Tuesday 12/6/2011

"Opponents call it murder and a crime against nature."
ROFL!!
This is the thoughts of the people who are opposed to the state sanctioned and initiated bear hunt in New Jersey.  
Murder?!!!  As if you are taking a human life that has an eternal soul.


I am frequently quite amused by certain news stories in the morning, this one almost had me snorting coffee out my nose when I started to read the story, lol.  


So, they said it might get down into the 20's in certain parts of the valley last night, but the forecast said 35 degrees.  Right now, at 5:45 am, it's 36 degrees.  I found out too late last night that there might be a freeze factor and to cover your plants.  Everything I had read? None of it said anything about frost protection.  Lovely.  Hope everything's okay out there, but at 36 degrees it shouldn't be a problem.  I ended up putting heaters in my ponds, though.  I have to look it up again, but I think I am also supposed to stop feeding the fish when the water gets that cold, the food allegedly just sits in their stomachs and rots, or something like that.  


Their growing season is definitely over for the year.  Some of them are looking to get too large for the small ponds and I will have to consider selling them next year.


Well, Lynnette apparently has landed the job she said was offered to her.  We'll see how that goes.  Her problem is if they ask to do a background check, her sister steals all of her family member's identity and uses it for criminal purposes.  Her sister is, allegedly, in prison right now.  I wish her luck in the job, if she actually does get it - she is supposed to start training today.


Meanwhile, the inspector was supposed to come today and sign off on the trailer.  Either she didn't show up or she did and just looked through the fence, who knows.  She was also supposed to stop at my next door neighbor's and do something about all the junk and the fact that he is also living in an RV on the property.  I didn't file that complaint, I was just asking about it.  I didn't ask about the situation behind me, I will, instead, wait a couple of days and then do an email request through the system. Should be able to find out what the results of that court date were, which allegedly occurred yesterday.  


Well, time to be off to work.


G'day.
ben

Arizona City

I am sitting in Arizona City writing this on the 3g network.  Truck was just unloaded, waiting for them to load pipe back on that they want to return.  Took the computer a while to switch from 4g to 3g for some reason, even though it showed and "excellent" signal.  I'm not really a big fan of the 3g network, but I'll take whatever I can get and i figure if I am sitting out in the boonies in the middle of the desert and able to get any kind of connection, count myself lucky.

Just throwing this on here to see a post from the middle of nowhere!

Monday 12/25/2011

I have very few, precious little minutes left here.  Got a late start this morning.
I'm guessing the hoarder neighbors are going to contact the city, if they haven't already, about the trailer being brought back.
The lady is going to have to call me, I guess, that's the way she dealt with this last time.
We'll see.
While in church yesterday, the store called to tell me that the fan motor is in for the trailer AC unit.
Since I can no longer use the other RV to have people living in it, I have to decide whether I want to keep the thing around or not.  Not sure yet.  Not in a big hurry to decide, but selling it could fund a casita/guest house type of thing.
Again, no big hurry, since doing that  would mean a lot of work and getting permits and approvals from the city and all that sort of junk.
Well, that's it.  Plenty to do at work today, keep me busy into the afternoon (at least).

G'day.

ben

Sunday 12/4/2011

Just throwin' it out there: there have been no roaches in my house since that company came out - 3 times - to get rid of them.  I had always thought the same as everyone else: once you get them, you can never get rid of them.  But it's been months now since they did the super-cleanout and after they came out the 3rd time, there has been no sightings of the foul little creatures at all.

I've been looking at 30.06 rifles.  At this point, for the fun of it.  When I was a kid, I always wanted to learn how to handle firearms and more specifically: learn how to hunt.  At young age of 47, I am finally learning how to handle firearms.  I took the .40 cal apart last night, remarkably easier than I thought it would be.  It just comes apart into 4, separate pieces.  There are more pieces to those parts, yes, but from what I read, you don't really need to disassemble those parts to clean it.  I didn't take the 12 gauge apart, but only because I was reading the instructions which seem to indicate that only the bore need be cleaned out.

I cleaned neither of the guns.  I was simply attempting to figure out how to disassemble and reassemble.  I will have to go to WalMart or somewhere and buy cleaning kits and gun oil.  Perhaps 1 cleaning kit comes with different sized brushes?  No clue.  I don't know how to hunt.  I will freely admit that.  I would have to take some sort of courses or maybe just hook up with a hunting group - with people who have the patience to teach newbies.  I would also have to have the correct gun.  I have read about 12 gauge shotguns all over the internet, though, many people swear by them for all kinds of hunting purposes.  Several claim that slugshot will kill a bear or just about any other animal.

The distinct disadvantage, however, is that you have be within 100 yards (preferably less, or so I have read), to kill the animal, while a good hunting rifle you don't quite have to get so close to it to kill it.  I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't want to be shooting at a bear within 100 yards. Bears are fast runners, a poorly placed shot would only make the animal angry.  Actually, I wouldn't want to go bear hunting at all.  I don't care anything about bagging a bear, I would want deer or elk.

Of course, killing the animal is only part 1.  Then you have to know how to field dress the thing.  I have seen them hanging up deer by the hind legs and slitting the throat to drain the blood out of it.  After that, however, I no clue.  Well, I have an idea.  All the guts would have to come out of it.  I don't really know how they field dress an elk.  How do you lift an animal up that large by the hind legs?  I'm guessing that is not how it is done with a 1,000 pound plus animal.  Of course. There are websites for everything, including a site where the guy shows - rather graphic - pictures of an elk being "boned", he called it, versus field dressing it.  They butcher the entire animal, right there, on-site where it was killed.

Makes sense.  You go hiking back into the woods to find the creature, you aren't going to just drag it out of there. But, this site shows it taking 3 people an entire day to cut the thing up and carry it out.  Yikes!  The other idea is simply carrying a block and tackle with you.  String it up on a tree, in other words and drain it.

Well, anyway.  I would find the whole process fascinating, but I don't know about spending an entire day cutting up 1 animal.  Perhaps just field dressing it and paying a butcher to do the rest for you is easier - if you can get the animal to a vehicle somehow.  I suppose a 4-wheeler would come in handy for that.  No wonder hunting is so expensive.  Pickup truck; expensive rifles and presumably not-so-cheap ammo, all the field gear you have to have? Crazy.

Changing the subject entirely, I find no small amount of peace in having Mark and Lynnette back.  The situation currently going on in this neighborhood with my neighbors?  Nice to have someone around all the time is all I can say about that.  There are plenty of thieves around here as well.  Meth users with no jobs equals thieves needing cash equals taking your stuff and selling it cheap to get their next fix money.  So, I have determined to take $100 off the rent and that will be enough.  With a couple?  I would normally add $50 to $100 to the rent, lol.

Longggggg interlude. Like, went to church, did a couple of hours of that, went to Fry's and found a roast that was less than half price.  Caveat?  Had to cook it today, today was the last day before it expired.  Well, I did the roasting bag thing with carrots, potatoes and onions and added spices, only took 2 hours to cook it.  Yummm.  Then, out of the blue, my sister-in-law calls and wants to come over and get a couple of goldfish.  Okay, no problem, I have too many.  She showed up with some dude I had never seen before - but cool anyway - I snagged 2 of them for her and that's all she wanted.

Wet outside, decided not to do anything on the yard today and anyway, the day is winding down, work in the morning and undoubtedly another busy week doing deliveries and trying to finish up with the new store.  Next paycheck should be quite nice. 

Enough for one entry.

ben

It Is Done

..........but it was quite amusing seeing them staring out the windows and standing out there, watching what was going on.
I assume that they will be contacting the City and filing a complaint.
I could care less, too.  First off, the City does not regulate the number of trailers on a property, apparently.
Secondly, they are no longer living in the trailer - though I encouraged them to make it appear as though they were.
My studies have shown me that the definition of living in something means sleeping/staying overnight in it.
I fully expect the City to contact me about this situation and I fully expect to go down there and deal with all of this in person. I am sick of the emails with the BS coming from them.  I will address them in person and I will go through the ranks if I have to.  I don't often get the opportunity to do face-to-face stuff, it's usually phone or email when dealing with large corporations.  The City's building is about 8 miles from my house : )

I spent 3-1/2 hours working out front.  Amazing how much time it takes to get anything done with stuff like that.  I am getting much closer to done with it.  Which would be nice because I really want to get going with the side of my house.  Unlike many of my neighbors, however, I take pride in my property and will spend whatever time it takes to get it looking good.  Now that I have a huge pile of landscaping rock, it's definitely going to get done both in front and hopefully enough for the side of the house as well.

It was nice that, in light of all that's going on today with this tenant junk, I was able to get out front and get some time in.  I love it.  350 man came out looking at me - I looked back.  Yes, he had to turn his head and look away.  He didn't have a choice, that's what an injunction does - it gives you the freedom to live your life without the kind of interference and intrusion he was "offering".  My next door neighbor - who is also playing this game because of the cats - came out to his mailbox.  He considers himself a bad-@$$.   Whatever, dude.  Get over yourself, cause' I'm not impressed.  I don't talk to him or his ilk at this point.  The 37 year-old "man" that still lives with his parents and is always on meth was walking a dog - on my side of the street.  He doesn't say anything to me anymore, either.  But that's because after years of listening to his s***, I got sick of it and started calling the police.

Although of no importance to anyone else, my arm muscles have grown significantly in the last couple of months.  Lol.  We have received quite a large shipment of extremely heavy megalugs and lifting them is an arduous task at best.

Umm, the only other thing to go into here? Outside temps.  Low forecast to be 35 degrees tonight.  Gag.  That means running the heat.

Saturday 12/3/2011

Yesterday at work.  There are a few things to do in the routing system, but the decision was made to work on the warehouse.  The new warehouse, I should say, total shambles.  Piles and  piles of material laying all over the place.  Pallets and crates shoved up against each other.  There had been all kinds of people allegedly working on this situation for days, but as far as the warehouse was concerned?  Nothing had been done and it was getting a bit old.  Pulling orders?  Climb over pallets and crates, dig through all of it to try and find what you were looking for.

I can drive a mean forklift.  I have been operating those things since 1985.  I looked at the mess.  Apparently the excuse for not putting it away was that they didn't know where we wanted it.  Who cares, find a place and put it on the shelf, if we want to change it later, we will.  Get the stuff off the floor and get it organized is the goal so we can get at it.  I went to town on it. 6-1/2 hours of non-stop grinding later and it was about 85% done.  I wanted to finish it, but at noon-thirty, a "rush order" came in and I had to put some material on the truck and then head downtown for 2 stops to pick up material and then get it out to a jobsite.

I left and came back 2 hours later. The guy that had been organizing material outside had come in and picked up where I left off and had all but finished the project.

I'm not the kind of person that needs a lot of "praise" and all that junk at work. I know my abilities, knowledge and experience, I am confident of my work without anyone else's approval.  However, when my work is accredited to someone else, then I can get a bit cranky about it.  So. when the sales manager came out talking with my manager and stated that George - the dude that had finished my work - had done a nice job in getting the warehouse cleaned up, yes, I got pissed.  I had busted @$$ in there all day long and hear this from this dude?  But I've had some negative interactions with this guy in the past, whatever he has up his crawl I have no idea but I dislike him greatly.  I am not a fan of egotistical, arrogant and condescending management. I make it pretty plain, too, that I don't tolerate it, I don't care what their position is, that is no reason to lord themselves over other people and treat them like they are a piece of dog s***.

Basically, about the time you realize that your work is unappreciated and probably at this point your presence there may not be appreciated either, it might be time to move on and find another place of employment. This isn't about George, either, I just realized what I wrote above - he is a hard worker as well.  George is a cool dude, really, I didn't have a problem with him finishing my work, that isn't the point here at all.

Anyway, maybe 10 minutes later, they are in the back where I had rearranged the pipe - all of it.  There was a stick of hard copper (20 feet long, 2 inch diameter) that had been smashed on one end and dinged 5 feet down from the smashed end.  The sales manager got all fired up about that: WHO smashed this copper?  I responded that I had seen that smashed end this morning, it must have been done in the move.  He started getting extremely pissy with me, in my face.   I got right back in his face and dished it right back to him.  He's standing there getting a look of anger on his face, stating that he had moved that pipe there last night, it was in perfect condition. NO, I replied, it was NOT in perfect condition, it was like that when I went out here at 6:30am.

I guess people think if they get there eyes all big and get some look on their face that that is going to somehow intimidate me.  That's exactly what he tried to do. I just looked at him and said I wasn't going to argue with him about it, but that pipe WAS like that this morning, meaning it was smashed in the last several days or maybe the move from the other building.  Who knows? It's smashed, there isn't anything you can do about it!  Get over it, I didn't say that but I was definitely thinking it. You aren't going to move that much material and not expect that something might happen to something.

Well, then it came out that he was referring to 3 sticks of pipe that had come in last night on a truck.  No, that smashed pipe was not those 3 sticks, those are up THERE, I was pointing at them, THIS smashed pipe was underneath a pile of other copper pipe.  Ohhhhhhhh.  Suddenly this freak tones his junk down.  I was getting angry and I had to walk away from him.  "Maybe you're right then, I thought it was the pipe that came in on a truck last night".  Isn't it wonderful when people jump to conclusions, get mad about their conclusions and then find out that they are TOTALLY and COMPLETELY wrong and have completely and totally offended other people by their stupid reactions?

I dunno.  I like working at the company I am working for - but again, when management starts this kind of s*** with me, I am completely unappreciative of it and I will let them know about it.  I am not going to bow at the throne of any manager.  I will give them the respect that they are due for the position they are in, but when that respect doesn't go both ways, then we have a problem. I work and work hard.  I am a loyal person, whoever I am working for I will give it my all.  They give me a paycheck, I give them everything I have that I can put on the table.

Moving on.  I get home from work and something is out of place.  2 of the slats for my blinds on the sliding glass door are on the floor, broken off of the hooks that hold them in place.  The dogs are outside all day long when I am at work, so it couldn't have been them.  I have a screw-locking device on the track so no-one can go out.  I mean, they can but they will have to loosen 2 screws on the thing to open the door, a pain the rear, a person just leaving the house isn't going to want to fool with it.  Well, it was in place.  But my mind went right down the line like a computer: Someone has gone through this door.  That person would have had to have had a reason to want to go to the trouble of doing that.  That person would have to have been doing something that required use of that door.  Someone moved out today while I was at work, is the conclusion i drew and then I immediately thought of one person: he is late on his rent.  I have been given NO notice or even an indicated that anyone was going to leave, at all.

I went directly to this "kid's" room - he just turned 21 - key is in the door handle, door slightly ajar.  I open it.  Trashed.  Completely and totally trashed.  Garbage and "items" laying all over the floor. Dishes with food on them and cups and utensils.  Even some clothing.  I looked at some of the stuff he left behind and deduced that he was in a BIG hurry to get that done before I got home from work - he even left a bunch of change on the desk in there.  This is the type of thing that causes a person to want to lose faith in the hope for mankind.  I mean, really.  I haven't done ANYTHING to this person, I haven't even given him any notices.  What kind of person is it that treats another person like that?

I know where he works.  I don't think I have his phone number, but I've already sent him an email.  I will be visiting his work as well - leave a message on his vehicle. He has caused us to spend a lot of money for nothing.  Mark and Lynnette wouldn't have had to move, just wait until this kid leaves.  All this kid had to do was say he was leaving.  I would have mentioned the money he owes me, but I wouldn't have made a big deal about it.  The funny thing is this kid has a full time job.

Well whatever.  I am not going to go into all of that, it will just make me mad.  I am, instead, going to go over to the RV park, discuss this with Mark and Lynnette and see what they want to do.  Perhaps if Lynnette puts on her charm she will be able to get some of the rent money back.  Probably not, but it would be worth a try.  I could move that thing right back over here and that will be that.

Actually, I am going to do something that I have been wanting to do for a few weeks: go to Denny's and have a slam breakfast.  Take my puter' with me for the fun of it - well I take it with me anyway.  I have already had my house broken into once, it's not a big deal to carry that computer and my gun with me in the car.  The gun is in a plastic case that looks like it's a hand tool of some sort,  I don't go around flashing it everywhere, I just don't want it stolen.  It's also a bit too large to carry concealed, I would have to get a smaller gun for that purpose.  At this point, I am not sure I want to carry a concealed weapon and anyway, I have other things to do with my money than spend it on a 3rd firearm. I was mostly concerned with protecting myself at home, not while out and about.  Between my .40 caliber and my 12 gauge shotgun, I do believe home security is not an issue, at least if I am at home anyway.

Well, I am going to get myself ready and get out of here.  Several things I want to get done besides Denny's and discussing this situation with Mark and Lynnette - though my guess  is that Lynnette will want to come over here with me, clean up the room and move in.  That was the original plan anyway, so if that's what she wants to do, then that's what we are going to do.

Later.

ben

Friday 12/2/2011

1 of them was broken - though easily fixable.
Another one had a bad cable on it - and though that is also easily fixable, we couldn't get the screw out to remove the thing to get at the cable.
Got to the third one and walaah - there it was, in all of it's old glory: a Dish Network satellite dish pumping satellite signals to a Direct TV receiver, lol.
I bought all those dishes yesterday - $30 for all of them and hoped at least 2 of them would work.  The guy informed me that a dish is a dish, Dish Network dishes will work on Direct TV receivers and vice versa.  I didn't really know whether to believe him or not, but we tried it and it worked perfectly.

There are only a few things left to go on that trailer - the one Mark and Lynnette are staying in at the RV park.  It needs some wall paper and the pilot light apparently won't stay on on the oven and the fan above the oven isn't working, other than that, it's pretty much good to go.  The water heater is working - which is a good thing for them. Learn the art of taking quick, short showers is all I can say about that.  The RV Park?  A hell hole if I do say so myself.  But it's home for them, at least temporarily.

Caleb is in Florida.  He called me yesterday from North Carolina where there was a stop over and then called from Florida.  I have no clue what they are going to actually do while they are down there, but let them figure that out.  I like visiting Florida, not exactly sure I would want to live there.  I hate mosquitoes and my memory of that place is that it's full of them.

Neighbor wars.  They gave 350 man a time extension to deal with his property.  Nice, they didn't give me such options.  I wrote the city and asked how he can get an extension, especially considering he bought that other property.  I re opened the closed cases.  They let him slide on an open pit in his yard plus the outdoor storage.  The lot looks like crap.  But then again, so do more than 60% of the properties around here.  The hoarders behind me apparently have a court date for the 5th - which would be Monday.  I won't be there, I don't know which court it is in or what time it is at.  I would love to go and watch, though.  Listen to the lies they are going to have to tell to try and skate around it.  I also reopened the case with their other property. They messed with me, I am going to take this a few steps further.  The next thing to do is call the fire department and let them know that there are serious fire hazards on both of those properties, please come do an inspection.

The man that moves the trailers is taking a hiatus from May until September, he told Lynnette the other day while moving the thing, to go up north.  Meaning if I want the other trailer moved up to mother's property, I will have to do it before then.  Well, no-one is going to charge me less than this guy. $300 to move the thing up there.  I had one guy tell me $350 to move that same trailer 28 miles!

Lots of tension at work.  The move from one branch to the other is hardly going smoothly.  The move is over, but the mess is far from done.  Yesterday, I took a truck load of material to a job site. I pulled the order, yes.  I got the order right excepting for some bolts that apparently were supposed to go with some adapters.  Well, no-one said anything about bolts going with the adapters, the bolts weren't listed on the paperwork, I had no idea.  Neither did anyone else, including my manager.  I get a phone call from the salesman on that account yesterday who attempted to start reaming me on the phone about it.  This after I stayed until almost 6:00pm the night before pulling the order for this job so we could get it there early.

I was having none of it and unleashed right back on him.  I hadn't talked to him like that before, but he has pulled this on me a couple of times in the past, I was in no mood to listen to a man in love with the sound of his own voice sitting there attempting to blame me for a situation that would have happened to anyone, including this salesman.  It's not like there was a sign on these adapters:  STAINLESS STEEL BOLTS MUS T BE SHIPPED WITH THESE ADAPTERS.  The bolts were in an entirely different pallet.  The entire yard is in chaos right now, trying to find anything is a chore.  I ended up hanging up on him.  I wasn't going to listen to it and he wasn't going to shut up, I just clicked the button and was done with it.

He called my manager.  I know this because I got back to the yard not long after that and my manager was flipping out on this salesman, lol.  He was already extremely unhappy about the way the move was going, this salesman?  Picked the wrong person to start a fight with.  He also unleashed on him and let him have it.  The point?  A situation that the salesman could have averted if he would have let us know about these bolts.  But since he didn't know, either, there was NO WAY to avoid this situation with the circumstances going on in our yard! lol  I have determined to not take any crap from this guy ever again.

Weekend is almost here.......................thank God.  I am ready to do nothing.  I know that will never happen, but it is a nice dream.  I have a lot to do around the house, projects never go away, they just sit there until you do them.  Well, I haven't had time to do anything further with the front yard, though I think this weekend I will make the time unless something comes up.

BTW, I think Cain is screwed.  I actually kinda like the guy, but he will never become the President of the US with the laundry list that is coming out against him. Even if untrue, the accusations are enough in themselves.  It's interesting to remember what Clinton did............"I never had sexual relations with that woman"...........which we all know turned out to be a complete and total lie.  I dislike Romney greatly and don't want him as president as much as I don't want Obama going another 4 years.  I'm not exactly in love with Perry anymore, either, that guy almost seems like a nutcase.  Doesn't leave much on the table, does it?  ROFL!!!

G'day.

ben

12/01/2011 Toasted

I'm toasted.  Fried to a fine crisp. The last 3 days of work have been completely exhausting.  I have muscle aches in places I haven't had those kinds of aches in years.  I'm definitely dragging this morning - a couple more hours of sleep would have helped.  I think an ibuprofen would help as well.  Today looks to be - perhaps - a bit less excoriating.  Okay, my flesh hasn't been ripped off my body, but the feeling is there.  I will be quite happy when this move is completely done and over with and we are back on a regular schedule.

Our branch - manned by all of 2 people, my manager and I - did almost 600k worth of sales last month/November. Found that out when leaving work last night.  That is a lot of product being sent out by 2 people, trust me, it is.  This month actually looks to be going in the same direction - which is odd for being a December.  One of the inside salesmen came out of the main branch yesterday while I was loading the truck outside and apologized in advance.  "I'm sorry, Ben, but in the next coming days, there is going to be a LOT of material going out to (name of construction company here) and you are going to be going there a lot).  Yes, there is half a yard's worth of materials sitting there just for that project alone.  But I can say it is the new Intel plant being built.  That giant crane is amazing to watch.  It is lifting 500,000 pound trusses to set them in to place.  The crane is operating at 92% of it's capacity.  Which is a scary thought in itself.  Meaning what, that the thing could topple over if those trusses weighed only a bit more?

Well anyway, I hope to get off a bit earlier today so I can go visit the new trailer setup at the RV park.  But first, I will have to stop by and get those satellite dishes before that guy sells them to someone else.

Then there's all the stuff in the news - but I just can't seem to wrap my brain around that situation right now.  But, there are some truly evil people wandering around out there - right now - looking to do harm for no more reason than to steal your money or jealousy or just because they like to hurt people.  The stories are endless, seemingly.  I just read another one that just left me in a state of bewilderment. How do these people turn out this way to end up doing the things that they are doing?

I'm not going to sit here and say that I think it was a waste of money to go to a firearms store and arm myself is all I can say about that.

G'day.

ben

Crazy Days

We are still in the middle of this move - at work that is.  Everything has been moved out of the old building as of today, but there is a huge mess at the new place. There is material all over the place, none of it has been "located" and very difficult to find anything.

Regardless, I worked 11 hours and 15 minutes today, straight through, non-stop, grinding all day long.  Drive here, deliver that, pick this up, downtown to main branch and pull all kinds of transfers for orders. When I finally got back to the new building, there were 2 orders to pull that had to be pulled today and put on the truck today for early delivery tomorrow.  I mean, I went to work this morning in the dark and it was dark when I left work!

Lol.

The trailer was moved today, though I missed the whole episode.  I did not have time to go over and see the setup, it was simply too late and I am already past my bedtime as it is.  I also got a call from Caleb, he is leaving for Florida with his mom for a 9-day vacation, I was a bit unhappy that I didn't get to give him a big hug before he left.   Oh well.

Whatever.  I'm exhausted and I'm going to bed.

G'nite.

ben

11/30/2011

Almost into December.  Crazy.

The "Big Day" is here.  Moving Mark and Lynnette off the property.  Guy with 5th wheel truck supposed to show up between 3 and 4 pm.  I still have a couple of things to do after work and before the move - but unless I get off really late, I should be able to get those things done in time.

Namely, a person with not 1, not 2, but 5 Direct TV dishes for sale, selling all of them for $30.  I need 2, will try to sell the other 3 and lose nothing in that deal.

And duplicate keys.  Back door: door handle and deadbolt.  5 sets of keys for that.

Considering replacing the surveillance system since the current one is non-functional.

This little situation with them moving out - well I just don't know what's going to happen.  The theft around here stopped when they moved in and I told them they have full authority to stop anyone and ask them what they are doing - people that don't live there, that is and what the bleep are they doing on the property.  It all stopped at that point.  Them moving out?  I dunno.  There isn't going to always be someone here, though pretty much most of the time there will be.

But, if those tenants that are here don't pay attention to what's going on outside of their room - which they do not - a thief could walk right in here and help himself.  So, the new rule

Well, I remembered I needed to write up a notice - and that took up most of the time left before needing to leave for work.  Another long day in store for me, I am pretty sure of that.

G'day.

ben

The 5th Wheel Travel Trailer Move

Coming soon, to a theatre near you.  Ummm, try tomorrow and coming to my property, a pick up truck with a 5th wheel to move the trailer from here to the RV park.  This little deal has put me back some what with having to pay the lot rent up front, an electric deposit, moving the trailer and fixing some things on the trailer.

However, Lynnette has promised to pay me back - which I don't doubt that she desires to do so but seriously doubt she will ever be able to pay all that back plus afford her monthly expenses so if I get, say, half of it back I will be happy.  She says she landed a job today and that it starts sometime next week.  I hope that's true, that would definitely help her a long ways towards her immediate issue:  a serious lack of sufficient finances to pay for the basics in life.  We're not talking satellite and internet and a home phone, we're talking a place to live and food to put in your mouth and eat.  Whatever the case, the expenses are all but over on my part of it.  Which is a good thing because I really don't want this to tap me out.  I still have to pay - eventually - $300 to have my trailer moved up north plus the rest of what I need to buy for it.

But, I am in no great hurry to do that, my finances will inch back up there.  I have a couple of Christmas presents to buy and regular monthly expenses, but if tenants continue to pay me on time or close to it, I will be in the black on monthly expenses, not the red and that will help me get ahead.  Not to mention the fact that my monthly electric bill has gone from around $400 and change to less than $200 - well, probably around $150 per month and should stay that way until the AC will need to be turned on again next year.  The subsequent lack of intense, external heat also has reduced my water usage on the plants signficantly and that bill has been cut more then in half.  So, less monthly expenses and all tenants paying equals more money coming in than going out - excepting in this situation with this trailer.

I am also thinking of switching to Cox cable version of internet.  They have deals going an the price is right.  If I can get 12 months of lower price on a 2 year contract and at least reduced amount on a modem/router setup, I am going to do it.  It will save me money in the long run.  I could, of course, lower the amount of bandwidth I get from my current provider - but that isn't going to work.

I was driving - in the pickup truck not the semi - today the back roads through the Indian Reservation to get to Casa Grande.  This route facilitated by the fact that I had made  a delivery out east and the fastest way there were the 2 lane highways I took to get there.  I pulled out the computer and the router to see what kind of coverage I would get in the middle of Nothing, Nowhere and found that I had coverage the ENTIRE route.  The only sticking point is this issue of 4G and 3G network. I was on 3G network during most of the Indian Reservation and all of Casa Grande, too, which I thought surprising, I would have thought Verizon to have 4G network there.  3G network is slower, that's all.

The switch from 4G to 3G is not seamless. Meaning loss of internet connection while it's transitioning, but, the  computer picks up where it left off, reconnects itself and if I simply wait it out, there is nothing that I actually have to do.  Overall and so far, I am happy with the coverage and the service.  I am not happy that the computer battery runs out in less than 2 hours instead of the 4-1/2 it claimed on the box, so I will be looking to find a car charger for it and the router as well - though I have no idea how long the router battery lasts, it hasn't run out yet while using it, the computer runs out first.

As for the new fan motor for the roof AC unit on my trailer, what  a load of garbage.  The guy calls a couple of days after I pay for it and tells me there is an "issue" they have with the vendor and won't be able to do it that way.  He magically found the part at another Camping World location somewhere else in the country and since it's so far away and this that and that other thing, I will still have to pay the shipping fee which I already prepaid.  The man allegedly talked to his manager about this.  All of this information was offered by him, I asked nothing, he called me actually and went into this spiel.

Well I happen to work for a company that has inter-company shipments.  "Full Freight Allowed" is the name of that game, that Camping World location where I am getting this part from isn't paying ANYTHING for that shipping if it's anywhere near the same setup my company has.  I was paying for UPS to ship it from a vendor.  I said nothing to him, just please get the part here whenever you can, thank you.  That's all I said, honestly.  What I didn't say is that I will be taking up this shipping charge when the item arrives and I come in to pick it up.  They are GOING to give me that shipping money back or they are going to give me a very good percentage off of something else I need or they are going to issue me an in-store credit - anyway about it, I am going to get something out of this, especially since they are the ones that screwed up with vendor of theirs.

I am well aware of what goes on with shipping and receiving problems, I have to deal with that stuff quite frequently at my company.  Either I have to deal with it or I see everything that is going on with problems that I am not directly dealing with.  Why they suddenly could not deal with that particular vendor, I have no idea.  I could guess, though.  The point is that they are dumping this all on me.  In BenB's world, that simply doesn't happen. I will get something out of it, especially since the price of that motor was quite inflated to begin with.

Well, anyways, that's it for now.  More going on, but, this entry will go on forever if I delve into everything.  Tomorrow is going to be an unbelievably long day with work and getting that trailer moved and making sure that everything is good to go.

The only thing to do?

Go to bed early, yet again.  And that's my version of early, we're talking 7:30, maybe 8:00.

G'nite.

ben

Tuesday 11/29/2011

Just got an email from dad. I mentioned I had some time off at Christmas and that I could come down for a visit on the days of the week before.  He's hoping Caleb can come, too - which I can't guarantee but I'm gonna try.

Cyber Monday.  I was going to get online and start going through the stores yesterday - I did go to a few sites, but I was so tired a very long, grinding day at work that I didn't have the energy for it.  In fact, around 7 last night I fell asleep sitting here on the computer chair.  I need a microwave for that trailer, no big rush on it and I'm sure more good deals will come before Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, almost time to set up Christmas lights.  A bit busy this week, though, with all that's going on at work and tomorrow moving that trailer to the trailer park.  Plus the projects going on around the house.  Plus this that and the other thing. Caleb wants a computer desk for Christmas, a small one for his room plus a chair like I have for my computer - it's very comfortable, I scored it for $20, it's about a $150 chair.  He isn't getting one as good as mine unless he would be okay with a used one.

Umm, but I just remembered I need a sat dish for both trailers, so I just put out a bunch of offers on Craigslist for them.  They all want $40 and $50 for a regular dish, not an HD dish.  Bunk.  I offered half that and hope one of them bites.  I don't need the second one right away, but I need the one for the trailer being moved to the park by - tomorrow actually.  Lol.

Gag. I hope not to got off so late from work today, I really have plenty on my plate.  Gotta get a lot done before they are gone tomorrow.  Well, not a lot lot, but enough to consume an afternoon.

Anyway, almost time to leave for work.

G'day.

ben

Network

I was down in AZ City today.  I had to wait for a while for the contractor to even think about stopping what they were doing and get to my truck to unload it - so - I pulled out the Verizon router/modem and the computer and fired it all up.  I could not get 4G network in Arizona City, AZ, but no great surprise considering it's a hole in the earth out in the middle of nowhere.  I was able to get 3G on the router and able to get on the internet.  Slower than the 4G network, apparently and considerably slower speed, the internet was still function anyway.

I was happy to have any coverage and tried several of the things I normally do on line  and it all worked, just took longer to download the pages and get on the sites.  I'm sorta half expecting 3G coverage up on my mom's property. I would rather have 4G, of course, but I do wonder if that will be available up there and my gut feeling is: no.  Not the end of the world, as long as I have coverage, it might be a wee bit irritating at times on longer loading times, but I will be happy to have any kind of coverage that works well enough to do what I want to do.

LONG day at work.  Almost 11 hours.  Management is moving our store today;  They were trying to move the store, I should say.  They rented a semi and  -  it broke down after the first load, lol.  So, I get a call at - 1:00pm or so, get back there as fast as I can. Yup, but I am waiting for these people to unload the truck.  I got back and - found a trailer loaded on the street.  That was the beginning of hours of unending, unstopping work.

Which means I got absolutely nothing else done today that I was expecting to get done after work.  Gag.

It also means I am worn out.  I have no energy, ending this one and going to go to bed early tonight.

ben

Monday 11/28/2011

Today starts the day that management is going to move our branch from the old/current location to the new one. It will be nice to get into a nice building with new fixtures and everything fresh.  The building we're in now has old, stained and smelly carpet.  It has all kinds of problems and the walls aren't even tight.  I have to work out of the main branch downtown is the only drawback, at least for me.  No biggies, it will be worth the trouble in the end.

Mentally preparing myself for the departure of the trailer tenants on Wednesday.  The idea of my home security protection plan - them - being gone is a bit unsettling, especially in this neighborhood.  It will be good if one of the rooms in my house opens up - like soon as far as I'm concerned, but I am not dropping any hints with any of the current tenants. I have the feeling that one particular person is going to be leaving soon enough, anyway.  No guarantees on that, you just start to get a feel for it over time, non-verbal clues that simply add up over time and you wonder, hmmm, is that person thinking about leaving?

Nothing else new. The Michigan neighbor has brought even more junk and piled it up on his property.  What is WITH these people and all that junk?  Is it going to magically come to life and help them in some way?  It just sits there collecting dust; scorpions and black widows, junkifying the neighborhood.  I have decided that, since they started all of this trouble with me, I am going to make it especially difficult for them to continue living in trashy conditions in this neighborhood.  But, someone else is beating me to it and turned a bunch of junk on his property is a code violation.  Again, lol.  It was done anonymously so I assume he figures I did it since I did not do it anonymously on the other properties.  I haven't had to turn anything in on his, someone is continually calling the City and reporting his violations.  If he keeps it up, he is going to be getting a ticket as well.

Well enough of that. I don't see these people at this point that much.  I have the trailers on the side of my property that blots the view out of the 2 to the west of me.  I only have a fence that tries to blot out the view of the junk in the yards behind me, but it doesn't quite do it that well.

Whatever the case, I must be off to work.

G'day.

ben

Sunday 11/27/2011 Let's Go Shooting

I have never been to an indoor shooting range.
Having said that, there was a bit of trepidation about going in there -you could hear
the muffled sounds of guns going off from outside the building when someone opened the
front door.
Well, they asked what kind of guns we had: S&W 40 cal; a .22 rifle; a Beretta and a 12
gauge shotgun.  They gave me a bit of a look when I mentioned the 12 gauge shotgun.

The guy had to go ask the Range Officer, they call him, if that was allowable.  Yes - but
only certain kind of shells allowable, namely buckshot.  I had 4 boxes of shells, one of them
was buckshot so that was good enough.  I had no intention of firing off too many rounds out
of it, just wanted to get a feel for what a 12 gauge shotgun is like firing it off.

Got in there and Caleb started first, firing off the .22 rifle.  It's an old, antique looking thing but
in excellent condition.  It made a plip sound coming out of the barrel, not very loud, almost like a
glorified pellet rifle going off.

With some apprehension, I got the .40 cal ready to fire after Caleb did a couple of 5 round clips
on the .22.  I had only shot the .40 off once, very loud and very powerful handgun.  I shot off a
clip full and got past the jittery stage on it.  I fired about 50 rounds through it altogether and just
before we were about to leave, I talked Caleb into firing it.

We tried to shoot the Beretta, but it didn't work correctly. Well, I put that gun down, that can wait.
I pulled out the 12 gauge - mean looking thing - loaded it with 5 shells, did the infamous "click-click"
sound it makes when you are pulling the handle back to load a shell into the chamber, put the stock
up to my shoulder .........and stood there for a second.  This is a very powerful weapon and I had some
trepidation about pulling the trigger.

I finally just did it.  Aimed it in the "general" direction of the paper target and pulled the trigger. KABLAAAAAAAAAAM!!!!! I had always wanted to do the "general direction" thing with a 12 gauge and see what comes of it.

Caleb was standing at the back wall and started cracking up.  I was shocked.  I had ear plugs in and ear muffs over that and it was still VERY loud.  I had no idea that the firing of that gun had also shocked everyone else in the other booths and that the sound of it going off was much louder than anything they are normally accustomed to hearing inside the store itself.  Hey, they gave me permission, I had never fired it and I wanted to give her a go.  I fired the rest of the shells in it and loaded another 5 into it.

Fired those off and then the Range Officer stopped by and helped us with the Beretta.  He said the clip in it wasn't working correctly.  He pulled that one out and put the other one in and it fired off just fine.

I then shot off the other 5 of those shotgun shells, reloaded the magazines for the .40 cal again and shot all that off and yes, there is a lot of smoke going out in that place!

We decided we had had enough of it.  I hadn't shot off guns like that in - literally - decades.  We used to go out target practicing in the desert when I was much younger. But I never owned a gun and never had the time or the desire to own one in the years following - not to mention the money to buy them - and only in the last year or two had I considered buying a couple of firearms.

We got into mom's pickup and that's when Caleb told me that the guy in the booth to the right of us had jumped back when that 12 gauge went off the first time.  You can't see what others are doing in the booths next to you unless you step out of the one you are in. I dunno, was I supposed to warn everyone that a very loud shotgun was about to be fired?  The Range Officer didn't care, he's the boss in there, so that was all that mattered to me.  I gathered when we went out of the shooting range and back into the store that people don't normally bring 12 gauge shotguns to that range to shoot off.  I was also warned when I went in there to "make sure you hit the target".  Yes, I hit the target on the first shot and blew a huge hole right in the middle of it.  I hit the target every time, in fact, and tore that sheet up!  We brought the 2 sheets that we were firing at home as memento's of basically the first time I have fired a gun off in about - 28 years or so besides the one round I let off at mom's property not too long ago.  I didn't do too bad with the .40 cal after I got the hang of it.  I was either hitting center mass or just below and to the right of it, but I was hitting the target.  

Well, Caleb was still laughing at the reaction to that guy, which must have been a Kodak moment that I completely missed and honestly never thought about the reactions of anyone else in there when I pulled the trigger on that thing. I was more interested in making sure the thing wasn't going to harm me in some way with some terrible kick-back.  It did not have that much of one, I mean yes it was there, but nothing like I had imagined before firing it.  I figured at the time it wasn't making that much more noise than some of the very high powered guns that were being shot off in there, but Caleb thought much differently, having a different perspective in standing back at the wall and listening to all of them going off.  He decided that the 12-gauge as much louder than any weapon that had been fired in there the entire time we were in there.

I'll take his word for it.  I tried to talk him into shooting it at least once, but he decided it was too much power for him and he didn't want anything to do with it.  Yes, well the kick back on that shotgun wasn't near as bad as the kick back on the .40 cal gun which he did shoot.

Anyway, while we were driving from mom's house to the shooting range, I was sitting in the back seat of her pickup with my new Verizon router on and seeing how well the internet worked while driving around - way out west.  Not a hiccup. I was able to do whatever I normally do on any computer, on the internet.  We got back to mom's house and I fired it up again.  Worked perfectly.  I'm getting much more comfortable now with the decision to sign a contract on that service than I was at the beginning in not knowing anything about how well it was going to work.  I am  curious if they make car cigarette power hookups for both the computer and the router - I would have to believe they do since they are both running on batteries.  In looking at Verizon's coverage map, most areas I normally go to - and sometimes have to wait for extended periods - are covered. Even though the map shows my mom's property up north having coverage, I won't really know until I go up there.  The nagging question is going to mess with me and probably cause me to want to take a trip up there just for the purpose of going onto her property, sitting where the trailer will be parked and seeing what happens.

Meanwhile, I am on the hunt for a Direct TV satellite dish and a receiver.  Used, that is, and cheap, preferrably.  Mother used to have Direct TV but then claimed it was too expensive and switched to Dish Network.  Dish Network simply doesn't have what Direct TV has and it's an inferior service.  So, I will have a dish and a receiver up there, only need have to take a card from one of the receivers at home when I am going up there, don't feel the need to pay yet another $6 per month for and additional receiver, which is what each additional card beyond the first one costs.  Nice money making scam.  They all do it.  Oops  - and need  yet another dish for the trailer at the RV park.  Guess I better get on Craigslist and get to dish hunting.

Hmm, the trailer is being moved on Wednesday afternoon.  I need to get the doors and key situation nailed down here as well before then.  This place is going to be locked up when I am not at home and I am going to write up a notice about it and give it to the tenants.  Even if they ARE here I want the doors locked.  They do not pay attention to anything going on in the main portions of the house, a thief could easily just walk in and help himself.  It is hardly an inconvenience to lock doors, it's a bit more of a pain to have to use a key to open them, but that's pretty much normal, every-day life in the big city.

Well enough. I took a Sunday afternoon nap and now headed outside to do a bit more landscaping work.

Happy Sunday.

ben

Confession

Not a grand confession, but one that I must air out.
I have done so about this issue a few times here, gonna go there again.

I sometimes get extremely irritated, annoyed and aggravated with people in my home.
This has nothing to do with whatever they are doing, either.  That is another issue
entirely.

No, there are times when I just want to be alone.  I don't want people walking through
here, even if they aren't saying a word to me at all. I don't actually tell them my
annoyance, I just am, internally, fuming greatly.

Yes, this is my choice to have all these people in here - it's that or leave the house
and have to find a new place to live.  Yet another mind battle that has consumed me
for some time now. 

But there are times when I am, at least internally, extremey agitated with the amount of
traffic going through here.  If I'm in the house, I want to be on my computer, which is
located in the kitchen. It is hard-wired to the modem and I am not going to change that.

The situation will change a bit now.  I am typing this off of my new laptop and this keyboard
is much easier to use than other laptops I have used in the past.  I am getting used to it and
could do this indefinitely off of here versus having to do it off of the "main" computer. 

Meaning, when this irritation hits me, I can just head to my bedroom.  If I want on a
computer, the laptop is connected to my wifi.  I think a major source of internal agitation
in my life may very well be abated.  I like the internet - many people do - it has become
the norm for a large percentage of the population.  Not that I don't get up and go do something
else, I am not going to become beholden to these things, but it's the way things get done in
these days and anyone that doesn't want to accept that - well - good luck.  I grew up without
computers and didn't get a real taste of them until in my late 20's. You?

No, nothing will take the place of the great outdoors in my life, even if it's only here, at
my house, working on my landscaping.  I am hopeful next year will bring a new chapter in
making trips up north to mom's property. But then again, I will not be spending ALL of
my time hiking in the mountains, I will still want to get on the internet. 

To that cause, I will be making a trip up there soon.  I will get up to my mom's property and
I will have this computer and the router and I will see what, if any, kind of access I have to
the internet up there.  There have been many things that have confronted me with this idea of
going up there on weekends and getting away from the Phoenix area, which, admittedly, I
do not like. I quite dislike living here.  "Why would you live in an area you don't like?".
Great question, but it would take a small book to write about, at least for me, so I am not
going there right now.

But let me tell you something: the idea of going up to the mountains, taking all the dogs with me and
traipsing about in the woods is extremely appealing to me.  The dogs will love it and so will I. 
There is a connection with God, amongst other benefits up there, in the wilderness, away from
people that is not to be found "down here". 

Umm, well anyway.  It's time to go to bed.  The shooting range tomorrow morning should be
fun. 

G'nite.

ben

Saturday 11/26/2011

Now it's going to eat at me until I drive up there and find out whether it works or not.
I'm referring to Verizon Wirless, the mobile broadband service I just signed up for with them and
whether that mobile broadband is going to work at my mother's property.  I looked again at another
coverage map and it has the entire area covered in red, meaning it does, allegedly, have coverage
up there.

Well I ain't going up there this weekend. I am going back to mom's again tomorrow - her Sun City
property, not her mountain property.  A trip  up there will have to wait.  If it works around town -
which it better - that will at least be something.  Instead, I am heading to Tempe Firearms and getting a case for my 12 gauge shotgun, something I should have a while back.

__________________________________

Another long interlude.  Lynnette came in and I told her it's time to go and get this taken care of.  That being getting the space locked down for the trailer.  I don't want to do it, she doesn't want to leave, I can't help that right now.  Again, I think it would be extremely lame and pathetic to give someone else a 30 day notice to move out for this reason. I can think of many OTHER reasons I would give such a notice, but not for this and I couldn't, in good conscience, do that.

Besides, the lot rent over there is not that much more than what they are paying to live here.  I was charging them enough cover utilities, but they decided they would pay more, apparently to make me happy, though I never complained.  I actually didn't want to take the money from them, but they insisted and for a while now, they have been paying more than what the electricity and water usage costs to have them here.  The problem is that the lot rent does not include electricity over there.  It probably won't be the much, but every penny counts when you are in the position that they are.

The place?  Illegal alien town.  The man that owns and runs the place is an older, very nice gentleman, we talked for about 45 minutes.  There were no back ground checks -how could there be with all the illegals living there - and the only thing he required was the lot rent and a deposit for electricity.  Very, very old trailers in there.  I mean, we're talking 40 years old.  Small.  Mostly dirt lots.  Some had them nicely landscaped, though.  Obviously the man doesn't require landscaping, but some took enough pride to really have a nice looking place - most did not.  My 5th wheel will be one of the newest units in there, considering it's a 1987 model, that isn't really saying much.  Lynnette doesn't want to leave, Mark is all gung-ho, let's get this over with and get moved.

I'm with Mark. I can't afford nor do I want a lawsuit from the City of Phoenix or even worse, some sort of criminal charges.  They can levy a huge fine and create a low level misdemeanor for not dealing with this issue by the date they say I have to "fix" the problem.  I'm not willing to push the limits here, the potential outcomes are not appealing in any way, shape or form.  They understand this, at the least.  So, I paid the lot rent and the deposit and got that over with.  She will repay me by the week, as is the case currently.  She started crying this morning, telling me: "I have something to tell you".  I won't go into the details, just to say it was extreme thankfulness for helping them out. Yes, well, they are good people in a bad situation.  They have problems, but don't we all.  The Bible tells us to do good whenever we can.

This is my operations manual for life: the Bible.  I am not saying I am adept at following it to the nth degree, but I am trying my best.  They have a place to live and that trailer is actually pretty nice inside. It needs new wallpaper, also, but other than that, it's not in bad condition and almost everything works in it.  It has no leaks in the roof, either, it hasn't since I bought it.  Unlike the one I am going to put up on mom's property, gag.  I don't much care being told something about a thing I am buying and come to find out it isn't quite what the person claims it is.  But, the fixes aren't all that bad, I am waiting for the new parts for the AC to arrive - another thing that allegedly worked - and then I will get up there and go to town on that roof.  What's more important, at least to me, is that they LIKE living in that thing.  They can get away from each other as well.  She goes up in the loft and reads a book in bed and he stays at the rear of the thing and watches TV when they need separation time.  We ALL need that from time to time, I don't care how much you are in love with a mate, if you are living with one!

So that's done.  I took them to my newly found and favorite Chinese buffet restaurant and we all 3 got take out.  I went to the gun store next door - they don't sell cases for guns.  Bunk.  I stopped at another gun store on the way home, they sell the case I needed and it was pretty cheap price but looked good at $17.  Bought some .22 ammo for that old rifle my brother bought for Caleb a long time ago.  I will be taking an old .22 rifle; a 12-gauge shotgun and a Smith & Wesson .40 caliber SW40VE Sigma to the range tomorrow morning.  Mom will be taking her Beretta and some other gun, a 9mm I believe. I have 150 target rounds for the .40 cal, so I will be doing some shooting with that thing to get a feel for it.  The first and only time I shot it - without hearing protection - was literally a shocking experience with the noise level SO high, that won't be happening again.  Well, if it does, that means I am firing it off for self-protection in my home, a thing I hope never has to happen.

Changing the subject, I am running my new laptop off of my Verizon mobile broadband right now. Not on this application, I am using my desktop writing this, I have it running on the kitchen table next to me, though I set the router up high so it could get a better reception.  It is running Cafe World - an online game that uses a LOT of bandwidth, I believe, it certainly taps it out, but it is running the game.  I just wanted to see if it would run the game is all.  It does, though it takes a while for it to load it.  Once it's going, though, it's running as well as my home computer.  The game's use of computer resources sucks the battery dry pretty quickly, though.  Both on the laptop and the router.  No biggies, my intended use will be near electrical outlets where both can be plugged in.

Not wanting to get into another Michael/Anthony situation, I had to lay down the law today.  There is a neighborhood kid - 14 years old - that comes over here frequently to walk 1 or more of my dogs for a few bucks.  I don't mind give a couple of dollars if a kid doesn't mind doing it that cheap.  What can  I say, I just don't want to fork out "real" money to have the dogs walked.  Anyway, him and one of his younger brothers are sitting there, outside on the pond side of my house, playing with each other and I go out there to make sure they aren't destroying anything.  At least they are respectful kids if nothing else.  They're sitting there, looking at me asking if they can move in! ROFL!!  No, was the immediate reply, you cannot, you have a home, you have a room, be happy with what you got.  I understand - they are living in an impoverished house-hold.  They have next-to-nothing.  But, they have a roof over their heads and they have parents that love them and feed them. If  you have nothing else as a kid, you have plenty with just that.

I should know, I grew up in just such conditions. My parents were very poor when I was a kid in Pittsburgh and we lived in what would be considered to be the ghetto.  My parents struggled to get food on the table and they struggled to pay bills - just regular electric and water.  Cable/satellite didn't even exist then.  Funny what we consider "necessities" now that weren't even invented back in the day, such as cell phones.  I never thought for one second, however, that I should want to move in with the "richer" people on the block.  On my street, I am considered rich by the kids.  20 miles north of me, I would be considered a street bum when comparing finances (Paradise Valley; Scottsdale areas).

So, I don't really get when kids start talking like that.  I do get that I will never allow that to happen again, I went through enough hell with that other family, I need not force myself through that again. Instead, I send food home with the kid here and there.  He gets money for walking the dogs- not much but I believe he hands that over to his parents.  I have more sympathy for a person - whether a kid or an adult - if they are not doing drugs, not stealing and not giving into the rather evil ways of this world.  Or attempting to make excuses to engage in such simply because they are poor.  There are a lot of poor people in this world that still have morals and values, as good as anyone's regardless of economic status.

In the eyes of God, we are all equals, which is nice to know.  God is "no respector of persons", the Bible says.  We are all just men and women and children, He loves us all equally.  The next question then, was: "Well can we hang out over here whenever we want?", pleading eyes and all.  Again, I am not getting involved in another family's problems such as I did with that last group of people.  I can help them, yes, but I don't have to go beyond that.  Okay, there is a qualifier here: the father is a drunk.  He loves his kids, but when he's drunk, he's violent.  I don't know if he beats on those kids or what.  They are always talking about their drunk father and his mal intentions.

Whatever.  Life never stops, I'll say that much.  You get past one thing and something else pops up.  I don't think that ever goes away, to be honest.  I think this is what life IS about, going through all this stuff and becoming the person you are - more importantly, the choices you make and how they will be judged at the end.  No clue.  Deal with this situation as it evolves. I have yet to actually meet the parents - though they don't speak English.  I see them and wave here and there, they live all of 3 houses down from me.  A single-wide, old mobile-home with a lot of people living in it.

Here's what's really getting to me right now: Mark and Lynnette leaving.  Not that I will miss them greatly, I can stop by on the way home whenever and visit with them.  No, that they won't be here when I'm at work to basically protect my property.  This is what most people would consider a bad neighborhood in terms of thieves.  Lots and lots of thieves.  Young and old alike. So, I am going to have to go get duplicates made for the back door lock and get those in the hands of the tenants and insist that they lock the door behind them every time they leave unless I am home.  Well, it's certainly not abnormal to lock your doors when you leave, yes?

Life is going to change a bit around here, I do believe.

G'day.

ben

Black Friday 2

Umm, the trip to Walmart this morning for a case for my new laptop came up with nothing.  They only had them big enough to carry up to 16 inches, mine is 17.3 inches.  I did buy a large pack of 40S&W practice ammo, though, for Sunday's adventure to Shooter's World and doing some target practice.  Like 100 rounds worth.

The place wasn't empty, but the good deals were basically gone.  Which I expected, especially those 42 inch TV's that you probably won't find at that kind of price - ever again, but who knows.  I didn't buy one last night, I have enough TV's and I have other things I need to do such as finishing the trailer and the $300 it's going to cost to have it moved up north.  Though I can say the most expensive part of the trailer is paid for, albeit I don't have the parts yet: those needed to fix the AC unit on the roof.  Well anyway, Walmart this morning was basically as full as it normally would be.

Fry's Electronics.  I went back there for the carrying case.  I can't not have one for a brand new laptop and I wasn't going to wait.  They had a whole row of the things, found one at a price I liked and............happened to walk past the Verizon Wireless display. I was looking and wondering, hmmmm, should I go ahead and do this now?  I hardly use the Cricket phone at all, that can go bye-bye and that monthly money go to mobile broadband.  Of course, handy-dandy broadband man shows up immediately and asks if he could help me  Well, yes you can.  What is the cost? Same as advertised everywhere: 5 g's for $50 monthly.  Is there a contract? Yes.  Why?  For the service.  That doesn't really help me, I can pay for service on other companies without any contracts.  If it's just the service, then there is no motivation to do anything.  Oh, but you get this nice router.

$299 listed price.  Of course, that price is h ighly inflated of this I have no doubts.  But it is a remarkable little thing.  It's slightly larger than a credit card and maybe half a dime thick if that.  It picks up the signal and sends it to your laptop - and anyone else around you that you are willing to "give" it to - but it has a built in password, which is a good thing.  No-one can just steal the signal.  In other words, this little contraption can serve internet access to multiple devices.

How much if I go over 5 g's in one month?  $10 per g. Same as everywhere, just wanted to be sure I wasn't going to get slapped with some higher fee.  What about credit?  Are you going to run a credit check?  Yes, but it's a "soft" hit and won't affect your credit score.  I'm thinking, my credit isn't all that great.  Well what kind of deposit am I going to have to give if my credit isn't good enough?  Anywhere from $50 to $300. Well, this isn't a phone and I am not about to slap down $300 for a deposit, but I came to the conclusion that I was willing to try and see what happens.

Well, my credit apparently has risen up even higher than I had remembered the last time I looked because it "passed" and I didn't have to put anything down.  It's a done deal.  When the Cricket service runs out, it will not be renewed - but I will call them and cancel it anyway to make sure they aren't going to try and hit me with surprise charges.

Done with that, I came home and was about to go take a nap.  Caleb comes out and asks if I can drop the car insurance for him.  I'm not surprised - work isn't giving him much hours.  Plus having to put fuel in the car, I imagine if I went and checked that car right now, it would be on empty.  I had half a mind yesterday to go fill it up for him knowing his predicament, but I got busy with other stuff and spaced it out.  Short interlude, went up and filled the car up.  Also decided to let it go on the rest of the insurance he owes for this month.  He's thinking he will be able to buy a bicycle and get around like that.  All well and fine, but I have news for him and anyone else that thinks that living in the sprawling expanse that is known as the Phoenix Metro area:  good luck.

I'm going to have to re-think my stance on this issue with the car and who is going to make the insurance payments on it.  I'm a parent who wants his kid around as much as possible.  He's my only kid.  I think it would be good for him to go look for a new job.  He's been working for over a year now and he has good references, I'm thinking maybe another grocery chain might give him more hours if he can get his foot through the door. That's my thinking, not necessarily his.  But if he's going off to college and attempting to work and doing his Muay Thai thing, he's going to need wheels to get around and bicycle wheels are all well and fine, but the distances are too far and the time consumed is also going to be too much.  I don't think he's quite figured that out yet.  He's trying to lose weight, definitely riding a bike is an excellent way to do that, perhaps he could consider riding a bicycle and mixing in the car with it to be able to get to places he needs to be on time.

It is also the first time I have driven the car in quite a while and it is purring like a kitten.  It should be, I have dumped enough money into the thing.  But, I think I will get him a bike for Christmas - he hasn't asked me for one but I am going to offer to get him one anyway - and then we'll sit down and discuss finances.  It's hard to make a budget when your hours are being jacked around like his is.  30 something hours one week, 6 the next.  I don't get that grocery chain doing that to their employees.  It goes back and forth like that.  He's got 6 hours this week, then off 9 days for this trip to Florida.  I have my thoughts about that, but I'll keep that to myself at this point.

So another interlude.  Decided to go out and play in the dirt, doing more of the landscaping project and getting more of that done.  Huge construction project going on just down the street.  A very large, vacant lot that has never been developed?  Is now being developed.  No idea what they are building there.  It's facing a major street so no biggies - but I am not a fan of the constant beeping noise of heavy machinery when it is put into reverse.  Or in the case of many trackhoes/excavators, the beeping goes off no matter what direction it is going in.

Whatever. Unexpected 4-day weekend about half over.  Monday?  Allegedly working out of the main branch - but the semi is at my branch and is partially loaded.  Lol.  Whatever the case, it will be an interesting week at work.  Which is nice that - it's over 2 days away from now, lol.

G'nite.

ben

11/25/2011 Black Friday

So here it is, typing off of my new laptop computer.
Actually, I think it's a notebook.
Unbelievable last night and very thankful for the Plan, without it, this would not have worked.
That's because I opted to go to Fry's Electronics and to send Caleb to Walmart.
Well, the line at Fry's was at least 1,000 people long and stretched all the way around the huge building that it occupies.  Caleb, on the other hand, got in line for the
TV I wanted at Walmart and told me he would go to the computers afterward.
Well he was number 6 in line for the TV's which virtually guaranteed he was getting one of those, then he saw the $19 HP printers sitting almost right next to the TV's, so he hopped in that line, grabbed one of those and then headed for the computer line. 
He called and said the computer line was too long and he might not be able to get one.  I asked him the price, he was in the line for the $200 plus computer, a computer I most definitely did NOT want. I saw that thing on th ads and it is a piece of junk. I told him he was in the wrong line and see if he could find the computers that were in the $300 range.
He calls back several minutes later and said he found the $388 computer and there was no line at all. I figured as much, people were there for the cheap junk as usual,not wanting to spend a bit more for a killer machine. 
Well, I was in another line at Fry's by that point and was undecided.  I could wait in the 300 plus people line for the laptops there and hope for the best  or go with the one Caleb had.  I asked Caleb to read off the things his computer had on it.
What he read off indicated to me that he had the wrong computer again.  The computer he had was the one that was listed at almost $500  on the ad.  Caleb insisted that he had asked several times to be sure that it was the right price.  I couldn't believe it but wasn't there, yet I didn't need to be there.  The one I had wanted was a 15'6" machine, the 17" version was more than I wanted to shell out. 

I asked him to read off the specs again.  No way.  I told him to put the thing into his cart and I got out of the laptop line at Fry's.  I don't know if Walmart screwed up or what, but I would gladly take a better machine at a lower price!  I was elated but still -  a bit suspicious actually.  Well, I bought a "monster" cable from Fry's, hooks the computer up to a TV or other things, those things sold out in 10 minutes at the price they were selling them at and got out of there, headed over to Walmart since Caleb was in a long line to check out.  I got there and my elation did not go away.  It was the almost $500 machine, so I wondered what was going to happen at checkout?

We got up there and the lady rang it up at ............$388!  Oh my gosh!  Sold!!  I got everything I wanted, well almost, there is another sale this morning and I think I am going to run up there, they had a gun case that I need for my 12 gauge on sale this morning and I doubt those are going to disappear too quickly. I might walk around the store and see if there are any remnants of anything else good.  I got out of there much cheaper than I had expected and that was a huge plus as well.  I knew that Black Friday was my biggest opportunity to try and score a good laptop, otherwise I was going to have to elect for something much lessor in terms of quality.  Now if I could only get used to this keyboard...........I am running the thing off of battery power.  It claims 4-1/2 hours of use on one charge.

I'm also going to have to get a carrying case for it, like today, I am not waiting to protect this baby from getting all scratched up and junk, I want to treat it like the machine that it is.  If I get enough energy banged up, I will also go and see if Verizon is going to give me the mobile broadband - without a contract?  I don't want cell service from them, just mobile broadband.  In other words, I am not getting a free phone from them so why should I have to sign a 2 year contract?  I'll find out, I guess.

I got my $98 flat screen TV for the trailer as well.  Haven't even gotten it out of the box yet.  I went to bed at 3am and getting this computer out of the box and getting it up and running was enough for me last night.  This thing came equipped with a DVD burner! 

Well, I am getting up and out of bed and off to the races again, though I expect fewer people there this morning - the great deals were last night - I really don't know.  I am going target shooting with my mom and Caleb on Sunday morning so I need some more .40 cal ammo and that carrying case for the 40 cal Sigma.

I will be writing another entry later on, I am pretty sure of that. I wanted to tak my new computer with me and check out wifi spots - but I don't have my carrying case yet so I will put that on hold.

Happy - Black Friday!

ben

The Plan

The Plan:
I am going to Fry's electronics just before midnight, Caleb is going to WalMart whenever - he wants to go wait in line so he can get what I want him to get.  No, I didn't even ask him to do this and certainly did not insist that he go wait for several hours in a line.  Well I just called Walmart and they are starting the line for electronics stuff at 10:00pm, with everything going on sale at midnight.
I would like to get 2 items: laptop computer and a small flatscreen TV for the trailer.  This is the time of year to get those things.
I am not going to wait in a line for 2 hours.  I will show up at Fry's Electronics half hour to 15 minutes early.  I will brave the wait for everyone that is in front of me - which I suspect will be a large crowd but who knows - to go in an hope that I find what I am looking for at the price that is advertised for the laptop I want.  If not, Caleb is instructed to first try to get the 19 inch flatscreen and then head over to a particular computer I was looking at that is on sale.  He will call me and let me know whatever he finds.

If neither produce anything, oh well.  A loss - yes because those laptops aren't going to be that cheap again anytime soon.  I mean, perhaps Cyber Monday will produce some good sales, but I would rather get one from a retailer that I can take the unit back to if there is a problem.  In that department, I would rather deal with Walmart than Fry's Electronics.

So, we'll see.  I am going to bed early, set my alarm for around 11:30 or so, get up and head to Fry's Electronics.

Hmmm, well if I get a wild hair I will show up earlier, but it's going to be quite cool out there tonight and there is the hint of rain in the air.  If it would just pour rain, that would be wonderful. Arizonans are rain-shy and would rather stay home than tough the elements to get a deal.  The other factor is the economy.  People are broke - which isn't a good thing at all - but in this endeavor may be helpful in nabbing the things I want to get.   This is also the first year that stores are doing this midnight open deal, so who knows?  I don't WANT to get up at 11:30pm, that is the middle of the night for me!  But I won't have to stay in there for too terribly long, they either have what I want or they don't.

Dinner at mom's very nice.  She is a great cook.  She also had all of this stuff for my plants - bark and mulch and stuff.  She got it free and I took it home.  Will add it to my landscaping project.  I took Coco with me - she pretty much gets along with any dog but my mom's Golden Retriever is as dumb as my Great Danes.  That dog bothered her until she snapped at him a couple of times and that was the end of that!  She doesn't put up with jack from ANY other dog.

Well, it's kinda early, even for more, but the double turkey dinner has kicked in and I am tired.  Which is a good thing, I can go to bed and get some shut eye before midnight, maybe 4-1/2 hours worth before I have to get up.

So yes, I am going to bed.  I don't want to be all jacked up/sleep/tired/rotten tomorrow because of a "bad" night's sleep.  There are things I want to get done tomorrow since I have it off and that precludes being tired all day long.

G'nite.

ben

11/24/2011 Happy Thanksgiving

So this is it. The day before Black Friday.  But you know what?  The laptops that are going to be available in the stores aren't really - all that great.  You would have to upgrade them and by the time you spend that money, you might as well have bought the more expensive units that will give you more for less money when you add up all the costs.
However, Best Buy's 42 inch flat screen HD TV for $199 is a deal that you aren't going to find every day of the week or even every month of the year.  The problem? People are CAMPING in front of those stores! That's pure insanity.  Yes, it's a great deal, but worth sitting out there for days and days or being out there straight through Thanksgiving?
Not hardly.
Here's what I'd rather do, since getting one of those TV's is going to be next to impossible.  Get a smaller - say 19 inch - flat screen for my 5th Wheel.  I will need a TV up there and a flat screen, obviously, takes up much less room. Plenty of those are on Black Friday sale at great prices.  I really want to score a laptop or similar computer is my main objective.  The computer that is one of the things people are waiting for outside the store at Best Buy? Is available online at midnight.  Lol.  It DOES have 4 gigs of memory but the guru's are stating it is lacking other "essentials" that make it less desirable.  Yes, for $299 you can't expect the world.

Whatever.  I am going out to my mom's today, be there around noon.  Thanksgiving dinner, of course.  I will be the only one of my brothers that will be there.  My oldest brother doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving with family anymore - he quit doing that several years ago.  My middle brother has a weird schedule with being a paramedic and has to work today.

Oh, I have tomorrow off.  I was told we were working Friday and that was my assumption all the way through yesterday at work.  An email was sent out by the OPs manager about our particular branch being closed on Friday - but that email was only sent to managers, not everyone.  I had no knowledge of our branch being closed down until I started commenting about what we are going to do on Friday.  My manager is giving me a blank look.  ???  He didn't bother to inform me that we are closed on Friday and if I hadn't said something, I would have gotten up and gone to the branch on Friday morning - for nothing.  He had assumed that email had been sent out to everyone, which it had not.  Well, that gives me the opportunity - if I really want to - to go to one of these sales that start at midnight tonight.  I have not decided yet.

Well, I am going outside to enjoy some beautiful weather.

G'day and Happy Thanksgiving!
ben

11/22/2011

Early morning rise and early to work.  Still off at just before 2:00 pm.
Off to the races.  Well, more like off to wait at the DMV forever.  I
wanted to get the title transferred into my name.  I would have done it
yesterday but I got off work too late.  I don't like having a title that isn't
in my name for something I have paid for.  Even with a bill of sale, I  am
not a very trusting person, I want that title in my name so the owner can't come
along and give some jacked up story that it was lost or stolen or something.  Do
I really think that would happen? I don't know, not worth waiting to find out.
Was there around an hour and a half - 95% of the time spent waiting.

After that to Camping World, which is like half a block away from the DMV. I
really didn't feel like going there, but since I was so close to the place, I gave in.
The lady who was supposed to call me back that never did was there again. She
looked up the number again and told me that they don't make that fan motor anymore,
but they do make the fan blade.  ??? Why would they make a fan blade for a motor
that is obsolete?....I was asking myself.  I'm standing there contemplating my next move:
get the motor rewound and new brushes installed, do you know of any place? She didn't
but the other guy behind the counter started asking other associates.

Well, this went on for a while.  They then suggested an RV salvage yard.  Okay, I'll give
it a try.  At that point, another guy came up behind the counter and this guy asked him if
he knew anyplace that rewinds motors?  He got the look on his face and said no and why
bother?  Uhh, cause' I don't want to buy a whole new AC unit, that's why.  Well why not just
buy a new motor?  Cause' this one is obsolete.

He just shook his head, no way, he replies, is this an obsolete part.  It took them another 10
minutes of searching through a database, but they did eventually find it.  Well, it's in North
Carolina, as if that were some kind of deterrent to me.  I don't care where it is, let's order the
thing and get this going.  The guy is looking at me: It's kinda cool outside nowadays for needing
an AC unit working.  Yup, but I am taking this thing up to the mountains and I want everything
working before I have it moved up there.  I joined their President's Club on Saturday which gives
you 10% off all purchases, amongst other things, which has already paid for itself and then some.
The motor is $139 - I knew it was going to be expensive, but a new AC unit is like $800-$1,000.

So I got that done and just came home. Other things to do, but 2-1/2 hours spent on getting just 2 things
done plus work was enough for me.  My manager just called: have to be at work early again tomorrow.
Which is fine, get off of work early and look forward to Thursday off.

In an hour and a half is the church's Community Dinner. Their version of Thanksgiving dinner - done today instead of on Thanksgiving, I will guess so that everyone can spend time with family at home on Thursday.  I am going, but I am not going to stay long unless they need help with something.  Devour some food, say hi and leave. I am very tired and I will be wanting to go to bed early tonight.

A mother is or is going to be accused of killing her 5 year old daughter.  They arrested her and have arraigned her already.  This is happening in Phoenix.  I started to think how a parent could ever intentionally kill their own child.  I mean, for an insurance payout?  But they said the girl had been abused. I dunno.  It seems to be happening frequently.  I mean, could you kill your own kid?  I would rather die first.  I'm not saying that flippantly or casually, I really mean it: I would definitely rather die first than harm my own son to the point that he died at my own hand.  Of course, I wouldn't do that anyway, so it's a moot point.  I just don't get it, though: it's a totally unnatural act, at least in the human race, to kill one's own offspring.

Well whatever.  I have my hands full lately, which is a good thing, but also zaps my energy.  I think I am going to take a 30 minute nap before going to this church dinner, I am really quite exhausted.

G'day.

ben

Monday Part II

I have to be at work at 5:30 am tomorrow, that completely precludes me from writing in this blog in the morning.
Not the end of the world, but I will throw something in here now.

I got sent to Arizona City - don't worry, it's nothing but a desert hell-hole in the middle of - the desert - to deliver 3 giant fittings early this afternoon, meaning I didn't get off of work until almost 4:00pm.

When I got back to the branch, I saw all kinds of emails coming from management.  One of which was an announcement about our new branch: the move will occur this coming Monday through Wednesday. In reading the email, I am to work out of our main branch doing our area's deliveries during this time.  That should prove interesting in itself, I haven't worked out of that branch in at least 4 years.  But, I know the warehouse manager well enough, he's cool and we get along quite well, though I also would have to believe that even though my manager won't be there, he will still be directing what is going on with our deliveries (versus the main warehouse manager).

I am very excited, actually, about moving into the new building. It is SO incredibly MUCH nicer than that old pile of junk building we are in now.  Plus, everything will be new in there, it will be, for all intents and purposes, a brand new store.  The new building is on a major street with LOTS of traffic all day long.  Not sure how that might affect the daily operation of things, plus there are a lot of beggars in the area, but oh well.  I am not dissing beggars, I help them from time to time though I prefer to buy them the food they say they are starving for versus giving them money so they can go buy booze or drugs.

No biggies on not having to help with the move since it's not going to be on a weekend and therefore, just normal work hours = no overtime. They will be moving ALL of that stuff, apparently, with a 24 foot 10 wheel truck instead of using one of the semi's.  Ordinarily, that would sound like a very foolish idea - there is a lot of material to move - but since the new building is literally a block away, that will work out in the end.

I received my check today. I have said nothing about this until now, I don't think.  I figure if another economic collapse occurs in 2012, this will create 2 things.  1, the fact that I get to keep some of that money that will undoubtedly be lost in more stock crashes and 2, money in the bank for extreme emergencies.  I did spend a chunk of change on those trailers, though I do not regret it, it also depleted my reserves.  I have been having these 401k loans going for quite a while now, it's not going to phase me, to be honest, to keep another one going, especially considering I pay the money back to myself, not to someone else, with interest.

I am definitely looking forward to having a PLACE to go to in the mountains - versus tent camping.  I used to love tent camping but, the realization struck me: I just don't like sleeping on the hard, cold ground anymore.

So, I am going out to my mother's on Thursday for a Thanksgiving meal.  Sunday, I am going out again with Caleb.  Caleb needs to see his grandmother is all I can say about that.  Mom called today and asked if perhaps we might like to go to the shooting range on Sunday as well.  I believe it's the Ben Avery Shooting Range that is like only 15 minutes away from her house.  I immediately accepted the offer. I want to shoot off both the SW40VE Sigma and the 12 gauge shotgun.  I have plenty of ammo and I know Caleb will get into it as well.

Oh, forgot the company Christmas party - November 10th and the Annual Cornhole championship - I won one year, got $200 out of it, too, lol.
 Umm, that's all.  Time for bed.
Later.
ben