The issue of to use or not to use self check-outs.
I love the concept, I hate the real-life, rubber-meets-the-road reality of it.
The issue isn't whether the idea is a good one or not, I readily agree that it's great to be able to go and start doing the work yourself versus standing behind Aunt Martha who forgot something and asks the cashier to go get it for her. Really? Yes, really. You have never experienced that? I have on numerous occasions. Or another scenario where Mrs. Martha realizes she got the wrong kind and therefore, everyone needs to wait for 5 minutes while someone is called to bring it up front for her.
I guess cashiers are trained not to tell them no, you'll have to step out of line if you want to do that so that other - paying - customers can get their goods checked, rung up and get them out of the store. I have spoken up on such occasions when a particular, entire party of women wanted the store's personnel to bring them up a half dozen more cases of Power Aid. No, not a bottle or 2, cases.
Or you get stuck behind Mrs. Martha's sister - she sits there and watches everything being rung up and then, at the very end of all of it: everything is bagged, the sale is rung up, the goods are in the cart ready to go, she finally pulls out her purse and slowly starts getting out her wallet to get at whatever means she's going to pay for it. Really? I have my payment ready long before the sale is over, cognizant of others waiting behind me and very cognizant of the Golden Rule: do unto others as you would have do unto yourself.
Well, the lack of taking an action in this case goes against that rule. You don't care how long you hold other people up, it doesn't matter to you that your actions or inactions are causing other people grief, you are in your own little bubble.
Here's a very recent case-in-point: yesterday. I have prostate infection. I felt like I was dying yesterday. I was in CVS pharmacy, no, there was no self-checkout available at this store, waiting to get rung up and get OUT of there and get HOME and collapse in my bed. I'm waiting, very impatiently - one side effect of prostate infection is frequent urination and the demand your body signals send you to do it right NOW, even if you JUST went to the bathroom 20 minutes ago - and yes, I was there. I was holding it in, watching 2 people in front of me take their SWEET, LOVELY OLD TIME pulling out their payment and moving on.
So, advance to the new-age technology of self-checkout. I thought it a grand idea at first. I am not anti-social - so the news reports of this situation about people just wanting to get in and not have human interaction don't exactly apply to me. I want to get out, yes, but I like going through a human run checkout far more than self-serve.
But, the first time I went through one of those lines at Fry's Food Stores, there were problems. The second time I went through, less problems, all with technical issues trying to get the system dialed in and training personnel how to use the system.
After the techs were gone, the system fully up and running and the store personnel fully trained how to use the equipment, THAT is when the problems started. A list below explains my problem with self checkout.
1. The ever abiding screen that comes up and says an assistant has been called to help you. This happens almost every time I go into Fry's. I didn't call, ask or WANT an assistant to help me, but the issue is forced: I can't do anything until they clear the screen.
2. WHEN that screen comes up, the assistant is busy with someone else. Or reading something, or simply not paying attention. It can be some time before the assistant gets to my screen, clears it without asking me any questions at all. There is the big thing that annoys me, WHY did this screen come up in the first place?
3. The non-existent attendant. This is the person that isn't anywhere near the self-checkout station. They are off somewhere else, doing something else. I have seen them 50 feet away, doing something else besides manning their station. Apparently, paying customers that are helping that store by checking ourselves out aren't worthy of constant attention at the screen, even though there are up to 8 people doing that process at the same time. They certainly don't have 8 checkout lanes open with live, human cashiers doing the job for you. Once, the lady that was supposed to be doing the self-checkout was in the produce section at the Fry's Food Stores location I was at. The produce section is well over 100 feet away from the self-checkouts and more, you can't even SEE the produce section from there.
4. Employees that are rude. They don't do this with me anymore, they know who I am and they know I will simply go get the general manager of the store or I will contact Fry's Food Stores corporate as soon as I get home. If you unintentionally do something "wrong" at the self-check, these types of employees will get short and even nasty with you. I won't tolerate such attitude from any employee of any store, anywhere.
5. The social gathering. This is when 2, 3, 4, or 5 employees are gathered at the front of the store in complete oblivion to anything, and in this case, completely ignoring the customers that are stranded at the self-checkouts who are waiting for the inevitable "an assistant has been called to help you" sign that stops the entire process. I got sick of that - yes, at Fry's Food and Drug Stores - and started going to the general manager's office. I would bring him out and show him the screen and point at the employees. He would deal with my problem - and 2 or 3 others also waiting because of that screen.
6. Too many self checkouts, not enough attendants. The system was set up for 2 attendants if over 4 self checkouts are open. I heard this from the TECHNICIAN, not the Fry's employees who attempted to repudiate it. Sorry, Charlie, that doesn't work. The guy installs the equipment, he says it's so, it's so and for a good reason. When you have 8 self checkouts and only 1 attendant, there are going to be problems. IE: the damned screen that makes you wait. Or the customer that doesn't know how to use the self checkout and wants the attendant to do ALL of it for them. Or the problem a customer is having with whatever: been there, done that. Meanwhile, 1, 2, or 3 other customers are waiting to get that screen cleared or have issues of their own that need addressed. I don't even contest over pricing anymore, I just pay the entire bill and then I contest it. Why? Because I don't have to wait, first and foremost, and secondly, because Fry's Food and Drug Stores has a policy: it's free under $5 or a gift card over $5 when a scanning error occurs. I get done with the transaction - and then almost always get sent to customer service.
Need I go on? I would hope not. If working properly - these self checkouts are a great idea. On that note, I love the way Fresh and Easy works it. There is at least one "floating" attendant that is going between self-checkouts - they are ALL self checkouts at those stores but you can ask them to do it for you if you prefer. That person is working tirelessly - and quickly to make sure that everyone is taken care of speedily. If there are too many people at the checkouts, more employees appear out of the thin blue air. I have not had a problem at those stores.
But, more often than not, they are not working properly at many stores for the variety of reasons that I have given above.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Friday 7/23/2011
I haven't really been feeling that well this week, but I did nothing about it until....yesterday.
By the time I got off of work yesterday, I felt like death on feet. Without getting too graphic, it's usually described as a burning when urinating. But, my whole body felt like I had the flu from hades.
Anyway, I headed straight to urgent care. I am not fooling around with junk like this. They took a urine sample, came back 20 minutes later and told me that I had extremely elevated amounts of proteins and white and red blood cells in it. That all sounds wonderful, what, exactly, does that mean? What it means, the lady told me, is that you have an extremely severe infection. Men usually don't get urinary tract infections, I was further informed, it's likely your prostrate, which takes longer to heal.
Further, she explained, the symptoms you are feeling likely mean that the infection is going "systemic" - apparently meaning spreading throughout my entire body. Lovely day. I was given a prescription for Levaquin and was told they were going to give me an antibiotic injection. She left and came back in a while, informing me they couldn't do the injection because of my Penicillin allergy. You know, that doctor that told me I was allergic to Penicillin some 39 years ago really got my attention, even at the age of 8 years old. He wanted me to be extremly, absolutely clear on the fact that if I ever had another Penicillin shot or pills or whatever again, it would likely take my life.
You go around in life wearing that badge of junk and every time you go into a doctor's office, the first thing you tell them: I am allergic to Penicillin. I can tell you the first and only time I had a shot of it, I had huge hives all over my body, I was sick - really sick - for almost 2 weeks and life wasn't so great. Undoubtedly, it is a limiting factor of how doctors can treat me, but I'll take a sickness that feels like a hammer is being bounced on my head rather than death any day.
Of course, I read the potential side effects of this medicine - not until a few minutes ago. Yikes. I am not even going to go into any of it, it isn't worth it. I already took the stuff and that's that. What was I going to do, die? I had a fever that was just short of 103. It went up almost 3 degrees from the time I had left the doc's office til' a few hours after I got home. But I get really nervous taking medications - any of it. You continually read in the news about a drug that people have been taking and then find out it is killing them or causing birth defects to their babies or this, that and the other thing. Which is why I don't even like to take Tylenol. I never did much of that stuff anyway, and then, a study comes out about the side effects of taking too much of that stuff as well.
I had never known, though, besides the potential for an allergic reaction, obviously, that antibiotics could have such potential, serious side effects. Add the fact that they gave me the highest dosage of this stuff that is available. Add to that the pharmacist's reaction to the prescription: "Oh, wow, that is a high dosage!" I obviously had to ask what she was talking about. She said that this is a powerful antibiotic. It comes in 250, 500 and 750 milligrams. You are getting the highest dosage available.
Last night, my head was pounding. Hard to describe the feeling. My whole body was aching. I was not liking life, I can tell you that. I haven't felt that bad in years.
I found a description of prostrate infection symptoms: The symptoms of prostate infection can also differ according to its causes. For acute bacterial prostatitis the symptoms include increase in the frequency of urine; great urgency to urinate; pain while urinating; pain in the genital area; difficulty in producing a normal stream while urinating. There can also be some general signs for prostrate infection like fatigue, high chills and high fever.
Unbelievably, I have ALL of those symptoms. Last night, I had was going from feeling extremely hot to having cold chills.
Umm, the only thing I can say today? The pounding in my head is gone, I don't have extreme flu like symptoms anymore and I feel much better. I did not go to work today. I called my manager yesterday around 6:00 pm and toldhim I would definitely not be coming in. So, I am doing nothing today. I am still feeling really tired and I intend on sleeping much of today.
As for the heat wave, I saw New York with some statement that it had hit 112 degrees. I can only imagine what kind of swampish hell feeling that must be with the humidity there. Today's high there is 100 - but the "real feel is 111. Yowsa. Hope you have central AC over there, I know in the ghetto area of Pittsburgh I grew up in, those hold houses didn't have central AC and didn't even have the duct work for it. You can't really sit in a house in a situation that feels like 111 degrees. If it were me, I would at the very least buy a window AC unit and keep at least one room of the house cool - but that's me. Not everyone has the money to go out and buy window AC units or pay for the increased electric bill. Fin, if you are over there right now (versus down south), I just read that today, the real feel in that city is 107.
The high here today is only going to be 105. Humidity levels have been up around these parts, though. I think the other day it was 36%. That doesn't sound like much to you folks that live in 90% plus humidity, but couple that with an afternoon high of 109 and then we have a situation.
I'm done, for now.
ben
By the time I got off of work yesterday, I felt like death on feet. Without getting too graphic, it's usually described as a burning when urinating. But, my whole body felt like I had the flu from hades.
Anyway, I headed straight to urgent care. I am not fooling around with junk like this. They took a urine sample, came back 20 minutes later and told me that I had extremely elevated amounts of proteins and white and red blood cells in it. That all sounds wonderful, what, exactly, does that mean? What it means, the lady told me, is that you have an extremely severe infection. Men usually don't get urinary tract infections, I was further informed, it's likely your prostrate, which takes longer to heal.
Further, she explained, the symptoms you are feeling likely mean that the infection is going "systemic" - apparently meaning spreading throughout my entire body. Lovely day. I was given a prescription for Levaquin and was told they were going to give me an antibiotic injection. She left and came back in a while, informing me they couldn't do the injection because of my Penicillin allergy. You know, that doctor that told me I was allergic to Penicillin some 39 years ago really got my attention, even at the age of 8 years old. He wanted me to be extremly, absolutely clear on the fact that if I ever had another Penicillin shot or pills or whatever again, it would likely take my life.
You go around in life wearing that badge of junk and every time you go into a doctor's office, the first thing you tell them: I am allergic to Penicillin. I can tell you the first and only time I had a shot of it, I had huge hives all over my body, I was sick - really sick - for almost 2 weeks and life wasn't so great. Undoubtedly, it is a limiting factor of how doctors can treat me, but I'll take a sickness that feels like a hammer is being bounced on my head rather than death any day.
Of course, I read the potential side effects of this medicine - not until a few minutes ago. Yikes. I am not even going to go into any of it, it isn't worth it. I already took the stuff and that's that. What was I going to do, die? I had a fever that was just short of 103. It went up almost 3 degrees from the time I had left the doc's office til' a few hours after I got home. But I get really nervous taking medications - any of it. You continually read in the news about a drug that people have been taking and then find out it is killing them or causing birth defects to their babies or this, that and the other thing. Which is why I don't even like to take Tylenol. I never did much of that stuff anyway, and then, a study comes out about the side effects of taking too much of that stuff as well.
I had never known, though, besides the potential for an allergic reaction, obviously, that antibiotics could have such potential, serious side effects. Add the fact that they gave me the highest dosage of this stuff that is available. Add to that the pharmacist's reaction to the prescription: "Oh, wow, that is a high dosage!" I obviously had to ask what she was talking about. She said that this is a powerful antibiotic. It comes in 250, 500 and 750 milligrams. You are getting the highest dosage available.
Last night, my head was pounding. Hard to describe the feeling. My whole body was aching. I was not liking life, I can tell you that. I haven't felt that bad in years.
I found a description of prostrate infection symptoms: The symptoms of prostate infection can also differ according to its causes. For acute bacterial prostatitis the symptoms include increase in the frequency of urine; great urgency to urinate; pain while urinating; pain in the genital area; difficulty in producing a normal stream while urinating. There can also be some general signs for prostrate infection like fatigue, high chills and high fever.
Unbelievably, I have ALL of those symptoms. Last night, I had was going from feeling extremely hot to having cold chills.
Umm, the only thing I can say today? The pounding in my head is gone, I don't have extreme flu like symptoms anymore and I feel much better. I did not go to work today. I called my manager yesterday around 6:00 pm and toldhim I would definitely not be coming in. So, I am doing nothing today. I am still feeling really tired and I intend on sleeping much of today.
As for the heat wave, I saw New York with some statement that it had hit 112 degrees. I can only imagine what kind of swampish hell feeling that must be with the humidity there. Today's high there is 100 - but the "real feel is 111. Yowsa. Hope you have central AC over there, I know in the ghetto area of Pittsburgh I grew up in, those hold houses didn't have central AC and didn't even have the duct work for it. You can't really sit in a house in a situation that feels like 111 degrees. If it were me, I would at the very least buy a window AC unit and keep at least one room of the house cool - but that's me. Not everyone has the money to go out and buy window AC units or pay for the increased electric bill. Fin, if you are over there right now (versus down south), I just read that today, the real feel in that city is 107.
The high here today is only going to be 105. Humidity levels have been up around these parts, though. I think the other day it was 36%. That doesn't sound like much to you folks that live in 90% plus humidity, but couple that with an afternoon high of 109 and then we have a situation.
I'm done, for now.
ben
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Thursday
Not much today.
Church last night - well I was tired when I went in there and it was difficult to focus. By the time it was over, it was past my bedtime and I will have to reconsider whether I can attend Wednesday night services.
I'm kind of tired this morning as well. Part of the reason is people making noise at night, and more specifically, closing the back door loudly enough to wake me up.
I have issued notices about this in the past - to the same people who are still living here. I don't really want to issue any more notices because they obviously aren't working. So what is left? Issue 30 day eviction notices to all 3 tenants and start over. This is what I am contemplating. If these people don't give a rat's @$$ about whether their landlord is sleeping or not, I figure it's about time for them to go find a new place to live.
Anyway, I'm done with this one.
ben
Not much today.
Church last night - well I was tired when I went in there and it was difficult to focus. By the time it was over, it was past my bedtime and I will have to reconsider whether I can attend Wednesday night services.
I'm kind of tired this morning as well. Part of the reason is people making noise at night, and more specifically, closing the back door loudly enough to wake me up.
I have issued notices about this in the past - to the same people who are still living here. I don't really want to issue any more notices because they obviously aren't working. So what is left? Issue 30 day eviction notices to all 3 tenants and start over. This is what I am contemplating. If these people don't give a rat's @$$ about whether their landlord is sleeping or not, I figure it's about time for them to go find a new place to live.
Anyway, I'm done with this one.
ben
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Fat
Wake up call today. I had the calipers on my body, I figured I was around 15%, I was actually at 18%. The salesman's computer program generated that I was still within acceptable range for my age, height, weight and fat index. He even congratulated me and said I was in pretty good shape. That compared to my co-workers - most of which are NOT in good shape. I was surprised to find out my manager is at 32% fat. You definitely could not tell that by looking at him.
Anyway, I am hardly satisfied. I would be happy around 12% body fat, maybe 10%. That would take a lot of work and a lot of workouts with weights to get back down to that, but I think I am up for the challenge. Goodbye to red meat, well I don't eat that much of it anyway. I'm at approximately 1,000 calories for the day and I don't expect to eat again. It's only a 4-month contest and so, a person that really wants to win is going to have to go all out.
Or is he? People are still seen dining on donuts and pizza at the main branch. I eat neither. I go to the main branch quite frequently and will not touch those donuts, as tantalizing as they look. For a contest, you would think they might think about doing something else besides donuts and having pizza. The point isn't REALLY about who wins and lose, it's about trying to motivate people to get healthy. People that are in the 30% body fat range are not particularly healthy and there are plenty of those at work.
I don't drink soda; I have an occasional glass of tea. I drink milk, but only the zero-fat/skim stuff. I drink a LOT of water. I gave up Powerade/Gatorage a long time ago - exception is if I have drank so much water, it isn't doing anything for me because electrolyte levels are too low. I drink coffee, but I do not use sugar and I mostly only use low or no fat creamer.
Even with all of that, the food you eat can still pack on the pounds. Red meat is going to be hacked off the list of edibles. In fact, my plan is to pretty much eat only the Weight Watchers frozen dinners. That in and of itself will cause some fat loss, perhaps, but the real ticket, at least for me, is to build muscle. Free-weights galore.
Enough. This all got ramped up today after finally getting my BMI checked. Ohhhhh!! I forgot: I MUST get an MP3 player!! I now have enough music selected that I can do a 10 hour work out, lol, if I wanted to and not hear the same song twice!! I won't be doing 10 hour workouts, bank on that! lol
I am guessing my taxes are ready to be done. I did not go to the DMV today because - I started early at work; busted @$$ all day long without a break and the combination of heat and humidity are just killers. I wanted to do nothing but come home and sit in the AC - currently exercising that right and fully enjoying it.
In fact, besides a LOT of physical exertion in high heat and semi-high humidity, I got nothing else done today.
I don't care, either.
Currently attempting to motivate myself to go to Wednesday night service.
ben
Anyway, I am hardly satisfied. I would be happy around 12% body fat, maybe 10%. That would take a lot of work and a lot of workouts with weights to get back down to that, but I think I am up for the challenge. Goodbye to red meat, well I don't eat that much of it anyway. I'm at approximately 1,000 calories for the day and I don't expect to eat again. It's only a 4-month contest and so, a person that really wants to win is going to have to go all out.
Or is he? People are still seen dining on donuts and pizza at the main branch. I eat neither. I go to the main branch quite frequently and will not touch those donuts, as tantalizing as they look. For a contest, you would think they might think about doing something else besides donuts and having pizza. The point isn't REALLY about who wins and lose, it's about trying to motivate people to get healthy. People that are in the 30% body fat range are not particularly healthy and there are plenty of those at work.
I don't drink soda; I have an occasional glass of tea. I drink milk, but only the zero-fat/skim stuff. I drink a LOT of water. I gave up Powerade/Gatorage a long time ago - exception is if I have drank so much water, it isn't doing anything for me because electrolyte levels are too low. I drink coffee, but I do not use sugar and I mostly only use low or no fat creamer.
Even with all of that, the food you eat can still pack on the pounds. Red meat is going to be hacked off the list of edibles. In fact, my plan is to pretty much eat only the Weight Watchers frozen dinners. That in and of itself will cause some fat loss, perhaps, but the real ticket, at least for me, is to build muscle. Free-weights galore.
Enough. This all got ramped up today after finally getting my BMI checked. Ohhhhh!! I forgot: I MUST get an MP3 player!! I now have enough music selected that I can do a 10 hour work out, lol, if I wanted to and not hear the same song twice!! I won't be doing 10 hour workouts, bank on that! lol
I am guessing my taxes are ready to be done. I did not go to the DMV today because - I started early at work; busted @$$ all day long without a break and the combination of heat and humidity are just killers. I wanted to do nothing but come home and sit in the AC - currently exercising that right and fully enjoying it.
In fact, besides a LOT of physical exertion in high heat and semi-high humidity, I got nothing else done today.
I don't care, either.
Currently attempting to motivate myself to go to Wednesday night service.
ben
Wednesday 7/20/2011
Wednesday
Short one here.
I got into work here and started looking at the truck routing system - full, to say the least and an email telling me I could start early if I wanted to.
I'm not the biggest fan of having surprises thrown on me at 5:30am - ie: skipping my pre-work rituals. I think I'll drink a cup of coffee first, at the least, and then I'll sign in.
Meanwhile, dinner with the pastors last night was good. We talked about the entire world of subjects and as I thought would happen, my past as a missionary and involvement in the church came up. Oh well. Not the end of the world and they were more interested in my well being than attempting to push me into something I am not ready for, so for that, they earn even more of my respect.
I was interested in how they decided to do a church plant here - there are no lack of churches in this area. They have some different ideas than most churches around here, I'll give them that, and pretty good ideas at that.
Church tonight and I do intend on going.
I have also adjusted my "thoughts" on going up north to get Caleb. If I get my camping equipment in time, I may just leave after work on Friday, go up to the rim, camp somewhere or just go to my mother's property, pitch the tent and away we go. Maybe take one of the dogs with me.
Anyway, I gotta git offa here. My first cup is half empty and now I am feeling the need to get going on all of this - there is a LOT of driving to be done not to mention orders to be pulled and picking up materials all over the place plus the deliveries. Oh, but I can't forget the notice I need to write up.
Have to get into that later.
g'day
Short one here.
I got into work here and started looking at the truck routing system - full, to say the least and an email telling me I could start early if I wanted to.
I'm not the biggest fan of having surprises thrown on me at 5:30am - ie: skipping my pre-work rituals. I think I'll drink a cup of coffee first, at the least, and then I'll sign in.
Meanwhile, dinner with the pastors last night was good. We talked about the entire world of subjects and as I thought would happen, my past as a missionary and involvement in the church came up. Oh well. Not the end of the world and they were more interested in my well being than attempting to push me into something I am not ready for, so for that, they earn even more of my respect.
I was interested in how they decided to do a church plant here - there are no lack of churches in this area. They have some different ideas than most churches around here, I'll give them that, and pretty good ideas at that.
Church tonight and I do intend on going.
I have also adjusted my "thoughts" on going up north to get Caleb. If I get my camping equipment in time, I may just leave after work on Friday, go up to the rim, camp somewhere or just go to my mother's property, pitch the tent and away we go. Maybe take one of the dogs with me.
Anyway, I gotta git offa here. My first cup is half empty and now I am feeling the need to get going on all of this - there is a LOT of driving to be done not to mention orders to be pulled and picking up materials all over the place plus the deliveries. Oh, but I can't forget the notice I need to write up.
Have to get into that later.
g'day
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
More Taxes/Dinner Out
So, I took all the tax junk into the tax dude. He has a small office and apparently works alone in it. We went through all of it, particularly the 2007 return. He said he would do the numbers and see if it was going to be worth it to modify it to get more carryover and he would let me know. Well, I replied, if the carryover net worth is more than your fee to do it, then we're going to do it! His response? "I'm just going to warn you that filing this particular form (whatever it was x31a or something like that) puts you at risk of being audited". Oh well. I thought I was going to get audited with this whole deal to begin with, if it happens, it happens, no sense in getting into fear about it. If it's rightfully my money, I want it!
I had no idea that you could write off the cost of your auto tags from year to year! He brought up the deductions, I knew about the rest of them, but not auto tags! I started giving to the church I am going to, and though I don't give to get a write-off, the write-off is available and since it's not unethical, I will be taking that write-off next year. I don't think I'm getting quite as much money as I thought I might, but whatever it is, it's better than nothing! The cost for having it done is about $500 - but that's going through fully 4 years of taxes and this guy, in listening to him, certainly appears to know what he's talking about.
1-1/2 hours and I am meeting the pastors for dinner. They wanted to get together, I offered dinner out at a decent restaurant. They accepted and away we go. I have no idea where this is leading, hopefully just more of a session to get to know one another a bit. I have not spent much time, admittedly and at all, talking with anyone at church. I show up for the services just before they start and I leave as soon as it's over. I smile at people, say hi, shake hands if it's offered, but I waste no time getting out the door. I can hardly say I am over the junk that happened in the divorce and that church era and I suspect it's going to take some time to fully get over it. But, I figure as long as I'm trying - which means at least showing up for church on Sundays and probably most Wednesdays - that's a good start.
Anyway, I had thoughts of waiting to see what I will end up getting in the rest of these taxes before getting anymore camping gear. But, I think I will just finish getting what I intended to get in the first place, which is the basic stuff you really must have in order to have a good camping experience and then, the other stuff that is nice to have but not absolutely necessary can come later. I'm figuring - in buying mostly used stuff - to get out of it much cheaper than I had initially anticipated. People are dumping camping equipment and one of the few things I would not do is buy someone else's sleeping bag. I don't care how clean it looks, someone else slept in it and I have no idea what that someone else might be "carrying". I wouldn't be comfortable in it and that's enough for me to go out and yes, buy a brand new one. I am sure Walmart undoubtedly has a good deal on them.
Umm, well getting wordy here.
Later.
ben
I had no idea that you could write off the cost of your auto tags from year to year! He brought up the deductions, I knew about the rest of them, but not auto tags! I started giving to the church I am going to, and though I don't give to get a write-off, the write-off is available and since it's not unethical, I will be taking that write-off next year. I don't think I'm getting quite as much money as I thought I might, but whatever it is, it's better than nothing! The cost for having it done is about $500 - but that's going through fully 4 years of taxes and this guy, in listening to him, certainly appears to know what he's talking about.
1-1/2 hours and I am meeting the pastors for dinner. They wanted to get together, I offered dinner out at a decent restaurant. They accepted and away we go. I have no idea where this is leading, hopefully just more of a session to get to know one another a bit. I have not spent much time, admittedly and at all, talking with anyone at church. I show up for the services just before they start and I leave as soon as it's over. I smile at people, say hi, shake hands if it's offered, but I waste no time getting out the door. I can hardly say I am over the junk that happened in the divorce and that church era and I suspect it's going to take some time to fully get over it. But, I figure as long as I'm trying - which means at least showing up for church on Sundays and probably most Wednesdays - that's a good start.
Anyway, I had thoughts of waiting to see what I will end up getting in the rest of these taxes before getting anymore camping gear. But, I think I will just finish getting what I intended to get in the first place, which is the basic stuff you really must have in order to have a good camping experience and then, the other stuff that is nice to have but not absolutely necessary can come later. I'm figuring - in buying mostly used stuff - to get out of it much cheaper than I had initially anticipated. People are dumping camping equipment and one of the few things I would not do is buy someone else's sleeping bag. I don't care how clean it looks, someone else slept in it and I have no idea what that someone else might be "carrying". I wouldn't be comfortable in it and that's enough for me to go out and yes, buy a brand new one. I am sure Walmart undoubtedly has a good deal on them.
Umm, well getting wordy here.
Later.
ben
Tuesday
Tuesday
I saw in my email box this morning a reply from my new pastors: they would like to meet this evening. Well, I hoped it wasn't too late to answer the reply - it was sent yesterday evening so dunno if today will work in their schedule now or not - pastors tend to get their agendas filled up.
I love this story of 2 robbers attempting to rob a store and the store owner's Chihuahua apparently scares the robbers to the point that they go running out the door with the little dog chasing them down the street! Apparently there is a video of it as well - will have to wait until I get home from work to see that one.
Umm, whatever. That great story is overshadowed by the teenager that killed his parents with a hammer, shoved their bodies into a close and then..........had a party? Freaking monster. That's just pure evil.
Well anyway, my quest for camping gear may have paid off - I found 2 tents, used, good price. One of them they claimed they only used it once for $50, a 4-man tent. The other, same size tent, $30. The recurring theme on a lot of those ads: need to pay bills, this stuff's gotta go.
I have an appointment with an accountant this afternoon at 2 - though I am not sure if I will be off of work in time or not. I want all this junk turned into the IRS, filed, and get it processed and get the check in the mail.
Life moves on. Someone from my past - what was a kid at the time in the missionary organization I was involved with - somehow found me on Facebook and the next thing I know, I have dozens of "Friend Suggestions" coming from this guy to people I didn't know HAD FB accounts. People I haven't seen or even talked to in at least 2 decades. A couple of the suggestions, however, are cancelled. There is one individual that I will have nothing to do with and certainly, I won't be having him as a friend on any venue including FB. In other words, he can go piss off. But, I have already gone into that dude, what he did and the ensuing aftermath, I don't feel like going into all of that again here. I don't have that much time anyway, lol.
It will be interesting to see if any of these people want to get into any kind of conversation and maybe find out what they are up to. I think a few of them are still out on the mission field after all of these years.
Well, whatever. This entry is done, work day is here, plenty to keep me busy all day long - thankfully - later.
ben
I saw in my email box this morning a reply from my new pastors: they would like to meet this evening. Well, I hoped it wasn't too late to answer the reply - it was sent yesterday evening so dunno if today will work in their schedule now or not - pastors tend to get their agendas filled up.
I love this story of 2 robbers attempting to rob a store and the store owner's Chihuahua apparently scares the robbers to the point that they go running out the door with the little dog chasing them down the street! Apparently there is a video of it as well - will have to wait until I get home from work to see that one.
Umm, whatever. That great story is overshadowed by the teenager that killed his parents with a hammer, shoved their bodies into a close and then..........had a party? Freaking monster. That's just pure evil.
Well anyway, my quest for camping gear may have paid off - I found 2 tents, used, good price. One of them they claimed they only used it once for $50, a 4-man tent. The other, same size tent, $30. The recurring theme on a lot of those ads: need to pay bills, this stuff's gotta go.
I have an appointment with an accountant this afternoon at 2 - though I am not sure if I will be off of work in time or not. I want all this junk turned into the IRS, filed, and get it processed and get the check in the mail.
Life moves on. Someone from my past - what was a kid at the time in the missionary organization I was involved with - somehow found me on Facebook and the next thing I know, I have dozens of "Friend Suggestions" coming from this guy to people I didn't know HAD FB accounts. People I haven't seen or even talked to in at least 2 decades. A couple of the suggestions, however, are cancelled. There is one individual that I will have nothing to do with and certainly, I won't be having him as a friend on any venue including FB. In other words, he can go piss off. But, I have already gone into that dude, what he did and the ensuing aftermath, I don't feel like going into all of that again here. I don't have that much time anyway, lol.
It will be interesting to see if any of these people want to get into any kind of conversation and maybe find out what they are up to. I think a few of them are still out on the mission field after all of these years.
Well, whatever. This entry is done, work day is here, plenty to keep me busy all day long - thankfully - later.
ben
Monday, July 18, 2011
Monday 7/18/2011
Monday
I had forgotten that today, my manager is going to be off. It always leaves up in the air who, exactly, is going to take his place. I can't run the shop AND make deliveries, hence the need for another body to fill the manager's position. Even if there were no deliveries in the system, you still have to have 2 people here in case something comes up.
Look, this debt ceiling and Obama's posturing aren't fooling me, I doubt it's fooling too many others, either. He is attempting to make it look like the GOP is holding any kind of a deal up, when, in reality, he didn't even want to make ANY kind of adjustments to government spending at all.
He would have rather just gone ahead, pushed for another 2-1/2 trillion debt ceiling increase and not done ANY kind of cutting. Dems weren't even talking about this until conservatives made a stand and forced the issue. Remember, at the same time, the Obama that was an Illinois Senator (of which very few people knew ANYTHING about, let's vote him into office because he's black and if you don't vote for him, you're a racist - I will never forget that garbage) said it was irresponsible to increase the debt ceiling.
Also never forget his statement the he knows what's best for America and Americans - alienating those of us that have our own minds and use them to think with on a daily basis. In other words, we're all too dumb to know what's going on, trust Obama.
Obama wants bigger government, that's the end of this story. If he could get away with upping ALL of our taxes, regardless of how much (or little) money you make, he would definitely do it. The entitlement programs thrive under such a presidency, unless, of course, you have a grouping of "Tea Party" backed conservatives who aren't going to budge an inch. And because of their stance, Dems come along and start calling them names - you must have seen all that stuff they were calling Eric Cantor last week because he refuses to give in?
July 18, 2011 6:02 AM
Anonymous said...
The dems have also apparently forgotten the rebuking they received in the last elections. Do they truly believe that we just "forget" about all of this stuff? They lost a super-majority because they were not listening to the vast majority of the American people who are sick of Washington politics as usual. Now you have McDonnell and Boehner talking about compromise. With what? A president that can't seem to get it into his thick head that we don't WANT bigger government and that many of us happen to think it's already too big?
Are any of these people on either side of the fence talking about fixing Social Security? Of course not. I've been paying into it all my adult life, I say get rid of it. Keep it for those that are already retired and receiving the benefits, you can't just screw them and blwo them off, but get rid of it for preceding generations.
I would FAR rather take that money and invest it myself. Instead, I am being forced to take even more of what little money I have left after taxes and attempt to save it because I know,in the end, if they don't change that system there isn't going to be anything left for me when I get to that age. I'm not going to go into my 60's broke and desperate if I have anything to do with it, and yes, I have something to do with it.
I have decided, after much internal deliberation on the subject, to up the amount of savings to 10% versus the 5% it's at now. BUT, the 5% is going into a savings account, initially, until I have enough to by CD's or some other investment venue. I may up the 401k from 5% to 7% and do a 3% savings plan instead. Any way about it, I am going to attempt to save a lot more money than I am doing right now.
The point? I cannot base my retirement on a system that may not exist by that time, or have so little left in it that what I receive is next to nothing. I cannot also depend on inheritances. I may very well get some, but you can't really forecast your financial future on such. No, I am facing the fact that I am going to have to supply my own retirment and to do that means upping substantially my savings portfolio and also, yes, I really want to get into the rental type of business in owning properties and renting them out.
That's a goal. I am starting to work forward to getting to the point where I am realizing that goal in my life, not just in my head.
Regardless, time is up.
G'day.
ben
I had forgotten that today, my manager is going to be off. It always leaves up in the air who, exactly, is going to take his place. I can't run the shop AND make deliveries, hence the need for another body to fill the manager's position. Even if there were no deliveries in the system, you still have to have 2 people here in case something comes up.
Look, this debt ceiling and Obama's posturing aren't fooling me, I doubt it's fooling too many others, either. He is attempting to make it look like the GOP is holding any kind of a deal up, when, in reality, he didn't even want to make ANY kind of adjustments to government spending at all.
He would have rather just gone ahead, pushed for another 2-1/2 trillion debt ceiling increase and not done ANY kind of cutting. Dems weren't even talking about this until conservatives made a stand and forced the issue. Remember, at the same time, the Obama that was an Illinois Senator (of which very few people knew ANYTHING about, let's vote him into office because he's black and if you don't vote for him, you're a racist - I will never forget that garbage) said it was irresponsible to increase the debt ceiling.
Also never forget his statement the he knows what's best for America and Americans - alienating those of us that have our own minds and use them to think with on a daily basis. In other words, we're all too dumb to know what's going on, trust Obama.
Obama wants bigger government, that's the end of this story. If he could get away with upping ALL of our taxes, regardless of how much (or little) money you make, he would definitely do it. The entitlement programs thrive under such a presidency, unless, of course, you have a grouping of "Tea Party" backed conservatives who aren't going to budge an inch. And because of their stance, Dems come along and start calling them names - you must have seen all that stuff they were calling Eric Cantor last week because he refuses to give in?
July 18, 2011 6:02 AM
Anonymous said...
The dems have also apparently forgotten the rebuking they received in the last elections. Do they truly believe that we just "forget" about all of this stuff? They lost a super-majority because they were not listening to the vast majority of the American people who are sick of Washington politics as usual. Now you have McDonnell and Boehner talking about compromise. With what? A president that can't seem to get it into his thick head that we don't WANT bigger government and that many of us happen to think it's already too big?
Are any of these people on either side of the fence talking about fixing Social Security? Of course not. I've been paying into it all my adult life, I say get rid of it. Keep it for those that are already retired and receiving the benefits, you can't just screw them and blwo them off, but get rid of it for preceding generations.
I would FAR rather take that money and invest it myself. Instead, I am being forced to take even more of what little money I have left after taxes and attempt to save it because I know,in the end, if they don't change that system there isn't going to be anything left for me when I get to that age. I'm not going to go into my 60's broke and desperate if I have anything to do with it, and yes, I have something to do with it.
I have decided, after much internal deliberation on the subject, to up the amount of savings to 10% versus the 5% it's at now. BUT, the 5% is going into a savings account, initially, until I have enough to by CD's or some other investment venue. I may up the 401k from 5% to 7% and do a 3% savings plan instead. Any way about it, I am going to attempt to save a lot more money than I am doing right now.
The point? I cannot base my retirement on a system that may not exist by that time, or have so little left in it that what I receive is next to nothing. I cannot also depend on inheritances. I may very well get some, but you can't really forecast your financial future on such. No, I am facing the fact that I am going to have to supply my own retirment and to do that means upping substantially my savings portfolio and also, yes, I really want to get into the rental type of business in owning properties and renting them out.
That's a goal. I am starting to work forward to getting to the point where I am realizing that goal in my life, not just in my head.
Regardless, time is up.
G'day.
ben
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Sunday 7/17/2011
I started an entry a couple of hours ago, didn't have too much written and then the phone rings. It's my ex. A van full of people had come back from the Salvation Army camp where my son is working and she said he had sent some pics, she was going to bring them over to me. Send pics? Personally? I had some weird thoughts about it - who does THAT? You can just email them and if you want them printed, make a disc and take it to Walgreens - or your store of choice that does such.
Instead, something told me to take a shower - so, I jumped in the shower, got on some clean clothes and then waited for her to bring me the pics.
15 minutes later, she calls and says she's outside my house with the pics. Okay. I walk out there, go through the gate, start walking out to the car and, walaaaah!! CALEB jumps out of the car!!! Now, for once, I was SHOCKED!! I didn't believe my eyes. My mind goes into - how is he home? How is he here? I'm that kind of person: instant analyzation in the mind, but showing great joy on the outside (well it WAS on the inside, too, just a lot of mind junk that sometimes gets in the way of things) to see my son!!
Yes, I got my pictures: LIVE pictures, lol. Mom had him for an hour and she brought him to me for an hour as well. We sat here in my kitchen and talked and talked until it was time for him to leave. I had to take him to the mall down the road to meet up with the rest of the people to head back to the camp. Today was a day off and he decided to hitch a ride down and visit us. Way cool. We had a good conversation, I mostly listened to him telling the stories of his great adventure/journey. Isn't that what parents of adult children are supposed to do? I dunno, folks, I am in a learning curve here, my boy went from childhood to adulthood in one fell swoop and it is definitely an adjustment period.
And mind you, he isn't just an adult by fact of age, he has matured GREATLY in the last 6 to 8 months. I dunno, I was ecstatic to see my boy, it was QUITE the surprise and a good one at that. We got to the mall and he started walking. A very noticeable difference in his gait: he used to walk slow, now, by fact of having to walk all over the place at that large expanse of a camp, he is walking as fast as I do at a normal clip. I brought it up to him: you are walking a bit faster, I see. The light went on: I hadn't noticed until now!!
We traipsed around that mall - large place - until we found the exit where everyone was supposed to meet. I know that it isn't going to be long and I won't be seeing much of my son at all - life takes over, you grow up, you get busy. I'm good with that, but I hope he does what I do with my still-living parents: email them and call them regularly.
It was a great visit. When your kids are with you, perhaps it's easy to take it all for granted. When they leave, then you may begin to see the gift of God that they are to you. My boy has turned out well, that is the greatest gift of all.
ben
Instead, something told me to take a shower - so, I jumped in the shower, got on some clean clothes and then waited for her to bring me the pics.
15 minutes later, she calls and says she's outside my house with the pics. Okay. I walk out there, go through the gate, start walking out to the car and, walaaaah!! CALEB jumps out of the car!!! Now, for once, I was SHOCKED!! I didn't believe my eyes. My mind goes into - how is he home? How is he here? I'm that kind of person: instant analyzation in the mind, but showing great joy on the outside (well it WAS on the inside, too, just a lot of mind junk that sometimes gets in the way of things) to see my son!!
Yes, I got my pictures: LIVE pictures, lol. Mom had him for an hour and she brought him to me for an hour as well. We sat here in my kitchen and talked and talked until it was time for him to leave. I had to take him to the mall down the road to meet up with the rest of the people to head back to the camp. Today was a day off and he decided to hitch a ride down and visit us. Way cool. We had a good conversation, I mostly listened to him telling the stories of his great adventure/journey. Isn't that what parents of adult children are supposed to do? I dunno, folks, I am in a learning curve here, my boy went from childhood to adulthood in one fell swoop and it is definitely an adjustment period.
And mind you, he isn't just an adult by fact of age, he has matured GREATLY in the last 6 to 8 months. I dunno, I was ecstatic to see my boy, it was QUITE the surprise and a good one at that. We got to the mall and he started walking. A very noticeable difference in his gait: he used to walk slow, now, by fact of having to walk all over the place at that large expanse of a camp, he is walking as fast as I do at a normal clip. I brought it up to him: you are walking a bit faster, I see. The light went on: I hadn't noticed until now!!
We traipsed around that mall - large place - until we found the exit where everyone was supposed to meet. I know that it isn't going to be long and I won't be seeing much of my son at all - life takes over, you grow up, you get busy. I'm good with that, but I hope he does what I do with my still-living parents: email them and call them regularly.
It was a great visit. When your kids are with you, perhaps it's easy to take it all for granted. When they leave, then you may begin to see the gift of God that they are to you. My boy has turned out well, that is the greatest gift of all.
ben
Saturday/Payday
Yesterday morning, I check my checking account to see if my paycheck had been deposited. "Pending". Someone flubbed up. That check should have been deposited and IN my account, not pending. I didn't want to sign up for direct deposit in the first place but management "recommended" doing it since I was one of only 2 holdouts in the entire group that didn't use it at the time.
And this is the reason I don't like direct deposit. I have very little experience in using it and the little experience that I do have? THIS is what happens! I didn't say anything, I wanted to see if corporate would acknowledge something had happened at the very least. I get back later from all the runs that took all day long to do and find that corporate had air mailed my pay stub.
Whatever. If this is a routine occurrence, I will stopping direct deposit unless my company says I have no choice in it.
I was asked to write up an article for the company's new newsletter about selling off stuff that is NQ - no value. I have been selling stuff for quite a while now on Craigslist, that versus throwing it away and the company taking a total loss/hit on it. I wrote up an article yesterday but didn't sent it in.
I didn't send it in because I am pissed. The Ops manager said I would get a spiff for the months and months of work I dumped into selling that drip irrigation stuff - spent a considerable amount of my own, personal/off-the-clock time doing it believing I was going to get some kind of recompense for it. I didn't even get a thank you, much less some sort of monetary compensation for it. I won't be selling anything else for them until this situation is rectified and I can say that I am not going to sit around stewing on it forever. It's time to voice my displeasure about this situation - but not in a crass or otherwise obnoxious way.
A simple, "I haven't seen the spiff I was promised for doing all that work to sell that drip irrigation system supplies" will get the ball rolling. If the ops manager somehow tries to deny it, I will take it up with the general manager, who has much different views of things about making promises and then not following through with it. I don't want to make enemies out of the ops manager, but for crying out loud, how do you make such a promise and then just totally blow it off? Still, prudence and calm are what's called for, not anger and stupidity.
My camping equipment quest is on. A gas, 2 burner camp stove is on it's way over here. Rebuilt for $45. I have been wanting to get another camp stove for some time now. Not just for camping. I don't have gas in my house, if for some reason the power to go out, I have no way of cooking. It isn't a fear thing, I just like to have certain items in my repertoire of things I own for the "just-in-case" department. I need a tent, a sleeping bag, a large cooler a 5 gallon water jug and a battery operated lamp at the very least besides the stove. I actually think I can do the rest of that stuff for $200 or so. I'm not interested in a used tent - people don't always take care of them and zippers get broken and such.
My camp stove is here and so is a teflon coated, Coleman cookset. Basically, I am pretty much set on doing some kind of camping during the week off I have coming up next month. Probably only an overnighter or maybe 2 nights - I haven't been camping in a while and I have to get back into the mode. If you want to have an enjoyable experience, there is a lot you have to lug out there - wherever you go - with you. I also sent back with the guy a gas fired lantern that needs repaired. He said $20 to fix it - great, let's do it.
Ummm, I got busy with junk and never finished this entry, posting it anyway.
ben
And this is the reason I don't like direct deposit. I have very little experience in using it and the little experience that I do have? THIS is what happens! I didn't say anything, I wanted to see if corporate would acknowledge something had happened at the very least. I get back later from all the runs that took all day long to do and find that corporate had air mailed my pay stub.
Whatever. If this is a routine occurrence, I will stopping direct deposit unless my company says I have no choice in it.
I was asked to write up an article for the company's new newsletter about selling off stuff that is NQ - no value. I have been selling stuff for quite a while now on Craigslist, that versus throwing it away and the company taking a total loss/hit on it. I wrote up an article yesterday but didn't sent it in.
I didn't send it in because I am pissed. The Ops manager said I would get a spiff for the months and months of work I dumped into selling that drip irrigation stuff - spent a considerable amount of my own, personal/off-the-clock time doing it believing I was going to get some kind of recompense for it. I didn't even get a thank you, much less some sort of monetary compensation for it. I won't be selling anything else for them until this situation is rectified and I can say that I am not going to sit around stewing on it forever. It's time to voice my displeasure about this situation - but not in a crass or otherwise obnoxious way.
A simple, "I haven't seen the spiff I was promised for doing all that work to sell that drip irrigation system supplies" will get the ball rolling. If the ops manager somehow tries to deny it, I will take it up with the general manager, who has much different views of things about making promises and then not following through with it. I don't want to make enemies out of the ops manager, but for crying out loud, how do you make such a promise and then just totally blow it off? Still, prudence and calm are what's called for, not anger and stupidity.
My camping equipment quest is on. A gas, 2 burner camp stove is on it's way over here. Rebuilt for $45. I have been wanting to get another camp stove for some time now. Not just for camping. I don't have gas in my house, if for some reason the power to go out, I have no way of cooking. It isn't a fear thing, I just like to have certain items in my repertoire of things I own for the "just-in-case" department. I need a tent, a sleeping bag, a large cooler a 5 gallon water jug and a battery operated lamp at the very least besides the stove. I actually think I can do the rest of that stuff for $200 or so. I'm not interested in a used tent - people don't always take care of them and zippers get broken and such.
My camp stove is here and so is a teflon coated, Coleman cookset. Basically, I am pretty much set on doing some kind of camping during the week off I have coming up next month. Probably only an overnighter or maybe 2 nights - I haven't been camping in a while and I have to get back into the mode. If you want to have an enjoyable experience, there is a lot you have to lug out there - wherever you go - with you. I also sent back with the guy a gas fired lantern that needs repaired. He said $20 to fix it - great, let's do it.
Ummm, I got busy with junk and never finished this entry, posting it anyway.
ben
Friday, July 15, 2011
Friday 7/15/2011
Friday
Now to find an accountant or one of these tax places that actually knows what they are talking about. I've been fixing and replacing things, so I have also been dipping into the money I got from the first tax return a bit. The fixing and replacing scenario ain't over yet, either. Oh, and throw in a 12 gauge shotgun, lol - but that was only $200.
The weekend. As always, no clue. Just going to go to church and the rest is up in the air.
Just a bit over 2 weeks before Caleb comes home. I miss my boy, I can say that before the world, not having him around at all is a bit different. Better get used to it, that's what I know.
I have been looking at camping equipment. Just the basic stuff - Walmart has a camp stove that runs on either camp fuel or unleaded gas. A 4 man tent. Sleeping bag and roll up cushion (no, I am not going to lay directly on the hard ground, doesn't work that way for me). Gotta have a decent sized cooler and a 5 gallon water jug. You can't go out there without water. Oh, and a battery-operated camp lamp.
That's all I need, lol. ROFL. In case you haven't figured it out, that adds up to a chunk of change. I will be looking on Craigslist to see if I can score some of that stuff cheaper, or even Ebay.
I'm still trying to find "The Deal" on getting that old Buick painted. It has 2 dents in it that have to be fixed and then a cheap paint job. It's the dents that are proving to be the thorn in the side as they want a lot of money to fix them and that car is not worth dumping that much money into.
Time's up.
G'day.
ben
Now to find an accountant or one of these tax places that actually knows what they are talking about. I've been fixing and replacing things, so I have also been dipping into the money I got from the first tax return a bit. The fixing and replacing scenario ain't over yet, either. Oh, and throw in a 12 gauge shotgun, lol - but that was only $200.
The weekend. As always, no clue. Just going to go to church and the rest is up in the air.
Just a bit over 2 weeks before Caleb comes home. I miss my boy, I can say that before the world, not having him around at all is a bit different. Better get used to it, that's what I know.
I have been looking at camping equipment. Just the basic stuff - Walmart has a camp stove that runs on either camp fuel or unleaded gas. A 4 man tent. Sleeping bag and roll up cushion (no, I am not going to lay directly on the hard ground, doesn't work that way for me). Gotta have a decent sized cooler and a 5 gallon water jug. You can't go out there without water. Oh, and a battery-operated camp lamp.
That's all I need, lol. ROFL. In case you haven't figured it out, that adds up to a chunk of change. I will be looking on Craigslist to see if I can score some of that stuff cheaper, or even Ebay.
I'm still trying to find "The Deal" on getting that old Buick painted. It has 2 dents in it that have to be fixed and then a cheap paint job. It's the dents that are proving to be the thorn in the side as they want a lot of money to fix them and that car is not worth dumping that much money into.
Time's up.
G'day.
ben
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Shell Shock/Sergeant - Phoenix Police Department
I took my newer car in today to have the window tracks repaired.
I had no idea that you don't repair them anymore, you have to replace the whole track, including the motor that is built onto the track.
It isn't that I wouldn't have had the work done if I had known that, it's just that I would have just had the driver's side done and not both sides.
I can tell you right now when I walked into that shop this afternoon and they told me they had to replace the entire tracks, motors included, I instantly knew this was going to be an expensive repair job. That stuff isn't cheap, at all. I wasn't let down, either, the parts alone were almost $400. With labor I was handed a $640.00 repair bill.
OUCH! Good thing I had that income tax return money in the bank, otherwise? I would be hurtin' for certain right now. Okay, I am not going to regret having the work done. The windows kept falling down while driving the car. I ended up stuffing cardboard between the windows and the frame to keep it wedged into place, but occasionally one of them would fall down anyway. Look, that car is a 2004 model and only has 56,000 miles on it. I have 2 plus years left of payments on it, but I expect to get another 75,000 miles out of that car anyway. Buick LeSabres have a pretty good track record for longevity. I figure by the time I have it paid off, it will still have only around 80,000 miles on it, so, keeping it up and in working order is definitely worth it.
I now need to get the speedometer fixed. That shop said they can fix some issues with speedometers, but not all of them. Well, I will give them a shot and see if they can do it, if not, there is a shop that specializes in - you guessed it - doing nothing but fixing speedometers. Getting the speedo fixed will be the end of most of the problems with the car. I've dumped over a grand into it getting some things fixed on it, I will guess the speedo another $300 and it will be done - for now anyway, lol.
I had had thoughts some time ago in trading that car in - but I am getting tired of spending my life making car payments and I want to pay this one off, like I did the old Buick and then save money to buy my next vehicle instead of getting into payments again. Or, put a large down payment on a vehicle so the monthly payments are so low, I won't care about it. I can't really complain about my Buick, though, the payments are only $223 per month. I just don't much care for all this "little" stuff going on that adds up to big money.
On the money note, I believe I have all the paperwork necessary to go to an accountant's office and get this stuff dealt with. I have already received all the mortgage interest information from both companies that I requested it from and that is all I really needed to get this going.
This entry was interrupted by a call from a sargeant at the Phoenix Police Department. I received a reply from an individual at the department yesterday saying that "I see no display of professional misconduct" with their officers. Of course you don't. This is South Mountain Precinct with national notoriety. NOT - GOOD - press, either. I replied to him via email and stated the obvious: officers coming into a locked back yard, leaving a gate open, being asking - with a "please" - to close the gate 3 times, with the officer jumping up and down having a hissy fit, threatening to fire upon my dogs? This is ripe for the news.
I will never have a dealing again with officers at my property without my camera running a video of it the entire time again. If I had THAT episode of that officer going into 2-year-old-throw-himself-on-the-floor-and-have-a-temper-tantrum-mode on video, it would have gone viral. It would have received press attention because of the issues this precinct already has.
I asked the Sergeant about this situation with them saying the threats from that officer and how they could possibly not be unprofessional conduct. He stated he wanted to speak to me in person. ???? Please answer the question. He then informed me was down the street and just wanted to ensure I was home before stopping by. I see. "See you in 30 seconds".
The discussion went on for quite a while, I cannot go into all of it because it would just be too much print and who is going to read all of that. Or, maybe I should so I can have something to refresh my memory in case I have need of it. You wouldn't believe how many times my blog has "saved" me in the past in situations where I needed a CLEAR memory of what happened in some certain situation that I had written about in full detail and had gone back, found that entry and instantly was "revelated" again.
But, oh well. Let's get to the deceit here: the Sergeant stated that his officer told him that he had kept the gate closed enough by standing next to it, holding it shut. This after much conversation, much, even getting to this point. This Sergeant was under the belief that this officer under him was standing next to the gate the entire time, therefore, there was no threat of the dogs getting out, even IF he refused to close it.
I "revelated" (yes, not a real word, but they should come up with these words I make up cause' they so neatly fit the situation that I am describing) him on what really happened. I have gone into it enough on this blog to not want to go into it again, needless to say, he was NOT standing anywhere NEAR that gate when he refused to close it after being asked to do so 3 times in a row. Well, the Sergeant says, how do I prove it? I wasn't there when it happened. We went back and forth, he was not going to get the upper edge on me because that officer's actions that occurred in my back yard were WRONG, WRONG and DOUBLE WRONG and NO-ONE is going to convince me of ANYTHING otherwise.
He finally toned down. Yes, we finally got into a normal conversation. He had been telling me to put myself into their shoes, I finally asked him how he would feel about these guys coming onto YOUR property, removing a lock out of a gate to get in, confronting the homeowner with attitude at the get-go, and then the situation with dogs? And, btw, WHY would these officers insist on staying in my back yard if they are so damned afraid of dogs? Why wouldn't they take this out front?
THAT is the question that FINALLY got through to him. "Well, yes, if it had been me, I would have definitely asked to step outside the gate, close it and not have to deal with that added situation". Thank you!!
Look, I am not a cop-hater. I don't hate cops at all. They have a profession that isn't exactly desirable to most people for the constant threat that they have to analyze, perceive and adjust to on any given call. I'm not trying to make their lives harder in their chosen profession, but when they start that kind of s*** with me right off the bat, they are going to get it right back in their face. If they want to be reasonable, then I will be reasonable. If they want to be mini-gods, I am not going to tolerate it for a millisecond.
We shook hands. This wasn't a wimpy, light-handed - yucky - type of hand shake. When I shake hands with a man, that "nothing" wilted-flower type of hand shake really does nothing for me, at all. It was a firm grasp, it was the kind of handshake that makes you think either this guy is seriously trying to make amends - or - he has practiced this a lot - or - something came down from higher ups that said make this right and get this over with. I have a hard time deciphering all of that with this particular agency, their history as a precinct and the problems I have had with them.
But I let it go. "We're cool" after his repeated attempts to determine where we're leaving this off. I did ask him a few questions about the new law regarding not needing a CCW permit - especially about having one in your car. Yes, you can hide it, keep it in the open, whatever, but if you are pulled over, you MUST let the officer know right away that you have a gun in the car or yes, you are probably going to get into trouble with it. That's good to know. I had read that somewhere about letting the officer know, I hadn't read anything about the trouble you might face if you don't. I think they might want to clue people in on that particular aspect of it. You can have a loaded firearm in the trunk of your car without having to state it, apparently, but, if I had a gun anywhere in the vehicle at this point and was pulled over, I would let the officer know at the git-go and not have to worry about the legalities of it. \
No, I am not carrying my new 12-gauge shot gun with me in the car. That is a home-protection weapon and I fully intend on never using it - unless I really HAVE to. I am not trigger crazy or gun-happy. It's a fact of life in a very large city with thugs/criminals all over the place. I have wanted a gun in this house for a long time and I am happy to have one at this point. Last night, I loaded and unloaded the thing - including a shell in the chamber - repeatedly to get the hang of it.
Ummm, it's bedtime now that all kinds of time has passed and numerous issues have come up.
Gag.
G'nite.
ben
I had no idea that you don't repair them anymore, you have to replace the whole track, including the motor that is built onto the track.
It isn't that I wouldn't have had the work done if I had known that, it's just that I would have just had the driver's side done and not both sides.
I can tell you right now when I walked into that shop this afternoon and they told me they had to replace the entire tracks, motors included, I instantly knew this was going to be an expensive repair job. That stuff isn't cheap, at all. I wasn't let down, either, the parts alone were almost $400. With labor I was handed a $640.00 repair bill.
OUCH! Good thing I had that income tax return money in the bank, otherwise? I would be hurtin' for certain right now. Okay, I am not going to regret having the work done. The windows kept falling down while driving the car. I ended up stuffing cardboard between the windows and the frame to keep it wedged into place, but occasionally one of them would fall down anyway. Look, that car is a 2004 model and only has 56,000 miles on it. I have 2 plus years left of payments on it, but I expect to get another 75,000 miles out of that car anyway. Buick LeSabres have a pretty good track record for longevity. I figure by the time I have it paid off, it will still have only around 80,000 miles on it, so, keeping it up and in working order is definitely worth it.
I now need to get the speedometer fixed. That shop said they can fix some issues with speedometers, but not all of them. Well, I will give them a shot and see if they can do it, if not, there is a shop that specializes in - you guessed it - doing nothing but fixing speedometers. Getting the speedo fixed will be the end of most of the problems with the car. I've dumped over a grand into it getting some things fixed on it, I will guess the speedo another $300 and it will be done - for now anyway, lol.
I had had thoughts some time ago in trading that car in - but I am getting tired of spending my life making car payments and I want to pay this one off, like I did the old Buick and then save money to buy my next vehicle instead of getting into payments again. Or, put a large down payment on a vehicle so the monthly payments are so low, I won't care about it. I can't really complain about my Buick, though, the payments are only $223 per month. I just don't much care for all this "little" stuff going on that adds up to big money.
On the money note, I believe I have all the paperwork necessary to go to an accountant's office and get this stuff dealt with. I have already received all the mortgage interest information from both companies that I requested it from and that is all I really needed to get this going.
This entry was interrupted by a call from a sargeant at the Phoenix Police Department. I received a reply from an individual at the department yesterday saying that "I see no display of professional misconduct" with their officers. Of course you don't. This is South Mountain Precinct with national notoriety. NOT - GOOD - press, either. I replied to him via email and stated the obvious: officers coming into a locked back yard, leaving a gate open, being asking - with a "please" - to close the gate 3 times, with the officer jumping up and down having a hissy fit, threatening to fire upon my dogs? This is ripe for the news.
I will never have a dealing again with officers at my property without my camera running a video of it the entire time again. If I had THAT episode of that officer going into 2-year-old-throw-himself-on-the-floor-and-have-a-temper-tantrum-mode on video, it would have gone viral. It would have received press attention because of the issues this precinct already has.
I asked the Sergeant about this situation with them saying the threats from that officer and how they could possibly not be unprofessional conduct. He stated he wanted to speak to me in person. ???? Please answer the question. He then informed me was down the street and just wanted to ensure I was home before stopping by. I see. "See you in 30 seconds".
The discussion went on for quite a while, I cannot go into all of it because it would just be too much print and who is going to read all of that. Or, maybe I should so I can have something to refresh my memory in case I have need of it. You wouldn't believe how many times my blog has "saved" me in the past in situations where I needed a CLEAR memory of what happened in some certain situation that I had written about in full detail and had gone back, found that entry and instantly was "revelated" again.
But, oh well. Let's get to the deceit here: the Sergeant stated that his officer told him that he had kept the gate closed enough by standing next to it, holding it shut. This after much conversation, much, even getting to this point. This Sergeant was under the belief that this officer under him was standing next to the gate the entire time, therefore, there was no threat of the dogs getting out, even IF he refused to close it.
I "revelated" (yes, not a real word, but they should come up with these words I make up cause' they so neatly fit the situation that I am describing) him on what really happened. I have gone into it enough on this blog to not want to go into it again, needless to say, he was NOT standing anywhere NEAR that gate when he refused to close it after being asked to do so 3 times in a row. Well, the Sergeant says, how do I prove it? I wasn't there when it happened. We went back and forth, he was not going to get the upper edge on me because that officer's actions that occurred in my back yard were WRONG, WRONG and DOUBLE WRONG and NO-ONE is going to convince me of ANYTHING otherwise.
He finally toned down. Yes, we finally got into a normal conversation. He had been telling me to put myself into their shoes, I finally asked him how he would feel about these guys coming onto YOUR property, removing a lock out of a gate to get in, confronting the homeowner with attitude at the get-go, and then the situation with dogs? And, btw, WHY would these officers insist on staying in my back yard if they are so damned afraid of dogs? Why wouldn't they take this out front?
THAT is the question that FINALLY got through to him. "Well, yes, if it had been me, I would have definitely asked to step outside the gate, close it and not have to deal with that added situation". Thank you!!
Look, I am not a cop-hater. I don't hate cops at all. They have a profession that isn't exactly desirable to most people for the constant threat that they have to analyze, perceive and adjust to on any given call. I'm not trying to make their lives harder in their chosen profession, but when they start that kind of s*** with me right off the bat, they are going to get it right back in their face. If they want to be reasonable, then I will be reasonable. If they want to be mini-gods, I am not going to tolerate it for a millisecond.
We shook hands. This wasn't a wimpy, light-handed - yucky - type of hand shake. When I shake hands with a man, that "nothing" wilted-flower type of hand shake really does nothing for me, at all. It was a firm grasp, it was the kind of handshake that makes you think either this guy is seriously trying to make amends - or - he has practiced this a lot - or - something came down from higher ups that said make this right and get this over with. I have a hard time deciphering all of that with this particular agency, their history as a precinct and the problems I have had with them.
But I let it go. "We're cool" after his repeated attempts to determine where we're leaving this off. I did ask him a few questions about the new law regarding not needing a CCW permit - especially about having one in your car. Yes, you can hide it, keep it in the open, whatever, but if you are pulled over, you MUST let the officer know right away that you have a gun in the car or yes, you are probably going to get into trouble with it. That's good to know. I had read that somewhere about letting the officer know, I hadn't read anything about the trouble you might face if you don't. I think they might want to clue people in on that particular aspect of it. You can have a loaded firearm in the trunk of your car without having to state it, apparently, but, if I had a gun anywhere in the vehicle at this point and was pulled over, I would let the officer know at the git-go and not have to worry about the legalities of it. \
No, I am not carrying my new 12-gauge shot gun with me in the car. That is a home-protection weapon and I fully intend on never using it - unless I really HAVE to. I am not trigger crazy or gun-happy. It's a fact of life in a very large city with thugs/criminals all over the place. I have wanted a gun in this house for a long time and I am happy to have one at this point. Last night, I loaded and unloaded the thing - including a shell in the chamber - repeatedly to get the hang of it.
Ummm, it's bedtime now that all kinds of time has passed and numerous issues have come up.
Gag.
G'nite.
ben
Thursday 7/14/2011
Thursday
"Epic congestion" and "Carmageddon". It isn't often that you see national headlines out of the closure of a ---- freeway. But, I've been on the 405 many times, I absolutely abhor that freeway. It's in California, Los Angeles to be more specific is the area that they are shutting down a TEN mile stretch of it to tear down a bridge. Just one more reason I am very glad I do NOT live in California!
Umm, anyway. The Resolution Mine in Superior, AZ. I have been there now several times. Superior is a washed up ghost town type of thing. In it's hey-day, it was home to a lot of mine workers that worked the mine that used to be there. Pretty much the mine closed down and most of the people left. Not that it became a complete ghost town, but pretty much had that effect on it.
Of course, the democrats are resisting the land swap needed to make it happen. I have no doubts, whatsoever, that the state and federal government will regulate that mine to the nth degree and force them to make the environmental impact as light as possible. They're talking thousands of jobs.
As it is, when I go in there, I had to watch a 20 minute safety video. I could not get up on my trailer. I had to wear the full fledged safety equipment: protective glasses; hard-hat; gloves; long pants; reflective vest; steel toed shoes. The safety meeting they had to have before they even unloaded the truck took over half an hour. I'm serious: they are required to have a safety meeting in order to unload a truck and everyone, including the truck driver who is forced to have nothing to do with the unloading of it and stand there watching, has to sign off on it.
Of course, once you see a picture of the aftermath of one of those giant dump trucks having had run over a Ford F250 pickup with it's occupants inside of it, you start to get a hint why they are so safety-conscious. It was "flat as a pancake". No, they didn't show the blood and gore, I didn't WANT to see that.
Anyway, I hope the house passes the bill and likewise the senate.
The 1098 statements from one lender have already arrived via fax machine, just waiting on the other and then I can go in and get this tax business done. Have them look at 2007 taxes and make sure that everything I could get out of it has been wringed out of it and then do the 2008, 2009 and 2010 modifications. Whatever it costs to do all of that will be worth the amount of money I am going to get out of it. Again, just before the federal government closes it's doors and says "we're closed for business", I would like to get that money into my checking account!
First time in quite a while that there is nothing to do in the truck routing system here at work. I mean, it's been something like 3 weeks since the last time that happened. Makes for an incredibly long day when there is nothing to do. There IS some clean up chores to do, undoubtedly.
Anyway, work day almost here, gotta get offa here.
G'day.
"Epic congestion" and "Carmageddon". It isn't often that you see national headlines out of the closure of a ---- freeway. But, I've been on the 405 many times, I absolutely abhor that freeway. It's in California, Los Angeles to be more specific is the area that they are shutting down a TEN mile stretch of it to tear down a bridge. Just one more reason I am very glad I do NOT live in California!
Umm, anyway. The Resolution Mine in Superior, AZ. I have been there now several times. Superior is a washed up ghost town type of thing. In it's hey-day, it was home to a lot of mine workers that worked the mine that used to be there. Pretty much the mine closed down and most of the people left. Not that it became a complete ghost town, but pretty much had that effect on it.
Of course, the democrats are resisting the land swap needed to make it happen. I have no doubts, whatsoever, that the state and federal government will regulate that mine to the nth degree and force them to make the environmental impact as light as possible. They're talking thousands of jobs.
As it is, when I go in there, I had to watch a 20 minute safety video. I could not get up on my trailer. I had to wear the full fledged safety equipment: protective glasses; hard-hat; gloves; long pants; reflective vest; steel toed shoes. The safety meeting they had to have before they even unloaded the truck took over half an hour. I'm serious: they are required to have a safety meeting in order to unload a truck and everyone, including the truck driver who is forced to have nothing to do with the unloading of it and stand there watching, has to sign off on it.
Of course, once you see a picture of the aftermath of one of those giant dump trucks having had run over a Ford F250 pickup with it's occupants inside of it, you start to get a hint why they are so safety-conscious. It was "flat as a pancake". No, they didn't show the blood and gore, I didn't WANT to see that.
Anyway, I hope the house passes the bill and likewise the senate.
The 1098 statements from one lender have already arrived via fax machine, just waiting on the other and then I can go in and get this tax business done. Have them look at 2007 taxes and make sure that everything I could get out of it has been wringed out of it and then do the 2008, 2009 and 2010 modifications. Whatever it costs to do all of that will be worth the amount of money I am going to get out of it. Again, just before the federal government closes it's doors and says "we're closed for business", I would like to get that money into my checking account!
First time in quite a while that there is nothing to do in the truck routing system here at work. I mean, it's been something like 3 weeks since the last time that happened. Makes for an incredibly long day when there is nothing to do. There IS some clean up chores to do, undoubtedly.
Anyway, work day almost here, gotta get offa here.
G'day.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Taxes
It was amazingly much easier than I thought it was going to be to request 1098's from both former lending institutions that had my mortgage before they both sold them off. It was a matter of calling them and simply asking, giving a lot of personal information, of course, to identify me but now? 3 business days max and I will have all the 1098's that I need to modify the tax years 2007 - 2010. The modification is necessary to include the house fire carryover which will net me quite a large chunk of change, DEFINITELY worth the effort and even the expense to pay someone or an online thing to make sure it isn't flubbed up and that I get every penny I can out of it. I would like to get this done and turned in before August 3rd, lol.
If you don't know what allegedly will happen on August 3rd, then just read the news, any news, it's all over the place. The U.S. will allegedly default on it's loans and the earth will end, it will just disappear out of sight and we will all cease to exist. That is the kind of hype they are making this sound out to be. Definitely, they are declaring world-wide financial chaos the likes we have never seen if this happens. I don't know, that's all coming from the Obama administration and his ilk and considering his past of the lack of actually imparting the entire truth, well, I simply remain neutral until the day comes and goes and if there is no deal, see what happens.
Basically, I want to take a whole pile of papers to an accountant somewhere, dump it on whoever, let them go over it all and see how much they can eek out for me. If it costs me $500 to get $10,000.00, it's money well spent. I do expect to net at least 10 grand out of it, at least. If it goes like I got for 2007, then there is the potential for up to 18k out of the Feds and State, that is, if they have the money to give me back, lol. I can't even imagine having that much money in the bank. Just sitting there, waiting to be blown in a lavish vacation to the Bahamas or maybe a world tour of all the places I want to see. A 30-day cruise all over the place, who knows!
Okay, that is all a bunch of hooey. I am not going to waste a bunch of money on a temporal and short-lived trip, though it would be awesome if I could! No, it would afford me the opportunity to do some upgrades to my house and still have quite a lot left over after I was done. Or, it might afford me to find a rental property somewhere - go to those property auctions and see what might happen. But you know what? If I could blow 2 grand on a trip to Italy or England and have a lot of money left over in the bank, I would SERIOUSLY consider it.
I have decided against the trailer that the man has now decided to give as a straight across trade. My trailer, actually, is better than that thing. I just didn't realize it until giving it focused thought. I have too much on my mind right now with a lot of different things that are completely unrelated to each other going on.
I uhhh, have so much of that going on right now, I am finding it difficult to even finish this entry.
ben
If you don't know what allegedly will happen on August 3rd, then just read the news, any news, it's all over the place. The U.S. will allegedly default on it's loans and the earth will end, it will just disappear out of sight and we will all cease to exist. That is the kind of hype they are making this sound out to be. Definitely, they are declaring world-wide financial chaos the likes we have never seen if this happens. I don't know, that's all coming from the Obama administration and his ilk and considering his past of the lack of actually imparting the entire truth, well, I simply remain neutral until the day comes and goes and if there is no deal, see what happens.
Basically, I want to take a whole pile of papers to an accountant somewhere, dump it on whoever, let them go over it all and see how much they can eek out for me. If it costs me $500 to get $10,000.00, it's money well spent. I do expect to net at least 10 grand out of it, at least. If it goes like I got for 2007, then there is the potential for up to 18k out of the Feds and State, that is, if they have the money to give me back, lol. I can't even imagine having that much money in the bank. Just sitting there, waiting to be blown in a lavish vacation to the Bahamas or maybe a world tour of all the places I want to see. A 30-day cruise all over the place, who knows!
Okay, that is all a bunch of hooey. I am not going to waste a bunch of money on a temporal and short-lived trip, though it would be awesome if I could! No, it would afford me the opportunity to do some upgrades to my house and still have quite a lot left over after I was done. Or, it might afford me to find a rental property somewhere - go to those property auctions and see what might happen. But you know what? If I could blow 2 grand on a trip to Italy or England and have a lot of money left over in the bank, I would SERIOUSLY consider it.
I have decided against the trailer that the man has now decided to give as a straight across trade. My trailer, actually, is better than that thing. I just didn't realize it until giving it focused thought. I have too much on my mind right now with a lot of different things that are completely unrelated to each other going on.
I uhhh, have so much of that going on right now, I am finding it difficult to even finish this entry.
ben
Wednesday 7/13/2011
Wednesday
So the Army Reservist finally came clean. Yes, she lost her pickup, but she has a friend that might loan her the $1,400 it's going to take to get it out.
She was she was "only" 2-1/2 months behind on her payments. I informed her that after 30 days, you better start thinking about them coming and getting it cause' they don't wait forever to get their money before the repo man shows up. She handed me the rest of the rent for last month and partially into this month and then dropped the bomb that I knew was coming anyway:
"I am probably going to move back to Alabama". This will be a never-ending story as long as I am renting rooms. I hope the carpet in there isn't trashed so I don't have to go replacing carpet.
Rey has his girlfriend back - they have broken up at least 3 times since he has moved into my house. Clue: breaking up the first time would have been enough for me, twice definitely the end. Forecast: it will happen a 4th time. Ending: I don't really care, if a person wants to torment themselves over a girl, then have at it. Just don't bring drama into my house because I will have none of it, as he and her started the last time she was in my house and they were arguing LOUDLY. I made it LOUDLY known that I don't DO that kind of s***.
The girl is messed up, anyway. She goes between Rey and a woman that lives in Tucson. Yes, you read that right, going between a man and a woman. We're living in a strange world.
But, messed up is that kid that was killed in New York. They said his body had been stuffed into a plastic bag, into a suitcase and into a trash can or something. That's just sick and evil. Undoubtedly it will come out that the boy was raped before he was killed. Isn't that what it always turns out to be? Some guy getting his "rocks" off and then to eliminate a witness, kill the victim. The REAL justice for a person committing such a heinous crime comes in the next life, not this one.
If Obama and Boehner don't think that the average American doesn't see right through all this BS that is going on, they might both want to wake up and get a clue. We aren't stupid. This whole debt ceiling fiasco is nothing but political games and bantering. I'm not saying we shouldn't bring the deficit under control and do something about bringing the national debt down, but clearly, both sides of this aisle are poising for political "gain" and that's the end of this story. Vote the WHOLE lot of them out - GOP and Dems and start over.
The work fat loss contest has begun - but neither of us at our branch have had fat content measured, so, really, it hasn't begun for me. Until the salesman who started this contest comes over here with the fat calipers to takes measurements, I am not going to go full bore with it. When he does, I intend on limiting myself at least 4 days a week to between 1,000 and 1,200 calories per day. Maybe less. I intend on pumping iron at the gym as well.
Neither her nor there. I will be interested at what my body fat/bmi percentage is, at one point in my life, it was at 4.9%. I am nowhere near that now, admittedly, neither do I have any desire to get that skinny/lean again. Lean, yes, but I had almost no body fat on me and it just would take too much to get back down to those levels again and more, it is not necessary to get that low again to be at a healthy weight/fat ratio.
Well, work day has arrived again. That seems to happen, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year excepting on paid holidays and taking time off. Wonder that.
G'day.
ben
So the Army Reservist finally came clean. Yes, she lost her pickup, but she has a friend that might loan her the $1,400 it's going to take to get it out.
She was she was "only" 2-1/2 months behind on her payments. I informed her that after 30 days, you better start thinking about them coming and getting it cause' they don't wait forever to get their money before the repo man shows up. She handed me the rest of the rent for last month and partially into this month and then dropped the bomb that I knew was coming anyway:
"I am probably going to move back to Alabama". This will be a never-ending story as long as I am renting rooms. I hope the carpet in there isn't trashed so I don't have to go replacing carpet.
Rey has his girlfriend back - they have broken up at least 3 times since he has moved into my house. Clue: breaking up the first time would have been enough for me, twice definitely the end. Forecast: it will happen a 4th time. Ending: I don't really care, if a person wants to torment themselves over a girl, then have at it. Just don't bring drama into my house because I will have none of it, as he and her started the last time she was in my house and they were arguing LOUDLY. I made it LOUDLY known that I don't DO that kind of s***.
The girl is messed up, anyway. She goes between Rey and a woman that lives in Tucson. Yes, you read that right, going between a man and a woman. We're living in a strange world.
But, messed up is that kid that was killed in New York. They said his body had been stuffed into a plastic bag, into a suitcase and into a trash can or something. That's just sick and evil. Undoubtedly it will come out that the boy was raped before he was killed. Isn't that what it always turns out to be? Some guy getting his "rocks" off and then to eliminate a witness, kill the victim. The REAL justice for a person committing such a heinous crime comes in the next life, not this one.
If Obama and Boehner don't think that the average American doesn't see right through all this BS that is going on, they might both want to wake up and get a clue. We aren't stupid. This whole debt ceiling fiasco is nothing but political games and bantering. I'm not saying we shouldn't bring the deficit under control and do something about bringing the national debt down, but clearly, both sides of this aisle are poising for political "gain" and that's the end of this story. Vote the WHOLE lot of them out - GOP and Dems and start over.
The work fat loss contest has begun - but neither of us at our branch have had fat content measured, so, really, it hasn't begun for me. Until the salesman who started this contest comes over here with the fat calipers to takes measurements, I am not going to go full bore with it. When he does, I intend on limiting myself at least 4 days a week to between 1,000 and 1,200 calories per day. Maybe less. I intend on pumping iron at the gym as well.
Neither her nor there. I will be interested at what my body fat/bmi percentage is, at one point in my life, it was at 4.9%. I am nowhere near that now, admittedly, neither do I have any desire to get that skinny/lean again. Lean, yes, but I had almost no body fat on me and it just would take too much to get back down to those levels again and more, it is not necessary to get that low again to be at a healthy weight/fat ratio.
Well, work day has arrived again. That seems to happen, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year excepting on paid holidays and taking time off. Wonder that.
G'day.
ben
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Tuesday 7/12/2011
Tuesday
Another busy day at work ahead. I may end up with some good hours this week the same as last week and the week before : )
So, I finally HEARD from Caleb (my son)! Not just Facebook or emails, but he called me yesterday. I was REALLY bummed when I saw I had missed a call from him. I tried to call him back to no avail. I left him a message and 30 minutes later, he called again.
The boy has FAR more free time than he has been letting on. I asked, he gave in. There is a good down time between when one batch of campers leave and a new batch of them come in. Like about a day and a half, or even 2 days.
So, I guess the counsellors all take off to Showlow - a town that is not actually that close, I think it's at least 60 miles away. A nice diversion, I guess, they go bowling there and do whatever else. In other words, they have their own family going up there and so they spend their free time together. No problem, just a little communication with family here and there would be nice, though I definitely say THAT to him, lol. It was just good to hear from him.
He also indicated that he wanted me to go up there and bring him home. Which is cool, I definitely would love to do that. So, he is done on August 30th and unless something changes, I will be going up there to get him. That's on a Saturday, so I don't have to take time off of work, either.
I have no idea what is going on in Quartsite, AZ. That one took me totally by surprise. Ousting the mayor and apparently in times past, arresting him? I don't quite get it, it appears there is ill workings in the town council, I would hope the State would intervene, start an investigation and find out what's going on there. Yikes!
Iran's president's "half brother" is killed. I don't know anything about the man, but if he is anything like their president, I won't be shedding any tears. In fact, from my perspective of it, that nation's president's views on things does not necessarily even come close to how at least some percentage of it's populus see things.
Tempe is turning off the cameras. AZ DPS shut them off quite a while back on the freeways and then, finally, Redflex was forced to remove the cameras altogether off the side of the road. Good riddance. Now Tempe has voted to turn the damned things off as well. The story stated that "any tickets received between now and the time the contract officially ends must still be paid". Bunk. I didn't pay the only one I ever got from a freeway camera and beat it, even if by default, I wouldn't pay another one, either. My little book I bought that shows you how to beat them has so many ways to beat them that you are likely able to get out of it without the help of a lawyer.
Where is my mind REALLY at right now? Vacation. I really do NOT want to sit home the entire time. I will undoubtedly go down and visit my dad at his new residence for a day, but that can't be the ONLY thing I do, can it? I mean, really. If it just means renting a cabin for a day or two up in the mountains, that's better than nothing. I dunno, I'm really thinking about what I can do to get out of this hot town for at least a few days without having to break the bank to do it.
With that, I must get offa here, work day has arrived.
G'day.
ben
Another busy day at work ahead. I may end up with some good hours this week the same as last week and the week before : )
So, I finally HEARD from Caleb (my son)! Not just Facebook or emails, but he called me yesterday. I was REALLY bummed when I saw I had missed a call from him. I tried to call him back to no avail. I left him a message and 30 minutes later, he called again.
The boy has FAR more free time than he has been letting on. I asked, he gave in. There is a good down time between when one batch of campers leave and a new batch of them come in. Like about a day and a half, or even 2 days.
So, I guess the counsellors all take off to Showlow - a town that is not actually that close, I think it's at least 60 miles away. A nice diversion, I guess, they go bowling there and do whatever else. In other words, they have their own family going up there and so they spend their free time together. No problem, just a little communication with family here and there would be nice, though I definitely say THAT to him, lol. It was just good to hear from him.
He also indicated that he wanted me to go up there and bring him home. Which is cool, I definitely would love to do that. So, he is done on August 30th and unless something changes, I will be going up there to get him. That's on a Saturday, so I don't have to take time off of work, either.
I have no idea what is going on in Quartsite, AZ. That one took me totally by surprise. Ousting the mayor and apparently in times past, arresting him? I don't quite get it, it appears there is ill workings in the town council, I would hope the State would intervene, start an investigation and find out what's going on there. Yikes!
Iran's president's "half brother" is killed. I don't know anything about the man, but if he is anything like their president, I won't be shedding any tears. In fact, from my perspective of it, that nation's president's views on things does not necessarily even come close to how at least some percentage of it's populus see things.
Tempe is turning off the cameras. AZ DPS shut them off quite a while back on the freeways and then, finally, Redflex was forced to remove the cameras altogether off the side of the road. Good riddance. Now Tempe has voted to turn the damned things off as well. The story stated that "any tickets received between now and the time the contract officially ends must still be paid". Bunk. I didn't pay the only one I ever got from a freeway camera and beat it, even if by default, I wouldn't pay another one, either. My little book I bought that shows you how to beat them has so many ways to beat them that you are likely able to get out of it without the help of a lawyer.
Where is my mind REALLY at right now? Vacation. I really do NOT want to sit home the entire time. I will undoubtedly go down and visit my dad at his new residence for a day, but that can't be the ONLY thing I do, can it? I mean, really. If it just means renting a cabin for a day or two up in the mountains, that's better than nothing. I dunno, I'm really thinking about what I can do to get out of this hot town for at least a few days without having to break the bank to do it.
With that, I must get offa here, work day has arrived.
G'day.
ben
Monday, July 11, 2011
Monday 7/11/2011
Monday
Smugness. That's all I could see in a panel of the leaders in Washington sitting around a table with Obama, the whole lot of them. At least I don't have to see Pelosi's face on the front page of the news every single day. Obama wants a 4 trillion tax cut, GREAT, but he wants to raise taxes to get part of it! BUG OFF!!
On a lighter note, it is raining! It hasn't rained here in a LONG time and it couldn't have come at a better time. All that dust that blew in from that "Habub" last week is still all over the place. A nice, soaking rain will wash it all away - or at least off of my property.
The drawback to rain, the only real drawback is workwise. Construction sites often shut down when the conditions get too muddy. Municipalities do not want all that stuff tracked out onto the roads and they will insist in some cases that a particular site be shut down until the water dries up a bit.
It's quite amazing how all of a sudden, back to the original statement, Democrats seemingly WANT a HUGE reduction in the nation's debt. Remember that it was the Conservative side of the aisle that initially brought up the demand to reduce the debt. Dems are always playing trickery with words, attempting to make it look like the GOP are the "bad guys" by backing off of their original 4 trillion demand.
But what isn't really being stated so loudly is the fact that the Dems absolulely refuse to allow anything to even lightly touch their little (more like giant black holes) pigs known as entitlement programs. It's common knowledge that the Social Security program needs to be overhauled. Again, I have stated it several times, since they are going to have to do this eventually, sooner or later, and since it's probably going to have to happen within my lifetime, I would FAR rather they get this over with NOW, come what may, and let us all get into some kind of position to try and deal with it.
I read financial experts all the time online. All kinds of them. There may be a lot of different opinions amongst them about the nation's economy and what to do to fix it, but I haven't read any of them that disagree on the fact that Americans are saving far too little for retirement. In many cases, not saving anything at all.
July 11, 2011 6:02 AM
Anonymous said...
One of them came up with some numbers that really blew me away the other day. It was a must read for me. It was showing how much you will need to just be by - bare bones minimum - and how much you would have to have saved to be able to do it. And THAT isn't any kind of life at all, that's just existing, not actually doing anything in your alleged Golden Years.
I don't want to be broke when I am 60 something years old, and for that cause', I have decided to go ahead and start saving 3 more percent in a savings account. No, not putting it into my retirement account, I have 5% going in there and though I may up it to 6%, with the unpredictability of the stock market, I want some money going somewhere else that I have more control over.
That savings will start next month, when I get my pay raise. The raise will simply go to savings, not my checking account. I am working on getting the information I need to get the taxes done and the money realized from that endeavor, at least half of it will also go into a savings account.
Of course, this may be short-lived if the economy goes back into a recession as many are predicting and jobs cuts start coming on the horizon again. I put all of my 401k savings into a guaranteed fund for now. It doesn't yield as much as keeping it in the aggressive mode I had it in, but it's guaranteed.
Whatever. Life goes on. The diet/fat loss contest starts today, but not officially until after everyone that is participating gets the amount of fat on their bodies calculated. They actually got a pair of those calipers that measure fat for this deal. I intend on going full out with this thing - it's a contest and I'm all over contests even if I don't win, there is no down side to losing fat and weight that I can see.
Church yesterday: 3-1/2 hours long. I stayed for all of it. It was a special guest speaker - actually a pastor that is friend's with this church's pastor who have known each other, they stated, for over 20 years. They came to town to help this church do the community outreach, but also, of course, the pastor from the Memphis church spoke both on Wednesday and yesterday.
My allure to him was simply that he operates in the prophetic. I am a firm believer of current-day prophetic gifts versus those that believe that that was only for the early church. But, I don't have time and really no desire to go into all of that right now, the work day is upon me and I must get offa here.
G'day.
ben
Smugness. That's all I could see in a panel of the leaders in Washington sitting around a table with Obama, the whole lot of them. At least I don't have to see Pelosi's face on the front page of the news every single day. Obama wants a 4 trillion tax cut, GREAT, but he wants to raise taxes to get part of it! BUG OFF!!
On a lighter note, it is raining! It hasn't rained here in a LONG time and it couldn't have come at a better time. All that dust that blew in from that "Habub" last week is still all over the place. A nice, soaking rain will wash it all away - or at least off of my property.
The drawback to rain, the only real drawback is workwise. Construction sites often shut down when the conditions get too muddy. Municipalities do not want all that stuff tracked out onto the roads and they will insist in some cases that a particular site be shut down until the water dries up a bit.
It's quite amazing how all of a sudden, back to the original statement, Democrats seemingly WANT a HUGE reduction in the nation's debt. Remember that it was the Conservative side of the aisle that initially brought up the demand to reduce the debt. Dems are always playing trickery with words, attempting to make it look like the GOP are the "bad guys" by backing off of their original 4 trillion demand.
But what isn't really being stated so loudly is the fact that the Dems absolulely refuse to allow anything to even lightly touch their little (more like giant black holes) pigs known as entitlement programs. It's common knowledge that the Social Security program needs to be overhauled. Again, I have stated it several times, since they are going to have to do this eventually, sooner or later, and since it's probably going to have to happen within my lifetime, I would FAR rather they get this over with NOW, come what may, and let us all get into some kind of position to try and deal with it.
I read financial experts all the time online. All kinds of them. There may be a lot of different opinions amongst them about the nation's economy and what to do to fix it, but I haven't read any of them that disagree on the fact that Americans are saving far too little for retirement. In many cases, not saving anything at all.
July 11, 2011 6:02 AM
Anonymous said...
One of them came up with some numbers that really blew me away the other day. It was a must read for me. It was showing how much you will need to just be by - bare bones minimum - and how much you would have to have saved to be able to do it. And THAT isn't any kind of life at all, that's just existing, not actually doing anything in your alleged Golden Years.
I don't want to be broke when I am 60 something years old, and for that cause', I have decided to go ahead and start saving 3 more percent in a savings account. No, not putting it into my retirement account, I have 5% going in there and though I may up it to 6%, with the unpredictability of the stock market, I want some money going somewhere else that I have more control over.
That savings will start next month, when I get my pay raise. The raise will simply go to savings, not my checking account. I am working on getting the information I need to get the taxes done and the money realized from that endeavor, at least half of it will also go into a savings account.
Of course, this may be short-lived if the economy goes back into a recession as many are predicting and jobs cuts start coming on the horizon again. I put all of my 401k savings into a guaranteed fund for now. It doesn't yield as much as keeping it in the aggressive mode I had it in, but it's guaranteed.
Whatever. Life goes on. The diet/fat loss contest starts today, but not officially until after everyone that is participating gets the amount of fat on their bodies calculated. They actually got a pair of those calipers that measure fat for this deal. I intend on going full out with this thing - it's a contest and I'm all over contests even if I don't win, there is no down side to losing fat and weight that I can see.
Church yesterday: 3-1/2 hours long. I stayed for all of it. It was a special guest speaker - actually a pastor that is friend's with this church's pastor who have known each other, they stated, for over 20 years. They came to town to help this church do the community outreach, but also, of course, the pastor from the Memphis church spoke both on Wednesday and yesterday.
My allure to him was simply that he operates in the prophetic. I am a firm believer of current-day prophetic gifts versus those that believe that that was only for the early church. But, I don't have time and really no desire to go into all of that right now, the work day is upon me and I must get offa here.
G'day.
ben
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Sunday
The kid tenant comes out a few minutes ago and makes a request. Yesterday, he says, we were in here doing whatever and the conversation got REALLY loud. I just had to work a 12 hour shift and I really need to get my sleep.
Ummm, yeah. Here's the problem: The time reference he was talking about and admitted was the time the "infraction" occurred at 2:30 pm. That's, uhhhhhh, you know, in the afternoon? Further, we were putting everything back away that we had gotten out for the exterminator's second visit. We had waited quite a while from the time the exterminator left til' the time of putting everything back away because that guy REALLY sprayed the place this time.
I hardly feel constrained, at all, to keep the "excessive" noise levels down in MID AFTERNOOON on any given day. I asked him, "well what do you want me to do, change my entire lifestyle?". Night workers have never really worked out that well here. I'm not TRYING to keep them awake, but my gosh, at that time of day, what does anyone expect? To be nice about it, I stated that I would make "somewhat" of an effort to keep the noise levels down. I wasn't promising anything concrete.
We were laughing about something, I don't remember what, that made the noise, btw.
Oh well. I can only tell tenants if they don't like it here, there are PLENTY of rooms available in the Phoenix area, you are welcomed to go find other night workers and perhaps that will work out better for you. I didn't tell him that just now, but I will if he comes out here this afternoon and starts complaining about noise in the middle of the day, noise, mind you, that would be considered at normal levels by most normal people.
I gave the Army reservist an eviction notice yesterday. Had no choice: she won't come and talk to me about her situation and that ties my hands up to have any kind of empathy for her situation at all. I can't "plan" on when I am going to receive the rent from a person that has no job and won't discuss their situation with me.
Well, not too much later on after sliding that under her bedroom door, she went to Rey's room and apparently discussed it with him. He told her to figure out WHEN she could pay up everything. That included getting out a calender and figuring out what day she would get money and when she would be able to pay up. She then came in here - here being my kitchen/dining area where I also have my computer setup - and gave me her plan of payback. It was acceptable. She was almost in tears, I mean, I'm not trying to be mean, but I have to keep the line drawn in the sand with all tenants when it comes to rent: you MUST find a way to pay it. That's because I MUST pay all the bills around here.
Back to the kid tenant, good luck to him finding another place that has had so much patience with his issues, including not having a clue, whatsoever, in how to live with other people (besides at home, with momma who does EVERYTHING for you) and leniency on rent payments, ie: when they are going to be paid versus please pay me at the beginning of the month. I have gone the rounds with him on that issue, but, he has never gone beyond the last day of any given month to "carry over" rent from one month to the next. When he moved into my house, it was a stark wake-up call. Between me and Lynnette and even a few others giving him doses of reality, I am sure it has been QUITE the learning experience for him. My world definitely does NOT revolve around HIS world and that fact has been plainly, succinctly, crystal-clearedly (not a real word, but who cares) stated, declared and unmuddingly (another non-word) been made clear to him in no uncertain terms, whatsoever.
Enough of that. I am just releasing a bit of steam, the pressure started to build up there and I try not to let things build to the blow-up proportion. Besides, I have church this morning, I'm not going to let something like that rattle my attitude going in there, because honestly, if I thought I had an attitude I wouldn't even bother going to church. No point in ruining the atmosphere for everyone else.
I found a dentist down the street from my work that takes payments and gives zero percent interest. My 2 front teeth are chipped. I had them repaired years ago, the repair lasted something like 6 months - and let me tell you, those repairs were not cheap. I don't know if it exists, but I would like some kind of warranty with any kind of repair done on them this time. I can't go around looking for women with chipped teeth, pretty unappealing.
Anyway, church starts in about an hour and yes, I am going today, but it means I better get moving. Take a shower, all that good stuff.
Later.
ben
Ummm, yeah. Here's the problem: The time reference he was talking about and admitted was the time the "infraction" occurred at 2:30 pm. That's, uhhhhhh, you know, in the afternoon? Further, we were putting everything back away that we had gotten out for the exterminator's second visit. We had waited quite a while from the time the exterminator left til' the time of putting everything back away because that guy REALLY sprayed the place this time.
I hardly feel constrained, at all, to keep the "excessive" noise levels down in MID AFTERNOOON on any given day. I asked him, "well what do you want me to do, change my entire lifestyle?". Night workers have never really worked out that well here. I'm not TRYING to keep them awake, but my gosh, at that time of day, what does anyone expect? To be nice about it, I stated that I would make "somewhat" of an effort to keep the noise levels down. I wasn't promising anything concrete.
We were laughing about something, I don't remember what, that made the noise, btw.
Oh well. I can only tell tenants if they don't like it here, there are PLENTY of rooms available in the Phoenix area, you are welcomed to go find other night workers and perhaps that will work out better for you. I didn't tell him that just now, but I will if he comes out here this afternoon and starts complaining about noise in the middle of the day, noise, mind you, that would be considered at normal levels by most normal people.
I gave the Army reservist an eviction notice yesterday. Had no choice: she won't come and talk to me about her situation and that ties my hands up to have any kind of empathy for her situation at all. I can't "plan" on when I am going to receive the rent from a person that has no job and won't discuss their situation with me.
Well, not too much later on after sliding that under her bedroom door, she went to Rey's room and apparently discussed it with him. He told her to figure out WHEN she could pay up everything. That included getting out a calender and figuring out what day she would get money and when she would be able to pay up. She then came in here - here being my kitchen/dining area where I also have my computer setup - and gave me her plan of payback. It was acceptable. She was almost in tears, I mean, I'm not trying to be mean, but I have to keep the line drawn in the sand with all tenants when it comes to rent: you MUST find a way to pay it. That's because I MUST pay all the bills around here.
Back to the kid tenant, good luck to him finding another place that has had so much patience with his issues, including not having a clue, whatsoever, in how to live with other people (besides at home, with momma who does EVERYTHING for you) and leniency on rent payments, ie: when they are going to be paid versus please pay me at the beginning of the month. I have gone the rounds with him on that issue, but, he has never gone beyond the last day of any given month to "carry over" rent from one month to the next. When he moved into my house, it was a stark wake-up call. Between me and Lynnette and even a few others giving him doses of reality, I am sure it has been QUITE the learning experience for him. My world definitely does NOT revolve around HIS world and that fact has been plainly, succinctly, crystal-clearedly (not a real word, but who cares) stated, declared and unmuddingly (another non-word) been made clear to him in no uncertain terms, whatsoever.
Enough of that. I am just releasing a bit of steam, the pressure started to build up there and I try not to let things build to the blow-up proportion. Besides, I have church this morning, I'm not going to let something like that rattle my attitude going in there, because honestly, if I thought I had an attitude I wouldn't even bother going to church. No point in ruining the atmosphere for everyone else.
I found a dentist down the street from my work that takes payments and gives zero percent interest. My 2 front teeth are chipped. I had them repaired years ago, the repair lasted something like 6 months - and let me tell you, those repairs were not cheap. I don't know if it exists, but I would like some kind of warranty with any kind of repair done on them this time. I can't go around looking for women with chipped teeth, pretty unappealing.
Anyway, church starts in about an hour and yes, I am going today, but it means I better get moving. Take a shower, all that good stuff.
Later.
ben
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Actually, yes there is.........
.......an answer to all of this junk with these 2 idiots living down the street. It takes quite a while to explain myself to the police every time they are called and I have to go through the ENTIRE history to get them up to snuff as to why this situation has deteriorated to the point that it has (although, that was more the next door neighbors. Ever since they put up that ugly, galvanized roofing material against their side of the fence, the problem has completely abated. I'll take the ugly roofing material over this s*** that was going on with them any day of the year!).
The obvious answer, the answer that I knew long before they advised me to do so, is to get an Injunction Against Harassment against both of them. I have wanted to do it, but going to court and getting it is time consuming and a real pain. It doesn't take much to convince a judge to give one out because the party that gets it can go to court and attempt to get it knocked down.
Of which, of course, I would be showing up for any such court dates and giving my rather lengthy, detailed side of the story, none of it made up, all of it true, and all of it very damning to them, if the judge happens to believe it. When it comes to court and these injunctions, it's all about presentation and making yourself believable. The story has to be believable, the situation that caused it has to be credible. You have to really think it through before going to court. You have to write it all out so you can see it on paper and really get the depth of what is happening and get into your mind any defense for any question. The judge doesn't want to wait for your answer, if you are not prepared, you lose credibility.
I am not afraid of such and I would definitely take the time to do all of that. I am just about convinced that it's time to really get my butt down there and get this over with. I wouldn't have to explain anything to police anymore, just hand them the copies of the papers and that would be the end of it. That would be the advantage to getting such. This is obviously going to happen again, and again and again. I am going to have to stand on my property and give this lengthy explanation, over and over.
I wouldn't have to do that if it weren't different cops, EACH and EVERY time they come to my house. I am dead serious, you never get the same cops twice. Or if you do, they come after the fact and are not the first on scene, therefore they don't really do much but give "backup" in a situation that definitely does not need backup. I will someday find it humorous that the Phoenix Police department found it necessary to send over half a dozen cop cars to this call. I am not particularly amused right now.
Rising on the list of priorities is a trip to the Justice of the Peace and filing for the injunctions against both of them at the same time. An injunction would shut them both up. They would not be able to do anything, they wouldn't be able to talk to me or come anywhere near my house.
Changing the subject, the lady that one of my tenants brought home today is the nicest, sweetest gal I have met in a long time. I think she has spent as much time talking to me as she has with him. Not that I was trying to steal her away from him, just good conversation is sometimes in the "thin" to "non-existent" department with individuals whose minds seem enveloped by current-day electronic gadgets and societal "norms" of which I do not consider normal at all. I am not sorry to tell you that if you are having a conversation with someone in person, it is totally and completely rude to start doing your texting s***, completely ignoring the person you are talking with. Your apologies about doing such will fall on deaf ears with me and I will get up and go do something else or just ignore you altogether. You will wonder why I am treating you in such a way and you might accuse me, in your mind, of being the rude jerk. I probably will not find it necessary to explain myself to you, at all, because you haven't got a clue and attempting to tell you about it is probably only going to raise tensions between us.
I know, I got completely off the subject I had started, but I find it totally unacceptable the things that many people DO find acceptable in this "modern" day and age, which I do NOT find acceptable and probably never will. This idea that you must text a person instead of calling them on the phone and talking with them is pretty much off the wall with me. I can maybe see if it's your partner and you just want to shoot a "love" line or something that doesn't need a phone call over, but this texting junk is new, at least to me, even IF it's been around for a "long, long time" as one teenager recently "informed" me. No, buddy, it hasn't been around that long.
One co-worker put it succinctly after I asked him why he would rather text a person rather than simply call them on the phone: "Well, we really don't WANT to talk to the person". This, I assume, is another extension of internet communication, a thing that to many degrees I have come to accept, especially emailing. I DO like emailing and I don't mind instant messages, either. But this is normally to people that are living somewhere half way around the world or clear across the United States, not a person I work with or someone I know. The idea that attempting to push those very tiny buttons with my very large fingers is somehow better than simply dialing the number and talking to them on the phone - another argument - doesn't really do anything for me. In a half hour's worth of texting you could speak with the person and say the same things in a few minutes.
Regardless, she asked me if had a girlfriend. No, having no clue where this might be leading. Well do you want one? If a person can wave a magic wand and instantly I am with the girl of my dreams, please do so. I wasn't really thinking that when she said it, this lady is really sweet, but it sort of crossed my mind afterwards. Ummm, well yes. She started to talk about her best friend that she has known since they were both young. This went on for quite a while. Now, looks aren't everything, but they ARE something, at least to me. I have already gone on dates with ladies that have black teeth, unkempt and generally - not very appealing looking. She got out her phone and showed me a couple of pics which just about floored me. For a lady of the age of 43, this one is absolutely gorgeous!
I had stated how sweet and nice she is, she stated how much nicer and sweeter her friend is than her. I am not a fan of blind dates. They don't normally turn out too well, but she stated they would set one up with her and Rey (my tenant) going, too. That would help things out quite a bit, I do believe.
I've been "writing-happy" lately, no explanation for it. Well, sort of. When a lot of stuff starts coming at me I find release and even some help in writing it all out. It's good to vent versus blowing up. My mind is all over the place and there is too much in it. I think church has been helping me with that - peace in the inner man. I get that in the worship services which I am finding no where else excepting maybe sitting out next to my ponds and letting things drop out of my mind.
At the same time, I have tremendous mind battles in just GETTING to church, or even thinking about going. Once I am there, I mostly have no problems being there excepting last Sunday. I didn't want to be there and I wanted it to be over with. Conversely, Wednesday I was very happy to be there and the service was great, at least for me.
Whatever.
I'm done.
ben
The obvious answer, the answer that I knew long before they advised me to do so, is to get an Injunction Against Harassment against both of them. I have wanted to do it, but going to court and getting it is time consuming and a real pain. It doesn't take much to convince a judge to give one out because the party that gets it can go to court and attempt to get it knocked down.
Of which, of course, I would be showing up for any such court dates and giving my rather lengthy, detailed side of the story, none of it made up, all of it true, and all of it very damning to them, if the judge happens to believe it. When it comes to court and these injunctions, it's all about presentation and making yourself believable. The story has to be believable, the situation that caused it has to be credible. You have to really think it through before going to court. You have to write it all out so you can see it on paper and really get the depth of what is happening and get into your mind any defense for any question. The judge doesn't want to wait for your answer, if you are not prepared, you lose credibility.
I am not afraid of such and I would definitely take the time to do all of that. I am just about convinced that it's time to really get my butt down there and get this over with. I wouldn't have to explain anything to police anymore, just hand them the copies of the papers and that would be the end of it. That would be the advantage to getting such. This is obviously going to happen again, and again and again. I am going to have to stand on my property and give this lengthy explanation, over and over.
I wouldn't have to do that if it weren't different cops, EACH and EVERY time they come to my house. I am dead serious, you never get the same cops twice. Or if you do, they come after the fact and are not the first on scene, therefore they don't really do much but give "backup" in a situation that definitely does not need backup. I will someday find it humorous that the Phoenix Police department found it necessary to send over half a dozen cop cars to this call. I am not particularly amused right now.
Rising on the list of priorities is a trip to the Justice of the Peace and filing for the injunctions against both of them at the same time. An injunction would shut them both up. They would not be able to do anything, they wouldn't be able to talk to me or come anywhere near my house.
Changing the subject, the lady that one of my tenants brought home today is the nicest, sweetest gal I have met in a long time. I think she has spent as much time talking to me as she has with him. Not that I was trying to steal her away from him, just good conversation is sometimes in the "thin" to "non-existent" department with individuals whose minds seem enveloped by current-day electronic gadgets and societal "norms" of which I do not consider normal at all. I am not sorry to tell you that if you are having a conversation with someone in person, it is totally and completely rude to start doing your texting s***, completely ignoring the person you are talking with. Your apologies about doing such will fall on deaf ears with me and I will get up and go do something else or just ignore you altogether. You will wonder why I am treating you in such a way and you might accuse me, in your mind, of being the rude jerk. I probably will not find it necessary to explain myself to you, at all, because you haven't got a clue and attempting to tell you about it is probably only going to raise tensions between us.
I know, I got completely off the subject I had started, but I find it totally unacceptable the things that many people DO find acceptable in this "modern" day and age, which I do NOT find acceptable and probably never will. This idea that you must text a person instead of calling them on the phone and talking with them is pretty much off the wall with me. I can maybe see if it's your partner and you just want to shoot a "love" line or something that doesn't need a phone call over, but this texting junk is new, at least to me, even IF it's been around for a "long, long time" as one teenager recently "informed" me. No, buddy, it hasn't been around that long.
One co-worker put it succinctly after I asked him why he would rather text a person rather than simply call them on the phone: "Well, we really don't WANT to talk to the person". This, I assume, is another extension of internet communication, a thing that to many degrees I have come to accept, especially emailing. I DO like emailing and I don't mind instant messages, either. But this is normally to people that are living somewhere half way around the world or clear across the United States, not a person I work with or someone I know. The idea that attempting to push those very tiny buttons with my very large fingers is somehow better than simply dialing the number and talking to them on the phone - another argument - doesn't really do anything for me. In a half hour's worth of texting you could speak with the person and say the same things in a few minutes.
Regardless, she asked me if had a girlfriend. No, having no clue where this might be leading. Well do you want one? If a person can wave a magic wand and instantly I am with the girl of my dreams, please do so. I wasn't really thinking that when she said it, this lady is really sweet, but it sort of crossed my mind afterwards. Ummm, well yes. She started to talk about her best friend that she has known since they were both young. This went on for quite a while. Now, looks aren't everything, but they ARE something, at least to me. I have already gone on dates with ladies that have black teeth, unkempt and generally - not very appealing looking. She got out her phone and showed me a couple of pics which just about floored me. For a lady of the age of 43, this one is absolutely gorgeous!
I had stated how sweet and nice she is, she stated how much nicer and sweeter her friend is than her. I am not a fan of blind dates. They don't normally turn out too well, but she stated they would set one up with her and Rey (my tenant) going, too. That would help things out quite a bit, I do believe.
I've been "writing-happy" lately, no explanation for it. Well, sort of. When a lot of stuff starts coming at me I find release and even some help in writing it all out. It's good to vent versus blowing up. My mind is all over the place and there is too much in it. I think church has been helping me with that - peace in the inner man. I get that in the worship services which I am finding no where else excepting maybe sitting out next to my ponds and letting things drop out of my mind.
At the same time, I have tremendous mind battles in just GETTING to church, or even thinking about going. Once I am there, I mostly have no problems being there excepting last Sunday. I didn't want to be there and I wanted it to be over with. Conversely, Wednesday I was very happy to be there and the service was great, at least for me.
Whatever.
I'm done.
ben
The Police
I guess I'll delve into the situation with the police department visiting my house yet again on Thursday.
I was in my house, online and checking things out when Mark came and asked me if I knew what was going on across the street. No. I went out there, the ex-con and the 30-something year old meth user on Shirley's property, going underneath her house for what reason I did not know.
I went inside and got my camera and started videoing them. I was still on my property and yelled over there, asking them what they were doing. They didn't respond, of course, I really didn't expect them to. For a couple of years now, I have been getting harassed by both of them and recently decided - after that idiot threatened one of my tenants telling him he was going to have me killed for catching cats - that I was not going to take any more of either of their BS - at all. I did yell at him down the street: Hey, why don't you come over here and threaten to kill me again?
Probably not the smartest move on earth, but, I have taken enough abuse from them without giving any kind of response that I vented a bit. They called the police.
I came out a bit later to find them entering my property, removing the lock off of the gate and letting themselves in. They didn't bother to try and use the doorbell button that is clearly visible out front. I had already spoken with the Department about this practice of theirs of just entering my property without even trying to use the doorbell.
These were YOUNG cops. They immediately gave off attitude. I don't tolerate it. They didn't want to hear anything I had to say, they just wanted to tell me how things were going to go. Instead of responding to it, I asked the youngest looking one - I swear he didn't look 18 years old - to please close the gate. "I am not going to close the gate". I took the time to tell them that my dogs were in the house but would eventually come out and would beeline it straight for the gate if he didn't close it.
He flatly, smugly and adamantly refused to close the gate. I wasn't going to stop asking him until he did it. His third response was: Not only am I NOT going to close the gate, I am going to fire upon your dogs if they try to bite me. Unbelievable. I stopped talking to them altogether and called the police department. "What are you doing? Are you calling the police department?!" YES, I AM. After this display of unprofessional, outrageous and juvenile behavior, I refused to talk to them further.
I asked for a manager once I got an officer on the phone. I was informed there are no managers there. Because I used the wrong terminology, they refused to allow me to speak to anyone. I then simply stated: whoever is the next up in the chain of command. That got me a supervisor. I began asking her about the police simply allowing themselves onto my property, reaching through a gate and removing a lock without any probable cause. She refused to answer my question. I asked again, she again refused to answer my question, stating a Sergeant was on his way over there and that HE would answer my questions. I asked her how long this was going to take, it was getting late and I had to get up at 3:15 am the next morning.
She never answered my question and eventually hung up on me. Meanwhile, the dogs all came out. And yes, the Danes went straight to the gate after sniffing the cop with the attitudinal problem. I said nothing, I wanted to see if he would actually let my dogs run free through the gate. They ran straight to him, he backed up, they did nothing more than sniff and then took off for the gate. This guy runs for the gate and shuts it - not all the way closed though - but enough to keep them from getting out.
I didn't say another word to these cops the entire time they were there. I waited for the sergeant. The young dude stood there, holding the gate instead of simply latching it shut. The sergeant and a slew of other cop cars arrives. I guess it was my inference that South Mountain precinct already HAS a bad reputation - NATIONWIDE - and that I could help that along further with this cop refusing to close my gate that got all of them out there. There were at least 7 cop cars in front of my house. This sergeant had a huge entourage accompanying him through the gate.
You would have thought the Prince of Persia was visiting my property. I was completely unimpressed or intimidated. Apparently this is what they wanted to do, intimidate me. With a person like me, this only makes things worse. Don't these officers have other and much more productive things to do than have THAT many people showing up at a residence that clearly is not offering any type of violence, physical resistance or anything, really, that would facilitate the need for so many officers? Apparently not. They ALL stayed there, too, the entire time the sergeant was there.
The sergeant was hardly a go-between. He informed me that I had broken the law. For what, I asked, videoing 2 guys trespassing on a neighbor's property? No, he stated emphatically, the law YOU broke was Disorderly Conduct. This is the generic thing that cops use when they don't have anything to hold against you but they want to make trouble for you. Sorry Charlie, that wasn't working with me, either. The sergeant then stated I had harassed those 2 when I approached them and started yelling at them.
I politely, but emphatically informed the officer that I had never ONCE left my property except to look at the address of my neighbor on her mailbox in case those 2 took their trespassing to a higher level. I also informed the officer that one of them is a meth head - he does nothing but get high all day long and the other is an ex-convict who spent 9 years in prison for selling methamphetamine out of his house. This guy was starting to act as bad as the kid cop who was threatening to shoot my dogs. Well, he stated, I have meth users on my street and I don't have problems with them.
????I'll bet he doesn't! They undoubtedly know he's a cop and they aren't going to go anywhere near him! ROFL!! I asked him if he had them over for dinner? Does he talk to them? Does he WANT to talk to them? Does he have BBQ's with them? Ohhh, nooooo, I don't want anything to with them. Yes, EXACTLY!!! I don't bother with these guys, they have started this crap with ME and kept it going for over 2 years now.
The end? They all left. They weren't getting anywhere with me and if they wanted to arrest me on a bogus charge of disorderly conduct, have at it. Trial by jury and then sue the Phoenix Police Department. I have now written a letter to the chief of police and if that doesn't get anywhere, I'll just have to go down there and ask for an audience with him. Or make an appointment if I have to. Any way about it, I have had enough with cops with attitudes and making up stories so they can try to intimidate you. I have SERIOUS doubts they have any legal authority to remove a lock from a gate and allow themselves onto someone's property unless they have REAL probable cause.
I was in my house, online and checking things out when Mark came and asked me if I knew what was going on across the street. No. I went out there, the ex-con and the 30-something year old meth user on Shirley's property, going underneath her house for what reason I did not know.
I went inside and got my camera and started videoing them. I was still on my property and yelled over there, asking them what they were doing. They didn't respond, of course, I really didn't expect them to. For a couple of years now, I have been getting harassed by both of them and recently decided - after that idiot threatened one of my tenants telling him he was going to have me killed for catching cats - that I was not going to take any more of either of their BS - at all. I did yell at him down the street: Hey, why don't you come over here and threaten to kill me again?
Probably not the smartest move on earth, but, I have taken enough abuse from them without giving any kind of response that I vented a bit. They called the police.
I came out a bit later to find them entering my property, removing the lock off of the gate and letting themselves in. They didn't bother to try and use the doorbell button that is clearly visible out front. I had already spoken with the Department about this practice of theirs of just entering my property without even trying to use the doorbell.
These were YOUNG cops. They immediately gave off attitude. I don't tolerate it. They didn't want to hear anything I had to say, they just wanted to tell me how things were going to go. Instead of responding to it, I asked the youngest looking one - I swear he didn't look 18 years old - to please close the gate. "I am not going to close the gate". I took the time to tell them that my dogs were in the house but would eventually come out and would beeline it straight for the gate if he didn't close it.
He flatly, smugly and adamantly refused to close the gate. I wasn't going to stop asking him until he did it. His third response was: Not only am I NOT going to close the gate, I am going to fire upon your dogs if they try to bite me. Unbelievable. I stopped talking to them altogether and called the police department. "What are you doing? Are you calling the police department?!" YES, I AM. After this display of unprofessional, outrageous and juvenile behavior, I refused to talk to them further.
I asked for a manager once I got an officer on the phone. I was informed there are no managers there. Because I used the wrong terminology, they refused to allow me to speak to anyone. I then simply stated: whoever is the next up in the chain of command. That got me a supervisor. I began asking her about the police simply allowing themselves onto my property, reaching through a gate and removing a lock without any probable cause. She refused to answer my question. I asked again, she again refused to answer my question, stating a Sergeant was on his way over there and that HE would answer my questions. I asked her how long this was going to take, it was getting late and I had to get up at 3:15 am the next morning.
She never answered my question and eventually hung up on me. Meanwhile, the dogs all came out. And yes, the Danes went straight to the gate after sniffing the cop with the attitudinal problem. I said nothing, I wanted to see if he would actually let my dogs run free through the gate. They ran straight to him, he backed up, they did nothing more than sniff and then took off for the gate. This guy runs for the gate and shuts it - not all the way closed though - but enough to keep them from getting out.
I didn't say another word to these cops the entire time they were there. I waited for the sergeant. The young dude stood there, holding the gate instead of simply latching it shut. The sergeant and a slew of other cop cars arrives. I guess it was my inference that South Mountain precinct already HAS a bad reputation - NATIONWIDE - and that I could help that along further with this cop refusing to close my gate that got all of them out there. There were at least 7 cop cars in front of my house. This sergeant had a huge entourage accompanying him through the gate.
You would have thought the Prince of Persia was visiting my property. I was completely unimpressed or intimidated. Apparently this is what they wanted to do, intimidate me. With a person like me, this only makes things worse. Don't these officers have other and much more productive things to do than have THAT many people showing up at a residence that clearly is not offering any type of violence, physical resistance or anything, really, that would facilitate the need for so many officers? Apparently not. They ALL stayed there, too, the entire time the sergeant was there.
The sergeant was hardly a go-between. He informed me that I had broken the law. For what, I asked, videoing 2 guys trespassing on a neighbor's property? No, he stated emphatically, the law YOU broke was Disorderly Conduct. This is the generic thing that cops use when they don't have anything to hold against you but they want to make trouble for you. Sorry Charlie, that wasn't working with me, either. The sergeant then stated I had harassed those 2 when I approached them and started yelling at them.
I politely, but emphatically informed the officer that I had never ONCE left my property except to look at the address of my neighbor on her mailbox in case those 2 took their trespassing to a higher level. I also informed the officer that one of them is a meth head - he does nothing but get high all day long and the other is an ex-convict who spent 9 years in prison for selling methamphetamine out of his house. This guy was starting to act as bad as the kid cop who was threatening to shoot my dogs. Well, he stated, I have meth users on my street and I don't have problems with them.
????I'll bet he doesn't! They undoubtedly know he's a cop and they aren't going to go anywhere near him! ROFL!! I asked him if he had them over for dinner? Does he talk to them? Does he WANT to talk to them? Does he have BBQ's with them? Ohhh, nooooo, I don't want anything to with them. Yes, EXACTLY!!! I don't bother with these guys, they have started this crap with ME and kept it going for over 2 years now.
The end? They all left. They weren't getting anywhere with me and if they wanted to arrest me on a bogus charge of disorderly conduct, have at it. Trial by jury and then sue the Phoenix Police Department. I have now written a letter to the chief of police and if that doesn't get anywhere, I'll just have to go down there and ask for an audience with him. Or make an appointment if I have to. Any way about it, I have had enough with cops with attitudes and making up stories so they can try to intimidate you. I have SERIOUS doubts they have any legal authority to remove a lock from a gate and allow themselves onto someone's property unless they have REAL probable cause.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Vacation
I have opted for the week of the 8th of August to take the entire week off, of course, that is, if it's approved. I haven't really had any vacation requests turned down, sometimes I have to change the dates.
Where to go? I dunno that I am going to GO......ANYWHERE. The thought of simply booking a flight to the other side of the country and the coming back here - for no more reason than to get the airplane trip out of it - has gained traction.
I absolutely LOVE flying and I haven't been on an airplane since my flight back from the state of Washington in - 2006 I believe it was - when I drove a truck up there for the company I was working for. I could be living in Seattle right now, making $33 per hour to drive a belly dump and getting lots of OT on top of it. The distinct reason that I would NEVER want to live in Seattle is the open faucet that is set in the sky. It RAINS and RAINS and RAINS up there.
The flight back was fabulous. I really mean that. It was daylight when we took off and going up to 35,000 feet, we passed through at least half a dozen different cloud levels. We'd get above one and find another one on top of that. It seemed like we went up forever. It was a good long flight, too. I dunno, just another world for me when I am sitting in any kind of plane, large or small, and taking in the views and listening the to the engines roaring.
I guess the cost of tickets, though, are rising now. I am also not very well convinced that I want x-rays of my body being taken and I most definitely don't want some dude groping my private parts to see if I might have a bomb concealed behind my testicles. In fact, that would be the only drawback to a flying trip. I have read too many accounts of what I consider to be abusive behavior by TSA agents groping people. I don't wonder if some of those people TRULY enjoy their jobs in being able to touch people in places that ought not to be touched, unless it's your partner, of course.
The, the trip from Washington had none of that. It was before the machines and the groping. I made the whole thing an experience and I still look back at it fondly.
The question of where, exactly, I would go also has surfaced in my mind. I mean, big cities? New York? I already live in the 5th largest city in the U.S., visiting another one doesn't have much appeal to me. A flight into some place that is full of pine crested mountains where I could go hiking for a couple of days sounds like much more fun. Or perhaps a visit to my childhood stomping grounds of Pittsburgh - though admittedly, I know no-one that lives there at this point.
Another intriguing idea originates from reading Fin's blog and all of his adventures on cruise ships. I think you probably have to schedule those things a bit further in advance than the month I have before I take my time off.
In reality? The prudent thing to do is nothing, just take another staycation. The economics of our current times are not exactly conducive towards spending money on a limited vacation. I have all kinds of ideas, but in the end, it all costs money. Perhaps I could spend a bit of money on camping equipment and take the dogs - all 400 pounds of them - up to the burnt, cool, mountains of Arizona and smell the aftermath of huge, vast areas of forests that have burned down due to human stupidity. Yeah, sounds fun.
Okay, selfishly, perhaps, I have scheduled the vacation for the week when Caleb is allegedly getting out of that camp. It could easily turn out that he will be able to get a ride home from someone at the camp, which is fine by me, but, if he needs a ride, I will certainly drive up there and get him.
Another idea that popped into my head, though, is to take a trip on the Grand Canyon Railway. I have never been on it, but I have had many, many friends tell me it is an awesome ride. My mother also went on it some years ago and said it was awesome. I just looked up pricing: $180 for round trip on the observation deck - it's elevated above the rest of the train and looks to have an outstanding view of everything. They have a sale price on packages for "couples" for a 2 night stay up at the rim, but, I don't have the other half to take up with me. Oh well.
Who knows. Enjoy life while you can enjoy, I have observed. Such as one of my tenants that just walked in and spent yet another several days in the hospital. This time, because of the meds he is on, he fell asleep at the wheel and rolled the car over. Ouch.
I'll pondering what, if anything, to do with the total of 9 days off of work. I can honestly say that staying at home and doing nothing, especially during a hot summer and not having to go out to work, has it's merits. I haven't really minded doing it the last what, 2 years in a row, I just thought maybe doing something else - preferably out of this town and away from this whole atmosphere - might be a good diversion.
Meanwhile, life at the ranch. The AC coming on and going off all day and night long. The heat outside. The "neighbors" starting trouble yet again (I haven't even gone into the police visit last night). Tenants and their issues. High electric bills. This, that and the other thing. I need a bit of relief, I do believe.
Where to go? I dunno that I am going to GO......ANYWHERE. The thought of simply booking a flight to the other side of the country and the coming back here - for no more reason than to get the airplane trip out of it - has gained traction.
I absolutely LOVE flying and I haven't been on an airplane since my flight back from the state of Washington in - 2006 I believe it was - when I drove a truck up there for the company I was working for. I could be living in Seattle right now, making $33 per hour to drive a belly dump and getting lots of OT on top of it. The distinct reason that I would NEVER want to live in Seattle is the open faucet that is set in the sky. It RAINS and RAINS and RAINS up there.
The flight back was fabulous. I really mean that. It was daylight when we took off and going up to 35,000 feet, we passed through at least half a dozen different cloud levels. We'd get above one and find another one on top of that. It seemed like we went up forever. It was a good long flight, too. I dunno, just another world for me when I am sitting in any kind of plane, large or small, and taking in the views and listening the to the engines roaring.
I guess the cost of tickets, though, are rising now. I am also not very well convinced that I want x-rays of my body being taken and I most definitely don't want some dude groping my private parts to see if I might have a bomb concealed behind my testicles. In fact, that would be the only drawback to a flying trip. I have read too many accounts of what I consider to be abusive behavior by TSA agents groping people. I don't wonder if some of those people TRULY enjoy their jobs in being able to touch people in places that ought not to be touched, unless it's your partner, of course.
The, the trip from Washington had none of that. It was before the machines and the groping. I made the whole thing an experience and I still look back at it fondly.
The question of where, exactly, I would go also has surfaced in my mind. I mean, big cities? New York? I already live in the 5th largest city in the U.S., visiting another one doesn't have much appeal to me. A flight into some place that is full of pine crested mountains where I could go hiking for a couple of days sounds like much more fun. Or perhaps a visit to my childhood stomping grounds of Pittsburgh - though admittedly, I know no-one that lives there at this point.
Another intriguing idea originates from reading Fin's blog and all of his adventures on cruise ships. I think you probably have to schedule those things a bit further in advance than the month I have before I take my time off.
In reality? The prudent thing to do is nothing, just take another staycation. The economics of our current times are not exactly conducive towards spending money on a limited vacation. I have all kinds of ideas, but in the end, it all costs money. Perhaps I could spend a bit of money on camping equipment and take the dogs - all 400 pounds of them - up to the burnt, cool, mountains of Arizona and smell the aftermath of huge, vast areas of forests that have burned down due to human stupidity. Yeah, sounds fun.
Okay, selfishly, perhaps, I have scheduled the vacation for the week when Caleb is allegedly getting out of that camp. It could easily turn out that he will be able to get a ride home from someone at the camp, which is fine by me, but, if he needs a ride, I will certainly drive up there and get him.
Another idea that popped into my head, though, is to take a trip on the Grand Canyon Railway. I have never been on it, but I have had many, many friends tell me it is an awesome ride. My mother also went on it some years ago and said it was awesome. I just looked up pricing: $180 for round trip on the observation deck - it's elevated above the rest of the train and looks to have an outstanding view of everything. They have a sale price on packages for "couples" for a 2 night stay up at the rim, but, I don't have the other half to take up with me. Oh well.
Who knows. Enjoy life while you can enjoy, I have observed. Such as one of my tenants that just walked in and spent yet another several days in the hospital. This time, because of the meds he is on, he fell asleep at the wheel and rolled the car over. Ouch.
I'll pondering what, if anything, to do with the total of 9 days off of work. I can honestly say that staying at home and doing nothing, especially during a hot summer and not having to go out to work, has it's merits. I haven't really minded doing it the last what, 2 years in a row, I just thought maybe doing something else - preferably out of this town and away from this whole atmosphere - might be a good diversion.
Meanwhile, life at the ranch. The AC coming on and going off all day and night long. The heat outside. The "neighbors" starting trouble yet again (I haven't even gone into the police visit last night). Tenants and their issues. High electric bills. This, that and the other thing. I need a bit of relief, I do believe.
Friday 8/7/2011
I finally found it. The Barber Shop that has a person that can actually do something with my hair. $16 cut - worth it to look good. Got that done today. Will be looking for that particular person when I go in there from this point forth. I have a very full head of hair and it is VERY thick. It's hard to do anything with. This guy worked his magic on it and it's the best cut, by far, that I have had in years. Not weeks or months, years. I do NOT like to wait at a barber shop, but I will do so if it's the right person.
I don't remember if I put this in yesterday's blog entry, I don't think I did. The Army Reservist had her pickup repossessed. She is, undoubtedly, in a world of hurt. I can't help her. She owes me rent and I won't wait forever for it. I can't help a person that gets fired for stealing at work. Though I understand the temptation to get a bite to eat, especially if you're broke and hungry, I don't take stuff from my employer because - fill in the blank. It's not the moral/ethical thing to do. I finally remembered to bring home copies of the "Pay or Vacate" notice, which I will be filling out and giving to her today or tomorrow.
I am BONE dead tired. I was AT work at 4:00am. I figured I would get a short day in getting out early, I figured wrong. The delivery didn't take too terribly long and then I was back at the yard, pulling a large order for Monday. I wanted to leave early, I really did, lol, I was and am that tired. But, a delivery to a place near Coolidge came up - a 42-mile (one way) to take some materials down south. It was decided that it needed to get done today because there is not going to be time Monday. So, for this pay period, I have the first 80 hour period since - at least 2-1/2 years ago. Our numbers were way up last month and already this month we are starting to get up there and a lot more work in queue.
Which is good, because there are even MORE financial experts now starting to talk a double-dip recession or even a depression. Employment numbers were dismal for last month and that has a lot of people worried at this point. I am not going to worry, well not too much anyway, it is only human to start thinking about things when they have the potential for affecting you - drastically I might ad.
On that note, I got my 2008 W-2 from work - lost the original. I can't find the mortgage interest payment information, so I guess I'll have to call two companies to get that information for 2007 and 2008. If it is worth it, I will modify 2007 with interest payment to get even more money out of it, if not, then I will milk the 2008 cow for it. I'm going to get every penny I can out of it and get some money in the bank to help tide me over if the situation starts getting really rough.
I have my ideas for saving my property if I ever lose my job and can't find another one - I have sort of gone over that on this blog before, but, those ideas are still there. I actually have room for another travel trailer in my driveway if I back the one I already have up all the way to the fence. I could live in it and rent out my master bedroom, which could net me at least $500 per month. I am not there and don't even want to go there..
Lynnette, one of the trailer tenants, announced today that she was upping her rent. A bit unusual for a renter to up their own rent, but, they aren't paying very much, lol. I have not hinted at it nor did the thought cross my mind to ask them for more. I figure they are probably paying their share of the utilities they are using and that's all I wanted to get out of them considering their situation. I didn't turn it down. I didn't even try to turn it down. The reason is simple: since they are paying more money, I can get a window AC unit for them cheap. They can shut off the swamp cooler and turn on actual AC. The extra money will pay for the extra use of electricity. Trust me, those swamp coolers do not work well this time of year. If it's 118 outside, it's 90 something inside. Or not, the thought crossed my mind and I figured I might help them have a bit better quality of life in that thing by having it actually cooled versus a reduction in heat that isn't enough to make it feel cool in there.
I have a lot of junk going on in my head right now, in case you hadn't noticed. Not that I am really sweating anything, just really pondering things. The situation of going to church has caused me to really do some serious soul-searching and intended changes of lifestyle.
One change will occur Monday: the weight/fat loss competition at work starts and I intend on going full out on it. I REALLY want to the last 10 or 12 very stubborn pounds. I have decided that I am going to buy tons of those Weight Watchers frozen meals and that is ALL I am going to eat for the most part, with a deviation here and there for some fresh cooked chicken maybe thrown into a chicken salad type of thing. That and start pumping iron at the gym. I think it cool to be a part of that kind of competition and see what kind of results occur for everyone, not just me. There are some "robust" individuals at work, quite a number of them that need to lose at least 100 pounds. Yes, I said at least 100 pounds.
This is the status quo for America today, obesity and extreme overweight is no longer the exception as one might say it was 30 years ago. Seeing extremely large people walking around is not uncommon anymore, you see it everywhere. I am not dissing overweight people, but I am saying how much more motivating it might be for any given person to be in a contest with other people they know and work with to try and lose it.
Ummm, can the economy be fixed, a question posed to readers for an "unscientific" poll. I don't wonder if it wouldn't already be well on it's way to recovery if the government hadn't meddled in it so much? Obama isn't going to carry much weight into election "season" if the economy keeps tanking as it is.
Well whatever. I don't want to go there right now. This economic chaos has been going on a long time now and the related unemployment and housing crash, it really serves no great purpose to dwell on it.
I have no plans this weekend excepting going to church on Sunday. Yes, my self-made, 4 week in a row church visit commitment has been fulfilled and is over as of last Sunday. But, that didn't mean I didn't want to keep going. I wanted to go to the same church and see how receptive they are to new people, cause honey, there are plenty of cliquish churches out there with people that don't want anything to do with the "newbies". You can't get into their circles/realm if you paid them. Not that I would want to pay anyone for such a thing, it's just the point that people can be extremely selfish.
The exterminator is coming tomorrow morning. This after I got rather upset that they did not show up 7 days after the first spraying when they said they were going to AND I have seen 3 roaches since the "cleanout". It was the fact that they didn't even bother to call, much less show up that caused me to call the owner of the company and demand my money back. Well, not exactly. I demanded they either come out and get rid of these roaches as they promised to do or give me my money back. He's a really nice guy and all, but I shelled out $150 for this guaranteed service with a 2 visit application to make sure they are all gone. In my view, that's a lot of money for 2, 30-minute visits, well not even that long.
I have no desire, whatsoever, to get up early and take all of that stuff out of those cupboards again, but buy golly, it's gonna be done and they will have total access to all of it, just like the first time.
Oh, I forgot: I want to find a place to shoot off some rounds in that 12 gauge shotgun. There are some shooting ranges around, I guess I could go to one of them.
G'day/nite
ben
I don't remember if I put this in yesterday's blog entry, I don't think I did. The Army Reservist had her pickup repossessed. She is, undoubtedly, in a world of hurt. I can't help her. She owes me rent and I won't wait forever for it. I can't help a person that gets fired for stealing at work. Though I understand the temptation to get a bite to eat, especially if you're broke and hungry, I don't take stuff from my employer because - fill in the blank. It's not the moral/ethical thing to do. I finally remembered to bring home copies of the "Pay or Vacate" notice, which I will be filling out and giving to her today or tomorrow.
I am BONE dead tired. I was AT work at 4:00am. I figured I would get a short day in getting out early, I figured wrong. The delivery didn't take too terribly long and then I was back at the yard, pulling a large order for Monday. I wanted to leave early, I really did, lol, I was and am that tired. But, a delivery to a place near Coolidge came up - a 42-mile (one way) to take some materials down south. It was decided that it needed to get done today because there is not going to be time Monday. So, for this pay period, I have the first 80 hour period since - at least 2-1/2 years ago. Our numbers were way up last month and already this month we are starting to get up there and a lot more work in queue.
Which is good, because there are even MORE financial experts now starting to talk a double-dip recession or even a depression. Employment numbers were dismal for last month and that has a lot of people worried at this point. I am not going to worry, well not too much anyway, it is only human to start thinking about things when they have the potential for affecting you - drastically I might ad.
On that note, I got my 2008 W-2 from work - lost the original. I can't find the mortgage interest payment information, so I guess I'll have to call two companies to get that information for 2007 and 2008. If it is worth it, I will modify 2007 with interest payment to get even more money out of it, if not, then I will milk the 2008 cow for it. I'm going to get every penny I can out of it and get some money in the bank to help tide me over if the situation starts getting really rough.
I have my ideas for saving my property if I ever lose my job and can't find another one - I have sort of gone over that on this blog before, but, those ideas are still there. I actually have room for another travel trailer in my driveway if I back the one I already have up all the way to the fence. I could live in it and rent out my master bedroom, which could net me at least $500 per month. I am not there and don't even want to go there..
Lynnette, one of the trailer tenants, announced today that she was upping her rent. A bit unusual for a renter to up their own rent, but, they aren't paying very much, lol. I have not hinted at it nor did the thought cross my mind to ask them for more. I figure they are probably paying their share of the utilities they are using and that's all I wanted to get out of them considering their situation. I didn't turn it down. I didn't even try to turn it down. The reason is simple: since they are paying more money, I can get a window AC unit for them cheap. They can shut off the swamp cooler and turn on actual AC. The extra money will pay for the extra use of electricity. Trust me, those swamp coolers do not work well this time of year. If it's 118 outside, it's 90 something inside. Or not, the thought crossed my mind and I figured I might help them have a bit better quality of life in that thing by having it actually cooled versus a reduction in heat that isn't enough to make it feel cool in there.
I have a lot of junk going on in my head right now, in case you hadn't noticed. Not that I am really sweating anything, just really pondering things. The situation of going to church has caused me to really do some serious soul-searching and intended changes of lifestyle.
One change will occur Monday: the weight/fat loss competition at work starts and I intend on going full out on it. I REALLY want to the last 10 or 12 very stubborn pounds. I have decided that I am going to buy tons of those Weight Watchers frozen meals and that is ALL I am going to eat for the most part, with a deviation here and there for some fresh cooked chicken maybe thrown into a chicken salad type of thing. That and start pumping iron at the gym. I think it cool to be a part of that kind of competition and see what kind of results occur for everyone, not just me. There are some "robust" individuals at work, quite a number of them that need to lose at least 100 pounds. Yes, I said at least 100 pounds.
This is the status quo for America today, obesity and extreme overweight is no longer the exception as one might say it was 30 years ago. Seeing extremely large people walking around is not uncommon anymore, you see it everywhere. I am not dissing overweight people, but I am saying how much more motivating it might be for any given person to be in a contest with other people they know and work with to try and lose it.
Ummm, can the economy be fixed, a question posed to readers for an "unscientific" poll. I don't wonder if it wouldn't already be well on it's way to recovery if the government hadn't meddled in it so much? Obama isn't going to carry much weight into election "season" if the economy keeps tanking as it is.
Well whatever. I don't want to go there right now. This economic chaos has been going on a long time now and the related unemployment and housing crash, it really serves no great purpose to dwell on it.
I have no plans this weekend excepting going to church on Sunday. Yes, my self-made, 4 week in a row church visit commitment has been fulfilled and is over as of last Sunday. But, that didn't mean I didn't want to keep going. I wanted to go to the same church and see how receptive they are to new people, cause honey, there are plenty of cliquish churches out there with people that don't want anything to do with the "newbies". You can't get into their circles/realm if you paid them. Not that I would want to pay anyone for such a thing, it's just the point that people can be extremely selfish.
The exterminator is coming tomorrow morning. This after I got rather upset that they did not show up 7 days after the first spraying when they said they were going to AND I have seen 3 roaches since the "cleanout". It was the fact that they didn't even bother to call, much less show up that caused me to call the owner of the company and demand my money back. Well, not exactly. I demanded they either come out and get rid of these roaches as they promised to do or give me my money back. He's a really nice guy and all, but I shelled out $150 for this guaranteed service with a 2 visit application to make sure they are all gone. In my view, that's a lot of money for 2, 30-minute visits, well not even that long.
I have no desire, whatsoever, to get up early and take all of that stuff out of those cupboards again, but buy golly, it's gonna be done and they will have total access to all of it, just like the first time.
Oh, I forgot: I want to find a place to shoot off some rounds in that 12 gauge shotgun. There are some shooting ranges around, I guess I could go to one of them.
G'day/nite
ben
Thursday, July 7, 2011
This Is Not Friday Morning, But This Post Will Have To Suffice
That's because my manager called me a couple of hours ago and told me that there is an order that needs to go out to the Intel plant. Yes? It needs to be THERE at 5:30 am. I see. He wasn't sure what was on the order because the order wasn't made up yet but wanted to ask me first if I would do it.
We don't get liked in companies if we don't go out of the way when asked to do the things that need to be done when they need to be done. I would scoff at the idea of the main branch taking an order that we should be doing because I didn't want to get up early. PLEEEEEAAAAAASE. Besides the fact that I have no problem doing it, the talk behind my back would be endless.
I actually LIKE going out of my way to show that I am capable and willing to do whatever needs to be done, even if it means getting up at 3:30AM to go to work and get the job done. Who CARES about the time of day? I can always sleep in on Saturday morning, take a nap after work tomorrow, whatever.
Of course, the hour of departure for work and arrival at work precludes and idea of writing a journal entry tomorrow morning AT work, before I sign in, so, I felt to write an entry now.
So, after work I went and took a look at trailer. In appearance, marginally better looking then the thing outside my house - but it wouldn't take much to make it look much better. I was interested in the claim that the electricity works, water lines are tight and the propane lines are good. None of which held true, though probably wouldn't take much to fix all of it. However, I left it at: fix all of this and then I will be interested.
I get home to hear the latest news: the Army reservist lost her job, I already knew that, but now she lost her truck. 2 individuals here saw the repo truck show up and tow the pickup off. I stated before they told me that I bet it took less than 30 seconds. Yup, there and gone. This doesn't bode well for her. Phoenix is a massive, sprawling place. The BEST way to get around is in your own vehicle, the public transit system takes FOREVER to get ANYWHERE. I hate to do it, but she has options so I don't hate it that much. She needs to leave. She is behind in her rent - 3 weeks to be exact, and though she has dug out of it before, I see no indication that that is going to be the case now.
So, here we are. All kinds of different things going on, including still dealing with the aftermath of what I now consider to be the worst dust storm that has ever occurred in the Phoenix area. Leaves of plants covered in it. I started spraying them off today, no rain here, just sunshine, heat and some humidity.
Which reminds me, enough time left of daylight, I need to get out there and get some of it done.
G'day.
ben
We don't get liked in companies if we don't go out of the way when asked to do the things that need to be done when they need to be done. I would scoff at the idea of the main branch taking an order that we should be doing because I didn't want to get up early. PLEEEEEAAAAAASE. Besides the fact that I have no problem doing it, the talk behind my back would be endless.
I actually LIKE going out of my way to show that I am capable and willing to do whatever needs to be done, even if it means getting up at 3:30AM to go to work and get the job done. Who CARES about the time of day? I can always sleep in on Saturday morning, take a nap after work tomorrow, whatever.
Of course, the hour of departure for work and arrival at work precludes and idea of writing a journal entry tomorrow morning AT work, before I sign in, so, I felt to write an entry now.
So, after work I went and took a look at trailer. In appearance, marginally better looking then the thing outside my house - but it wouldn't take much to make it look much better. I was interested in the claim that the electricity works, water lines are tight and the propane lines are good. None of which held true, though probably wouldn't take much to fix all of it. However, I left it at: fix all of this and then I will be interested.
I get home to hear the latest news: the Army reservist lost her job, I already knew that, but now she lost her truck. 2 individuals here saw the repo truck show up and tow the pickup off. I stated before they told me that I bet it took less than 30 seconds. Yup, there and gone. This doesn't bode well for her. Phoenix is a massive, sprawling place. The BEST way to get around is in your own vehicle, the public transit system takes FOREVER to get ANYWHERE. I hate to do it, but she has options so I don't hate it that much. She needs to leave. She is behind in her rent - 3 weeks to be exact, and though she has dug out of it before, I see no indication that that is going to be the case now.
So, here we are. All kinds of different things going on, including still dealing with the aftermath of what I now consider to be the worst dust storm that has ever occurred in the Phoenix area. Leaves of plants covered in it. I started spraying them off today, no rain here, just sunshine, heat and some humidity.
Which reminds me, enough time left of daylight, I need to get out there and get some of it done.
G'day.
ben
Thursday July 7, 2011
Thursday
Not much time here - I got engrossed in a myriad of different stories in the online news ranging from bears mauling and killing people to the White House asking Texas to stop the planned execution of a Mexican national. Well that "guy" raped and killed a teenaged girl.
If we give the idea to foreignors that they can come over here and do whatever they want and just be able to get away with it? Dunno, the Supreme Court has been asked to stop the execution.
I dunno, I don't go around killing people, do you? The thought of taking another person's life never even crosses my mind on any given day. I can only see a few, limited scenarios where I would be willing to do whatever it takes to save my or someone else's life by killing someone else. Certainly a scenario I hope to never have to face. But, you rape a teenaged girl and I guess to get rid of a witness, you kill her?
Anyway, I did end up going to church last night and I was not sorry I went. It was a much different atmosphere - if nothing else inside of my mind - and I was getting something out of the guest speaker's words. It went on until 9:00pm, the only drawback of it. Getting home is only a 5 minute or so drive, so that's not an issue, just being out that late on a work night tends to drag me down a bit the next day, and yes, I am feeling it this morning. Make it through the day and go home and take a nice nap.
At least the speaker had the mind to not do any kind of "ministry" as that could go on for a long time. He said he was saving that for the Sunday service when he will also be at the church as a guest speaker.
Anyway, there are a few things to do in the truck routing menu and right now? It's time to go to work.
G'day.
ben
Not much time here - I got engrossed in a myriad of different stories in the online news ranging from bears mauling and killing people to the White House asking Texas to stop the planned execution of a Mexican national. Well that "guy" raped and killed a teenaged girl.
If we give the idea to foreignors that they can come over here and do whatever they want and just be able to get away with it? Dunno, the Supreme Court has been asked to stop the execution.
I dunno, I don't go around killing people, do you? The thought of taking another person's life never even crosses my mind on any given day. I can only see a few, limited scenarios where I would be willing to do whatever it takes to save my or someone else's life by killing someone else. Certainly a scenario I hope to never have to face. But, you rape a teenaged girl and I guess to get rid of a witness, you kill her?
Anyway, I did end up going to church last night and I was not sorry I went. It was a much different atmosphere - if nothing else inside of my mind - and I was getting something out of the guest speaker's words. It went on until 9:00pm, the only drawback of it. Getting home is only a 5 minute or so drive, so that's not an issue, just being out that late on a work night tends to drag me down a bit the next day, and yes, I am feeling it this morning. Make it through the day and go home and take a nice nap.
At least the speaker had the mind to not do any kind of "ministry" as that could go on for a long time. He said he was saving that for the Sunday service when he will also be at the church as a guest speaker.
Anyway, there are a few things to do in the truck routing menu and right now? It's time to go to work.
G'day.
ben
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