Ahhh, the small joys you get here and there.
There is nothing like a chunk of Standing Rib Roast, otherwise known as Prime Rib.
You never see it excepting at Christmas. Well, maybe they are selling it at Thanksgiving, too.
I mean, yes, you can go into a restaurant and get it - which is all well and good - but to serve it at home? You are going to pay a LOT of money for that roast!
Considering the price of food and especially meat is going up and up/inflation, I was surprised to see this particular cut of beef on sale at near the same it was last year. Everything else has gone WAY up. Just check out the price of a pound of bacon (not to be confused with their gimmicks of giving you 12 ounces and charging the SAME price in some cases as 16 ounces for it!) now and compare what it was a year ago.
Yeah. This inflation was predicted a while back - like over a year ago and for 2012, if those predictions come true, food is going to cost a lot of money.
The term "double-dip inflation" is coming around a lot more in recent times as well - the prediction that 2012 is not going to be pretty. Trust in the Lord, that's all I can say.
Busy weekend en-queue. Rain? Yes, it's supposed to rain this weekend, if so, my activities will be indoors and getting some things I have - simply - put off.
It's nice to know, on a completely different subject, that I can still lift up and carry hundreds of pounds of weight from point A to point B. That would be at work. That may sound like a chore to most people, but I don't see it that way at all. I was lugging this - metal thing I'll call it since a vast majority of people won't know anything about the material that is involved with waterworks - that weighed 200 pounds this morning.
We landed 2 accounts with existing customers -it's all bids, folks, you either win it or you don't - and on both accounts the material is extremely heavy. I guess I'm going to have to take pics of it. One item is called a "megalug". They range in size, but the larger sizes are extremely heavy. My arms have been muscling up quite nicely in recent - weeks actually.
Whatever, it's bed time and...............................................................time to go to bed!
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Thursday 12/15/2011
The kid tenant that moved out while I was at work, giving me no notice and leaving owing me money..........wrote back to my threat letter.
You see, it's a waste of time for me to go after the people that don't have jobs. They don't have any money and I would be wasting over $200 for - much of nothing. Well, it goes on their record for 7 years, but again, if they don't have any money, then that is pretty much irrelevant. If an eviction is on a person's record, likely any "good" apartment complexes are not going to rent to that person.
The threat letter was basically that I know where he works and that I can easily sue and win since he owes me. In the cases of tenants owing landlords money, it's open and shut case, the judge rules in favor of the landlord every time unless there is some sort of mitigating circumstance (think: slumlord or landlord doing something illegal such as shutting off the power or water because the tenant isn't paying).
That apparently got his attention. I saw his email in my box and steeled myself for the barrage of profanities and not-so-nice words that may be coming my way. Instead of getting an earful through and eyeful, he stated that he had left for California, had to do something with his dad and that he would be back at the beginning of January and that he wants to try and work this out versus going to court. I also had informed him I knew of the other court case he had already lost when an apartment complex sued him for unpaid rent and they - won. Undoubtedly, they went for garnishment if they - he and his friends that were all living together - didn't pay up.
We'll see how that goes. This weekend, I am shutting myself in. I hope anyway. I want to get the portions of the inside of the house that need some - changing - nailed down so I don't have to worry about it for Christmas. I can then turn my attention to the multiple other things that need to be done.
Oh, and I will definitely be going to Bashas' (local grocery chain): they have the deal again on Standing Rib Roast (Prime Rib) for $3.87 per pound. You can't find that kind of deal - anymore basically. I want 2 of them, 1 for Christmas and freeze another one. I need a Christmas tree and I still have all that work on the East side of the house left to do - it's rained and rained and I haven't done anything out there since the rain began. However, it's done - at least temporarily - and I hope it will stay that way on Saturday, which is when I intend on getting out there as well and getting half (my goal, at least half of it ) done before the weekend is over.
I was thinking of asking for yet another day off on the week before Christmas - which is almost here - but I am not sure yet. Will definitely dig into my vacation hours and I want plenty of that for this coming summer.
Well, my time is already up for pre-work rituals, time to go to work.
G'day.
ben
You see, it's a waste of time for me to go after the people that don't have jobs. They don't have any money and I would be wasting over $200 for - much of nothing. Well, it goes on their record for 7 years, but again, if they don't have any money, then that is pretty much irrelevant. If an eviction is on a person's record, likely any "good" apartment complexes are not going to rent to that person.
The threat letter was basically that I know where he works and that I can easily sue and win since he owes me. In the cases of tenants owing landlords money, it's open and shut case, the judge rules in favor of the landlord every time unless there is some sort of mitigating circumstance (think: slumlord or landlord doing something illegal such as shutting off the power or water because the tenant isn't paying).
That apparently got his attention. I saw his email in my box and steeled myself for the barrage of profanities and not-so-nice words that may be coming my way. Instead of getting an earful through and eyeful, he stated that he had left for California, had to do something with his dad and that he would be back at the beginning of January and that he wants to try and work this out versus going to court. I also had informed him I knew of the other court case he had already lost when an apartment complex sued him for unpaid rent and they - won. Undoubtedly, they went for garnishment if they - he and his friends that were all living together - didn't pay up.
We'll see how that goes. This weekend, I am shutting myself in. I hope anyway. I want to get the portions of the inside of the house that need some - changing - nailed down so I don't have to worry about it for Christmas. I can then turn my attention to the multiple other things that need to be done.
Oh, and I will definitely be going to Bashas' (local grocery chain): they have the deal again on Standing Rib Roast (Prime Rib) for $3.87 per pound. You can't find that kind of deal - anymore basically. I want 2 of them, 1 for Christmas and freeze another one. I need a Christmas tree and I still have all that work on the East side of the house left to do - it's rained and rained and I haven't done anything out there since the rain began. However, it's done - at least temporarily - and I hope it will stay that way on Saturday, which is when I intend on getting out there as well and getting half (my goal, at least half of it ) done before the weekend is over.
I was thinking of asking for yet another day off on the week before Christmas - which is almost here - but I am not sure yet. Will definitely dig into my vacation hours and I want plenty of that for this coming summer.
Well, my time is already up for pre-work rituals, time to go to work.
G'day.
ben
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Wednesday 12/14/2011
Hump day already.
Rained the last two days, supposedly going to clear up today.
I love the rain, don't get me wrong, but it's definitely put a hamper on the things I need to get done outside.
I did finally get the parts for my AC unit for the trailer yesterday - whether that gets done anytime soon or not considering everything else going on, I dunno.
Umm, sort of on cruise control here this morning, a bit tired and really can't wait until I get the 6 days off of work. Much needed respite and time to do other things that I would like to do.
Regardless, work day almost here, gotta git outta here.
G'day.
ben
Rained the last two days, supposedly going to clear up today.
I love the rain, don't get me wrong, but it's definitely put a hamper on the things I need to get done outside.
I did finally get the parts for my AC unit for the trailer yesterday - whether that gets done anytime soon or not considering everything else going on, I dunno.
Umm, sort of on cruise control here this morning, a bit tired and really can't wait until I get the 6 days off of work. Much needed respite and time to do other things that I would like to do.
Regardless, work day almost here, gotta git outta here.
G'day.
ben
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Tuesday 12/13/2011
Another rainy day. Day 2 of the rain and I have to leave for work in about 20 minutes.
The question is: do I leave the dogs inside?
I dunno. If it's still raining when I leave, I will probably leave the doggy door open and hope for the best.
Caleb is finally home - ie: he left all of his keys with the pastor's family in case they needed them for getting
in to water and feed the dogs while they were in Florida.
Meaning he couldn't drive the car.
Well whatever. I have an extra set of keys but prefer not to give them to him because it's the ONLY extra set
of keys and those are those things that cost $25 to make duplicates of.
Hard to do landscaping work in the rain, I got nothing done out there yesterday and if it continues as it is this morning, then nothing will get done out there today, either.
Trouble brewing with Caleb's education. I knew this was going to happen, I tried to avert it but, when she wants to do everything, usually something is left amiss and it ends up a clusterfreak. Have to go into it later, but I am now trying to fix what was broken and I am definitely NOT happy about it.
Well whatever. I have to get a couple of things done before leaving for work, now that I think about it, outta here.
ben
The question is: do I leave the dogs inside?
I dunno. If it's still raining when I leave, I will probably leave the doggy door open and hope for the best.
Caleb is finally home - ie: he left all of his keys with the pastor's family in case they needed them for getting
in to water and feed the dogs while they were in Florida.
Meaning he couldn't drive the car.
Well whatever. I have an extra set of keys but prefer not to give them to him because it's the ONLY extra set
of keys and those are those things that cost $25 to make duplicates of.
Hard to do landscaping work in the rain, I got nothing done out there yesterday and if it continues as it is this morning, then nothing will get done out there today, either.
Trouble brewing with Caleb's education. I knew this was going to happen, I tried to avert it but, when she wants to do everything, usually something is left amiss and it ends up a clusterfreak. Have to go into it later, but I am now trying to fix what was broken and I am definitely NOT happy about it.
Well whatever. I have to get a couple of things done before leaving for work, now that I think about it, outta here.
ben
Monday, December 12, 2011
Got Hit With A ..............
..................... curve ball this morning at work. I was supposed to go to a Conway (LTL/less than truckload freight delivery service, nationwide) terminal in west Phoenix to pick up some materials to deliver to a contractor. Well, I don't go on such runs until I contact the inside salesman on the account and have him verify that the material is actually THERE and ready to be picked up - both are equally important.
Well, the salesman said he would check in an instant message type of thing. Okay, meanwhile, I realized that after I had entered the building and began getting on with the day's work that it had started raining outside. And raining, and raining - you get the picture. Well, I got busy with stuff in the will call, there is still a lot to do and no lack of things to get done.
A while later, the salesman messages me back: Conway, for whatever reason, had transferred the material from the Phoenix yard to the distributor that we buy this particular material from - to Globe. That it would be there, in Globe, by 9:00 am. Yeah, baby and finally: a trip out of town that takes me to the mountains instead of the desert southwest.
It rained the entire trip there and the entire trip back. I got out the Verizon broadband device and saw the thing giving me 3G service all the way up to Superior. Outside of Superior, on that particular road, you go up a 7% grade in steep canyons and yes, the service went out, but no biggies. At the top, service back again and there is nothing up there, no towns, nothing. Into Globe - would hope an area like that might have 4G - no go. Not even Casa Grande had 4G service. In fact, the only place I have found with 4G service is the Phoenix area.
The 3G service is just slower is the only thing - I didn't know what to expect getting that service in terms of what has 4G service and what has 3G service.
Day not done early, I had to take that material to an extremely muddy and wet jobsite, I was surprised anyone was working out in this.
Well, got things to get done.
Later
Well, the salesman said he would check in an instant message type of thing. Okay, meanwhile, I realized that after I had entered the building and began getting on with the day's work that it had started raining outside. And raining, and raining - you get the picture. Well, I got busy with stuff in the will call, there is still a lot to do and no lack of things to get done.
A while later, the salesman messages me back: Conway, for whatever reason, had transferred the material from the Phoenix yard to the distributor that we buy this particular material from - to Globe. That it would be there, in Globe, by 9:00 am. Yeah, baby and finally: a trip out of town that takes me to the mountains instead of the desert southwest.
It rained the entire trip there and the entire trip back. I got out the Verizon broadband device and saw the thing giving me 3G service all the way up to Superior. Outside of Superior, on that particular road, you go up a 7% grade in steep canyons and yes, the service went out, but no biggies. At the top, service back again and there is nothing up there, no towns, nothing. Into Globe - would hope an area like that might have 4G - no go. Not even Casa Grande had 4G service. In fact, the only place I have found with 4G service is the Phoenix area.
The 3G service is just slower is the only thing - I didn't know what to expect getting that service in terms of what has 4G service and what has 3G service.
Day not done early, I had to take that material to an extremely muddy and wet jobsite, I was surprised anyone was working out in this.
Well, got things to get done.
Later
Monday 12/12/2011
So, it's a challenge.
Get the things that need to be done - done - by the time Christmas Eve Day gets here.
This is, apparently, the day we are doing Christmas at my house - so far anyway.
But, that is completely dependent - usually anyway - on whatever day my middle brother
can get off of work. That is, if he's even coming. If he does show up, he best be keeping
off the subject of politics, cause' if he comes over here starting that kind of trouble,
Christmas at my house is going to blow up on itself.
Not that that has never happened before.
So, fun fun. I haven't even gotten a Christmas tree yet, though all the lights are up outside. My Santas and various other Christmas things are sitting around my living room, though.
Time has run out. I wasn't really in a writing mood this morning.
G'day.
ben
Get the things that need to be done - done - by the time Christmas Eve Day gets here.
This is, apparently, the day we are doing Christmas at my house - so far anyway.
But, that is completely dependent - usually anyway - on whatever day my middle brother
can get off of work. That is, if he's even coming. If he does show up, he best be keeping
off the subject of politics, cause' if he comes over here starting that kind of trouble,
Christmas at my house is going to blow up on itself.
Not that that has never happened before.
So, fun fun. I haven't even gotten a Christmas tree yet, though all the lights are up outside. My Santas and various other Christmas things are sitting around my living room, though.
Time has run out. I wasn't really in a writing mood this morning.
G'day.
ben
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Sport Fishing
I was talking to Caleb on the phone. After his trip to Florida, he was all over going back out and going sea fishing again.
I have finally figured out what the holdup is with him in things like this. He is acutely aware, apparently, of both of his parent's financial concerns and problems and doesn't want to be a burden. So, when I say something about going on another fishing trip and he gives me a blank look, at the time, I didn't get it. I thought he had a good time, so what was up?
When we were talking yesterday about this, he said he really wanted to go again and this time he would save up for the entire trip. Ummm, yeah, well I don't know if he realizes how much a trip like that costs. Even on the cheap you are going to drop some Benjamins. A number of them, actually. I see now, it's all about money and that he wants to be able to help out. But he already helps his mom with money - she is unemployed yet again as she was let go of her recent job find. It's a bit of a story, but it didn't sound like such a great place to work at, anyway.
I replied we could go this summer sometime and if he could contribute towards it, that would be great. I REALLY want to do the overnighter. Actually, it's 2 nights now that I think about it. You leave the dock at 8:00 pm. The boat cruises to the fishing area while you sleep in a bunk. Boat arrives the next morning and you get up and spend the day fishing. Night comes, the boat leaves and comes back in the next morning. $195 per person, plus food, tackle and permits. Well, you can bring your own tackle, but I am not going out and buying all that stuff. I would definitely buy some lures, though. People using their own lures was what was really catching the fish last time.
I suggested to Caleb that we might rent a small boat and go out on one of the nearby lakes and sorta get a better feel for fishing. I used to love fishing as a kid, but life and it's issues have mostly gotten in the way of much of anything. Not that I care, it is what it is, nor that I'm complaining, but, that's the reason I set out to get the 5th wheel travel trailer and get it, eventually, up to mom's property. There is more to life than living in the polluted, vile city. I hate living here, I hate it. I ESPECIALLY hate hate the neighborhood I am living in, but I have gone into that quite enough.
Now I have a better feel for what's going on with him. He wouldn't eat much while we were on the boat last time and I only found out afterwards why: he thought it was too expensive and he didn't want me to have to spend a lot of money on him. Well what are dads for? I am glad, though, that he is on that end of things instead of the "Gee, you are dad, you must be an ATM machine, please gimme, gimme, gimme" attitude that I have seen in kids these days that makes me want to puke. Hopefully he gets a nice paying job after school and will have learned about saving versus spending everything that you get in. But, while I am on vacation, I expect to have to spend exorbitant amounts of money on food when you have no other choice. If we do this again, I will let him know that: you hungry, get something, they put it on my tab, I don't really care. Not like I do that everyday.
Well, I am going to go back outside and try again. I had absolutely no motivation when I went out there an hour ago trying to do the same thing: resume the landscaping project and grass cutting stuff.
Later.
ben
Sunday 12/11/11
Christmas draweth nigh.
........and I just found out last night that I am supposed to be hosting the family Christmas get-together this year.
Nice. Lesseeeee, a 14 day notice. Hmmmm. Okay, I didn't exactly tell her yes, yet. I said I would give an answer by.......today, actually.
This all started when my sister-in-law called her yesterday asking if we were doing Christmas at my house, apparently it's my turn.
What I am waiting on is to take an inventory of what, exactly, I will need to do to get the place in order for that kind of thing. Well that inventory is done. The work? Has not begun, though Mark did spend quite a bit of time putting up all of my front yard Christmas decorations and it looked really good last night when I came home from that party.
However. There is still to finish the landscaping project out there, though at least for now, if I just finish the part I started a week ago - I have not had time to do anything out there - it will look pretty good. Then the side of the house, that is going to take some time. I have issues in my main bathroom - which aren't a big deal to me, but if my family is going to be going in there using that bathroom then I am going to have to fix a few problems in there. Mark will help with the house-cleaning portion and so, I think it is doable. I don't have to have a perfect house for my family, but, it's got to look really good, as far as I'm concerned.
Now, of course, that doesn't include Christmas dinner. Last time family was here, I served Standing Rib Roast that I had acquired while on sale at 50% off normal prices. I dunno if such prices will be available.
First project done: clean out the refrigerator. I got to looking at it while writing this entry and decided to get that P.I.T.A. job done. Done : )
Off to the races!
G'day.
ben
........and I just found out last night that I am supposed to be hosting the family Christmas get-together this year.
Nice. Lesseeeee, a 14 day notice. Hmmmm. Okay, I didn't exactly tell her yes, yet. I said I would give an answer by.......today, actually.
This all started when my sister-in-law called her yesterday asking if we were doing Christmas at my house, apparently it's my turn.
What I am waiting on is to take an inventory of what, exactly, I will need to do to get the place in order for that kind of thing. Well that inventory is done. The work? Has not begun, though Mark did spend quite a bit of time putting up all of my front yard Christmas decorations and it looked really good last night when I came home from that party.
However. There is still to finish the landscaping project out there, though at least for now, if I just finish the part I started a week ago - I have not had time to do anything out there - it will look pretty good. Then the side of the house, that is going to take some time. I have issues in my main bathroom - which aren't a big deal to me, but if my family is going to be going in there using that bathroom then I am going to have to fix a few problems in there. Mark will help with the house-cleaning portion and so, I think it is doable. I don't have to have a perfect house for my family, but, it's got to look really good, as far as I'm concerned.
Now, of course, that doesn't include Christmas dinner. Last time family was here, I served Standing Rib Roast that I had acquired while on sale at 50% off normal prices. I dunno if such prices will be available.
First project done: clean out the refrigerator. I got to looking at it while writing this entry and decided to get that P.I.T.A. job done. Done : )
Off to the races!
G'day.
ben
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Saturday 12/10/2011
Well, church Christmas party was fun.
The food at that restaurant was good, too.
For whatever reason, the pastors were going out their way
to make sure I was feeling at home, but I am pretty capable of
doing that even in a crowd full of strangers. I just haven't WANTED
to get involved in such for quite some time now.
After the restaurant, a large portion of the crowd went to
one of the older couple's home for dessert. I had one treat and
that was it, though I did have a couple of cups of hot apple cider, yummmm.
Today is the company Christmas party. One thing that makes a party like
that a bit unbearable is when the attendees are getting to the highly inebriated
point. Even if I were so inclined, I couldn't do it anyway. Drinking and driving?
No thanks. I would have to sleep it off in my car on their property, which I am
sure wouldn't go over too well, either.
There is a huge difference in carrying on a conversation with a straight, lucid person
and attempting to carry on one with a person that is stone drunk. At least there
will be the Cornhole competition, that was fun last year and the year before.
Whatever the case, the food is always REALLY good, the main warehouse manager
is bringing his "pecan-smoked brisket' and his BBQ'ing is always awesome. I think
I will plan on having a couple of beers, smoke a cigar, do the competition and then - go
home. I haven't had a cigar in like 2 months now, I vowed to myself to slow down on
those things and sure enough, it wasn't too terribly hard to do so since I was not a daily
smoker and wasn't addicted to nicotine.
Umm, so whatever. I have so much to do and so little time to do it, I love Christmas but I have to say this year is getting a bit out of hand. Fortunately, this party starts at noon and that is the way I like it.
Much rather have a day time party than something that drags way into the night.
This, is sick: "Hayes was convicted last year of raping and strangling Hawke-Petit and killing the girls. The girls died of smoke inhalation after they were tied to their beds and doused in gasoline before the house was set ablaze. Komisarjevsky was convicted Oct. 13 of the killings and of sexually assaulting Michaela."
I remember seeing the dad on TV news - wow. He lost his entire family to these evil thugs. He didn't just lose them, either, his family was basically tortured to death. I wonder if this kind of crime would continue to go on if the people killing others in a manner such as these "men" did were to receive the same exact recompense as punishment? Just kind of slowly boil them alive hanging above open flames. I suppose it would do nothing to stop those kinds of crimes and would just make us all into barbarians and uncivilized, but still. I just know how I am: if I lost my kids to 2 guys that came in and tortured them to death, including dowsing the girls with gasoline and setting the house on fire, I would just want to kill them myself. Don't worry about the death chamber or electrocution chair or putting these guys up in a prison cell for 2 decades while they exhaust all the appeals, I'll just take care of this myself. At least those "dudes" are both on death row is all I can say about that.
Well, whatever again. I guess I better get out the salami, summer sausage and the cheese and start cutting. It doesn't take long to get a cheese try ready and I didn't want to open the packages until maybe a few hours before I have to leave.
Later.
ben
The food at that restaurant was good, too.
For whatever reason, the pastors were going out their way
to make sure I was feeling at home, but I am pretty capable of
doing that even in a crowd full of strangers. I just haven't WANTED
to get involved in such for quite some time now.
After the restaurant, a large portion of the crowd went to
one of the older couple's home for dessert. I had one treat and
that was it, though I did have a couple of cups of hot apple cider, yummmm.
Today is the company Christmas party. One thing that makes a party like
that a bit unbearable is when the attendees are getting to the highly inebriated
point. Even if I were so inclined, I couldn't do it anyway. Drinking and driving?
No thanks. I would have to sleep it off in my car on their property, which I am
sure wouldn't go over too well, either.
There is a huge difference in carrying on a conversation with a straight, lucid person
and attempting to carry on one with a person that is stone drunk. At least there
will be the Cornhole competition, that was fun last year and the year before.
Whatever the case, the food is always REALLY good, the main warehouse manager
is bringing his "pecan-smoked brisket' and his BBQ'ing is always awesome. I think
I will plan on having a couple of beers, smoke a cigar, do the competition and then - go
home. I haven't had a cigar in like 2 months now, I vowed to myself to slow down on
those things and sure enough, it wasn't too terribly hard to do so since I was not a daily
smoker and wasn't addicted to nicotine.
Umm, so whatever. I have so much to do and so little time to do it, I love Christmas but I have to say this year is getting a bit out of hand. Fortunately, this party starts at noon and that is the way I like it.
Much rather have a day time party than something that drags way into the night.
This, is sick: "Hayes was convicted last year of raping and strangling Hawke-Petit and killing the girls. The girls died of smoke inhalation after they were tied to their beds and doused in gasoline before the house was set ablaze. Komisarjevsky was convicted Oct. 13 of the killings and of sexually assaulting Michaela."
I remember seeing the dad on TV news - wow. He lost his entire family to these evil thugs. He didn't just lose them, either, his family was basically tortured to death. I wonder if this kind of crime would continue to go on if the people killing others in a manner such as these "men" did were to receive the same exact recompense as punishment? Just kind of slowly boil them alive hanging above open flames. I suppose it would do nothing to stop those kinds of crimes and would just make us all into barbarians and uncivilized, but still. I just know how I am: if I lost my kids to 2 guys that came in and tortured them to death, including dowsing the girls with gasoline and setting the house on fire, I would just want to kill them myself. Don't worry about the death chamber or electrocution chair or putting these guys up in a prison cell for 2 decades while they exhaust all the appeals, I'll just take care of this myself. At least those "dudes" are both on death row is all I can say about that.
Well, whatever again. I guess I better get out the salami, summer sausage and the cheese and start cutting. It doesn't take long to get a cheese try ready and I didn't want to open the packages until maybe a few hours before I have to leave.
Later.
ben
Friday, December 9, 2011
Christmas Party
It totally forgot this morning that tonight there is a Christmas party as well as tomorrow afternoon. So, off to Riazzi's in Tempe in a bit. This one is with the church folks, the one tomorrow is the company party.
Anyway, I processed my hours today for the pay period: 93.4 hours when there is normally 70. Indeed and very nice.
So, busy busy. We are getting all kinds of OT because the company isn't sending us any help and the work has to get done. About the time management sees the hours we are putting in - they may or may not help to alleviate the problem, who knows. I don't really care, either, I will work these hours for a long time before I get tired of it, it would get me WAY ahead on everything. But, somehow, I doubt this is going to be long-lived. I will guess they will send someone over from the main branch to help out with stuff and not have to hire anyone new. The only bummer about getting off late from work is that the sun is going down much earlier and I can't really get anything done on the landscaping project much less the trailer project.
My manager said he was only going to show up for 3 hours on Sunday and just let it go as far as the rest of it, he is getting a bit upset about the fact that we aren't getting any help. Since he is going to do that, I probably will not be showing up on Sunday, or if I do, I will leave in time to go to church. So, get there at 6:30am and leave at 9:30 am. Or not, I would rather not.
Well, I was just waiting for my clothes to dry in the dryer, should be about done.
Outta here.
Anyway, I processed my hours today for the pay period: 93.4 hours when there is normally 70. Indeed and very nice.
So, busy busy. We are getting all kinds of OT because the company isn't sending us any help and the work has to get done. About the time management sees the hours we are putting in - they may or may not help to alleviate the problem, who knows. I don't really care, either, I will work these hours for a long time before I get tired of it, it would get me WAY ahead on everything. But, somehow, I doubt this is going to be long-lived. I will guess they will send someone over from the main branch to help out with stuff and not have to hire anyone new. The only bummer about getting off late from work is that the sun is going down much earlier and I can't really get anything done on the landscaping project much less the trailer project.
My manager said he was only going to show up for 3 hours on Sunday and just let it go as far as the rest of it, he is getting a bit upset about the fact that we aren't getting any help. Since he is going to do that, I probably will not be showing up on Sunday, or if I do, I will leave in time to go to church. So, get there at 6:30am and leave at 9:30 am. Or not, I would rather not.
Well, I was just waiting for my clothes to dry in the dryer, should be about done.
Outta here.
Friday 12/9/2011
Friday. But, a busy weekend en-queue. If I recall correctly, Caleb and his mother should be coming home from Florida today. Christmas party tomorrow and allegedly working on Sunday. Mark is going to put up Christmas lights for me. I didn't tell anyone they had to, I was just lamenting on the lack of time to get anything done around here. I still haven't been to the parts place to get that stuff for the AC unit.
One thing I do have to look forward to is 6 days off at Christmas time. But, at least 2 of it is going to be travelling. I'm guessing by the time it gets here? I'm not going to want to go anywhere. But, dad wants to see me and Caleb too if possible.
Christmas gifts will be on the lighter side this year. Caleb wants a computer desk and chair for his room - which I haven't even begun looking for yet but it won't take long to find what I am looking for so no biggies there. Umm, I will probably get him a very nice and comfortable computer chair with the caveat that it is going to be used. It's really no fun sitting in an uncomfortable chair while doing internet stuff.
Mother is going to get the home made quilt and probably something else small thrown in for yucks sake. My oldest brother and his wife will get the annual Omaha steak thing - I think this will be the 4th year that I have sent it to them, they always say they love it so I just keep doing that since they have everything they need in life and their want list is FAR too expensive for anything I am willing to shell out for. I dunno about my other brother, haven't spoken to him in well over a year now.
There is just plain too much going on both at home and at work and I am in need of some down time here. Especially the work situation which has been extremely stressful with a manager who is going out of his mind attempting to deal with all of this stuff going on with the move and dealing with unbelievably rude and mouthy salesmen who are making accusations that are getting into upper management's ears and so on and so forth. It doesn't take much to "trickle-down" in a 2-man operation. We are getting truckload after truckload after truckload of material sent to our yard which isn't ready to receive all of it - they haven't paved the main portion of the yard yet and it is completely unusable until they do. Instead, the conditions on the external part of the building are getting very cramped and not much more room available for anything else.
I'm not really sure I even want to go to a company Christmas party with some of these yodels that will be there that have been making life extremely difficult. They think all of the movement that goes into getting an order pulled, palletized and on the truck and ready to go is all magic, just snap your fingers or wiggle your nose like on Bewitched and it's done. Ohhh, that it would be so easy. All day today? Will be overtime the second I clock in this morning. Speaking of which - time to leave for work.
ben
One thing I do have to look forward to is 6 days off at Christmas time. But, at least 2 of it is going to be travelling. I'm guessing by the time it gets here? I'm not going to want to go anywhere. But, dad wants to see me and Caleb too if possible.
Christmas gifts will be on the lighter side this year. Caleb wants a computer desk and chair for his room - which I haven't even begun looking for yet but it won't take long to find what I am looking for so no biggies there. Umm, I will probably get him a very nice and comfortable computer chair with the caveat that it is going to be used. It's really no fun sitting in an uncomfortable chair while doing internet stuff.
Mother is going to get the home made quilt and probably something else small thrown in for yucks sake. My oldest brother and his wife will get the annual Omaha steak thing - I think this will be the 4th year that I have sent it to them, they always say they love it so I just keep doing that since they have everything they need in life and their want list is FAR too expensive for anything I am willing to shell out for. I dunno about my other brother, haven't spoken to him in well over a year now.
There is just plain too much going on both at home and at work and I am in need of some down time here. Especially the work situation which has been extremely stressful with a manager who is going out of his mind attempting to deal with all of this stuff going on with the move and dealing with unbelievably rude and mouthy salesmen who are making accusations that are getting into upper management's ears and so on and so forth. It doesn't take much to "trickle-down" in a 2-man operation. We are getting truckload after truckload after truckload of material sent to our yard which isn't ready to receive all of it - they haven't paved the main portion of the yard yet and it is completely unusable until they do. Instead, the conditions on the external part of the building are getting very cramped and not much more room available for anything else.
I'm not really sure I even want to go to a company Christmas party with some of these yodels that will be there that have been making life extremely difficult. They think all of the movement that goes into getting an order pulled, palletized and on the truck and ready to go is all magic, just snap your fingers or wiggle your nose like on Bewitched and it's done. Ohhh, that it would be so easy. All day today? Will be overtime the second I clock in this morning. Speaking of which - time to leave for work.
ben
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Finished
I have been looking for a Christmas ornament that I can send out to this group that started this year. An ornament club. Well, it sounded like a good idea and you would be surprised at some of the quality ornaments I have received. In fact, some very nice home made ornaments. Umm, well I wasn't going to do that, but I did finally find some great Indian-made stuff that I figured to fit the bill perfectly.
Since I had to buy so many of them, I was able to get them down on the price by a buck each. I got the bubble envelopes from Walmart, it is done and ready to take to the post office and send out. A bit late, perhaps, but should be a most people's homes by midweek next week, no biggies.
I witnessed an accident today. Well, it wasn't really an accident. In fact, it was pure aggression and road rage as far as I'm concerned. Now that I think about it, I should have pulled over and told the police what I saw, but I was on the freeway and no way I could stop, in fact, I had to swerve to avoid this nonsense and do some hard braking as well.
I was Westbound on the Superstition Freeway. The on ramp from Country Club drive is 2 lanes, not 1. At the "end", you have to merge into the 1 lane if there are cars close to each other. Merging is exactly what didn't happen today. To the contrary, in fact, very much to the contrary.
You see, I was going to get off there - that lane to get on the freeway also goes to get off the freeway. I noticed out of the corner of my eye some strange movements of the cars and I looked over. 2 cars, side by side, neither of them budging to move out of the other's way in that 2 lane to 1 lane scenario. The dude closer to me looks at the other dude and out of anger, I guess, SLAMS his car into the other car! I have never personally witnessed anything like this!!
4 cars behind them pulled over as I was looking at this through my rear view mirror - those cars were sliding all over the place and I was in the next lane over slightly behind them, I was avoiding this garbage at all costs to the point that either stopping or getting past them was the objective: in this case, I got past them. I was satisfied that they saw the same thing I did and moved on. IF I had been in a position to pull over behind this crap, I definitely would have.
Well whatever. Who knows how much of this intentional stuff goes on out here every day.
Whatever the case, I had to vent that. Get it out of my system. Unbelievable, really.
Time for bed.
ben
Since I had to buy so many of them, I was able to get them down on the price by a buck each. I got the bubble envelopes from Walmart, it is done and ready to take to the post office and send out. A bit late, perhaps, but should be a most people's homes by midweek next week, no biggies.
I witnessed an accident today. Well, it wasn't really an accident. In fact, it was pure aggression and road rage as far as I'm concerned. Now that I think about it, I should have pulled over and told the police what I saw, but I was on the freeway and no way I could stop, in fact, I had to swerve to avoid this nonsense and do some hard braking as well.
I was Westbound on the Superstition Freeway. The on ramp from Country Club drive is 2 lanes, not 1. At the "end", you have to merge into the 1 lane if there are cars close to each other. Merging is exactly what didn't happen today. To the contrary, in fact, very much to the contrary.
You see, I was going to get off there - that lane to get on the freeway also goes to get off the freeway. I noticed out of the corner of my eye some strange movements of the cars and I looked over. 2 cars, side by side, neither of them budging to move out of the other's way in that 2 lane to 1 lane scenario. The dude closer to me looks at the other dude and out of anger, I guess, SLAMS his car into the other car! I have never personally witnessed anything like this!!
4 cars behind them pulled over as I was looking at this through my rear view mirror - those cars were sliding all over the place and I was in the next lane over slightly behind them, I was avoiding this garbage at all costs to the point that either stopping or getting past them was the objective: in this case, I got past them. I was satisfied that they saw the same thing I did and moved on. IF I had been in a position to pull over behind this crap, I definitely would have.
Well whatever. Who knows how much of this intentional stuff goes on out here every day.
Whatever the case, I had to vent that. Get it out of my system. Unbelievable, really.
Time for bed.
ben
Thursday 12/8/2011
So, I am reading this story about a woman who could no longer afford her apartment somewhere in New York and has had to put her stuff into storage and move in with a friend. She makes 50k per year. She has lots of bills - don't we all. I don't want to sound unsympathetic, but if you are making 50k per year and can't make it, it probably means you are living above your means and you need to - for one - find a cheaper place/area to live. I know, that's the cold harsh reality of it, but a person making 50k per year is doing a lot better than the 14 million Americans who are unemployed and not making anything per year besides perhaps unemployment insurance if they are covered by it.
What does she need 2 bedrooms for if she's living alone? Why does it seem that we all pressured, somehow, to live so far beyond our means that eventually, people seem to lose everything, including their hope. I guess I'm just happy to have a place to live and be able to cover my bills, at least presently, and even though living in a rotten neighborhood, just sort of shut that all out and mind my own business.
I was informed yesterday that, because of all the work presently going on, my hours would be re-instated to 40 per week. Not that I have not been getting that, anyway, at least recently. Today? After 4 hours I will be into "real" overtime hours and carry that into Friday. If I show up on Sunday, all the more - though I am resisting this Sunday thing, I have a lot of stuff I need to get done and working on Sunday is not going to help that situation, at all.
I have to sit back and at least attempt to understand where some of these "higher" level managers at work are coming from. More junk being thrown at both of us. We did half a million in sales last month, which is a GREAT month, especially for a 2 man operation. The claim was that I screwed up on an order. This pertaining to some new type of material that I had never seen before coming into our yard. Well, we already went through all of this last week: this particular part gets these particular bolts. They are supposed to go together, but no-one told either of us at the branch about that little aspect of it and apparently we were supposed to intrinsically know that X goes with Y.
You have to understand that we just moved, the place is still half in chaos and while the move was being made, literally hundreds of pallets of material for 2 jobs came in. When I finally got a chance to get over there and see what was going on, that stuff was all shoved into a huge sea of pallets and crates that were not organized at all. Anyway, I was supposed to pull an 18 adapter and get an 18 box of bolts to go with it the other day. I triple-checked my work. I KNOW I pulled the right material. But, a big to-do was made about it and my manager ended up doing an inventory count. Our inventory is RIGHT on. This apparently doesn't phase these managers, however, and apparently gave a tongue-lashing to my manager.
I have no idea what these people expect of us at this point. I do have an idea that 2 of them dislike me and my work and - again - it's probably time for a plan B here. These 2 individuals are - well I won't go into it here. I won't go into Plan B here, either, for obvious reasons. At the end of this road, I will go into all of it, but not now. There is no point in it, because I am only reading into what I have been hearing - the actual reality of what I think is going on and what is really going on could be 2 completely different things. This is a play-it-out situation and that's exactly what I'm going to do. Play it out. In fact, ........... no, inadvisable to go into any of it on a journal that anyone in the world can read.
My time is almost up for today's pre-work rituals. I have Christmas lights to put up; yardwork; landscaping and other things such as the trailer though admittedly, the trailer doesn't have to be done anytime soon. They received my parts for the AC but I haven't had the time to get over there and get them. Once I do get them, however, I want to install them to make sure it's going to work. The point? I have been getting off of work later and later, it's hard to get anything done in the afternoons while any daylight is left when you are getting home at 4:30 or 5:00 pm. I am not necessarily complaining, my next paycheck should be wonderful.
G'day.
ben
What does she need 2 bedrooms for if she's living alone? Why does it seem that we all pressured, somehow, to live so far beyond our means that eventually, people seem to lose everything, including their hope. I guess I'm just happy to have a place to live and be able to cover my bills, at least presently, and even though living in a rotten neighborhood, just sort of shut that all out and mind my own business.
I was informed yesterday that, because of all the work presently going on, my hours would be re-instated to 40 per week. Not that I have not been getting that, anyway, at least recently. Today? After 4 hours I will be into "real" overtime hours and carry that into Friday. If I show up on Sunday, all the more - though I am resisting this Sunday thing, I have a lot of stuff I need to get done and working on Sunday is not going to help that situation, at all.
I have to sit back and at least attempt to understand where some of these "higher" level managers at work are coming from. More junk being thrown at both of us. We did half a million in sales last month, which is a GREAT month, especially for a 2 man operation. The claim was that I screwed up on an order. This pertaining to some new type of material that I had never seen before coming into our yard. Well, we already went through all of this last week: this particular part gets these particular bolts. They are supposed to go together, but no-one told either of us at the branch about that little aspect of it and apparently we were supposed to intrinsically know that X goes with Y.
You have to understand that we just moved, the place is still half in chaos and while the move was being made, literally hundreds of pallets of material for 2 jobs came in. When I finally got a chance to get over there and see what was going on, that stuff was all shoved into a huge sea of pallets and crates that were not organized at all. Anyway, I was supposed to pull an 18 adapter and get an 18 box of bolts to go with it the other day. I triple-checked my work. I KNOW I pulled the right material. But, a big to-do was made about it and my manager ended up doing an inventory count. Our inventory is RIGHT on. This apparently doesn't phase these managers, however, and apparently gave a tongue-lashing to my manager.
I have no idea what these people expect of us at this point. I do have an idea that 2 of them dislike me and my work and - again - it's probably time for a plan B here. These 2 individuals are - well I won't go into it here. I won't go into Plan B here, either, for obvious reasons. At the end of this road, I will go into all of it, but not now. There is no point in it, because I am only reading into what I have been hearing - the actual reality of what I think is going on and what is really going on could be 2 completely different things. This is a play-it-out situation and that's exactly what I'm going to do. Play it out. In fact, ........... no, inadvisable to go into any of it on a journal that anyone in the world can read.
My time is almost up for today's pre-work rituals. I have Christmas lights to put up; yardwork; landscaping and other things such as the trailer though admittedly, the trailer doesn't have to be done anytime soon. They received my parts for the AC but I haven't had the time to get over there and get them. Once I do get them, however, I want to install them to make sure it's going to work. The point? I have been getting off of work later and later, it's hard to get anything done in the afternoons while any daylight is left when you are getting home at 4:30 or 5:00 pm. I am not necessarily complaining, my next paycheck should be wonderful.
G'day.
ben
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Wednesday 12/7/2011
Ummmm, still having trouble digesting the thought that those 2 and the entire family are not only back in the neighborhood, but one street over from me. It isn't exactly surprising that the family is back in the neighborhood, however. They have come and gone out of here many times over. They find a place to move into - under whatever circumstances - and then normally are forced out after a month, 2 months, several months, whatever and however long. The story of their lives is moving from one place to another to another, leaving the properties they occupied totally and completely trashed.
When I say trashed, I mean trashed. Whatever the mind can conceive in the destruction of a property both internally and externally, that is the definition of trashed in their case.
Whatever. I am not going to go into all of it that leads up to where we are at in this situation again - takes too long and is already written out in this journal in previous entries, albeit long ago. Caleb will most certainly become extremely agitated to find out they are living anywhere near us. After they left, Michael admitted to stealing several of Caleb's things which infuriated Caleb. Maybe I better just not tell him, I don't need him going and looking for trouble.
Well, this weekend looks to be extremely busy and I am not sure I am up to all of it. I like my weekends the way I already do them, not filled completely up with stuff. Friday night, I am allegedly invited to some sort of adult party thing at church. Saturday is the company Christmas party and Sunday I have been asked twice now if I would work. This means nothing but a blur of a weekend, basically, it isn't a weekend at all.
If I'm going to miss church on Sunday, I am going to have to consider going to the Wednesday service tonight. I don't really like missing church at this point, even if I don't feel like going I force myself anyway.
It equips an intersection with a device that can tell if a car is going too fast to stop at a coming red light. It would recognize that speeding car as a risk, and hold cross traffic a few seconds to let it pass.
Read more: http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_southeast_valley/chandler/New-red-light-camera-system-aims-to-make-intersections-safer#ixzz1fqvKm3tO
This is the new system Chandler wants to put in. This system tells if a car is not going to stop at a light, therefore running a red light and holds up cross traffic. So what, do you think, people are going to do when they find this out? I am guessing it will only coax a person inclined to run red lights to run even more red lights.
Who knows, I think it's a stupid idea considering the implications if you really think it through, but I have to get off to work.
G'day.
ben
When I say trashed, I mean trashed. Whatever the mind can conceive in the destruction of a property both internally and externally, that is the definition of trashed in their case.
Whatever. I am not going to go into all of it that leads up to where we are at in this situation again - takes too long and is already written out in this journal in previous entries, albeit long ago. Caleb will most certainly become extremely agitated to find out they are living anywhere near us. After they left, Michael admitted to stealing several of Caleb's things which infuriated Caleb. Maybe I better just not tell him, I don't need him going and looking for trouble.
Well, this weekend looks to be extremely busy and I am not sure I am up to all of it. I like my weekends the way I already do them, not filled completely up with stuff. Friday night, I am allegedly invited to some sort of adult party thing at church. Saturday is the company Christmas party and Sunday I have been asked twice now if I would work. This means nothing but a blur of a weekend, basically, it isn't a weekend at all.
If I'm going to miss church on Sunday, I am going to have to consider going to the Wednesday service tonight. I don't really like missing church at this point, even if I don't feel like going I force myself anyway.
It equips an intersection with a device that can tell if a car is going too fast to stop at a coming red light. It would recognize that speeding car as a risk, and hold cross traffic a few seconds to let it pass.
Read more: http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_southeast_valley/chandler/New-red-light-camera-system-aims-to-make-intersections-safer#ixzz1fqvKm3tO
This is the new system Chandler wants to put in. This system tells if a car is not going to stop at a light, therefore running a red light and holds up cross traffic. So what, do you think, people are going to do when they find this out? I am guessing it will only coax a person inclined to run red lights to run even more red lights.
Who knows, I think it's a stupid idea considering the implications if you really think it through, but I have to get off to work.
G'day.
ben
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Michael and Anthony
No, they aren't back in my house. Never will be. I will not tolerate the kind of - shit - that I need not go into here since it's completely written out in this blog - that I received from them.
What is the point then, of writing about them?
I came home from work today and saw their sister and one of their little brothers on the vacant lot that is owned by 350 man - actually his mother - directly across the street from my house. My instant thought was: "no good thing can come from this, why are they there and where did the come from? Are they back in the neighborhood?".
The kid that has been walking my dogs answered that question later when he came over and I asked if he knew anything. Yup, they moved into a house the NEXT street over.
So, this entire family is living less than 100 yards away from me. This isn't anything that I can say is a pleasant thought, at all. The first things that came to mind when I heard this was theft and destruction. There are no morals in that family. There are no boundaries, these people actually believe that since they are extremely poor, that therefore entitles them to do whatever they want or need to, including burglary; theft; criminal trespassing and a list of other things.
I can only say that getting Mark and Lynnette back on the property the same day I found out that the tenant had left while I was at work was not just chance. There was a great unease in me when they left. I attributed it to the characteristics of this neighborhood. And so beit.
But, with all the other BS going on in this neighborhood, not the least of which is being surrounded by Hoarders, I am going to start looking for a new place to live. I don't know that this is the straw that broke the camel's back, probably not since I am questioning whether it is or isn't - but it's close enough. It's time to come up with a contingency plan. Or even, just find a place to move and live on the cheap. Let this place go. I have not fully convinced myself, yet, that this is the best answer, but the pendulum is definitely swinging in that direction. I will start looking around and seeing what's available out there with the income I have.
I am not saying that I have decided to move out of this neighborhood, I AM saying it's time to start taking a look at seeing what's available. If you know me from my writings on this blog, then you might understand that when I say that, that means I am going to spend a great deal of time searching out locations and attempting to find something decent or that will fit the bill. If I find the right place, I will walk from this house, hand over the keys to the mortgage company and that's that.
I told Mark straightaway: that family is back in the neighborhood, be wary. Keep an eye and an ear open at all times.
No, this prospect I see nothing but as evil, these people don't care about anything or anyone but themselves.
What is the point then, of writing about them?
I came home from work today and saw their sister and one of their little brothers on the vacant lot that is owned by 350 man - actually his mother - directly across the street from my house. My instant thought was: "no good thing can come from this, why are they there and where did the come from? Are they back in the neighborhood?".
The kid that has been walking my dogs answered that question later when he came over and I asked if he knew anything. Yup, they moved into a house the NEXT street over.
So, this entire family is living less than 100 yards away from me. This isn't anything that I can say is a pleasant thought, at all. The first things that came to mind when I heard this was theft and destruction. There are no morals in that family. There are no boundaries, these people actually believe that since they are extremely poor, that therefore entitles them to do whatever they want or need to, including burglary; theft; criminal trespassing and a list of other things.
I can only say that getting Mark and Lynnette back on the property the same day I found out that the tenant had left while I was at work was not just chance. There was a great unease in me when they left. I attributed it to the characteristics of this neighborhood. And so beit.
But, with all the other BS going on in this neighborhood, not the least of which is being surrounded by Hoarders, I am going to start looking for a new place to live. I don't know that this is the straw that broke the camel's back, probably not since I am questioning whether it is or isn't - but it's close enough. It's time to come up with a contingency plan. Or even, just find a place to move and live on the cheap. Let this place go. I have not fully convinced myself, yet, that this is the best answer, but the pendulum is definitely swinging in that direction. I will start looking around and seeing what's available out there with the income I have.
I am not saying that I have decided to move out of this neighborhood, I AM saying it's time to start taking a look at seeing what's available. If you know me from my writings on this blog, then you might understand that when I say that, that means I am going to spend a great deal of time searching out locations and attempting to find something decent or that will fit the bill. If I find the right place, I will walk from this house, hand over the keys to the mortgage company and that's that.
I told Mark straightaway: that family is back in the neighborhood, be wary. Keep an eye and an ear open at all times.
No, this prospect I see nothing but as evil, these people don't care about anything or anyone but themselves.
Sunday Work?
I must confess that ever since I started a job where I do not work on weekends - almost never - I don't miss it and definitely don't want to engage in it. I worked 7 day a week jobs for years. I worked 6 day a week jobs forever, seemingly.
Well, our store is FAR from being done with the move. We have been abandoned with the extra help - which is no great loss, actually, they didn't get much done while they were there - but we don't have extra time to run a store and get it in order at the same time. All two of us? Hardly.
Well, a company is coming in on Sunday to tint the windows on the front of the store. I dunno, dude, it faces East. East doesn't get all day sun and more importantly: during the hot summer months, that isn't the side of the building that needs tinted, but if that's what they want, then that's what they get. Manager wants me to come in and do some work to get the place done or at least close to done. I dunno. I like my Sundays. Get up early, drink some coffee; surf the net; do some laundry then go to church. Get home from church and do whatever I want to, really.
I'll probably end up doing it. Half a day- though 6 hours is more than half a day. It definitely needs to get done and it doesn't appear at the pace things are going that it's going to get done unless we use time that isn't devoted towards deliveries to do so.
Very tired. Long day. Lots of OT already this week. Going to bed soon enough and want off the computer.
ben
Well, our store is FAR from being done with the move. We have been abandoned with the extra help - which is no great loss, actually, they didn't get much done while they were there - but we don't have extra time to run a store and get it in order at the same time. All two of us? Hardly.
Well, a company is coming in on Sunday to tint the windows on the front of the store. I dunno, dude, it faces East. East doesn't get all day sun and more importantly: during the hot summer months, that isn't the side of the building that needs tinted, but if that's what they want, then that's what they get. Manager wants me to come in and do some work to get the place done or at least close to done. I dunno. I like my Sundays. Get up early, drink some coffee; surf the net; do some laundry then go to church. Get home from church and do whatever I want to, really.
I'll probably end up doing it. Half a day- though 6 hours is more than half a day. It definitely needs to get done and it doesn't appear at the pace things are going that it's going to get done unless we use time that isn't devoted towards deliveries to do so.
Very tired. Long day. Lots of OT already this week. Going to bed soon enough and want off the computer.
ben
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
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
Monday, December 5, 2011
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!
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
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, December 4, 2011
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
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
Saturday, December 3, 2011
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.
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
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, December 2, 2011
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
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
Thursday, December 1, 2011
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
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
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
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
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 "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
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
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
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
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
Monday, November 28, 2011
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
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
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, November 27, 2011
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
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
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