So, a 14 year old kid in Laveen - about 10 miles west of me - is watching his younger siblings in their home. Parents are wherever.  Doors locked.  Woman comes up to the door - various accounts on the net so far - but she knocks on the door, the kid doesn't open it.  Kid goes up to dad's room, grabs a pistol in time to find a man breaking down the door and aiming a rifle at him.  Kid shoots the man, who is now in serious condition.

Now, where would this situation be at right now if that kid didn't have access to that gun?  Would those kids in that house be alive?  You can be rest assured that whatever the conclusion, it would not be good.

And you want to take away gun rights from the citizens?  Well, that's just one story.  Yes, that's true, one story in a sea of stories of people defending themselves against would-be thieves, robbers and killers.  Mine's sitting within arm's reach.  It's loaded and another clip in the case with it.  Every time I read something like this, just solidifies in me all the more the declaration of  what I believe to be a God-given right to defend yourself and to use deadly force to do so if necessary.

I do hope they get that kid some counselling, yes, he's going to need it, maybe the whole family considering what I read about the dad being beside himself and definitely not quite all here at this point in time.  Can you blame him?  Imagine coming home to find a legion of police cars in front of your house and then finding out your oldest son just shot a would-be intruder. The thoughts that would go through your head - what if?  The what-if's.  What if he hadn't shot that man?  Boy, I can imagine a lot of potential scenarios going through those parent's minds.

Someone told me the other day to "never say never" when it comes to the government - especially this current White House administration - in the desire to take away gun rights.  I wouldn't go quite so far as to never say it isn't going to happen. but I have my doubts.  There may be a gradual erosion of those rights over time if people don't stand up to it - but a total elimination of the right to bear arms?  There would have to be a change to the nation's Constitution to do that.

Well, changing the subject, Caleb just called.  He asked me to bring up his laptop computer next time I'm at mom's property.  It's a little bit of a drive - maybe another 40 miles - to the camp.  But it's a beautiful, lovely drive up there on the Rim and I don't mind doing it.  I told him this coming Saturday, as long as everything goes right, I would be up at mom's place in my trailer - was going to do that anyway - so I figured go visit him, visit with camp management, prolly not spend too much time there but will be nice to see him. They have weekends off.  Kids come up on Mondays and leave on Fridays. Camp staff is not allowed to use electronic devices excepting maybe cellphones during the week when the kids are there - which is a good thing, a real-life, current example that you don't have to have computers everywhere you go.

But I don't want to speak as a hypocrite, since I have come to love the internet and the vast wealth of information to be found on it, far above and beyond news sources and Facebook and all the rest of the entertainment stuff.   We used to live without computers and the net, remember? No, I didn't think so, lol.

ben

I've been following this Sandusky thing - you can't really avoid it if you read or watch the news, it's everywhere - and I have just one question for McCreary, the man who basically got this whole thing started.

If you saw a man raping a child, why didn't you do anything to stop it?  I read his excuses and none of it clicked with me.  Is it a stretch to say that most people would attempt to intervene and stop the man?

Well whatever.  It's over, well, okay, they are talking about an appeal and of course the sentencing, but somehow, I doubt an appeal is going to go anywhere and probably, Sandusky is going to end up dying of old age in a prison cell somewhere.  The various photos of him leaving the courthouse and the look on his face spoke volumes.

Well, whatever.  I ate  a small meal yesterday evening and paid for it last night.  I got maybe 4 hours of sleep.  My stomach still doesn't feel right, I finally broke down and went and got some Canada Dry ginger ale and am drinking a couple of glasses of it.

I am doing basically nothing this weekend attempting to get over whatever is ailing me.  I really wanted to go to the mountains yesterday after work, I got off at noon and could have been up there around 3 - but not to be.  I went to the store to buy food for the trip, but by the time I got home - well a run for the bathroom was indicated.

Try again to go to the mountains next weekend.

That's it.  No more here, I have things to write about but it's going to be shelved for now.

ben

Yesterday morning, upon arriving at work, I went to roll the driver's side front window up. Nothing but noises when I hit the switch. Insanity.  I took the car in some time ago to have both windows fixed.  The cost about floored me when the auto repair service presented the bill: almost $900.

Well, that's because the entire unit inside the window has to be replaced when something on it breaks.  It used to be that you could replace parts on the track and motor assembly, apparently not anymore, which makes that assembly cost over $300 a piece.  Fortunately for me, the auto repair shop I took it to is a very reputable service facility and they took care of it under warranty.  They were sending the replaced one back to the auto parts store they got it from for credit.

Today, I suffered some sort of heat related illness.  Heat exhaustion I guess.  I was down in a mine up in the mountains. You would think it would be much cooler up there, but, not so here.  Same temps in that mine as it is down in the valley. It was hot and the truck's AC is still not working properly.   By the time I got everything done and back to the yard, I was ill, felt like throwing up and ready to go home.  My manager was hardly sympathetic to my cause but I wasn't going to do anything else, I had no energy and I was feeling worse by the minute.  My manager exclaimed he had been in the heat all day long as well, telling me that from his office which is cooled to 72 degrees.

Whatever, I was in no mood and simply said I am going home.  Okay, but you'll have to be here at 4:00 am. Whatever again.  We ended putting off a contractor today to make that trip to the mine, so now, they want that stuff at the job site at 6:00 am.  Hope I feel better by tomorrow morning is all I can say, but right now? I am laying in bed writing this on my laptop, attempting to pass some time so I can go to sleep.  It's only a quarter after 6:00.   I have no appetite; I am extremely fatigued; my eyes are burning and it's all I can do to stay awake right now.

Oh, the mine.  Another trek down Forest Service Road 287.  You wouldn't think it a public road with all the mining activity, but it is.  There are continual signs referring to this place called Haunted Canyon.  This is now my second time back this road, but this time they took me MUCH further. Steep grades - guessing around 12% anyway - dirt roads, extreme switchbacks.  When we got to the entrance to the operation that I was delivering the pipe to, the guide truck opened a gate with a remote, we went in and then we went UP.

I sat there for over 2 hours waiting for them to unload the truck.  They apparently had to bring in some sort of safety person to oversee the operation and that  - took quite  a while.  I went to sleep.  It was after that and the truck was unloaded that I started not feeling right. The truck wasn't cool, it was warm. It was hot outside.

Well I can't write anymore.

Down to 2 candidates.  Let the s*** fly, obviously.  Although, it was a pretty dumb remark on Obama's part to say that the "private sector is doing just fine" and his apparent idea that to fix the economy, we must hire more government workers.  This is the problem. We don't need a bigger government, we need a smaller one.  I shell out about $800 or more per month to the various levels of government, the Federal government taking the largest portion of it.

I don't mind paying taxes, I do mind paying that much in taxes.  I would be happy if they took maybe half of that figure out.  I am beginning to feel like we are into this "taxation without representation" scenario simply because our representatives do whatever they please once they get into office.  They do not listen to their constituents.  They get to Washington and fall into the same old routine that's been going on for at least decades.

Whatever.  Hump day.  After spending all that money on the trailer and getting it moved, my savings account is going back up faster than I anticipated.  If I don't touch it before August and continue having the automatic withdrawals, there will be at least close in there to cover an entire trip to San Diego.  Well close anyway, lol, now that I just looked at a calendar.

As much as I hate to do it, I also paid off the second 401k loan.  It isn't paying it off that is bad, it's tapping into it that is bad.  It won't be "tappable" until this time next month.  But, I am not going to leave myself exposed, if something happens and I don't have any other resources available to cover whatever - it would have to be an emergency to get into that money such as a broken AC unit on the house which better not happen since I already paid for that thing to be repaired once in replacing the compressor - but just saying if there was an emergency, I have to be able to cover it somehow.  The loan was down to $59.  There is a 30-day waiting period before you can take out another one.  I do not need, at this point, to take out another loan and I really don't want to do it, so I just hope that nothing goes extremely foul anytime soon.

Well, work day here. Slated to be - 109 today.  Lovely.  NOT.

G'day.

ben

I had no more finished a blog entry this morning, walked out the door and headed for my car when I saw a dog running down the street.

Upon closer observation, it became immediately apparent this was no dog.  A coyote.  I took it by surprise - though definitely not intentionally - upon exiting the gate and closing it.  That thing stopped and gave me a look.  I made the same noise to it that I make to my dogs when I am not happy with them.  Can't really describe the noise........but it was enough to get that thing moving again.  Fortunately, it was not traveling in a pack as they are known to do.

I know the mountains are only 2 blocks away from my house, but there is a major surface street between them and my house.  However, not really all that surprising.  Probably looking for food - whatever kind it can find.  I have heard coyotes will definitely take small dogs, I don't know about cats.  Plenty of both in this neighborhood.  I don't really have to worry about that.  My dogs are too large for one thing and for the other, they are in my bedroom at night.  Coyotes come down from the mountains at night and return in the morning.

This one must have been late, lol.  I got in my car and took off down the street to see where it was going.  Back to the mountains. Yup, it found it's way to a bypass between houses that goes to the street - but - that street at that time of day? VERY busy.  I'm not sure what became of it.  It was a very healthy looking specimen, not the raggedy looking things that I have seen up in those mountains.

However, they are considered varmint and if I knew it was legal, I would have simply shot the thing.  Probably is legal in certain areas,  but I am in a residential neighborhood and there is no way I am going to shoot a gun unless my life is threatened.

Back To The Truck AC Issue

Today? I had had enough.  Anyone that reads this blog may remember my trials and tribulations with the semi truck I drive at work whose AC was not working properly.  We had taken it in last year to fix it and then took it in again several weeks ago.

Well, it still isn't working properly.  That's 2 visits to the dealership, a total of 8 days in their shop and 8 days of renting another truck to take it's place plus a total of 3 grand - yes, $3,000 to fix it.  For that much money,  I better need a coat to wear if I leave that thing on high, which is what is USED to do before it broke. That cab would get icy cold regardless of the outside temperature.

When I got the truck back, it felt okay at first, but later on that day it didn't feel all the great.  Fast forward to now-extreme temperatures and it's simply not good enough.  It's "lukewarm" in that truck and that is NOT what we paid for.

As usual for me, I decided that twice in the shop was enough.  I called - the owner of that company actually. Of course, I did not get to speak to the owner, the owner forwarded me to the general manager over the service division.  I believe this is a 24 hour operation, 7 days a week.  They always have a backlog of trucks to fix, so when you take your truck in there, it may be 3 or 4 days before they even START on it.

The general manager called and started his spiel.  I was having nothing to do with it.  Our total cost for a non-functioning system was around $4,600 if you count the rental truck, which I do.  He wanted us to bring the truck in on an afternoon and then come for it the next morning NO, sir, we are not going to do that. Well, he replied, I am just trying to eliminate any further expenses we are both incurring.

Sir, YOUR company has incurred NO additional expenses.  WE have paid the tab for everything and WE had to pay for 8 days of a rental truck. Your statement that you have incurred "additional" expenses is outrageous at best.  He again asked if there was no way to just bring the truck in, they would work on it - all night if they had to - and it would be ready in the morning.  No sir, we have gone this route, as far as I'm concerned, this is YOUR problem and you are going to have to  deal with it on MY terms.

I further explained to this gem that we are a 2 man operation.  We start at 6:00 am. Deliveries that are in the system are expected to be on the road no later that 7:00am and contractors want their material. We do not have time to be driving 50 miles round trip to get that truck in the morning, which is WHY we have to rent a truck anytime we have to take it into the shop, which is, fortunately, not that frequently.

He went on and on about making an overnight deal work.  I finally stated to him that I would be happy to speak to the President of the corporation again if I  need to and he could make the final decision.  Mr. Gem (not his real name) backtracked considerably on that one and said no, we will get your a rental truck if it comes to that.

After 3 phones calls, to of them with this guy, I FINALLY get an apology for the truck having had been in their shop twice for the same issue.  I am still guessing this problem is simply a matter of adding additional freon, but I decided against doing that myself.  If, per-chance, it isn't a freon problem, then over-charging them system can blow the compressor and then you have a REALLY expensive repair when it comes to trucks, even though the AC system in a truck is no different than a car AC system, it's all the same thing.

I got back to the yard and discussed the situation with my manager.  We can take it in on Friday afternoon and they can have it ready by Monday morning.  Okay.  But, I played this guy, since he was attempting to play games with me, Mr. Gem that is.  I called him back and gave him my terms.  I can bring it in Friday afternoon, I can pick it up Friday morning, but.......you are going to have to have someone take me back to the shop and pick me up.  If you are not going to get us a rental truck, that is the LEAST you are going to do.

He didn't like that idea and decided that he would just come and get the truck himself and then bring it back in time for deliveries Monday morning.  Perfect.  Please do.........and I have your WORD on that, yes?  Oh yes, Mr. B, it shall be done.

What do you think?  Twice in the shop for the same problem. The first time, they gave us the  truck back and told us it wasn't completely fixed.  Surprised, I asked him why they had called us to tell us it was ready. "We didn't have authorization to do the additional repair".  "Do you not have telephones here?  Did we not leave a cellphone number contact?"  "Y, y, yeeees, but........" But what?  It was too late, I had already dropped of the rental truck because they had called us, telling the repair was completed and ready to pick up.

The second time, I informed them of what happened the first time and - yada yada yada. I specifically told them it wasn't blowing enough volume of air AND the air was not cold enough to keep the cab cool.  They fixed the first thing, they did not even ADDRESS the second item, even though I saw the man write it on the service ticket.

Oh, did I say another part of the terms of this situation is that we are not going to pay another DIME for this "fix"?  Yeah,  darn straight.  How much money should be expected to fix a freaking AC system?

Tuesday 6/19/2012

What a miserably hot day yesterday.  I looked at the temp outside at 8:30 and it was still 105 degrees.  And, of course, it's not going to get any better, any time soon.  Triple digit temps going above 110 slated for many days in the near future.

Good reason to try and get up to the mountains for a couple of night's stay this coming weekend, if at all possible.

Neighbors to the east of me were forced - for the dozenth time at least - to clean up their property.  The city finally acknowledged my complaint about the property behind me as of yesterday.  They will have to go out there - again - and determine what, if anything, they can do.

My dad and uncles are talking about another reunion.  They wanted us young-in's to deal with it, but many of us young'in's are in no financial position to be able to even think about doing anything like that. And I'm definitely not asking them for handouts.  Instead, I am attempting to find ways to save money for when Caleb comes back because a trip to San Diego again this year would be very nice.  I'm afraid I will not see my uncles in my adult lifetime.  I haven't seen any of them since I was very young and just a few years ago, one of them passed away.  Another has MLS, apparently some unbelievably horrific disease.  They apparently all did well in life as far as money goes, I am happy for them.  I am currently not on that ship, I wish I were, but I am certainly not going to get into a pity-party about it.  It is what it is and I deal with it.

I have seen no sign of Heron coming back.  We put up that mannequin head on a pole with a t-shirt, lol.  Funny looking thing, especially considering the pole is 8 feet tall.  What tells me they haven't been around is that the fish are no longer hiding.  I mean, they are still a bit skittish when I come around, but they freely come out now whenever food time is there. Speaking of food, thanks for reminding myself: dog food and fish pellets, gotta get both at Walmart today.

The dying tree? Jury still out.  Still a very few, healthy leaves on it.  As long as it shows any sign of life, I am going to continue to water it - heavily.  The heat isn't helping anything, more frequent waterings having to occur. I have some plants I am hand watering now - I do that when the rest of the plants don't need the water but these certain sets of plants do.  Saves on water usage is all, which helps keep the monthly bill down a bit.

I have not been forcing the dogs to stay outside when I am at work this year.  I have in the past, but this heat is too much.  They have a doggy door and they know how to use it.  I just don't feel comfortable putting very large dogs outside in 113 degree heat even if they have plenty of water and shade.   So, unless they start doing things in the house that are going to - extremely - irritate me, it will probably stay that way for a while.

That's it. Time to face another hot day at work.

G'day.

ben

Nope, definitely not in the mountains this weekend.  On a normal weekend, I have decided that if I am going to go up there, it's leave asap after work on Friday and get up there so I can spend 2 nights up there and leave on Sunday morning early enough to hit church at 10:00am.

I haven't actually tried that yet, but soon enough I will.  I've also asked for 5th and 6th of July off making it a 5 day off "weekend" starting on the 4th of July.

I was called yesterday by a survey company that I have participated in before, they are paying $85 to participate in a 2 hour, small group.  That's $42.50 per hour. The location is about a mile and a half away.  Yup, convenient enough and I"ve done it several times in the past.  This time, they said it would be more writing than anything and that it was going to be a very small group and that attendance was highly critical.

The issue?  Water conservation, as far as I could tell.  I thought I had answered some of their questions "wrong", but apparently not.  Apparently, they want people that do know about what's going on with the state's water supply but do not want people that would consider themselves environmentalists.  Anyway, I'm good on that one, that pays for 2 trips up to the mountains in fuel, thanks.

Gilbert - the 22 year old tenant - comes home about an hour ago.  He did not look well.  He had one of his girlfriends with him.  He looked at me and informed me that his day was not going as planned. Oh? What's going on?

He was driving down the road, swung his car one direction to avoid hitting a dog, steered back the other direction but over-corrected and ended up in a ditch.  He had the car towed here and it's sitting in front of my house.  I sympathized with him - whatta drag - he went into his bedroom and I went out front.  Front end of that car is totally trashed.  The wheels are smashed up against the fender-wells, that's thousands of dollars worth of damage right there, at least.

This must be dog day.  My dog picks up a toy dog at Petsmart and treats it like it's a stuffed doll, biting into it and here is Gilbert trying not to kill a dog and trashing his car in the process.  I love dogs, oh yes I do, but if I knew that the end of the line in attempting to not hit a dog was going to be a totally trashed car?  The dog would lose.  Okay, I have to admit, if it was one of MY dogs I was about to hit? I would run the car into a tree first.

I haven't had a chance to ask Gilbert yet if he has full coverage insurance on it.  Mark started arguing that "minor" damage is covered by minimum liability insurance. No, sir, it does not.  Minimum liability insurance only covers damage to the other driver's car if you are at fault, it usually covers nothing on your car.  Well, it doesn't matter who is at fault, it doesn't cover it.  It just keeps you out of debtor's prison if you happen to run into a car and totally trash it.  Of course, modern cars?  Doesn't take much to trash them nowadays.

It's not like they're built out of any amount of metal anymore.

Weekends.  They disappear quickly.  I know it's only Saturday but it's already 5:00 pm and it seems like the day has vanished.  Perhaps it's just getting stuff done around here all day long, but it goes way too fast.

Later.

ben

I don't think that kid knows what kind of serious trouble he could get into.
When you starting acting out road rage and if you get caught, you are likely going to be hauled off to jail.

I am referring to an incident that occurred not 15 minutes ago.

I was getting into the middle lane. The kid in the white, Nissan pickup truck was in his lane at the time.  I was  2/3 rd's of the way into the center lane when he decided he was going to come over.  I already have legal entitlement to that lane.  I moved back over a bit, he got back into his lane and I then finished my lane change.

Trust me, he was NOT coming over when I started my lane change.  I am a truck driver, that's all I do is drive in mostly heavy traffic all day long.  The name of the game is to stay out of accidents, regardless of who may be at fault.

Well, whatever.  This kid is stuck in his lane now and I move on.  After the traffic behind me clears - not enough for him to fit in, he cut off another pickup up to get in the lane I was in because my lane was moving faster.  Now I am watching him because he is driving erratically.  I get over to the next lane - when it safe to do so, he is now stuck in the lane I was in.  I put on my turn signal - I was turning into my neighborhood.  He  not only cuts off another vehicle to get into my lane, he also has to hit his brakes, hard, to slow down to make the same turn.

Now?  I am pulling out my gun.  Not so he could see it, I don't know if you can get into trouble for an alleged charge of "brandishing a pistol", who knows.  The case it was in was on the floorboard and I simply opened up the case.  I am not going to be the victim of road rage and Arizona's castle doctrine applies to inside your vehicle as well as inside your home. This kid is right on my bumper.  I am guessing he's between 17 and 19 years old.  I turn.  He turns.  I turn again - onto my street.

I stopped several houses down from my driveway.  I thought it a bad idea to pull into my driveway and have that kid know where I live.  He pulls up beside me and then in front.  I am completely stopped and waiting for whatever's next.  He flips me off out the window of his vehicle but has not stopped, driving very slowly - I did not flip him off back. I take very seriously this kind of issue: people get killed, end up in hospitals and prison I then move behind him.  Apparently he thought he could scare me, as it became obvious he wasn't really game for getting into some kind of physical altercation.  I had no fear, whatsoever.  Now I am following him out of my neighborhood.  My street exits out onto a main artery and there is no way I am pulling into my driveway at this point, BAD idea.  I can just see this kid coming back at night and damaging my car or house or who KNOWS what.

He left the neighborhood -with me behind him.  This went on for a mile before he tried to ditch me.  Which was fine, I was well away from my place and I made a left turn heading a completely opposite direction from my neighborhood, but went right through a parking lot and headed back home.  He had run a red light at that point and I wasn't chasing him anyway.

Here's the real problem with people in this state that get mad in traffic, angry enough to start following a person, flipping that person off and basically making it known you have ill-intent towards that person.  The problem, is that many of us carry guns.  Law abiding citizens, that is.  Don't want to use them, but will if back is against proverbial wall.

I know at least a couple of readers that will have a problem with that.  I can't help you.  It wouldn't bother me in the least to take the life of a person that is attempting to take my life.  Period, end of story.  There is nothing more to say about it.  If they are going to kill attempt to seriously harm you, a person has a right to defend him/herself and that's that.

Completely changing the subject: some days I like watering my plants, other days I just want to get it over with. Today was the latter and just got done with it.  It's hot outside - 109 - and I just didn't feel like it.

With that, I'll end this one.

G'day.

ben

I did end up going to Globe yesterday, both to the customer and then the customer's customer.  He buys stuff from us and the sells it.

I ended up going into a mine I haven't been into before.  I think it's the 5th one I've been into up there.  I had to watch yet another, 20-minute safety video.  I have never encountered any other industry that has as much safety regulations as mining operations.  They are REQUIRED by law to educate anyone that isn't a recognized miner, regardless of who you are or what you do.

So, I got done with that and was instructed to go back to my truck and wait.  I couldn't just walk straight back to my truck, either.  I had to walk west to a parking lot, then through a designated (and extremely visibly marked) walkway between rows of cars, up to another walk way, head back east and out of the parking lot and back to my truck.  I guessing I wouldn't have got run over if I would have just been able to walk - straight back to my truck.  Lol.  But, I am used to this kind of thing, you do whatever they tell you, if you don't, they simply won't let you in.

Well, I waited there for 20 minutes before a pickup from the entrance highway - yes, they have their own, private highway - came up and told me he would be back in a few minutes.  Yup, I've heard that before, I was already on my laptop reading news stories on the internet.  3G connection, but that didn't bother me.  Another 20 minutes later he came back and we - did not even go into the actual mining operation.

Instead, I was taken down a winding, curvy dirt road laden with signs about a place called "Haunted Canyon".  It rang a bell, but didn't quite remember it.  Well, this guy was in a big hurry and pulled way ahead of me.  Sorry, dude, I am driving a tractor-trailer rig on a winding, narrow, dirt road, not going that fast.  Gotta have time to react to the unknown - the thing that probably isn't there but you have to be ready for just around another blind, tight curve.

I saw half a dozen of these Haunted Canyon signs which REALLY piqued my curiosity.   It must be a popular place to go, as this was actually a forest service road, as designated by the signs, not a total mining road. There were MANY small signs advising the traveler that yes, this is a public road, anyone can use it.  How do you even hear about a place like this, much less find it?

Well, got the pipe off the truck and then started heading back.  The inevitable call came - go somewhere else instead of back to the yard, something else has come up and we need you to do this, that and the other thing.

But a nice drive.  I don't get very many of those in the semi anymore, I relish each little tidbit that's thrown at me.  It's MUCH different driving on open highways than driving in the city.

Well, I just checked on the internet for Haunted Canyon.  Lots of pics and lots of info, apparently a popular hiker's destination and the pics looked very nice.  I wouldn't mind making a trip up there and taking a half day hike. Maybe take a dog with me for the fun of it.  NO, not all 3 of them, JUST one.  Those Great Danes are not good for long hikes, they simply won't last.  Sophie? I think she could go forever.

So, fast forwarding to the end of the work day today.  No sense in going into all of that, just another day driving in heavy, city traffic with a high percentage of extremely stupid drivers.  I get very tired of it.

I am slowing down to turn into the driveway into the yard and see .......... a Chandler police SUV parked in front of our store.  Okay, that isn't what got me, what got me going was the "Commercial Vehicle Enforcement" words on the side of it.  What was this person here for? Although I can't say I didn't have any close calls today - that happens every day - nothing out of the ordinary.  Well, whatever.  I know I didn't do anything wrong and I did my normal thing and then entered the shop.

Turns out the guy is a customer, wanting to buy some gas fittings (natural gas line) from us.  Though, we immediately went into a conversation about enforcement - he was eager to go there so I went there with him.  He was extremely interested in the new regulation (I have read on numerous sites over several year's span that the trucking industry is the most highly regulated industry in the U.S.) about DOT certification.  Otherwise known as the medical card.  If you are pulled over and you can't show one, you, the driver, are put out of service, the same as they do with a truck that isn't fit to be on a highway.  Lol.  I already knew this rule, but thought it funny he was alllllll over that.

I was more interested in the new texting regulation.  Had he caught anyone doing that?  Nope, he said, but he is ALWAYS looking, spoken quite adamantly.  Yup, already knew that.  Don't take that wrong, I don't think ANYONE should be texting and driving, period.  I have seen enough of it.

Well, the day is over, it's my bedtime and.....yes.........I am going to bed.

G'nite.

ben

I was looking online yesterday for some ideas of how I could build a much larger pond without having to dig up all of that rocky, dense soil.  Why of course, an above ground pond.  But - a nice one.  Can be built with bricks; blocks or even wood.  Most of the ones I saw they had inset it into the ground about a foot and a half, though.  Still would be somewhat costly since it would involved buying and underlayment and a liner.  Not to mention the pump and filter assembly.

Just floating things around in my head.  What's next, really.  Stay here or move.  Never have quite answered that question to myself, it's just something I haven't figured out whether I really want to go through with all of that or not.

Well, anyway, back to work today.  3 days off is nice.  I would like to do that more often and considering the amount of hours I have saved up at work for vacation, not improbable.  I haven't heard back about my 2 day vacation request for the 4th of July, the 2 days after it to be precise.

Caleb returns from the mountains on - the 30th I believe of July and starts school the 3rd week in August, so if we were going to go on a fishing trip, it would have to be in that 3 week period in between.  I'm not sure I can come up with even half the money for such a trip by then, but we'll see.

No tenants moving out on the horizon, though that can, of course, change quickly.  The young dude considers this "home" if only temporarily.  He went home to California this weekend but when he got back here he simply stated it "is nice to be home again".

Interesting mix I have now.  No major issues, either.  Nothing I can't tolerate or deal with anyway.

Might get a run up into the mountains in the semi today, not sure yet but there was talk about it last week and I put in my bid to the salesman to hold off on it until Tuesday if he can, which is today.  I would really like that, but not going to be terribly disappointed if it doesn't happen.  Just would be nice : )

G'day.

ben

Close to 300 miles round trip.  That was my drive up to Heber and back today.  A little over 5 hours.  I could have done it in 4, but I stopped in Payson for cheap fuel and a salad and stopped again on the way back down to refill the tank with fuel since it's about 18 cents per gallon cheaper up there, plus about a half an hour at the camp.

Funny.  That fuel they have up there? Is shipped from a yard in west Phoenix.  It's farther away, so more mileage for shipping expenses, yet the fuel is cheaper.  

We got up there and there was - no-one there.  A bit of a knot formed in my stomach: I had asked Caleb several times to confirm that today was the day to show up.  Apparently he confirmed today was the day to show up but did not confirm what time.  Between 6:00 and 8:00 pm.  6:00 pm is still a bit over 2 hours from now.  Then, after sitting under the awning at a picnic table, some grounds keepers showed up.  I asked them if it was going to be okay to leave him there since no staff was present.  Caleb didn't want to do anything else, he was good with staying.

Well, one of the dudes piped up and said: "Yes, but he will have to go sit out in behind the gate", pointing to the entrance gate 100 feet away.  Well, whatever, that's their decision.  But, this man got a big smile on his face, looked at me and informed me that he remembered Caleb from last year and he was welcomed to sit there until these people show up.  A few minutes later he came back and said: "Or he can come work with us!"

If it were me?  I would have either cruised around with those dudes all day long or - more probable - I would have taken off to the woods and gone hiking.  Regardless, he hadn't eaten, even though I offered to buy him lunch in Payson.  I then insisted he get SOMETHING to eat and I would take him to the Circle K about a mile and a quarter away.  We went, he got a half gallon of water and a very small thing with a piece of jerky and some cheese and crackers in it.  I offered to buy him whatever. Nope, that's all he wanted.

Okay.  Back to the camp, bid our ado's and away I went.  Always love the drive up on the Rim.  At the highest point there is an elevation sign: 7,700 feet.  I think Phoenix is around 1,200 feet.

I did not have the emotion this time of leaving him there that I did last year.  He's a man now, 19 years old, lots to learn, yes, but he's an adult.  He can take care of himself.  It's just kind of a phase there where you, the parent, are figuring out whether he's really ready for the world and being dumped off for 2 months up in the mountains and just the idea that he's all grown up now and going off on his own.

I was thrown out of my house at the age of 19 and I can tell you I was definitely not ready for what was to come and survival and life in general was not very pleasant during that time.

I had thought about stopping at mom's property on the way back, but I decided against it.  It would have taken too long and I wanted to come home.  Not anything grand going on here besides normal stuff, but tomorrow is work and I don't much care for being away too terribly long during the work week.   I did not take any dogs with me on today's trip, I didn't want the hassle and frankly, I was glad I didn't.  

The above is a Google image of the camp.  It's huge.  If you look at it, there are quite a large number of structures on the property.  

Well anyway.  My Butterfly Koi.  I was at that pond looking in there.  He came right up to me and starting opening and closing his mouth.  "I'm hungry, feed me".   None of the other fish in any of the ponds is even remotely close to that fearless of me.  I'll assume some of that has to do with a Heron showing up and wanting to eat them for breakfast, but even before that nasty little situation, it was pretty much the same.  That particular Koi will let me touch it.  Yup, a fish allowing a human to touch it without fear.  Amazing.  Absolutely amazing, IMO.

Caleb brought up the subject of San Diego and fishing again.  So, I proposed a half and half scenario.  I'll come up with the money for these expenses if you want to come up with the money for those expenses.  Yup, he's all down for that.  We'll see what happens in 2 months, of course.  

One of my tenants just brought me a Post Office money order and told me that a company in California is paying for him to go to Walmart as a secret shopper.  I was quite skeptical.  They had sent him a money order for $975.  No way.  Don't believe it.  I am guessing a real company would probably issue you a Walmart gift card only usable at Walmart, but I really don't know how the secret shopper financial part plays out.

I flatly asked him if the letter he received with the money order had issued instructions to send money to someone else.  Yup. FLAT OUT SCAM. That's it.  I am 99.999999999% sure that even though that money order looks like a real one?  It will prove to be useless in the end. I gave him my tidbit of advice: Deposit the money order into your account but do NOT spend any of the money until it clears the bank. If it does NOT clear the bank, you ARE going to be held responsible and that bank IS going to take YOUR money of our YOUR account and there won't be a damned thing you can do about it.  

I tried, that's all I can say.  If he is intent on going through with it, fine.  I didn't have to learn the lesson the hard way, I read all about this stuff for a long time before playing a guy that contacted me via email. He sent me a real money order that would have passed - at first - at the bank.  You send your money to whoever they say to and then a week, 2 weeks later?  You are screwed, thanks for playing, you lost.

G'day.

ben

I have been doing a GREAT deal of reading about Heron and how to deal with it at this point.  Amazing, these creatures.  They can actually learn your routine and work around it.

My opening the side door the other day - 2 hours earlier than I normally would have - and seeing this giant bird flying off lends some credence to this prospect.

There are many prospects to getting rid of them, however, the theme of having dogs around is a recurring prospect.  I will be luring my dogs to that pond through use of food.  Oh, there is nothing like food to a Great Dane - or any dog for that matter.  Put a bowl of food out there every day and what do we have? Dogs coming to the immediate side of the pond to see if there is more in it.

Mark is going to work on building a stand for the mannequin head - including arms.  I have several old T-shirst I can put on it.

But the interesting factor was the trip wire.  I don't know that that Heron or those Herons have found the other pond some 15 feet away, but I have to assume they have or will.  The information I have found is that Heron don't land in the pond, they have to land on the ground and then wade into the pond.  I read this many times over for the last couple of years, which really has me scratching my head on the above ground pond that I found the bird flying out of.  That bird could not have waded into that pond, impossible.

But the other pond? So, I am going to put some trip wire on the posts that are all around that pond. Easy enough.  I think the dogs are the best probability of keeping them away if I can get them over there when I am not here.

It was, however, interesting to read what I had already figured out: the fish disappear and you don't see them after a Heron has been around, taking even only one fish on one occasion.  Yes, I figured that, but ---- a smart fish in that above ground pond can easily outsmart the Heron by hiding under that giant Yerba Mensa plant.  I closely inspected that plant today, there is no way for any bird or anything else for that matter to peck through that plant.  A fish - or lots of fish - hiding under it - will not fall victim to a Heron.

So I have my work cut out for me.  I figured that sooner or later, I would be confronted by this situation.

This may be an on-going situation, as from what I have read, these creatures are very persistent birds that actually have a routine and your pond - if they find it - becomes a part of that daily routine.

I can say that I am more motivated for that bird to eliminate this property as a part of it's daily fly-over than it is of coming to dine on  my pond food, ie: Koi and Goldfish.

We'll see.

I'm guessing that this coming Friday?  I will be heading up to the mountains for a 2 night stay, leaving Sunday morning to be back in time for church at 10:00am.  The area where my mother's property is at is not in danger of any current, active fires.  It is, however, nicely dried up there.  In fact, Arizona is currently in it's 20th year of being in a drought.  Some years get ample rain - far and few between - which is not enough to reverse the situation.  I'll give SRP - Salt River Project - big time kudos for their foresight to have prepared for this LONG ago and still be able to provide the metro Phoenix area with enough water that as of yet, there are no water restrictions.

The other thing that has greatly helped is "Reclaimed water".  It is non-potable (you can't drink it).  It is water that is recovered from waste treatment plants.  Yup, that's right: the piss and dung places where waste water goes.  They have been building more and more of them for years and years now.  There are lines run all over the place.  They water golf courses and landscaping along and in the middle of freeways and city streets.  They put water into large lakes and without them, well, a lot of that would have to disappear.  Businesses tap into them off of city streets to water all the vegetation they have planted around their properties.  I know this because my company deals in selling the piping, fittings and valves that supply this industry.  It also cools the Palo Verde Nuclear power plant, the largest nuclear generating station in the nation.

I got the mannequin head today.  I put it on a table that is right next to the pond in question that is being terrorized by a Great Blue Heron.  I have now eyeballed that creature twice and have let it be known it is not welcome here.  I will find a pole that will fit into that hole underneath the head and plant it in plain, open view.

I will be ordering a motion activated sprinkler as well.  I have further plans but money is tight so on hold for now.  I am taking whatever steps I can.  Sophie - the new doggy - is obviously taking advantage of the open gate when I am away at work as there is fresh dog droppings over there.  I am pretty sure a bird isn't going to want to be around any dogs.  I have too much invested into all of this to have some bird coming and taking it all away for dinner.

Tomorrow morning, Caleb and I leave on a road trip to Heber.  I think this trip, I will spend the time praying with him.  I haven't done that much of that with him, but I think it's time to start.  He's totally into the Lord and that's the reason he is going up there.  Not to please anyone on earth, but to please the Lord and to continue on the path of fulfilling his destiny in God's plan for his life.

It is nice, frankly, to be taking a day off here and there. I have put in for a 5 day off time next month during the 4th of July.  I have no confirmation of that, but no other drivers have put in for it, so I expect to get it.  I decided to take the 2 days off after 4th of July which is on a Wednesday, figuring that at least some contractors will take the entire 3 days off  as well - which makes it easier for the company to fill my position with someone from the main branch instead of having to bring in a temp driver.

I expect to spend at least 3 days and 2 nights at the property.  Maybe 4 days and 3 nights. Possibly go up on Tuesday after work and come back on Saturday morning.

The leaf-eating wasps - which are decimating my giant Yerba Mensa plant - are becoming extremely agitated.  I am spraying the same swath of already destroyed leaves every day with poison.  Those leaves aren't exactly taking the poison well, but they are doomed anyway.  The wasps have no clue and are flying around in "violent" circles attempting to land but not..........quite...........getting there.  I am not just going to sit idly by while wasps and birds take away what I have worked so hard to create.

I'm still quite amused by Obama stating one day that the economy is doing just fine and then stating the next day that it obviously isn't doing fine.  Are people so blindly faithful to a party to not even perceive what they are reading or hearing with their own eyes and ears?  Apparently so.  Which is hardly surprising.

Whatever.  If we have to live with 4 more years of this BS, so be-it.  I can only go to the voting booth and make my voice heard.

Enough for one entry, just got done with a bunch of stuff outside and now?  Cooking dinner.

Later.

ben

Friday 6/8/2012

I've been stressing over this Heron on or in - on I guess, the side - somehow - I didn't get to see exactly how it was perched, I just know it wasn't in the water because the way that thing took off? There would have been good sized ripples in the water from that and that water was calm.

How many fish did it eat?  It SEEMED like my pond was almost empty of fish - but in that particular pond, they have a GREAT hiding place under that extremely dense and wide Yerba Mensa plant.  It is huge and it's roots are so dense and thick, no bird is going to stuff it's head through that entanglement.

So after more than a week of not seeing hardly any fish in there - but totally Jonesing about losing any more - I went out there a few minutes ago, threw some Koi pellets in there and lo and behold, a whole slew of fish appeared out of nowhere!  That is what I had hoped had happened, but I had lost hope after seeing the Blue Heron there yesterday and not seeing any normal amounts of fish in a long time.  I am assuming they were all hiding under there when that bird shows up - however much it has shown up there - and fearing for their lives.

From what I just saw, if I have lost any fish, it isn't that many.  I don't have a count of fish in there, I just know what it looks like when they all come out of hiding.  So that was very cool to find that many of them there and even cooler to know that that huge Yerba Mensa is doing one of it's jobs.

Umm, but I have to address the problem with the Yerba Mensa and I have the answer.  Those leaf eating wasps or whatever they are are slowly decimating that plant.  I can just throw some of my nursery grade screening over it during the day. It will still get sunlight but those wasps will not have access to eating up the leaves.

I don't have such bright ideas with my Taro, however, of the likes those wasps are also eating up in there.  Well, I sort of do.  I already have 4 posts around that pond with nursery grade sun screen on the top.  I could surround the entire thing with the screen and those wasps would have no way in there.

That is going to cost money, however, and this month?  Money is tight.

Well, anyway, wrapping this one up.

ben

Herons!

I've been scratching my head for a couple of weeks now as to what, exactly, is going on with one of my ponds.  The fish used to come right out when I would come to feed them.  Now?  Either I have a lot fewer fish in that pond or there is something going on with it.

I couldn't figure it out.

Until today.  I came home, put my stuff in my room and then immediately went to the side door where the pond is located - right on the patio slab.  It's a horse trough turned into a pond.  No-one goes on that side of the house, hence, I was comfortable in putting that pond right on the cement slab.

I opened the door and was as startled as the giant bird that - took off.  It was a Heron.  I don't think it was IN the pond because the water wasn't muddled, in fact, if the "facts" about Heron are true, they can't really fish unless they can wade into the pond.  Which is why I never gave it any consideration.  I've heard this information from a dozen different sources, so I gave it some credibility.

I don't actually know if that thing has caught any fish or not.  The fish are such good hiders when they want to, you can't really tell there are that many in there.

I have a few options.  First, the gate I installed to keep the dogs out can be left open now.  They do not fight with the dogs next door because - I don't even know if they still HAVE dogs next door anymore.  I haven't heard any barking coming from over there in a long time.  Regardless, their dogs do not have access to my side of the house, which was the issue.  They would "fence fight" each other. My dogs were destroying my plants because of it.

Since it's a non-issue, I can leave the fence open and Sophie LOVES to go over there.  I have serious doubts that Heron are going to want to be in that close proximity to dogs, especially Sophie, who will, undoubtedly, take off after it if she sees it. \

The second thing I can do is try to find a mannequin head.  I have been told by a few people that had Heron problems that mounting one on a pole near your pond will keep them away, they are afraid of humans and don't want to be anywhere near them.  I did see one on Craigslist some time ago advertised for just such a purpose, not sure if I can find one now or not.  Kinda creepy, I would think, having such a thing out there, but maybe just drape a cloth over it when I am home.

Third is to put a fence around the top of it.  Mesh or something. That wouldn't be so great, though, since it's an above ground pond I wouldn't really be able to see anything plus working on the pond would be a big hassle.

The bird may already be a bit deterred by my opening that door, but Herons are very persistent birds, they are hungry and I have their food swimming around in my ponds.

Wow.  A lady is selling Mannequin heads for $10 a piece! Just my price!

Long interlude. Time for bed. Hopefully acquiring a mannequin head tomorrow.

G'nite.

ben

Irritated People

A recent situation brought a situation from the past to mind, something I will never forget.

I was driving a belly-dump up north, in Flagstaff.  A bridge was being built over the railroad - which was much more of an ordeal than I figured it should have been, but whatever.  The company was paying for a hotel room and some amount of per-diem.

Well, being up there all the time meant doing my laundry at the hotel's laundromat.  When I use a hotel laundromat, I keep track of the time it is going to take to both wash and dry the clothing so I will be there when it's done and get it out of the washer and into the dryer or out of the dryer and back into my possession.

Well, it happened. One night, I had a load in the dryer. I had the time down on to when it was going to be done, but I had gone in there 5 minutes previous to check.  Yup, it was about 5 more minutes until it was done.  I had noted that a load of clothes was running in the washing machine and it was about done, not my laundry.

I left and came back about 8 minutes later.  I found my dried, clean clothing strewn on the floor and the person who had their clothes in the washer now in the dryer.  I became infuriated.  There was absolutely no reason for this person to throw my clothes on the floor.  If it had been me, well I would have waited longer for one thing and if that person that owned the clothes didn't resurface, I would have put them on top of the machine, not thrown them on a dirty floor.

I actually do not regret, even to this day, what I did next.  I took my cleaned/now floor-soiled clothing to my hotel room and then I came back to that laundry room, took that dude's still very wet clothing out of that machine and threw it all OVER the place.

I went back to my room but later went to the office to ask for something I didn't have that they could give me.  I don't remember what it was at this point, otherwise I would be more specific.  They mentioned the man whose clothing was strewn all over the floor come storming into that office, yelling about someone who had thrown their clothing out of the dryer onto the floor.

Was there a video surveillance camera I didn't know about? I politely responded that that person probably should have come into the office and asked for a plastic trash bag, at the very least, before throwing someone else's clean and almost dried clothing on the floor himself after removing clothing that didn't belong to him from the dryer.  I was unapologetic and still am.

I am not going to ask what you would do if you found your clean clothes found strewn on the floor in a laundromat.  Some that read will condemn me, even if in thought only.  I "should have" done this or that.  Who cares.  You don't know what you will do in any given situation until you are presently and physically exposed to it and experience the emotion that comes with it.

So, I was asking the lady on the telephone, am I supposed to come into your store at some certain time of day to buy meat?
lol
I was talking to Fry's corporate yesterday about the situation with the general manager of the store I frequent.  That woman  - the general manager that is - is NOT customer friendly.  I have watched her for some time now dealing with people and it's pretty ugly.  She has the personality of a rock.

Anyway, I told them the entire store and then demanded a gift card be sent to my home.  Thank you.

I haven't gotten to Verizon yet.  That company is much like Direct TV in that you have to navigate through a bunch of computer junk to get to a real, live person.  It takes a while for me to get the motivation up to want to actually go through all of that - but once I do, I'm good for the rest of the game, however many calls has to be made, it gets done.

This month is looking pretty ugly on the financial front.  I've paid almost all the bills owing - a couple left to go - and it isn't leaving me much.  This is a 3 paycheck month, though, that will help.  Fortunately for me, tenants are paying up and that is extremely helpful.  No, that is the sink or float maker.  I don't really care that much if I'm broke, but if I AM broke, I do care that it's because I already paid all the bills and don't have to worry about it, not that I am broke and am facing a mountain of things I cannot pay.  Fortunately, that is not the case.  Next month will be better since I got completely caught up on the water bill this month and am very much watching water consumption. Plants and trees are getting watered, yes, but only as much as they need. I used to go out there and turn it all on and then forget about it.

Not anymore.

The truck.  Yesterday morning, I was faced with several deliveries.  The idea that the truck was not going to be taken into the shop was a non-happening event.  I called Penske, confirmed they had a truck available and then discussed with my manager when we are taking our truck in.  Yup, took it in yesterday, got a rental truck sitting in our yard.  And that thing pumps out ice cold air and that's EXACTLY what our truck better be doing when we get it back this time.  I had an "interesting" conversation with management at the International dealership. They have a 3 to 4 day lead time on fixing vehicles, they are that backed up.

They are ALWAYS that backed up.  I informed them that since we ALREADY had the truck in there for 3 days and paid almost 3 grand to have the AC fixed, that truck would NOT be sitting there for 3 days before you get to it.  Further, I continued, this time it better work correctly.  The guy disappears into the back to have a conversation with someone else about when the truck was going to be looked at.  The earliest they said they could do it was today, this morning.  Fine, I said, make that happen.

I was going to call them this morning, but I think I will wait until about afternoon and then call them and find out what's going on with it.

It's just the way it is with large corporations anymore.  They will stick it to you - all of them - if you let them.  The treatment of customers with many places is pretty abhorrent.  Most people will not go to the extent that I am willing to go when I am treated badly by some idiot who is in love with the sound of their own voice and worse, knows everything there is to know about everything on the planet.

So, San Diego trip. Lol.  Certainly nothing getting put aside for that THIS month. I probably have a hundred bucks worth of change in my tin can.  $250 for the tickets;  plus gas; hotel; food.  Yikes!  Well, when August gets here it either happens or it doesn't.  If I can come up with $350 or more, my son can pay the rest, we'll go.  If not, oh well.

My son informed me that when he gets back from the mountains, he "figures" that I don't really want him living here forever, so he's going to go get a job and see about moving out.  I replied, well, nothing wrong with that. If you want your own place I bid you well.  But, I am not forcing you out: as long you are either working or going to school or preferably both, you are welcome to stay as long as you need to.

Let's just put it this way: this kid working at minimum wage plus in an attempt to live on his own? In this economy?  It's up to him.  I just told him he is welcome here and he got a huge look of relief come flashing over his face.  Okay, I guess he's been hyping about that one for a while, but there is nothing I have said to him that even remotely qualifies as me getting tired of having him around.  I have 3 rooms full of tenants, lol, having a room with one of my own family members in it isn't any further aggravation to me.  But, if he does get a job, he can start paying rent.  Albeit a minimum amount, my $100, $150 per month, I think it's only fair that if he is going to stay here as an adult and if he does get a job that he at least pays something.

However, his mother has borrowed pretty much ALL of his money from him.  She apparently owes him quite a lot of money at this point.  Although I figured he was helping her, I had no idea that it had gone that far.

Well, this entry waxeth long and I need to leave for work.

G'day.

ben

I guess I will have my hands full with calls to various corporate headquarters this coming week, including Verizon Wireless; Fry's Food and Drug Stores and Direct TV. Verizon will probably be a battle since I have had few dealings with them and will take some time to figure out what it takes to get to the "right" person.  Fry's  corporate probably has my name flagged by this point, though I haven't contacted them in quite a long time, today was enough.

The newest general manager of the store I frequent? I just talked to her on the phone.  So this is the situation.  I bought a package of "fresh" chicken thighs yesterday.  I decided to look at the expiration date not 20 minutes ago and saw that the package had a due date of - TODAY!!  So, this general manager gets on the phone and I inform her of the situation and ask why her store is selling meat that is due to expire after the next day.  Meat- I don't care which kind you buy - is extremely expensive these days.

Instead of apologizing, she asks me what time I bought it!  "That doesn't make ANY difference, whatsoever, Nancy".  "OHHH yes it DOES" came the stark reply.  I quickly put 2 and 2 together.  If I came at a certain hour before they change the date on the meat,then apparently they would have either taken it off the shelf or probably put a manger's special stamp on it and put a reduced price on it..  I by-passed the entire realm of asking stupid questions and came right to the point: So, Nancy, are you telling me that it's okay to be selling meat that expires in 2 days?  The only way that happens is if it's a manager special and the price is marked down.

She shut up after that. She neither offered an apology or any condolences, whatsoever.  I informed her that since she was taking this stance against me, I would be calling corporate tomorrow and telling them what she told me and that would be that.  I have done the food shopping for a lot of years now: with chicken, it better have at least 3 days before the "sell-by" date comes and goes.  And unlike beef or pork, when that sell-by date comes and goes? That stuff will have a BAD smell to it the next day.

I'm not interested in rotten chicken, but more, I'm definitely not going to tolerate a mouthy general manager. I asked her a simple question, she got the attitude.  Enough.  I know Kroger's doesn't tolerate such s*** and I will be making sure that I get my point across. This woman has acted that way since she took over the general manager's position there, she has the customer service attributes of a wasp. I haven't taken up the fight because I was tired of it - though, usually do get freebies out of it - not worth the pain.

Direct TV is a minor problem - but they know how to turn something minor into a major ordeal, so jury out there.

I was at Fry's today, bought 2 packages of ribs.  Slow cooked them 3 hours on the grill.  One of those melt-in-your-mouth adventures. I spend enough money at Fry's, service rendered should rise to the occasion.

Church was nice today. Hadn't been the last 2 services.  Got the ribbing from several people, but it was all in good taste.  Actually, at least half the members of that church were absent today - beginning of summer, time to get out of town.  I wonder how pastors deal with that?  This is the time of year where people are clamoring to get out of town at any and every opportunity.

I'm pretty much looking at at least 5 days off in July.  Maybe an entire week.  Not sure yet.  When I say 5 days I am always including 2 weekend days. If it's an entire week off, then we're talking 9 days total with 2 weekends.

I am still pondering another trip to San Diego with Caleb after he is done with his 2 month stint in the mountains.   I dunno.  Not looking exactly promising now, but, who knows.  $250 for us to get on the boat: $175 in fuel round trip unless gas prices might come down  

Saturday 6/2/2012

Edit: I am not finishing this post, got distracted yesterday and just didn't have time, just posting it in whatever form it is.

Umm, so, these leaf eating wasps or whatever they are are destroying a certain kind of my pond plants and attempting to do in my Taro.  I had enough.  Got some insect killer and started spraying the leaves of the plants that are out of the ponds.

Lo and behold, however, I stood there and watched a Dragonfly going after one of these leafeaters.  Sight to behold.  The leafeater was flying it's brains out, attempting to get away from the thing, the Dragonfly was like a laser guided missile: honed in and not letting up.  I dunno how that ended, they both disappeared.  Dragonflies or not, they are not doing the job in keeping these bastards from eating up my plants and I am now on the warpath.

I saturated the entire swath of plants that are hanging over the side of one of the ponds-  that stuff isn't going to get in the water and kill my fish.  The portion of this very dense and large plant IN the water, I sprayed lightly on top.  These little darlings came spouting out and - I just hope my fish are not adversely affected.  I was spraying roach killer, the only thing I had available.

Verizon Wireless.  Starting to piss me off.  Send me emails after watching 2 movies and a couple of Star Trek episodes while at mom's property saying that I am at or over my month's usage allotment.  In other words, a total ripoff.  I was told if you use a "lot" of streaming video, go for more expensive package.  Yeah.  So, 6 hours or less of movies and "normal" usage - which isn't that much lemme tell ya - should cost me more than the $50 per month charge. I pay $45 per month for unlimited at home use.

I will have them stop the service and will try another company now that I have my "feet wet". Which simply means I have a much greater understanding of this situation and their dealings and - I will play my game on them, since they want to play their games on me.  I am a VERY persistent person when it comes to shams from very large corporations.  Oh, back to the original thing?  I will not be paying them anything for disconnection fees.  They can have their device back.  I will try another company.  Perhaps one that works in the 5th largest city in the United States.  Yep, they sent me a replacement device which  - has to be turned off and restarted frequently for it to work.

So, the question is posed whether we want to ponder about and deliberate it or not: should the government start stepping in and attempt to start forcing upon we-the-people things that will, allegedly, reduce the amount of obesity in our nation?

I dunno.  If you believe the statistics, in the next 20 years there are going to be a LOT of obese people walking around this nation.  If people can't find it within themselves to get up and start exercising and put down the cokes, the fat and calorie laden dishes and the sugar-filled desserts, perhaps it's time to try something new.  The idea of a "fat tax" has been floated.  The idea of paying people to lose weight as well - which I think is a ridiculous and dumb idea, who is going to foot the tab?  Yeah, that's what I thought.

And it's allllll too easy to stop at a McDonald's; Burger King; Wendy's etc. to get a quick bite to eat if you are in a hurry and don't have time. I pretty much force myself to stay away from such establishments excepting McDonald's to get a nice cup of coffee on occasion. I love Big Macs which is all the better reason to stay away from that place.  I envision myself at 300 pounds and don't like that particular thought.  I am at 199 pounds right now.  Anytime I break the 200 barrier I go hog-wild crazy and do whatever to get the weight back down again.

Whatever.  There has to be some response to this situation.  It's only going to cost all of us even more money in health care coverage costs and all that is associated with being extremely overweight or obese.  I'm not sure that it's the government's job to step into such a theater and if not, then what?  Leave it go?  The fast food companies and the soft drink and energy drink companies are making far too much money to suddenly decide that they aren't going to sell the fat and sugar laden foods they are selling and go on the vegan road.  The only way that will ever happen is if America wakes up out of it's slumber.

Just an interesting topic, at least to me.

ben

I was in a good mood all day today at work.  In fact, I have been in a pretty darn nice state of mind since starting this mountain business.  But financial constraints will put a halt to the mountain activities unless, of course, I want to put the fuel portion of it on the Chevron gas card.  But I am not going up there this weekend, I have concluded to around 99% positive at this point.

Tenants definitely need to pay me this week.  Well, one has committed to paying it on Monday - an entire month's worth, that will help immensely.

This is the trouble this country is in.  An MSNBC host is "uncomfortable" with calling fallen soldiers heroes.  Asshole.  The guy's lucky someone doesn't deck him.  What an idiot, making such a stupid, calloused, unbelievable statement on a national forum such as the one he hosts.  How many more like this freak?  Is he uncomfortable also that the entire world isn't under a Hitler regime right now?  Does someone have to bring war to our land for these morons to understand what this world would be like right now if we hadn't taken it to them?  Yes, it pisses me off.  STUPID people.  It reminds me of the shit that went on with the Iranian crap that went on in the 70's and those that live here, in the US, going around saying how bad this country is.   Those people in Pittsburgh where I was a little boy at the time? I'll never forget.  They got their asses kicked upside and down.  They went around spouting off to the wrong folks and those folks that love our country didn't have a problem sending them to the ground and subsequently to the hospital.

A nation of pansies and wimps, that's what we are becoming.

But our nation's military? Oh, I have the highest respect for anyone that has served or anyone that is serving.    You signed on the dotted line and whether you went to war or not, you were fully cognizant that that possibility existed and that you might end up making the ultimate sacrifice. Regardless, you sacrificed your life for whatever time you were in.  You might have loved the entire experience, even better, but it's still a sacrifice.

I just read that junk and about blew a fuse.  Coming back down to Earth now.  I could find nothing on MSNBC about this guy's statement, which may or may not be there, if it is it's certainly not at the top of the list.  Or the middle of it.

Okay.

Local news. RARELY ever watch it, but it was on when I turned the TV on, which I don't do a lot of anyway - just feel like watching a movie.  So, here's this older gent in a neighborhood maybe 7 miles away from me lamenting about his neighbor who recently was forced out of his house and left a bunch of - cats - behind. Yup, he called the ejected person an animal hoarded.  Oh, how I can ever-so-loving identify with that.  Found fresh cat poop in my front yard - again.  Cat hoarders living on 2 properties behind me and another that is in cahoots with them living 2 properties over from me.

I have some things to get done before sundown, later.

I am getting precariously close to the "broke" stage.  Send out mortgage, car insurance payment and keep electricity running?  Fortunately, Friday is payday and tenant money will be coming in soon enough.
I will be considering upping the rent for Mark and Lynnette as well.  She is making money at this point and I gave them a reduced rate because of their situation.  But, if their situation is improving, I need more money out of that room.  2 people with all that entails living in that room would normally get me $150 more per month than what I am charging them.

Electricity, folks, it's all about the electric bills.  And water, for that matter. The heat forces me to have to water much more frequently or I can kiss many of my plants goodbye.

I am also awaiting the lien release for that trailer. As soon as I get it, I'm putting it up for sale.  Selling it would give me a cushion to bounce off of and not have to worry about any potential "disasters" that might arise.  It's that or another 401k loan, which I REALLY do not want to do.

Oops, it's time for work : )

G'day.

ben

Politics.  I have given it little attention in recent weeks because I am already sick of it - and the election is still quite a ways off.  I always love when the liberal media gives a Hollywood actor room in the news with whatever statement they are making about politics.  As if their opinion means a hill of beans.  The latest is Bruce Willis calling Romney "an embarrassment".  What about the Obama administration taking to task Romney on his company for buying out companies, as the ads claim and then loading them up with debt and taking whatever capital out of them.  I don't really care to be honest, I wouldn't vote for Obama if you paid me to, and that's a fact.  As far as I'm concerned, that guy is wrecking America and Lord only knows what kind of agenda he has en-queue if he gets re-elected.  He will not have a third term to worry about making people happy, I would guess his Socialist agenda - or perhaps the creation of his Kingdom more like it - will be rolled out in full furor soon after his re-election if that does, indeed, occur.

Which I hope it does not, but brace yourselves.

Anyway, I won't be going up north this coming weekend, I don't think so anyway, but I will have to make a trip up there the next weekend/Monday after that to take Caleb up to Heber. So I am half considering stopping by the trailer and get some stuff done on it, work on it for a few hours and then leave.  I was shown the water tank yesterday - mom had a huge tank installed up there after using a much smaller one for years.  That big tank is full at 1,200 gallons of water and the small tank is on a trailer which is used to bring water up whenever it is needed.  She won't do it, though, she really can't be hauling trailers around, it's enough that she's driving a vehicle without anything attached to it.

Oh, throw out there the only real reason I won't be going up there this weekend is the price of fuel.  if it was in the 2 dollar range, I could probably go up there whenever I wanted to.  But nearer the 4 dollar range, totally different story.  It isn't a long trip, about 230 miles round trip.  But, that's about 11 gallons of fuel or so, haven't really come up with a precise amount.  That puts a trip up there and back, in fuel alone, at around $45.  Not exactly cheap, though that is the only real cost incurred.  I would have to eat wherever I am at, so that's not a real added cost.  I suppose a little bit of electricity should be factored in.

Well, back to the workday grind.  Plenty to do this morning if I recall correctly in looking at it on Friday.  A good thing, I don't much care to start a new work week with nothing to do.

G'day.

ben

So, I'm driving home from up North.  I see off in the distance a pickup truck with a trailer on it. It has this giant - machine - you could call it a dune buggy Frankenstein style, the thing is huge.  I pass the vehicle by while in Payson, but I pull into a fuel stop to get a cup of coffee for the trip back.

I get out of there, get the dogs positioned - if I don't do that, Duke will take up the entire rear bench and force Prince to have to sit at a very uncomfortable position the entire way back (Sophie takes the passenger front seat and stands up the ENTIRE trip back, panting and looking at me funny) - and off we go.  I don't much care for driving anymore, so I tend to try to get trips done - quickly.  That pretty much means I am passing everything and not getting passed by anyone.  Or, if someone does happen to pass me, I let them get ahead about an 1/8th mile and then speed up to match their speed.  The reason for doing that should be obvious.

Well, no-one caught up to me today - I would rather follow someone else to be honest but I am not going to take my sweet old time getting home regardless.  So, a bit later, here's that pickup and that trailer with that thing on it.  I'm saying to myself, that looks like the thing my brother has when he goes off-road doing not just 4-wheeling, but rock-climbing with it.  And when I say rocks, I don't mean little things, I mean giant boulders that people have these machines they build that can crawl over them.  Well, we're going up a 7% grade and I am going WAY faster than that truck.  About the time I am maybe 100 feet behind it, I see a hand stick out the windows and fingers moving like they are walking.  I gave it no thought at first. But it continued with a waving motion thrown in.  It suddenly dawned on me that that IS my brother's machine and it IS my brother.

I look up just in time to see him sticking his head out the window with a HUGE smile on his face as I go blasting by him, I waved heartily and that was that.  I hardly EVER see him on a planned visit, what happenstance to actually find him out on the highway somewhere, not having any foreknowledge that he was out there.  I made the 115 mile (I think that's what it is) trip back in 1 hour and 45 minutes.  That may not sound like much, but remember there is 7 miles of that on a dirt road going 25 to 30 miles per hour plus going through Payson with a speed limit of 35 miles per hour.

Well I have quite the list of things I want to get done before going back up again.  I doubt I will be going next weekend, on the 11th I am driving Caleb up to Heber to the Salvation Army camp.  I probably will not stop by the trailer on the way up or back.  Or if I do, only to spend a few hours and try to fix a few things.  I am still attempting to decide when to take  maybe 3 days off.  I was going to do it when Caleb goes up to Heber - drop him off up there and just come back to the trailer - but I would have to have the dogs with me .  Further, I would have to waste an entire weekend with time that I could be up at the trailer - he won't want to go spending several days up there.  So, I am not planning an extended stay up there when I have to take him to Heber.  That's just going to be a day trip and without any dogs with us.

On a bit of a sour note, was the incident up there yesterday.  Mother is a black and white person.  You say you're going to do something, then  damnit, you better do it exactly as you say you are. Oh, she lives her life that way, this isn't a hypocritical thing on her part.  So, I got her a Dish Network receiver off of Craigslist.

Little did I know the hell that would ensue.  She spent a week on the phone trying to understand why, exactly, they would not activate that thing and get it going.  She got completely differing stories from people working at the same company, but it ended with them saying they would send someone - yes, I mean sending them up in the middle of the forest out in the middle of nowhere near the Mogollon Rim.  They would get it working and that was that.

Dude shows up yesterday - late.  Sun was going down type of late. He was sent from the Phoenix area.  He got in there and understood what was going on and then declared he could not activate it.  Mother blew a fuse.  Literally.  He started to explain to her why he couldn't do it - the unit belonged to someone else and they would have to call in and deactivate it - she didn't want to hear ANY of it.  She was VERY rude, unfortunately, to this guy and gave him a brush off the likes I haven't seen in years.  He walked off the property, cussing and I was standing there temporarily speechless.

Umm, I haven't seen my mother acting that bad - ever.  I have seen her get into it when I was a kid, but it wasn't anything to this degree.  The dude came back, on the phone and I was intent on playing deference. That guy cannot do anything that isn't authorized, that's all there is to it.  She was taking up the fight with the entirely wrong person.  But, in her eyes (and I totally understand this), that guy IS Dish Network and he was now feeding her the same line of BS that had been fed to her at the beginning of this ordeal and that was too much for her to deal with.

She told him off and went outside of her trailer and sat down on a lounge chair, threw up her hands and told her she didn't want to hear another word from him, either fix it or leave.  Wow!!!

I escorted the guy out of that area and away to a place where we could talk without her hearing.  I apologized, frankly, for her behavior but also stated I could understand her position, just that it wasn't really appropriate for her to be taking off after service personnel.  We talked for a while and shook hands and he left.

But here's where Dish Network totally sucks.  I didn't know this until yesterday.  If you buy a receiver from someone - like off of Craigslist such as I did - and they have an active account and do not deactivate that unit, Dish Network won't reactivate in someone else's name. But that isn't the worst part: if the prior owner of that is in arrears with Dish Network, Dish Network will NOT activate that receiver until YOU, the person that is NOT responsible for that bill, pays the bill in full!!

Now excuse my French, but that is a load of BULL****.  I have NEVER had that problem with Direct TV!!! They don't CARE where you got the receiver.  It's the CARD they care about.  The card makes the thing work or not.  No card, no access to the satellite.  Well, I don't like Dish Network anyway, just one more reason to really not like it.   The receiver I bought?  The customer is in good standing but HE has to call in and authorize the unit to be put in someone else's name.

Gag.  My mother had Direct TV and I still don't understand why she switched.

Whatever.  Here's another weird thing.  I had no idea that she had had a full septic system installed for a cabin or whatever she was going to have built or placed on the property - deal went south and I am not going to go into all of THAT. So, I am in her yard - it's a fenced-in area. There are sticks of sewer pipe sticking out of the ground with adapters and plugs on the top of it.  We SELL this stuff, I know what this is: sewer clean-outs.

WHAT is THIS for?  I ask her.  The full explanation about the cabin.  Oh, well why don't you have it connected to the trailer?!!!  She isn't even USING the thing.  She has to go to an outhouse to use the toilet.
Well, she says, I may get into getting that done this summer.

Okay.  Enough. You don't pay thousands of dollars to have a septic system installed and then, after a deal goes south, you don't use it with the application you already have.  That doesn't make any sense at all. It would take a 20 foot stick of sewer pipe and some fittings and adapters and that would be the end of her using an outhouse. I do hope mother isn't going senile on me, but from her actions yesterday and seeing that unused system in the ground, ummm, I dunno.  And let's just say here that the deal that went south - I'm not so sure about  her story at this point.  I wonder what actually happened.

But, I love my mom and I think maybe she needs help with these things.  She may not WANT the help, but I think I may insist and see what happens.

Well I'm home anyway.  The dogs? Crashed out.  Totally crashed out.  I mean, laying on the floor snoring crashed out.  These trips take it out of them.  I was informed that I can give them Benedryl for motion sickness- ie: the car trip.  But, I haven't researched that yet and I ain't giving them nothing to them, especially Duke, until I am sure that it's safe to do so.  I think Sophie would totally benefit from that as well. She just stands there, in the front seat, the entire trip, she won't - or can't - lay down. Crazy dogs.

This entry? Waxes long.

ben

5/28/2012 Monday - Memorial Day

I wonder if the newer generations coming up even know the meaning of Memorial Day or the great sacrifices that so many of our nation's military made in wars past in order to for us to keep the abounding freedoms that we still enjoy to this very day?

How easily do we give up those freedoms in the name of "security" and "what do you have to hide"?

Rhetorical questions.  The All-Knowing Government has their answers to those questions.

I am still up in the mountains, been here since Saturday morning.  So, quite a nice time away from polluted air and people in my face seemingly 24 hours a day.  I slept better last night than I can remember sleeping in the past year.  I didn't even want to get out of bed this morning, I could have slept another couple of hours.  Dogs, however, have their own schedule and to not meet that schedule within some reasonable time frame means...............a certain liquid or a certain mass left on your living room floor.

Fortunately, my mom has a  large fenced in area around her trailer so I just take the dogs over there and they can roam around for a while while I clean up house, make bed and all that sort of stuff without them in my face.  I do need one of those fences around here, but, money constraints right now will have that put off for some time to come.  Only if I can sell the other trailer, then I will spend the couple hundred it's going to cost to get a good fence up around this thing so I can just let the dogs out at will.

My Direct TV I could not get going yet again.  So, I am taking the whole mess back down to the valley and I am going to get it working down there.  If I bring it up here again and I still can't get it to work, foregone conclusion that I will have to have Direct TV come up here and install it for me. But I think my satellite dish was damaged and I think that's why I couldn't get it to work.  I have 3 more dishes to play with, lol.

There is no doubt that sitting up here and watching a good movie at night before bed is something I want to be able to do.

It is so ever-loving-nice to have a place to come to in such a beautiful setting and get away from people.  I don't hate my tenants, but I have very little privacy at my house.  That's just the way it is, I have gotten used to it over the last years of renting out rooms but..............and better, I haven't received a single phone call from any of them saying that "something" is afoul at the house.

It's almost 7:00am, I am going to be leaving within the hour.  It's been wonderful being up here, but I have plenty to do at the house and I pretty much take care of the plants.  I could ask Mark to help me out with it, but I would rather do it myself and make sure that all is well in plantdom.  I did ask him to feed my fish, but even if that were neglected a few days, the fish would easily survive that.

I may write more later, right now I am getting ready to leave.

ben

I alllllmost left this evening for the mountains.
But, I am too tired to drive that far today.  I woke up in the middle of the night and it took hours to get back to sleep.  Then, the alarm clock went off this morning and I was sleeping heavily.  I never really woke up, apparently, because I was yawning at work all day long.  My manager was as well.

I had to force myself to stop at Fry's and get the food needed for the next 2 days up there.  Not that much really.  I made spaghetti last night and there are plenty of leftovers.  A couple of steaks to share with mother and a couple of the diet style frozen dinners plus some lunch meat.  I have enough dog food up there in that trailer in a plastic container to last them for several trips up there, at least.

Anyway, came home and crashed out for an hour and a half.  Not really helpful to take a nap that long, but I couldn't wake myself up to get back out of bed.  Finally did, obviously or I wouldn't be sitting in my kitchen writing this entry, lol.  I'm ready to go, anyway.  Just have to pack the cooler in the morning, load up the dogs and away we go.  Oh, I had to spend a good hour out there watering plants as well.  Should be good for the 2 day lapse they will get in getting watered.

Strong wind blowing today and the temps have finally come down as the forecasters promised.  For once, they got it right.  Tomorrow's high is only going to be 87 degrees, and that's in Phoenix. Well, the low tomorrow night where my mom's property is is slated to be in the low 40's!! wow!!  I guess I better take a jacket and another blanket up there!

So yeah.  I'm being consumed by bills.  The culprit of the problem is the electric bill, which went way up much earlier in the year than I had expected.
I just sent out the last payment on the other trailer and will be expecting the lien release so I can put it up for sale and try to get my money back out of it.
I think I am going to need that money this summer, to be quite honest about it.
But, at the same time, the expenses I have incurred with the other trailer in fixing it and getting it up to the property are over. There are more things I want and need to do in it, but none of it is pricey stuff.  Well, some things might be pricey but they aren't on the priority list.  Replacing those gear handles that open and close those old-style windows is one thing.
But, I won't be doing that anytime soon.
So perhaps that will allow this situation to improve since the monthly payment for the trailer is now history after that check clears the bank.
Wow, time to leave for work already!
ben

Well it certainly wasn't any fun out there yesterday.  I believe it got to 109 degrees.  The truck AC is not working correctly and does not keep it cool in there. It only keeps it from getting boiling hot.  Well, whatever.  I didn't feel too well after getting home after being out in that all day long yesterday so I didn't really get much of anything done around here.

It takes awhile for me to adjust to the extreme heat, which, by chance, is going to go away starting tomorrow, allegedly and the temps are coming WAY back down.  I'll take it for what it's worth and run with it.

I am going to buy a new smoke detector for that trailer - it has an old one in there but I'm sure it's ready to be trashed and replaced.  Though, it is unplugged when I am not there so I guess not a lot to worry about.  I am glad I wrote myself some emails from up there about the things I need to fix/acquire for it, I would have forgotten the half of it.

Just chattering.  Looking forward to another trip up North and spend a couple of nights there away from all this big city chaos.

Time for work.

G'day.

ben

Absolutely beautiful morning.
The new pump is still going - meaning it's not all clogged up - but going at a bit slower pace.  I'll take it out when I get home from work and clean it.  It has some catching up to do and it may be days or even a week before it gets all the gunk out of the pond and be nice and clean again.

My Elephant Ear/Taro plants are making a comeback as well.  Huge windstorm threw everything into disarray. I tried to rearrange the plants back into some mode of what they once were, but only nature can totally fix it.

Well, just threw that out there. Nice morning, but it's going to get into the 105 range later on today, lol.

G'day.

ben

Exchanged Direct TV receivers with the guy in a parking lot - some 15 miles from here.  Not the end of the world excepting he had just gotten off work and wanted to meet "now".  He backed off a bit when I told him I was 20 minutes away and couldn't get there any quicker.  At least the guy was congenial when we finally met up.  I have no idea if this one is going to work or not and frankly, I am not going to try right now.  IN fact, I am not going to mess around with it until I get it up to mom's property as the card for it is up there, not down here.

I also received my new pond pump today.  That was some FAST shipping and this pump is far better than the one I had in the pond it is going into. That one bit the dust.  Lasted 2 years running 24 hours a day so I am not going to complain about it, but the intake housing design is flawed at best.  It gets clogged up too easily because of a very narrow housing. The one I got today has a very long and wide housing, takes much longer to clog this one up.

Now if I just had the energy to go out there and do all of that.  I can't just dump it into the pond and plug it in, the waterfall filter has to be cleaned now and that takes some effort, to say the least.

Lol, okay, I got the energy and got it done.  I have some very nice Koi in there and I don't want them getting sick from fouled up water : )

G'nite.

ben