.com/CP_ContactUs?gameid=61.  Ummm, well maybe it will show up as a clickable hyperlink.  You have to fill out the form to get your message sent.  Answer all of it, and detail in the field that asks you to write out your problem.  What problem? Any problem you can think of!  Just use ONE problem, though, don't dump it all in one fell swoop.  Why is the game so slow?  How come my dishes disappear when I am cooking them, leave the cafe, come back in and find them gone?  Whatever. 

They usually write you back, sometimes they do not.  Which is why I really do not prefer this method of contacting them.  I abandoned this method once I found out their telephone number and started calling them at 1-800-762-2530, which is the second method to contact them and try to get free cash and instant thyme.  When you call that number, the recorded message tells you to go to their internet page with any issues with the game, as they can't deal with it there. Bunk.  Click on the option to talk to billing.  When they get on the phone, tell them you wrote in a support ticket (which you should always do if you are going to call them), never heard back from them and want answers.

Alright, those were the "old" methods, now to the good one.  Zynga introduced Live Chat to Cafe World some time ago.  It is available here:  http://support.zynga.com/cp_landingpage?gameid=61

There is a picture of Amelia at the bottom right corner of the page, OR, there is a picture of the Zynga bulldog.  If it's Amelia, Live Chat isn't available, if it's the Bull Dog, then Live Chat IS available and click on that which opens up a field for a chat between you and a customer agent.  THIS is where I have scored most of the goodies.  So far a couple thousand in Cafe Cash and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of Instant Thyme just for opening up a chat, getting into a conversation and almost always, they offer free cash and thyme for your inconvenience.  

My current numbers are almost 1,000 cash and around 400 instant thyme - I have been using it to get through some of the goals.  

There ARE other ways to get free cash and thyme, but that involves a bit of effort.  

1 way is to go to the "Get Coins and Cash" field on the to of your cafe.  Click on that.  Scroll down below the buy option - who wants to pay real money for Cafe Cash when you can get it for free?~!  There are usually tasks you can do to earn free cash.  Almost always it's $2 for each survey you do and it doesn't take very long.  I hadn't done it in a while and visited yesterday, there were 7 of them in there giving me a grand total of $14 Cafe Cash.

Consecutive Days Cooking.  Keep on cooking, every day.  Every 7th day, you get $3 free cash.  

Click on the Lottery Tickets that your neighbors post. I have won a lot of free CW cash just by clicking on those.  

Getting into a conversation with a live agent in a live chat isn't for everyone, some people don't feel comfortable doing that. For those that have no problem with it, give it a try!  It's not cheating, there is nothing unethical about it and you just might come away with some free Cafe Cash and Instant Thyme! Good Luck!!

Monday 4/4/2011

Monday

I'd just like to know where, exactly, we are going with this situation in Libya? We all know the story - we went in, rather late - now we're pulling out - appearing to be rather early. Just curious.

Is the federal government going to shut down? Will Boehner and Reid finally come together on a compromise? The rhetoric spewing forth from the machine is incredible. But, I do agree and as the GOP has so eloquently put it: let's stop kicking the can down the road. It's our problem, let's let our current generations deal with it. If it shuts down, it shuts down.

Spent Sunday cleaning and doing stuff outside - pretty much on and off all day long. I think the tax documents I have been searching for have simly disappeared into - maybe some physical realm of cyberspace. I have looked everywhere for that bag of stuff and I simply cannot find it. It is not irreplaceable - but to get the stuff I need will be a hassle, at best.

Oh, and the squealing I have been hearing from the neighbor's side of the fence? That Rottweiler has had a litter of puppies. From my vantage point of looking through the fence, at least 6 of them. Both Rottie and Fluffy - that's what I call them - were driving me crazy yesterday to the point that yes, I turned on the boom box, on the step ladder, at their window level. They simply will not do anything unless I do something that forces them to do it.

Yes, they came out in short span of time - like 20 seconds - and got the dogs off of that side of the house. Not sorry. Fluffy will just stand there and bark at me, through the fence, non-stop. Rottie jumps up against the fence and barks, doubling the noise levels coming from one dog. I'm trying to enjoy a nice Spring afternoon and being subjected to this? No thanks.

I turned the music off after it was done playing 2 songs at the highest volume level on the radio. I just unplug it, that way, when I need it ready, just plug it back in : )

I have been completely ignoring the "neighbors" on the other side, including the dude with the burned down house and the idiot next to him. Once the one neighbor showed his apathy towards having my property damaged/destroyed by his cats and the other one threatening my tenant last week - that was enough. I am hopeful that by the time I get home today, the next door neighbor will be gone for Michigan. I could make life quite difficult for him considering the mess he's leaving on that property. But I won't have to, someone else will call it into the city.

As for the idiot, I am carrying my camera with me around the property in case he wants to try that junk with me, it will be recorded and yes, I will call the police. There is no other, legal, good way to deal with a person like that. I have plenty of things I can think of to do that I would have done as a teenager - none of them legal, all of them either including some element of destruction of property or physical violence or both - but I would rather live the life of a Christian, number one and after that a law-abiding citizen, number two. So, just wait and be patient. I am not going to sit here and say, however after hearing hearing the man saying he's going to take my life, that I didn't have such thoughts initially coursing through my head.

I have determined that I don't - need any more fish. At least not big ones. I bought 6 black mollies on sale a few days ago - very small fish - cause I read they eat algae. Sure enough, those suckers went straight to work on the sides of the big pond that I put them in. I was also amazed that those mosquito eaters survived the winter. They are small fish, the water they were in was not heated and it got VERY cold. I heard they were a hearty fish - indeed, they are! I'm going to go get some free ones from the county next time I am going to be near there - located right in the midst of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's tent city setup.

Anyway, work day almost here, want to finish reading some stuff online.

ben

Saturday 4/2/2011

Did anyone play an April Fool's Day joke on anyone yesterday?  I  was going to but got distracted by things going on around my home and property.

I am still attempting to find what I did with that tax documentation.  I have no clue.  I may be having to go around and get all that stuff all over again.  Actually, I could get by with just stopping by the processing center that took my house payments that year and getting them to get that stuff available.   I am going to search every where I can think of to search before I do that, but my places to look are running down to nothing.  I couldn't find that stuff in the closet and though there are a few piles of paperwork left to look through, I don't think it's in there.

As for the cat situation, I have found a couple of products that might do the job of keeping them away from their preferred crapping area on my property.  One is a motion activated noise maker - at ultra high frequency that apparently they can hear and don't like but that humans allegedly cannot hear.  I don't give much credence to such things, though.  The other is a motion activated sprinkler.  You set the thing up aimed at the area you want to "protect".  A cat walks into that area and kabaam, a sprinkler turns on and I would guess a cat isn't going to much care for water being sprayed onto them and will disappear.

I don't see, however, why I should have to foot the bill for a problem created by someone else's animal.  I'll be giving that some thought and on Monday I will also be calling animal control about the legalities of certain actions (which no, does NOT include killing cats, I wouldn't do that, though I have had it suggested by several individuals).  I mean, if I catch a cat on my walled property, can I not deal with it by getting rid of it, without killing it or even putting it into a position to die?

It also hardly excuses a "man" threatening my tenants and telling them that my life is going to end if a single cat disappears.

The old computer needs a new monitor.  The one I have with it now is down to showing almost nothing, the screen has faded to the point it's almost completely dark.  I just found one on Craigslist and I will be getting it later on after the guy gets home from his errands.

Done with this one, later!

More About Cats

No offense to cat lovers, but I do not like cats.  That hatred for them became a part of me when I was a young kid in Pittsburgh, parents owning several cats, one of them having litters - I think it was every 3 months.  6 months, I don't remember.  Us kids were to take care of the messes of the litters.  I need not go into the specifics, do I?  If I did, it would be good if you weren't eating while reading it, but I am not.

I love dogs.  I have 4 of them.  My Great Danes follow me everywhere when I am inside or outside the house.  If I go out, they go out.  If I go out front - I don't always let them - but they want out there, too.  Whatever I am doing, they are there.  If I'm with the fish, I ended up putting a cloth tarp thing down over the rocks because, yes, that's where they want to be.

My dogs do not cause my neighbors problems.  They are in the house all night long, every night, not outside barking - as many dogs in this neighborhood are left to do.  I don't have dog crap laying all over the property, it's cleaned up every day.  My dogs bark - but not all day long when I'm not home.  They are like any other dog, they bark when they hear something the provokes them to bark.  My dogs aren't allowed to do fence-fighting with the dogs to the east of me, I put up a 4 foot fence in my yard to keep them from doing that.  More importantly, my dogs don't go to neighbor's yards and shit and piss all over the place.

And that, really, is where the rubber meets the road.

You see, I attempted to engage my next-door neighbor with the burned down house about this cat situation, since this is apparently what has 3 neighbors upset with me about.  He simply stated: "I cannot control my cats from going over to your house and shitting on your property".  The lack of ability to control one's animals does not, in my mind, therefore give a free pass to that person to allow that person's animals to do whatever they want to, whenever they want to, because "I cannot control them".  It was a pathetic conversation and he didn't want to get into it.  Of course not, how is he going to defend his cats crapping and pissing all over everything?

He did everything he could to change the subject, I continued to come right back to it.  Let's deal with this.  The apathetic attitude I got from him only gave me one idea:  put the trap out every night, catch a cat, every night, move it somewhere else.  No, the trap isn't set up with tuna fish in it right now - and I am not doing that - today anyway.  You see, no-one cares that my property is being damaged by their cats, they couldn't care less.  It doesn't make a hootin' nanny holler's worth of difference to them: that's MY problem.  Yes, but I can make it THEIR problem if they start disappearing.

This has been going on for quite a while now.  I have made it QUITE well known my extreme dislike that their animals are climbing over my fence, into my back yard, over the front fence, into my front yard.  It's spring and the plants that have been trampled are trying to make a comeback.  If those cats continue with that junk, it's just going to be a big, brown patch of dead, grown-covering plants.

If they were just using my yard to run through it, I couldn't care less.  But no, my front patch is a giant toilet to them.  The fact that that other neighbor threatened my tenant yesterday about this shit only makes me want to get rid of EVERY single cat that comes through my property.  Let me note that I have spent no small amount of time on my front yard.  It's plants, trees, now a small pond and a lot of rocks hauled from various other portions of the property.  You want to talk about sweat equity, THAT is REAL sweat equity.

So, my plan: I will spend as much time as I have to looking up "remedies" online - whatever is available to repel cats - make them not want to have anything to do with your place.  I tried Cayenne pepper, it didn't do anything.  If there are store-bought remedies, all well and fine.  I am NOT paying for it.  Those neighbors want their cats, THEY can pay for it or plan B may very well ensue.

I wouldn't DREAM of telling my neighbor: Gee, I can't control my cats, too bad, so sad.  I am going to look again at the City of Phoenix detail on cats and what you can and cannot do, I don't remember all of it and I want to refresh my memory.

Friday 4/1/2011

Friday

Let me note something here about the cat post I made yesterday: the guy threatening my tenants and I does not own any cats. The neighborhood ferals apparently like to go over there - which is great, let him take them into his home while he's at it!

I attempted to get that guy to come out of his house yesterday, he wasn't budging.

Next: The newest tenant calls me yesterday evening. I'm thinking, what now? I don't get calls from tenants unless something's going on - usually something in the negative range of things. Well, what he wanted was something we had already discussed, so no biggies there. He wanted to bring his girlfriend up from Tucson and have her move in with him. Yes, for a price, and additional $100 per month to cover extra utility usage. I have had these arrangements before and generally have not had any problems with it - but - there's always a first time. That's a done deal already, she's there and whatever. Another body to stuff the house with, I don't really care as long as it doesn't turn into a problem.

Obama. I am quite sure I will never figure this guy out. We are now pulling our fighter jets out of Libya and stopping the air combat? What IS this guy's deal? We don't go in and then just pull out. I hope the French don't do the same. I read something somewhere that defines Obama very well: He is NOT a leader. That pretty much sums him up. Look at his inability to do anything about getting Congress to come up with a budget that is agreeable to both sides. He hemmed and hawed about Libya until after the French went in and started it for us. The health care bill was largely forced through by Reid and Pelosi. Obama had closed door meetings, yes, but I don't really give him the credit for that bill, not that I think there is anything good about it anyway. It's just another unsustainable act of the federal government to take over something in the private sector that the government shouldn't be meddling with. But, I've thought this all along: he doesn't have any balls and it shows, glaringly.

End of work week is finally here. For whatever reason, yesterday felt like Friday. Today just feels like another work day. One thing to do in the truck routing system and that's it.

My great plans for the weekend include the same thing I have been doing for 3 weekends in a row: dealing with weeds, grass and pruning back, carefully, dead branches on trees and plants. (We'll be open in 13 minutes, I am thinking to myself as the DC truck is now backing into the driveway, undoubtedly wanting to come in here and have me stop what I am doing and deal with that, even though I am not on the clock - front door locked this time, thank you).

Oh, this weekend I will also be pulling everything out of my walk-in closet, going through all of it and undoubtedly chucking some stuff. The reason? Well, yes it does need cleaned out, but I am also looking for some paperwork dealing with the tax issues for 2007. I don't HAVE to have them, but I would like them for back up. They are replaceable, I guess, but at no small amount of aggravation. I am pretty sure they are in there somewhere, just have to go through everything, clean it up and deal with the mess. Yes, it's the one place in my house where the "hoarding" mentality sort of took over. I hope to have that situation dealt with by the end of Sunday. There are clothes in there - bags of them - that need to go to Goodwill; my tools are in disarray, that's where I keep them so they won't "disappear"; and lots of other stuff in there as well. Plus, hopefully, that tax information. Otherwise, I will have to call the company that dealt with the payments concerning that issue and have to pay them $15 to get it for me, but only if the IRS demands that paperwork or calls me in for an audit.

Other than that, life is grand. My mother is finally getting over the sickness that pretty much took her down for over a week; my dad is full fledged into moving to Tucson; my brothers I have no clue and don't care; my relatives on the east coast I have found out through an email my dad sent out to all of them are planning a reunion in August, of which I have serious doubts I will want to go to, even IF I have the money to pay for such a venture.

That's it!

Have a great day! (unless you are that obese neighbor that thinks you are god of the street we live on [and no, it wouldn't surprise me if he somehow found this site, so if you are reading this: PISS OFF!]).

ben

Neighbor Threatening My Life Over Cats?

Let me just preface this by saying: THIS is one of the reasons I would LOVE to be OUT of this neighborhood!

The extra-large "man" living 2 houses down that spent 9 years in prison for selling drugs has now threatened my life, apparently.

I wasn't home when this happened, earlier today.

Mark (trailer tenant) was out talking with my next door neighbor - the one that just had his house burn down - when this idiot comes barging out of his house, beelining across my neighbor's yard to get to Mark.  I wasn't there, so I'm just giving the story as I heard it.  This guy starts in on Mark:  You should leave the property now and all the other tenants should leave, too.

Why?  Because "if another cat that I care for or like disappears, I am going to call my friends that are out of prison and they will come over and take care of him" - referring to me.  So, it's worth killing or mauling a person because of ferral, stray cats?  Lol.  You probably can't tell, but I am not shaking in my boots.  The man HAS no friends.  The ONLY person I have ever seen go over to his house is his mother.

His mother is paying his way through what you would call his life.  He doesn't work, he doesn't do anything.  He sits around all day long, snooping.  He is bored, I am sure, looking for and starting trouble is in his DNA. I have already had a couple of encounters with this idiot, but nothing with this kind of stated intention.  I do not, however, believe him.  He is the of the bully nature.  I have seen this over and over again since he appeared seemingly out of nowhere, a new house was placed on that property and he started "living" in it.  He wants people to fear him.  Unfortunately for him, I have absolutely no fear, whatsoever, of this moron and further, I intend on pursing a course of action - all legal, yes - against him that will put a stop to this nonsense, at least coming towards me.

He is directing his bullying energies towards the wrong person.  I don't care what else I have going on in my life, I will go out of my way to make sure that legal misery comes his way if he continues to pursue this course of action.  A restraining order is the first thought that comes to my mind.

Anyway, Mark wasn't falling for this guy's BS, either.  "If a cat comes onto my property, it doesn't belong there.  If it is shitting and pissing all over the place and destroying property while it's at it....."  on and on.

It never ceases to amaze me the crap that goes on in this neighborhood.  If these people think I am going to sit around while their cats SHIT on my plants and destroy them, they have another thing coming.  I don't give a rat's ASS about their free-roaming cats that go destroying other people's property, whose owners don't give a damn, one way or the other.  I KNOW this because I have spoken with my next door neighbor about his cats - the guy whose house burned down.

He's living in a motorhome on the property.  His 2 cats are with him.  They come over to my front yard and crap and piss on my flowering, ground covering plants.  A huge portion of those plants have been trampled and are dead.  He joked about it 2 days ago: they're givers! They leave you a present when they visit!  He was laughing, I was NOT.  He then said something about my dogs - which is when I stated in somewhat harsh tones that "My dogs do not come over to your property and SHIT all over it".  Maybe I should start taking bags of dog crap over there and dumping it in his pile of dirt and see how HE likes it.

Yes, the cats are the core issue here, or are they?  No, in the case of the idiot.  His issues go far beyond cats.
I have modus operandi to get him into trouble if I have to.  Not just restraining orders.  This guy has a short fuse, it doesn't take much to get him going.

I don't know, but after I got over my initial anger - the thoughts that came into my head of what to do with a person that is threatening me I won't print here or speak anywhere, frankly - and yes I just stayed in the house until calm, cool and collected returned - I came up with a plan.  Of course, I have to wonder where this guy got his information from, because as far as catching cats goes, I haven't spoken it to anyone outside of my house.

This guy is also starting trouble with the people across the street.  The guy across the street comes home, sometimes, in a city vehicle, doing whatever he's doing.  So, this idiot says he shouldn't be doing that and that he is going to get him into trouble.  Actually, his stupidity is going across the neighborhood, but, now that he has threatened both me and potentially my tenants, he has flipped the switch and now?  I don't wish him good luck, I wish him good riddance as I am going to do everything in my power that is legal to either get him to leave the area or to shut the freak up, stay in his house and keep his junk to himself.

Thursday 3/31/2011

Thursday

I received something in the mail yesterday from Sierra Vista, where my dad lives. I opened it up and found a newspaper clipping with a picture of my dad in it. I about died: I thought it was an obituary! What did I miss?!! I started reading it and it quickly became evident that it was a write-up about him, what he has done in that community and the fact that he is moving out of that community to go live in an assisted living center in Tucson - a pretty good drive away from there. 

It was a great article and a fitting farewell to a man that has poured out his life in terms of ministry to all kinds of people, from the homeless to the rich and wealthy and everything in between. It was cool to read this article, it was pretty long and it covered a lot of ground. I finally got an email back from him this morning: he is in the middle of moving and it is pretty much consuming him and his time. 

My buddy Fin wrote an interesting comment to my last blog entry and it got me to thinking about this situation: whether to keep the house or short-sale it (or any of the other options available). What hit me is that I should get a big piece of paper, 11X15 anyway, write down pro's to moving on one side and con's on the other and start jotting it all down. In my mind, there is SO much to sort through in making such a decision. Writing it down in such fashion might help me to get a clearer picture of all of it. 

Taxes. Moving right along with that portion of it. I have house fire totals listed with my version of that fair market value is of each item, the contents of the house that is. I am going to print out pics of the burned out structure, proof that yes, my house burned down along with the fire report. It's more than just that, though, the pics will verify that the house was a total loss. Not just a small fire, it was a BAD fire that caused the destruction by one of 3 methods: the fire itself; the intense heat that spread throughout the house and the extreme smoke damage that finished everything off. 

I was thinking yesterday, though, what it would be like to still be in that house. Old, yes. Cheap - operative word. The mortgage payment was only $450 per month. No need for tenants and all that kind of aggravation. By now, I would have had the interior finished with a complete renovation, I had it about half done at the point of the fire. 

Not crying over spilt milk, I was musing things. Now I have tenants to make up the difference. I do think that to make the quality of my life a bit better, I need to focuse on keeping good tenants and getting rid of the bad. To that end, the kid needs to go. I believe he needs to have one of those rude awakenings in life: go live with kids his own age and find out how they deal with his junk. In his mind, I'm sure he has already HAD a rude awakening - such as when he was yelling at me on the phone and I spit it back right into his face. But there's the rest of it, not worth going into here, just to say that it's more than I want to deal with. 

Which reminds me, that old computer's monitor is kaput. Need to find a good used one somewhere. Lynnette uses it to try and find a job, plus doing surveys that actually do pay money to do them. I don't use it anymore, at all. It's an old behometh to me, but to everyone else that uses it, well, it's better than nothing.

Musing for today: over, work day is here.

G'day.

ben

Wednesday 3/30/2011

.

Wednesday

Where does it end? I read and read and read all kinds of "expert" opinion on whether to keep a home, send in the keys, let them foreclose, short sale and now a "deed in lieu of foreclosure" action. The latest one I read was speaking about the last one, but then proclaimed going bankrupt may be a better option.

?!!!

It's all utter insanity. It doesn't matter which one of those you take, you are screwed, in terms of your credit rating and it's going to stay that way a long, long time.

I have struggled with this entire situation for some time now. What to do. At one point, I was settled to stay in the house and live with the loss of being underwater.

Yesterday, looking at the FMV published on the county's site, and seeing the house is now valued, by them anyway, at nearly HALF of what I actually owe on it? I'm pulling my hair out on this situation. I have no clear cut path to take here. It isn't a Y in the road, it's more like standing in the middle of an intersection with 8 roads leading out of it, none of the roads leading anywhere good.

In a case like this, when I don't know what to do - or more like can't decide what to do - I will do nothing. Stay in the house, eat the loss for now and see what comes down the road.

I just made the third payment of the 3-month trial in the HAMP modification. I don't know....what to do at this point.

I know what a lot of people are doing: stop making the payments and save the money. Stay in the house as long as possible until they come to boot you out. Minimum 6 months before that happens, a lot longer in many cases. In fact, I know a family that has not made a payment in over a year's time. Still in the house, but, they have been notified they have to be out by the end of next month.

That doesn't really answer the question, though, and I wonder about the ethics of staying in a house that you aren't paying for but enjoying the benefits of a free roof over your head, while you take that money and stuff it into savings. Perhaps that is a small piece of the puzzle as to why the economy is where it's at right now.

Of course, if you lose your job and you CAN'T make the payments, that might paint a different picture. What are you going to do, move out onto the streets? Desperation forces people to do things they normally would not.

I'm really quite clueless here as to what to do, going around in a large circle and coming back to the same point and question.

With that floating around in my head, I am still battling this tax situation. I am going to have to make a trip to downtown Phoenix to get a hard copy of the FMV for my old house before it burned down for tax purposes. The proof that the house burned down will take up to 45 DAYS to receive, but I can file the return without it, I may have to show that proof later on, but getting the return filed before the 15th is the goal. I may go to that department as well and see if I can get that expedited.

As for the contents of the house, I am supposed to put that as a separate loss, at least from what I am gathering. I don't know, but when I send in the tax return, I already have an itemized listing of the things I lost in that fire and how much I think it was worth at the time. I did that a long time ago and saved it in an email - which I am glad I did because the old computer has crashed several times since then and that information would have been lost. I would be racking my brains attempting to remember everything that was in that house at the time.

Now, proving that I had that stuff? Not possible. Maybe - now that I think about it - I might have pics on my Photobucket account - I think I took pics of everything and uploaded them. I'll have to go through the 1,000 photos I have on there and see. It would at least help. I do have pics on my Zillow account - just a few - that show the damage to the house from the outside, pretty bad stuff indeed.

Umm, work day is here and I am lost in a conundrum of thought concerning all of this.

ben

Tuesday More

It's always fun to get new drive axle tires installed on a semi tractor.  Number one because you are looking at close to $4,000.00 for 8 tires.  No-one ever said maintaining a semi was cheap.  However, the last 8 tires on that truck have been on there for a full 3 years - which is very good for a truck.
Number 2, cause' once you get on the freeway with that new rubber driving you forward?  You're all OVER the place!!  I'm serious, every time I have had new rubber on a truck, the thing is attempting to zig and zag everywhere.  It usually takes a couple of WEEKS before that stops happening.

Taxes.  Beginning to drive me crazy.  I was on the phone with the IRS today after the online company I was in an online chat with said that this is a "very complex tax issue and you are better off calling them".  So I did.  The man I was talking with was cool enough, but he started reading from a publication, an IRS publication of course. Endless questions.  I answered all of them I could.  In the end?  I have to be able to PROVE the fair market value of the home before it burned down.  Lol.

The ONLY existing publication that I know of that I can actually get a hard copy of is from the county tax assessor's office.  I don't know about where you live, but around these parts, a house is never given as much value as the market actually gives it.  Which is a good thing, I guess, when it comes to paying property taxes, but in this case?  Not good at all.  I'm going to have to use it, I have no other choice.

BTW, next year, the county's FMV on my current home?  Almost HALF of what I owe on it.  Gag.  If that IS the FMV, I am SCREWED.  The only way to answer the question as to whether I should short sale this place and eat the bad credit for however many years is to have an appraisal done on it.   Scary scenario, for me anyway.

The next question was about the contents of the house.  I most assuredly hope that they don't think I should have to come up with receipts for every single thing I had in there.  Do you have receipts for every piece of furniture, clothing, electronics, etc that you own?  Oh, I am sure there are people out there that have all the stuff and probably have it in a safety deposit box.  Not me.  I am 99% convinced that I am going to be audited on this situation.  I don't care, I am not going to lose all the money I can get out of it just for the fear of having to face the IRS.  This may end up being a long, drawn-out process.

But, I am ready for that.  I don't expect a check in the mail from them anytime soon.  I do, instead, expect either phone calls demanding documentation or a letter saying I am being audited.  Come what may, I am heading down this road because I must.

It's about this time in life where I wished I had a few thousand dollars in savings to be able to draw off of to get a real accountant, sit down with that person and have a face to face discussion about what is actually going to happen.

Oh well.  I guess I could pay off the $463 loan on my 401K and then get another loan - but - there is a 30 day lapse between the time you pay off the loan and the time you can get another one.  Too late : )

No, this is the only course of action I am financially able to take, it's the one I'm riding on, wish me luck!

ben

Tuesday 3/29/2011

Tuesday

Ummm, so I was waiting yesterday for the hailstorm that never materialized. The discussion around who has the phone and who is holding onto it got me going just a bit. But without going into all of that again, the phone issue never came up, interestingly enough. I do not expect that "trend" to last forever, however.

Yes, I like the insane injectures to yesterday's comments, lol. Oh well, I make no apologies. I'm not running down the streets proclaiming the end of the world, either. 

Not much going on otherwise. I'm just trying to get this tax situation done and the only thing holding me back now is how to go about doing this "carry-over" stuff. I want to apply that 2007 loss to every single year I can apply it to - and get a MUCH larger tax return. Talking potentially thousands of dollars - and right about now, I could use - thousands of dollars, payment free, tax free, thank you. 

Hey, it's past 8:00 am on the East coast right now, I could get into a live chat with them now. Indeed. However and first? I am listening to statements by upper level management about last fiscal year and projections for the upcoming fiscal year. I did a survey last month which gives you the opportunity to ask your questions of them - upper management. I have only one question: when am I going to get full-time hours back? 

And I am going to press it. "We" just hired on a new salesman. Well, if we are in the position for hiring new people, then we SHOULD be in the position for paying out 40 hours per week, at least.

G'day.

ben

Monday 3/28/2011

Monday

This situation in Japan is getting to be a bit much. They have BEEN talking a meltdown, but today was the first time I saw: "with global implications". 

My ex-wife sent me a very long message that is being circulated around by a modern-day prophet. For the record, yes, I do believe there are prophets still walking the land, hear from the Lord and speak whatever the Lord impresses upon them to say.

If you don't believe that, well and fine, but when a particular individual is making specific predictions about things that are going to happen - such as the earthquake in Japan - and has been doing so for decades, perhaps one should give at least a teeny bit of credence to the possibility that, 1: God is alive, on the throne and is who He says He is in the Bible; 2: That yes, He does love His creation - meaning all of us; but 3: Is not a fan of sin because sinning is always against God, not for Him (but, admittedly, we have all engaged in such in some form or another, it's a big club, we're all on that particular boat); and 4: that there is a good possibility that He actually DOES speak through certain individuals.

Usually it's a warning of things to come that really go to a more urgent, underlying problem: Get your life right with the Lord, seek the Lord while He may be found and do a 180 in your life, because Jackson, there is some serious stuff coming down the pike. 

The prediction of the earthquake in Japan is now followed by a prediction of an earthquake in California. Oh, that's a tough one, right? But this "word from the Lord" goes much further than that. Banks closing their doors, complete economic collapse, inability to access your money, bartering being the only means of acquiring goods for a time. 

I'm not telling anyone what to do, I'm just going to up my preparedness status another notch - maybe several notches. This is not the first statements I have heard in recent times that the time is coming when money supply will be slowed or even stopped, buy gold (which I am not going to do, however), store up food. Buy seeds so you can grow your own food, get hunting gear to be able to kill for the meat, water sources and this that and the other thing. 

I am not even saying get afraid of anything. What's going to come - will come regardless. I fully understand that some day, I am going to die, it's just a matter of when, where and how that event will happen. If I were to encourage anything in hearing these statements, it would be to seek the Lord, get right with Him and whatever else happens in this life isn't really going to matter that much. In the end, we all go and stand before Him and give an accounting - THAT is a bit fearful for me, I have lived far from a perfect life, to say the least. 

Fortunately there is Christ, forgiveness can be found.

I am done, getting off the pulpit for now. Time to redirect my focus on the day's work that lies ahead. I haven't looked in the routing system, but I know there is at least one delivery - it's already loaded on the truck from last week. 

G'day.

ben

Saturday - Taxes 3/26/2011

I've put off this 2007 tax return situation as long as it is going to go.  I believe this is it, if I don't file it before April 15th, I lose it.  Yes, every site I've gone to says I have until April 15th this year or it's done, totaled, history.  Too much to lose - I don't have the money to use an accountant like I wanted to.  I found a website that does "prior" tax returns.  You file your information online and they do the rest, including having a tax professional (I don't know what that means in this day and age, it could be  a person that took a 3 month course for all I know) - better than not doing it at all.

I stand to get a good chunk of change.  The house was a total loss so was almost everything that was inside of it.

I'm guessing once that's turned in, the IRS will gladly do the rest of the returns for me and, of course, try to invent a way to keep the money that is due me.  That's the way they work : )

As for today - Direct TV coming over yet again.  I have to get up and walk to the new DVR for the remote to work.  NOT.

Been outside a couple of hours today already trimming back plants, dealing with the pond and picking up dead leaves.  Back out in a few - I want to try to catch a couple more smaller fish out of the larger pond to put into the new pond setup out front.  The medium sized pond?  They are going at it again.  I mean, I was out there trimming plants and hear all kinds of splashing in that pond going on.  Sure enough, they are mating. I mean, busily mating.  Lol.

Those are my plans for today - continue working on everything outside, there is plenty to do.

Have a great day!

ben

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