Vet visit.

2 ladies at the front were trying to finish a conversation when I came in there. "Oh that is a very big dog, I didn't expec that".  Well, they didn't ask what breed of dog he was when I called them.  They weren't complaining - I don't think anyway - and Addler behaved himself swimmingly the entire visit.  Okay, he didn't want to comply with standing or sitting on the scale - we had to try two separate times, but I consider that a nothing issue.  He currently weights 119 pounds.  I figued it was 100 to 110 so I was a bit off on that one.  But I'm not a scale, either, lol.

They gave him all shots that bring him up to date for his age and took swab off rear end and found worms.  No heartworms though, which is very good.  Easy enough to get rid of those intestinal worms, already have him on that medicine.  It's going to take a bit of time - maybe quite a bit - to get this dog indoctrinated into my ways of doing things.  I like instant obedience. Sit! means sit down right now.  Stay - means stay regardless of what is going on around you.  Come - means come to me right now - not look around or dance here and there. He is completely untrained and this is going to be quite the challenge. But - he has learned sit so far, so I know he's trainable.  He hasn't learned stay, lol, he sits, looks at me and then gets up and starts poking his giant muzzle into everything.

I'll have paitence with him for he doesn't know any better and was never trained to know any better. I'm not saying his former owners were bad dog owners, they just deemed him an outside dog and that, apparently,  meant no training.  You would, however, think that he would at least know to come when someone yells his name.  he doesn't.  I personally believe in both leash training and non leash training.  I shouldn't have to have a leash on him to make him come.  So I'm not doing that - yet.  I will if it comes down to it and then wean him off of it, but I would rather just have him learn my ways of doing things.  A large dog needs to be trained.  Even IF non-violent, he can do some damage if he doesn't listen when it's necessary for him to.  

Day is over as far as running around.  I brought him home from vets and went right back out to pharmacy to get my meds.  I don't yet trust him in a car alone.  I think he will probably go crazy and tear things up.  Leave that for a time - in the future - to try.  Leave the car, pretend to go inside and then hide and watch.  

============================

Now let's talk about Obama and this pathetic drive to now introduce 100,000 refugees. The more I watch of him, hillary and others and THEN to hear Obama's OWN head of homeland security making statements that defy Obama's move on this issue - it's a wonder we aren't attacked right now.  It's like he WANTS to allow terrorists into this nation.  I'm quite sick of his politics - to the point of compromising our own nation's safety? But I have talked myself out on FB groups and just making a few observations here.  If you are going to feel safe when all these unknowns come in here - then you have your head stuck in the sand.  I don't trust these people and I don't want them just pouring into our nation. We have ENOUGH problems already, who is going to pay for all of this?  That was a rhetorical question.  

Day 2.
Addler slept on the futon. Per Fin's remark on my Facebook wall about needing a bigger bed - I figured instead of buying a doggy bed and taking up even more space in this room with it, why not use the futon?  I can buy them a new mattress for it whenever I figure out what I am going to do and leave here.  Which could be a few months from now - or a few years - or who knows. I hate throwing money away on rent but it isn't that much, these people are totally cool and I have a very nice setup now that I have gotten my room situated to my liking. The futon is huge, ample room for the dog to spread completely out.

Anyway, Addler decided to check up on me several times last night.  I was afraid that meant he was going to go pee/poop on the floor, but it was the jitters still, being in a strange place with strange people he doesn't know and likely wanting to go back home to his family.  That isn't going to happen, they got rid of him for a reason.  I don't know about anyone else, but if I had dogs that I loved THAT much, I would really try to find a place where I could have them instead of getting rid of them.

I guess he finally decided that it was okay to go to sleep and leave me alone, which he did.  He got me up at 6:30 am - which is okey - I figured I better get right up and get him outside before he does anything on the floor.  I lucked out as far as doing anything in the house goes, he didn't pee at all. He was drinking a LOT of water just before bedtime last night - I put a stop to it.  Nooooo.  That has to come OUT at some point.  So anyway, I'll leave him outside for an hour or so and then bring him back in.

My chest feeling so incredibly bad this morning.  Mucus draining all night long down in there.  I just wanted to get up and go to WalMart and get some medicine to stop the mucus.  I had a thouht this morning: I probably have some of that in my stuff under the sink.  I have a huge bag of stuff that I never pulled out when I moved in here.  Nowhere to put it - but it's not worthless stuff, just figured I'd leave it in there and rummage through it whenever I needed somethng.  Found a box of Walmart severe cold and flu medicine. Thought, well it would work but overkill.  Then, I found an unopened bottle of the cough medicine that deals with the mucus.  Ahhhhh yes! Score.  No need to go to the store now, I don't feel like going anywhere.  Feels much better after taking it, too.

Ohhh, glad I remembered.  I need to scour the internet and find a sweater big enough to fit Addler.  It's going to get cold out there soon and I am not going to have that dog freezing to death while I'm at work.  They actually offered here that he could stay in my room while at work - but it didn't take much thinking to come to the conclusion that would be a bad idea.  That dog is an outside dog - currently anyway, I'm going to change his thinking about that slowly to where he is both and outside AND an inside dog.  To keep a dog that big cooped up in a room alllllll day long, especially when he has friends out there he can play with? Bad idea.

Well that didn't take long.  There are online sites dedicated to supplies for large breed dogs.  I'm going to have to measure him, they have sweaters big enough even for my big boy.  Just measured him: he's 33 inches at the shoulders and 36 inch girth.  He's between a 2XL and a 3XL.  Hmm.  I dunno what to get him.  Get one too small - won't fit, get one too large - might come off?  He's definitely going to fill out, but I don't know how long that will take.  Another year or so I'm guessing.  -------------------------------------------------------

Definitely a Dane. Follows me everywhere.  Wants to know everything I am doing.  Hates it when I put him outside.  Stands at the door and stares for a while before venturing out into the back yard.  Baca - the larger pup - is completely and absolutely terrified of him.  Squeals and yelps and cries - Addler wants to play, Baca is like, what?

Well anway, a co-worker called and wnated to meet up at Chili's and watch some football games.  Sure, why not? Not feeling good at all, but I went anyway and watched the Cowboys get beat again and the Steelers kick butt over the Browns.  In fact, the Steelers game got carried enough away that they switched to the Miami game before it was even over.  But, I am not feeling good.  I finally got the mucus stopped flowing down my throat and into my lungs but the damage is done.  I'm pretty much good for much of nothing right now and I suspect in the morning? I'm calling into work sick.

_________________________________________
Monday morning came around and I had absolutely no 8intention of going into work, not feeling like that.  I have plenty of sick and vacation hours and work is slow right now, they can live without me for a day or even a couple of days.  Yes, I will probably take tomorrow off as well. I have a long history of respiratory problems and it doesn't get better by doing anything that entails physical labor.

I just got back from Urgent Care and finally, just by luck I guess, found a doctor that actually knows what the hell he is doing with this kind of situation.  He immediately stated that he would be giving me a steroid shot - it's the only thing that has ever worked for this.  I didn't ask for it - or anything else for that matter - but I was very much happy when he stated that.  He then went into all kinds of other stuff he does to combat this problem and it was quite refreshing to hear this coming from him.  Most docs don't have a clue.  Seriously.  I've been through this so many times, I have to give suggestions, especially steriod shots - and usually they dismiss it.  I know what works and what doesn't work, but docs? They know everything.  They don't want to hear you giving them advice on what to do.

So, shot in the rear later and hopefully it will be taking effect soon enough. I don't remember how long it took last time I got one to almost fully take away the coughing.  BTW, cough medicine? Does nothing.  I have been on DM tussin for 2 days - it takes away a little bit right off the bat but after that? The cough comes right back and worse.  That's when I know it's time to go see a doc.

Well, I was thinking about taking my new Dane in to a vet and getting him checked out - heart worms, parvo, stuff like that.  I found one right down the road while waiting in the doc's office for the shot and they said they had an intro offer and could get him in today.  I don't much feel like it but I don't get much down time at work.  I'm at work when everyone is open and I'm off work when everyone is - closed.  We have to do stuff while at work.  Like taking the car in - I just tell them I'm taking it in and need someone to bring me back.  There are no objections to that at all.  If I need to do something that I can only do during normal business hours, I come in late or leave early. Again, no objections.  BTW, today was a pleasant surprise there: I had a $161 credit.  I was at this facility's office  2 towns over quite a while back for that other situation I had going earlier this year.  They never actually sent me anything saying they owed me money.  No copay today.  Kinda interesting they would just "keep" the money instead of sending a check.......

But no biggies, certainly didn't complain today..There is enough there for a couple more visits worth of co-pays.  Speaking of health, it's time to get Val off of my health insurance.  She is obviously intent on this divorce -- we haven't talked in several weeks - and I am not going to continue to pay for her health care coverage that she won't use anyway.  She has several things a doc could help her out with.  I'm just throwing money out the window having her on it and we are in the yearly open enrollment - I can take her off  without any special circumstances.  Kids as well.  I had them on there as secondary back up since her previous ex  has them on his health care. I have my son on my plan so adding more kids doesn't cost anything more.  My son only uses it occasionally when he gets sick.

Well that's enough for now.  Addler will likely be a handful at the vet office.  I've only had him 2 days and he has a lot of training in front of him to go.  Just getting him to sit when told to do so was a big effort - but the little doggy treats work wonders, lol.

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So.  Looked up online about my non-functioning speedometer and odometer.  I was quite surprised to find the information that I did.  Seems that the years 2003 to 2006 of my car's model had problems with an apparatus called a stepper motor.  Never heard o fit.  Makes the mechanical function of the gauge work. 6 dollar part.  Seriously.  I got on ebay, found the right ones for my car and ordered the entire set including de-soldering gun and a soldering gun for 22 bucks.  You have to take the instrument panel out, take it apart and then you have to unsolder these stepper motors and then solder in a new one.

I spent a considerable amount of money on my car this week, I am not likely to spend a lot more in auto shops unless absolutely necessary.  I'm attempting to find out what bushings, exactly, they were referring to for the rear in having the rear wheels angled because they are bad. Not having any luck so far.  Alls I heard was it was a "big job".  Likely going to have to remove a wheel and look under there to find for myself what they were talking about.  I have found some subframe bushings and a tutorial on how to install them, but I'm not sure if that is what they were referring to.  Just going to keep searching that out - I won't have time for that this weekend anyway.

I called tonight to confirm they are still going to give me that dog - it's a LOOOOONG drive and I'm not interested in driving that far to find changed minds.  Yes, she said, call in the morning before you leave, though, we are not sure when we are going to be home.  She works until 2:30 in the afternoon, he is on call for work.  Meaning he will be home all day - unless - he is called in.  So the time could change to 2:30 to get the dog. Meaning a late day by the time I would get back - but - i have determined tomorrow is dog day. However long it takes.

It's a full 3 hour drive there - further than even Fort Worth.  The drive won't bother me as long as I bring a dog home!  Psyched about this, hope it works out.  I'm one of those don't count your chickens people - you don't have it until you - have it.  Been there done that too many times, learned my lesson. I can get my hopes up but keep a bit of "chill" about it until I see the dog, get the dog in my car and leave the premises.

According to landlady, Valerie has stopped all the negative talk about me at work.  Any talk about me whatsoever.  Which is good, because I rarely bring it up now and it's a short lived conversation.  I think about this situation - infrequently now - but when I do - I go back to all the crap.  There is absolutely nothing in me that would ever want to go back to that situation. Nothing at all.

Well it's not that late - almost 9 - but I am going to bed.  Try to get a good night's sleep.  Had another tire replaced on my car today - making all 4 of them either new or very close to new. It was starting to vibrate. I had put a used tire on it because of the angled tire situation, but, come to find out it's not really eating tires up that fast and I can have them flipped on the rim once they get to the point they can't go anymore without ruining them.  It will occupy my searching to find out what bushings are bad and buy some new ones and try to find out how hard it's going to be to install them.

Hmm, maybe figured out the paragraph issue.

Got back from a run today and the salesman starts shaking his head at me.
Huh? What? What's going on?  Why are you shaking your head at me?

The semi, it's got to go on the semi.  WHAT has to go on the semi? What the
freak are you talking about?  He knew what kind of HELL he was going to be
getting me into, apparently he was trying to apologize for it in advance.  Take a
load of pipe into a very restrictive, small residential neighborhood.  Always just
LOVE those.  Usually means backing out, and usually including extremely tight
turns and trying to not run over people's lawns as they tend to get pissed that
truck tires just left HUGE grooves in their front yard.  No, I don't do that but
other drivers do.  If I can't get into a place without damaging whateever? That's
where I stop and make phone calls. I ain't doing it, we're done, they're going to
have to come to where I'm at to get their materials or they aren't getting them.

It is a pink with purple and blue and orange moon when that happens.

This particular situation including blind-side backing around a turn and tyring to
get the trailer nailed between two posts less than 11 feet apart.  I got it though, just
took a while to navigate through everything.  And then the other delivery today.
I am talking to the contractor and he gives me an address.  Okayyyy.  Get "there".
GPS takes me to - a one lane road, surrounded and covered with trees, no place to turn
around and wondering - where - is this place.  The contractor comes up behind me and
calls me - he apparently has my number in his phone - Ben, please back up to this drive
way behind you.  Ummm, is this truck going to fit in there?  Oh yes, no problem.

Contractors ALWAYS say that whether it's true or not.  Turning into the driveway
I see that at the end? Is a very sharp turn.  Through a gate.  What is with the gates
today?  I had to angle the thing through there and I am not kidding, there was less
than an inch on either side of the trailer.  Mud, truck spinning tires - we're having
fun today.

Anyway, took the car in this morning.  I made my decision, time to fix it.  Yesterday
was the heater core, today was the front end and supposed to be the angled tires on the
rear.  Well, the dude calls me after dropping it off this morning and named off numerous
things wrong with the front end.  Yes, I thought, I know all of this, saw it last time I had
the wheels off.  Rear? Turns out there are bushings back there and they have to be
replaced and - he says - it's a "big" job.  Okay.  Well, he didn't want to deal with that
today, said he had to have time to find the bushings and then he would get back with
me with a price. I had the entire front end fixed at a cost of $460.  Between yesterday
and today, that pretty much wiped out the money I had started saving for a car.

I did not know what was wrong with the rear, but these people know what they are doing.
So, I am going to look up bushings myself and see if I can find a video or otherwise
detailing what one has to do to replace them. .I'm not going to spend bucoo bucks on
bushings.  I wanted the front done by a shop to have it done right and the fact that they
have to do an alignement afterwards. I just can't justify taking this car to a shop for everything.
It's not worth that much money, but it is worth keeping it running if it's going to last a bit
longer.  I have driven it 103,000 miles without any major problems. The man at the shop today
informed me that car would last at least 100,000 more miles and probably a lot more.  Huh?
Yup.  I had one myself.  It had 300,000 miles on it before I got rid of it and it was still running!

I have seen them listed online with over 200,000 miles, but unless I was REALLY desperate,
I would never buy a car with that much mileage on it.  Dunno, just going to hope that this money
spent was worth it.

Dog.  I brought it up today. She already demanded, I found out, that husband get rid of that "dog"
on Thursday.  Yes, get the dog!  Okay.  I will, lol.  So, unless the owner of the dog changes her
mind, I'm driving to Fort Worth area on Saturday to get it.  She doesn't want to be there.  She
said she works 7 days a week when the subject came up.  Okay, well I can show up when you are
there. NO, she says, I don't WANT to be there.  Okay, I said this yesterday about this situation-
she loves the dog, she doesn't want to get rid of it, just life happens.

Whatever the case, the dog is mine unless something happens to stop it.  But as for me, I am planning on leaving out of here early Saturday morning and getting the dog.  It would be very cool if I could get company truck and get those fence panels while I am there.  But, the dog is the first and foremost. Those panels are only $10 a piece. They would need to be cut to size, sanded and treated but for the price? Very much worth it.

Well that's it. Not really, but that's all for now, lol.  I'm still wondering how this divorce is going to go.  I really don't want a fight.  There is nothing to fight about, not legitimately.  Still, people get things into their brains and pursue such things regardless of it's legitimacy or lack of chance of ever becoming reality, or not.
_______________________________________________

Now Thursday - started that one yesterday.

Do I feel the need to justify myself? Not really.  If someone asks me with a perplexed look on their face and wondering how "it ever got there" I will give some kind of reply.  My answers are on this blog. The question: how did it get this way with you and Val?  Heard it again tonight.

Anyway, tomorrow is Friday - the 13th btw - which means nothing to me, I give no credence to a "bad" or "unlucky" day simply because of a number assessed to a day of the week.  We don't need to be living our lives in unecessary fear.  I don't even know what, if anything, I will have at work tomorrow because I have been busy all day long.  The temporary driver called in this morning to tell the warehouse manager that he is out of gas and doesn't have any money. The warehouse manager - is unlike ANYONE you have EVER met in your ENTIRE life.  I GUARANTEE it.

Anyway, the driver didn't actually "ask" the warehouse manager for a ride to work and so? He wasn't offered one.  In that manager's mind, he should have asked and then and ONLY then, he would have sent someone to pick him up.  ROFL.  This place both cracks me up and irritates me to no end at the same time.

In MY mind, this new dude is smoking over a pack a day of cigarettes, every day. I have little sympathy. Make provision for your vices but not for the method that pays for those vices and everything else in your life? I am very tired of the way these younger generations think.  Entitlement, it is "owed" to me, I should get it regardless.  No humility, very little respect, utter bullshit. Are we somehow, in this nation, getting what we deserve?

I dunno. But one thing I did learn today? Stepper motors.  Never heard of them.  Was looking up speedomters for my car on ebay and it was the first thing that came up.  I started reading about them and then watched a video on Youtube on how to replace them. I found out that my version of a car between the years of 2004 and 2006 had problems with them and would cause speedomoter, gas and tach reading to be off and then, eventually quit. I ordered a full set of replacement stepper motors today with the - unsolder tool - and the soldering tool - for a total price of - $22. I watched the video.  The dude doing it obviously had done it many, many times over.  But still.

I pulled out the rugs in my car today and washed them in the washing machine - now that the heater core leak is fixed, wanted to clean them.  Hot water, spread solution over the entire surface of both rugs and what happened?  They are completely clean!  Considering what was on that that was amazing!  What wasn't so nice is the dryer.  It left all kinds of sand and junk in there.  Going to have to scrub the entire thing out.

But my thoughts today were on getting that Dane. I have always loved dogs.  My family had them when I was a child and I have had them almost my entire adult life.  There will be challenges with this dog if I end up getting him - which I want him if the owner actually lets him go - but he is an outdoor dog.  Great Danes? Love the outdoors but WANT to be INDOORS with their owners!  That is the human's decision, NOT the dog's!  There will be quite the adjustment period, for this dog will be sleeping in my room at night, not outside.  Danes are wimps when it comes to cold, too, I can't imagine leaving a Dane outside all night long in freezing cold temps. I understand there are people that think that is okay and I don't judge them.  At least give them a place to stay dry and out of the biting winds.

But that's definitely not me and I reinforced the idea tonight: I'm going to get him on Saturday.  I'm not going to just drive 2 plus hours one way and bring him home and have them looking at me like, what? What is THAT?
Well THAT is what I have been talking about! And now? Here he is!  lol
Anyway, another person from not far from that area has now offered me a blue Dane.  Striking color.  I haven't had one but I would definitely be all for getting one.  Nope, not getting 2 dogs, just if the first one falls through, I might have something to fall back on. .

Test

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This is "the one". I wrote an ad on Craigslist, knowing the many Dane owners that are put in the position of having to find a new home for their beloved dog are very shy of just posting it on Craigslist - or anywhere else. If they love the dog, they want a person to take it that will love that dog and give it a wonderful home. I missed this email at work - though I was quite busy dealing with "things" and just wasn't even looking at my phone for probably half the day. The owner sent me this pic and her phone number and yes, I called immediately. The lady that I talked with? Loves this dog. Absolutely loves him. A little heartbreaking, really, I started talking about my experiences with Danes and then about having to bury Duke a few months ago - and she broke down on the phone and started crying. I totally sympathized with her. I would rather go through a dog's death such as with Duke, to be honest, than have to be forced into a position to have to give it up. But, if you really have to give it up, you want to find someone that is going to love it as much as you do. She said she had posted an ad and people were asking questions that - were telling her these people had no clue. I remember when I got Duke and Prince. The owners brought them to my house. They didn't want to meet anywhere, they wanted to see where the dogs were going to live. In this case, thougH? Ummm, well, the dog is about 200 miles away. I am more than willing to drive that distance and even further for the right dog. Is this dog going to have issues? Maybe. But, given enough time, I will deal with much of it. I really can't wait to just be able to come home and have my loyal companion waiting for me to get there and take it for a nice walk. I've been hooked on Danes since we got our first one when I was a teenager. I've had other dog breeds in that interim - and they were great dogs, but nothing will take the place in my heart and mind when it comes to dog ownership as a Dane does. A huge plus that my landlady "liked" the pic on Facebook - I posted him on there to see what anyone thought of the pic. I actually don't think they care WHAT kind of dog I get. They are animal lovers and have 3 dogs and a cat. Their cat is the first cat in my entire adult life that I have actually LIKED. It shows nothing but extreme attention to me for whatever reason. It doesn't bite me or claw me. Anyway, tentatively have it set up to go get that dog on Saturday. I am going to discuss with landlady first, of course. Actually, would be good to kill 2 birds with 1 stone and see about getting that $10 fencing. They had 700 panels of it when I discussed it with them a month or more ago. I just didn't feel the gumption to drive that far for just some fence panels. But this is a game changer and I could deal with doing that as well and make a day of it. It's supposed to rain on Saturday anyway, might as well find something useful to do with the day besides - nothing. Wow. Besides my adventures at church, there hasn't been much that has made me this excited in quite a long time. I hope this works out - but prepared if it doesn't. Just really would love to get that dog. The only drawback - it isn't house trained. I will have to get a carpet shampooer and have it ready at all times for any accidents. I don't do paper towels and all that stuff anymore, once I got a home carpet cleaning machine when I had my Danes in Phoenix, I never looked back. In terms of getting all of it out of the carpet? Yup. Far easier, much uicker and guess what? This Dane? She is giving it to me. She said she paid a lot of money for it (it looks like it has very good markings and stature) and I offered to pay her for it, she refused and said spend it on HIM. Well one thing of spending it on him would be for me, lol, in making sure I can clean the carpet up nicely if there is an accident for an untrained dog is going to have such many times over before they get it. Well onto other things. The new driver was informed about the DEF situation with the F550 by fully 3 different people I found out today, one of them was me and yes, I fully explained it in detail and asked if he understood after I was done explaining, to which he asked more questions and I answered them until I was sure he had full knowledge of it. DEF - found on trucks - is Diesel Exhaust Fluid. It is part of newer exhaust systems on trucks with diesel engines that help reduce emissions. Well, this dude? Ran the thing out of DEF on I-49 today. How did I know? I was driving the semi down I-49 and saw the truck on the side of the road with the hood up. I passed by before realizing it was him - just didn't exactly register with me that this was one of our trucks sitting there - so I pulled over and called the office. I knew that he had run it out of DEF before I left the yard, but LONG before I left and wondered when I saw it sitting there how it could possibly be still an issue after all that time? Answer? They had no clue. He hadn't called them about any further issues, they had taken him a 2-1/2 gallon container of the stuff and he had the truck running and left. Strange. Why didn't he call? I'll tell you why, some of these systems with DEF? You run it dry and it can damage the system and cost thousands of dollars to fix. Not hundreds of dollars, thousands of dollars. Just keep going where you were going, they need that pipe! I was instructed so I got off the side of the road - it was half a mile before I could get over and stop on the shoulder - the contractor was almost out of pipe and though it is TOTALLY the contractor's fault for waiting until the very LAST minute to call us and ask us to bring them materials - we try to accommodate. I had to take a load off the trailer and reload this guy's stuff to get it down there. I didn't bother to talk to the new driver, I got back on the road. It was an hour later, coming back - he was 11 miles down further down the road, truck parked on the side of the Interstate, 2 pickups from the town of Natchidoches - they wanted/needed their material and yes, they drove out there to get it! lol I picked the driver up - tow truck on it's way. After that? I get back to the yard. Take this pipe to a bridge that is out at such and such location. Okay. I drive up to the bridge - definitely out. Dude walks up. What do you have? Pipe. Ummmm, well that's not ours. Tony. The warehouse manager. Gives me BAD instructions EVERY SINGLE TIME. I fell for it today, thought he had it right. Oh well. Back up 2/10's of a mile, turn down a side road after calling the contractor and find the place. Got home These people like when I cook them dinner, lol. It goes both ways. But I've supplied food for 3 days now. They have done the same for me, not complaining at all. Just saying, I made tacos and we all devoured them. It wasn't until I got done with the cooking and cleanup that I came in here, my bedroom, and saw 2 emails from this person replying to me CL ad for a dog. Not just any dog, a Great Dane, with some of my story about my experience with Danes. I was off the hook when I saw that pic. Instant YES! That's it. Time for bed.

Her little deal of shutting off my phone and it's number. I got to church yesterday and the head of the Communion team came straight up to me and asked me about my phone number? I tried to call you....... I'm sorry, without going into the story - at all - of how I lost that number - I had to change my phone number. The new one only has one number different, the last number is a 6 instead of a 7. I'm sooo sorry about that. Who else I have given my number to that I didn't get the change to? It's not like anyone I have discussed this with said, gee, isn't that wonderful she shut off the phone and you lost your number? More like, dude, that totally SUCKS. I'm trying to warm up to the idea that my church home is - 40 miles away. I LOVE the preaching and also the worship - I just wish their worship portion of the service would go on just a little bit longer. Christmas this year - is going to be very different than what it was last. I spent last Christmas with Val and her kids. I had a splendid time, the kids did too. She - acted like she was having a good time but later came back and told me how awful it was for her for all kinds of reasons not related to me - well some of it was - but all steeped in her very warped past. Not much of anything I did was pleasing to her. Or happy, or joyous, or anything good. Her past dictates her present and how she perceives things. But still, it was fun - that day anyway - because I was determined that it was going to be a good time regardless of how she was going to get about it. This year - I may just be back in Phoenix. Maybe not. I dunno. Just airfare. Thanksgiving off the wall for airfare. Christmas not much better but a little because still a bit off. I have to make up my mind quickly. I don't think I'll do Black Friday this year, at least not at the stores. I don't really need to get stuff. I do wonder when my son is returning to Phoenix, though. I would like to visit when he is there. Actually, pretty much mandatory: I will only visit if he's going to be there unless his return time is going to be well into next year. I think they are doing Thanksgiving at someone else's place this year - here that is - so I am either going to have to find some place to go to enjoy a meal with other people - or do it alone. In my mind, Thanksgiving isn't a holiday to do alone. It just - isn't. Well whatever. I'ma take a couple days off Thanksgiving week and going to put in for the entire week of Christmas off. Regardless of whether I have anywhere to actually go or not, I want that time off. I'm tired. I woke up at 2:30 am last night and it was around 5 am I got back to sleep....I get a mind full of thoughts and it's hard to turn it off.....at 5ish am. Yean, alarm goes off, got up, turned it off, turned on a light and had to go lay back down for a while to wake up enough to get moving. So, ending this and going to bed a bit early tonight.

Rain. Rain, More rain.
I was at working thinking: uhhh, yeah, I'ma go home early today. There is nothing going on, contractors aren't working, only a couple of customers came in, it's go home early day. It just gets....
boring and I now have 140 hours of vacation time saved up.  So, at almost lunchtime, I go into the will call and the warehouse manager is like: yeah, I'm taking off early.  I said yes, let's get out of here! I was sitting at the computer. He says< NO, don't clock out yet!  They're getting us lunch today!  Okay then, I'll stick around for free lunch, lol.

Got off just before 1:00 pm.  No desire to do anything, went straight home.  I mean, yesterday and all that digging and shoveling and moving dirt around? Just took it comppletely out of me.  Not complaining, good workout, just when it's boring and I'm tired, I would rather go home than stick around to do much of nothing.

Got home and went to sleep.  I don't know for how long.  I only know when I woke up it was dark.  The only thing that woke me up was when the landlady came home with the baby and the baby was crying - loudly.  Good thing.  I was completely out of it, as if I had gone to bed for the night. ________________________________________________________ Now Saturday. Misssed out on two very good looking Danes. Just got to them too late. But it's okay, there will be more. I'm ignoring the $500, $700, $900 and $1,200 versions. Duke cost me $100 and was easily one of the best dogs I have ever had. I'm not going to show the dog, I just want a good looking Dane. Another rainy day - and cooling down considerably, at least my version of it. It's 53 degrees and going out in the rain? Not my version of fun. But I went to Walmart anyway. I was looking for several things, but one of which was thermal underwear - which they don't have yet. I would have thought they would have had that on the shelves by now - winter is just around the corner. Supposedly the rain will stop tomorrow. It just throws things off, including me. Rainy days make we want to sleep. Well nothing going to get done outside today. I have already thoroughly clenaed my bathrood today and spiffied up my bedroom. Not much else left. Excepting making spaghetti later on. My version of it with meatballs, spicy italian sausauge and 80% lean ground beef. _________________________________________________________ Now into Sunday, Sunday morning to be precise. Rain has finally stopped, sun is shining, should be a beautiful day. But, the temps are starting to come down and that signals alarms in my brain to complete what I started: getting all of my winter clothing out and assessing what else I will needd to brave the winter temps with rain that is inevitably coming... and having to endure for 50 hours per week. I'm missing one pair of Alpaca socks. I have 3 pair, only found 2. Going to go through everything, those socks cost $25 per pair. Well worth it, yes, though I didn't buy them, Valerie did like a year or more ago. They keep your feet warm even if they are wet. With that kind of price tag, though, I am definitely going to go through everything to see if I can find the third pair. Really would like 5 pair total. Still looking at dogs, Great Danes namely. I thought about getting a smaller breed, something around the medium sized dog and thought again. Great Danes don't need a large space, they need to be exercised regularly. But they are perfectly content to lay around and do nothing as long as they are with their human companions. They are very much a human social dog and want to be with their owners as much as possible. My current bedroom has plenty of space for a Great Dane. But, I am in no hurry. I missed a couple of good ones but more will come. People get rid of them after they have had them for awhile when understanding how large the animal is and getting into situations where that sized creature isn't workable or even allowable. Owning my own home I had as many of the those sized animals as I wanted - which I did, 3 at one time. I likely will never have 3 or even 2 dogs ever again unless I end up living on a large property with acreage, for that many large dogs do need a lot of space inside or out of the home. Which I have thought about trying to get some land. Preferrably wooded or at least partially wooded. Preferably with a small stream running through it and deer and pigs close by. It would be nice to go out your back door with a rifle and not have to go very far to "hunt" for deer, lol. Though this area is heavily wooded, it is not in the mountains. Just a dream. I have a house in Phoenix, would have to get rid of that first and right now? It's paying for itself and the people taking care of it are content to stay there. How long, I don't know. When they decide to leave, that is when I will have to sell it. I'm just hoping by that time, the value of the house equals at least what I owe on it. Is that asking for too much? lol Nothing on the Val front. I don't expect there to be excepting to deal with the divorce. Hopefully have time later on today to pore over the reply - though it is self explanatory and it is just fill in the blanks. I want to get that filed, though and get this thing rolling. She wants it over? Fine, let's get it over with. All of her friends and family have blocked me on various social media excepting one. That is her best friend. Val made it a point to ask everyone to unfriend me/block me, so I am not sure why her best friend still has me on there. I am guessing after the divorce she will do the same. I can only surmise that she is still friending me on Facebook to see if I will post anything negative about the divorce on there. I have no intention of posting anything at all about it until after it is done and even then, it's going to be something like "well, that chapter of my life over with, what's next?". It won't even have specific reference to the divorce. I did have a good relationship with her friend for quite a while, though. She is a neat lady and has a very interesting life going on on her farm. I tried to take my car in on Friday to get the heater core replaced. For whatever reason, that place was closed and the next in line is never open on Fridays. I am going to call tomorrow and see if I can get it in the second place, it's close to work, like 2 blocks away and they are Christian. I don't expect a Christian establishment to do any better or worse than a non-Christian establishment, but I do like to support such business - mom and pop type of thing - whenever I can. But that's only if they have time some time this week to get to it and get it done same day. Obviously I can't leave the car overnight. And if their prices are reasonable. It's going to cost around 3 bills or a little more to get that done. It's just nothing I want to get involved with on my own. Well, I am going to church today. I don't really want to drive that far but the messages are so good and speak to my inner man. It's definitely my kind of church. The pastor doesn't pull any punches, he delivers the message and if you don't like it, tough. That's the way it's supposed to be. Christians shouldn't be trying to find a church whose pastor "tickles their ears" with his "nice" messages. I want and like to be challenged in my walk with the Lord and last week was definitely a challenge. It was about judging people. It was the most sensible message about that subject yet and it definitely go my attention. I understand that I can be judgmental at times and I really have no right to engage in such, but I do it anyway and likely, most people engage in such at some point or another about a particular subject or swubjects. Anyway, have to get offa here.

Well there's nothing like a salesman handing me a spiff for doing something for him that has been - irritating - him for quite some time.
It has been annoying me too, but I thought the parameters were different than they actually were.
The situation is all the mud up against the main building.  It has been there since before I started working there. It is what meets customer's eyes when they want to go in and talk with a salesman, inside salesman or management.  It's pretty ugly.

What I didn't know was that there is concrete underneath all of that mud.  I had thought it was - for whatever unknown reason - that it was dirt there from the beginning.  Well, the salesman in question had asked the other driver to clean it up and he would buy  him lunch for a week.  I got involved with it out of having not much of anything else to do and because when I found it was concrete underneath there, well. I would have cleaned that thing out of there a long time ago.

And also, because I KNOW what kind of job the other driver would do. And that preconceived notion was not off.  He emphatically stated he was going to stop at a certain point and that would be that.  Fine, I said, but I'm going as far as the concrete goes - which got deeper and deeper and deeper.  At the end of the line, it was covered with  a foot of mud.  It hadn't been cleaned in 6 years, hence the situation at hand.  Well, I got out the pressure washer and cleaned out the other side - which wasn't as bad bud still ugly and then helped him shovel.  But, he refused to go any further with it than what he said - which didn't phase me at all.

I continued until it was all exposed and then found a pipe that had been installed to drain it out into the grassy area next to it.  Well, that pipe was only 4 feet long and it was completely clogged.  Dug that out, dug out a new ditch - 14 feet long, put in a new pipe and then dug out a channel beyond the end of the pipe.  Down yonder, there is a large pipe going underneath the parking lot and the street and clear to the other side draining out into the woods.  Got that installed and then did the litmus test  Will it drain? Took the hose off the pressure washer, put it in the concrete and then turned it on full blast.  It was awesome.  I like when I do something and it - works.  It drained that water out the other end of the pipe and then continued on down to the other pipe and out.  Backfilled the ditch, stamped the grass back on top of the pipe and that was that.

But that wasn't the end of this project.  Everybody parks right in front of all of this  it is under a huge canopy - trashed, has been since I got there as well. And the other end of the concrete - which pours out into the driveway in front of the will call warehouse.  Totally covered with dirt and mud as well.  Looks like hell.  This consumed almost the entire day.  I can tell when they like something I'm doing in the yard because they will not give me any deliveries.  Lol.  Except one, which was a huge emergency.  A contractor had broken pipe that delivers water to an elementary school - whoops!  Got that out there quick, not that far away and back to the yard and back to the mud elimination project.  Well, unfortunately, the water hose and the hose on the pressure washer combined wasn't enough to cover the entire parking lot in front of the will call.  I got as much done as I could, plus dug out a ditch to drain the water.  The will call manager told me there is a grate and pipe underneath the grass there - somewhere.  Uh huh.  This is how far they let it go. There is NO visible grate, it's all grass.  Yeah.

Here's the kicker.  The salesman didn't buy me lunch. He came out, handed me 4 20's and said thank you, to which I said thank you back! Lol. Not like I wasn't getting paid by the hour to do that stuff as it was! That was a nice bonus. But I didn't feel right taking all of it so I said I would give half to the other driver.  He said no, he'll take care of him, too, but.....Ohhh, I think I'll give him half what I gave you.  Okayyyyy. But don't tell him!  Sure enough, the other driver comes up later saying he got $40.  Did he give you the same?  I didn't want to lie, so I said, yeah, he gave me enough to buy lunch for a week as well.  That driver would have gotten all pissed off, raised a stink, yada yada yada.  He didn't question it, got all happy and that was that.

Meanwhile, I finally and I do mean finally found a site to print out a reply to the divorce paperwork. You know, it makes a big difference what exact wording you put into a Google search. I knew that and I kept trying different things.  I don't even know what I put in there, I just know I finally found a site run by - whoever - .org site - that had everything on there I was looking for.  Yes!  I can file - have to go to courthouse and  I'm relatively sure it's going to cost to file, but whatever, too much to potentially lose here if I don't and get a default judgement against me, I am specifically referring to the massive amount of credit card debt that she had accumulated long before we were married.  I am not paying for that.  I want that in the divroce decree.

Gonna take a day off, I think to file that, even though I'm sure it will only take a few minutes.  Well I'm not sure, I just want a day off. In fact, I think I will take time off Thanksgiving week whether I go home or not - no-one has claimed it but 2 people have it the week before and after. Well Thanksgiving week at work? Pretty boring. Same with Christmas.  Booooorrrrrrring.  Contractors take 2 WEEKS off during the Christmas season in these parts. I'm not kidding. Never heard of such a thing until I came out here.  Actually I don't know what to do.  I want Black Friday off - but maybe that's not really important this year.  My son is still in Portland.  I won't see him if I go home on Thanksgiving. Have to confirm that with him but pretty sure he's going to be gone for another month or so.

Winter's coming. Not fully prepared  - yet.  Will be after this weekend. Though my new rubber boots showed up today in the mail. I need new thermals, a couple sets.  And a couple hats.  Oops...just ordered the hats.  I'm not going to freeze this winter as much as I did last winter.  The wet feet were the worst. Rubber boots will eliminate that problem.

Allergies kicking my butt today.  Just non-ending. To think I had overcome allergies almost completely until I moved out here. Gag.

Oh, the reason I keep posting pics  of potential Great Dane pups and adult dogs on my Facebook wall? I'm friends with my landlady and I know she sees all of my posts. She hasn't said anything more about it, yet, I just know they want to get rid of a dog before I can have one over here. The pics serve as a reminder : )

I have other things to say, but this blog is not the appropriate place to say them.  No biggies.

Interesting day.  Got up early, got to work early, got to Pineville, LA - early enough.  Contractor knew I was coming and would be calling for directions.  The only thing I had was LA 28 in Pineville.  Well, 7 phone calls and no answer, so I got off of Pinesville Expressway, got off at LA 28, found a supermarket parking lot and - made more phone calls, lol.  This is one case where driving down the road and looking around? I would have never found it.  It was 2 miles away, in the back of an already existent subdivsion that they decided to add to.  It's always fun to see contractors trying to remove huge bundles of pipe with the wrong equipment.  Drop and break, oops!

Back to the yard - 2 hour drive, but stopped at a Relay station, got 100 gallons of fuel and free lunch.  Yup, they give free lunch for over 50 gallons.  This is one of many gas stations/small truck stops that has a restaurant and they serve some fine food.  It was, with free drink and sides, a $10 meal for free.  I take advantage of that as often as possible.

Back to the yard, find a certain type of pipe I had moved around yesterday? Had been completely changed around. I asked the warehouse manager what was up with that? He saw the other driver moving it but didn't know what he was doing with it. I said well you know you have to rotate the stock. That pipe stacked in the rear of the rows has been sitting there for well over a year.  If we don't get rid of it, the pipe is going to get brittle and the gaskets are going to dry out and start to fall apart.  So, this driver decided to undo everything I had done.  Retarded.  I didn't bother to ask him why.  I instead went over there and pulled ALL of that pipe out, put the new stuff in the back and the old stuff in the front and that takes care of that.  That driver will not go to that much hassle to get at the new pipe.  If he does, I will - not talk to the manager cause' he's down for the count.  Whatever he has, it's kicking his butt and they are saying he's gone for at least 2 weeks.

New driver?  Waste.  Likes to sit on the forklift and talk on the phone. We have ENOUGH of those kinds of people, we don't need anymore! When the manager gets back I'm going to make a strong suggestion: GET RID OF HIM. They guy is still a temp driver working for a temp agency, it's ony a matter of calling up the agency and saying his services are no longer needed, thanks.  He takes TWICE as long to make a delivery and has admitted that he is taking his sweet time on purpose.

Well, finally, an inside salesman told the other driver if he would get rid of the mud in front of the building, he would buy him lunch for a week.  I have been wanting to clean that place up for a while, it looks like a dump, literally. It's filithy, dirty and yucky.  Very unappealing for customers to come in and see a place looking like that.  Well I GREATLY expanded that idea from the git go.  Hey, let's deal with ALL of this.  Not enough hours to do that today, but we got the front of that building looking spiffy - a condition it hasn't looked since I started working there.  I then told them that I was going to do the entire cement surface when I have time.  Take an entire day - at least - to do that but that places looks so ratty.

The idea actually got some traction.  I am a clean type person.  Let's clean! If there ain't nothing to do, I can think up lots of "other" things that really should be done. Lately, I haven't been asking to do things that need to be done that - I don't know, they don't want it done or just too lazy to do it?  And since I started doing that stuff, 2 others have come in line with it.

News  flash: We are interrupting this program to bring an urgent message:  Sheriff just showed up at the door and had the divorce papers in hand.  I do not believe in divorce and would have not filed for it.  But she has and I am not going to contest it.  Let's get this over with.  I am more than done with this relationship, it is over and it is history.

Well whatever.  I don't even know what day it is.  Losing track of time.  Seems meaningless.  I've got my mind on too many things.  Distracted.  Disconnected.  But, not confused or going crazy.  Focused on some things, though. The Lord for one.  Going to now go on the quest to find out what needs to happen next with a reply.  I have 20 days and I'm going to get this done right.  I know from first-hand experience and have seen it all too many times about people that go off the deep end during divorce proceedings and start making demands for money, property and everything else.  I have no clue whether  she will do that, but if enough people speak enough junk into her brain? Very well could happen.  Texas law pretty specific though.  Whatever you had that was yours before you entered the marriage is yours afterwards. She has masive amounts of credit card debt that I had absolutely NOTHING to do with and that's what I want to protect myself from.

I'm trying to remember everything I did over there.  Fix fencing. Feeding cows in winter/freezing rain conditions.  Fix tractor, riding mower, van.  Replace a water heater including tearing out dryway and replacing wood that had rotted and covered with black mold. Installing flooring. Painting - at my expense, all over the place.  Install refrigerator with new water line/connection.  Fix plumbing in well house.  Buying kids clothing and food.  Lots of food.  Splitting firewood.

I'll think of it all by the time any court date arrives. I don't even want to have to go there, but if she forces the issue, I will.

Winter's coming and besides freezing cold temps, the other bad part is darkness.  I am not a fan.  I like daylight and I like to be out in it. Well work definitely gets me out in it, but leaving for work in the dark and coming home in the dark - a bit much.

I guess what I have my thoughts on is the future, what's left of it anyway.  I have some kind of fantasy of finding the perfect soul mate, get a property up in the mountains and have some acreage, and just - live life together.  It's a pipe dream.  I know this now.  It's nothing that I can ever achieve in my lifetime.  I would be very hard pressed to ever consider marrying a third time.  That's just - too many for me.  I was her third, third time's a charm right?  Guess not.  I wonder if she'll go off immediately and try to find another man, just as she did with previous ex.  She'll have tales to tell of all 3 of her exes and the "mistakes" she made.

I, on the other hand, will mostly put her completely out of my mind and attempt to shelf all of this as part of history and just try to move on.  I have my past, I bring it up occasionally, but I don't live in it daily.

Whatever.  A reason I'm wanting another dog.  No demands, no fault lists, no this that and the other thing.  The numbers of Danes in this area that are advertised on various forums has exploded in the last 24 hours.  Adults and pups.  Really, if they can get rid of that dog they want to get rid of I would likely get another dog - quickly.

Enough.

I'm back on this blog.  The other blog was "isolated", or seemed that way anyway.  I have no further reason to stay over there - probably a few posts here and there but this will now be my main blogging account again.

The only thing now on the divorce front is that I called the sheriff's office today and they are going to arrange to have the divorce papers served to me tomorrow evening where I am living.  Their hours and mine don't work as far as going and getting them.  I'm at work before their office opens and quitting time is the same as theirs.  Contemplating when to tell her I am getting my stuff back.

But, my manager is in the hospital, half his face is paralyzed.  It was allegedly some contagious illness, but we are starting to have our doubts. It got worse today and he went to emergency room.  I'm definitely not wishing this on him, but this happens to some people that have strokes as well.  Who knows, hopefully the docs come up with a much - easier to fix - diagnosis than a stroke.

Of course, when the manager's away, the mice will play.  Evidenced today.  I had only one delivery and it was short-lived.  I spent the day working around the yard, cleaning up other people's messes.  Especially in the pipe yard.  In fact, our alleged "yard man" makes more messes in there than anyone and doesn't clean up after himself.  I fixed the yard this morning only to find he had moved a bunch of pipe to get at some other pipe - but then didn't put any of it back.  He also unloaded a truck and just dumped it in the other yard instead of putting it away.  It was the inside salesman, though, that were doing much of nothing.  There is plenty for them to do and they are - not doing it.  Our manager ... has trouble putting his foot down.  I dunno, but we are going to lose customers if something doesn't change. I heard it yet again yesterday from a customer that named names and went off about them.

Slowly talking myself into another dog.  Been looking at Danes - lots of pups. A few free adult Danes on there as well, but likely problem dogs that will need a lot of work.  Not sure this place is a good fit for such an animal.  And a rescue agency - but their Danes are older.  6, 7 years old.  That 3/4's of their life done and gone.  I understand life offering up problems to keep a large dog, but some of the things I have been reading? Lame excuses.  All of the pups are costly.  $300 to $1000.  I will not spend a thousand dollars on a dog.  No thanks.  I might spend up to $200, I would possibly consider $300 if the dog just took my heart away, but a thousand dollars?  Not.  They haven't been able to get rid of their problem dog yet, can't get my own until they find a new home for it.

I have had numerous run-ins with that problem dog and it is now obeying me.  I won't tolerate an out-of-control dog.  I am no Milan but that thing was ridiculous.  It still is. It's mainly because it's an outside only dog and it gets very little attention.  So, I give it some.  But, I am not going to train it, well just enough to obey me to sit down, shut up and chill. It now puts it's tail between it's legs, sit down with it's ears back and gives this pathetic look at me, lol.   Proper training would take a lot of time and they are getting rid of it. Not my dog, not my problem.  Unless they give up on trying to find a home for it.

Well, have to be at work early. New account. Contractor wants material there by 8 am at the latest.  yes, well it's an hour and forty-five minute drive to get there.  So, offa here!

Memory.
I've had people telling me that I couldn't possibly remember something like that 30 years later, or 35, or whatever or however long.
I remember things that had no great significant impact on anyone except me for a minor thing that occurred between 2 people that never left me.
Excuse me, who dictates to me how my memory shall work? Because yours doesn't, mine shouldn't either?  Or short term memory.  There are certain - things/relationships/events/ in life where I have taught myself to pay very close attention to every word a person is saying and store those words in my memory banks.

Why? Because what they say then will change later and the entire encounter will be completely changed by their - warped memory.

And I am not a person to "only" remember the negatives.  Unlike several people I know, whose minds are huge filing cabinets - for the negative things. They can't remember any details or the good things that happen, those are forgotten.  Yes, I mean forgotten.  I don't mean skewed, I mean completely wiped clean of their memory drive, to put it in computer terms.  There are individuals I know that if you ask them the good memories of - certain people - they can either remember nothing or the list is so short, it's almost non-existent. Ask the same person of the bad memories and there is a list.  A HUGE list.

But even then, the recounting of it can be so skewed and wrangled that it represents nothing of what actually happened!

I have noticed in life - I got this a long time ago actually - that people tend to remember what they WANT to remember and the rest of the story? Changes to accommodate for it.  Which is why I try to put so much stuff in my head about the things that happen on a daily basis - well, it sometimes gives me headaches.  And hence the reason I like to write in blogs.

But whatever.  Sometimes lack of memory in individuals - specific individuals and the constant relapse of it on a daily basis - confounds me and sometimes irritates.  If you don't remember something, then don't come off saying that you do - you say, well as I remember it, though I could be wrong.....or something like that. Or I am not sure I recall this correctly, correct me if I'm wrong.

I've done that before - I'm not claiming to be a computer hard drive with unlimited memory - and I've been corrected. Rarely, but it's happened and I accepted it.

Ranting. Life.

https://youtu.be/PSwaGgAjQZk

Applebee's Grill & Bar

There is nothing like poor service and yesterday? Applebee's delivered - on terrible service that is.  Sat down, ordered a turkey sandwich and some vegetables.  I received a BLT.  I don't go to restaurants to eat BLT's, I can easily make a very good BLT at home without the extra added expense.  The bartender didn't give me any utensils, either.  After being served, she completely ignored me even though I was poking at the vegetables with a straw to try and get them on the straw and eat them without a fork.

The point was trying to get her attention from her busyness and understand that she hadn't completed the service and didn't bother to ask if I liked what she served, much less if the order was correct.  I ate half the sandwich and my stomach started grumbling.  After that, it started churning.  The manager came out, I made eye contact with him several times but he wasn't budging.  Instead, he went to the other side and started talking with customers at tables.

I continued to make eye contact with him but he either didn't get it or didn't care.  The plate with the sandwich opened and not eating it should have given someone in that entire place a clue.  A customer that had an extra set of utensils came walking by and handed me an unopened set.  Fancy that, getting served by a customer who paid more attention than the employees of the restaurant!  Never had that happen before.

After sitting there for quite some time waiting to see if this bartender would EVER pay ANY attention, I finally said something.  "Uhhh, this is the strangest looking Turkey sandwich I have ever seen, there is not turkey on it":.  Ohhh, she replies, goes to the register and realizes she entered a BLT instead of a turkey sandwich. I'll give her that she apologized.  She went to the manager and had the sandwich removed off the tab.  Great. The manager came over to the my side but stood off about 10 feet.  Very uncomfortable having the manager of a restaurant standing behind you, staring at you.

I quickly paid my bill and left.  The greeters at the door were as uninterested in the customers as the wait staff. They said nothing. One of them sitting there with her head in her hands, disinterested and obviously not wanting to be at work.

I've been going to Applebee's a long, long time now and I am simply not used to this low and poor level of customer service - location in Marshall, TX.  I can't remember the last time a bartender simply ignored the customers and didn't bother to see if the customer was happy or not, at least not at an Applebee's.  Chili's is right down the street and guess what?  They have 100% better service than this Applebee's.

Wanna be manager.
He was transferred to store I am currently working at from California - he was a store manager over there. He wanted to be the manager of the store I am working at.  However, another man that had been working there since his teens and whose father is a salesman with numerous accounts that rake in the dough got the position instead (thankfully, even though I wasn't there when that happened I am reaping the benefits of a decent manager compared to some as*****)

This wanna be tries to call me on my company cell today.  It's not a cellphone, it is a tracking and delivery device that has a cellphone built into it.  Regardless, they gave us new ones that look something like Iphones but do much more.  I hadn't received a call on it yet.  The screen came up with a green accept or a red decline. I hit accept numerous times until the call was lost.

He called again.  I tried again to no avail.  He called my personal cellphone.  I didn't have the ringer on, didn't notice it until the call was already about to drop.  I tried to answer, it was gone. I was a mile from the store, I didn't bother to call back, figured I would find out whatever whoever wanted (I didn't know at the time who was trying to call, to clarify, it was the main number from the store showing up on the phones).

I get back, go to the office, get a cup of coffee and heating it up.  Coffee coming off a coffeemaker is almost never hot enough for me, I have to put it into a microwave for 60 seconds.  This guy comes walking up.  I tried to call you twice.  Yeah, well the phone wouldn't answer.  I tried to call you on your personal phone.  Well I was trying to answer on company phone and this green accept call button was on there but it wouldn't answer.  Oh and I suppose you couldn't answer your own cellphone, either? spoken in confrontational, denigrating tones.

That's when I got pissed but remained calm outwardly. Yeah, Mike, I picked up the phone too late, the call dropped.  I started to try and explain to him what had happened with company phone and he repeatedly stated: I don't want to hear it, I don't care.  4 times he said that and I finally blew a fuse.  What the hell is your problem?  Mr Mouth.  He then threw in out of the blue: you have a problem with everyone here.  I have a problem with 2 people there and after this bs today, 3.  The place is a circus - from hell circus - it is the most anger filled place I have ever seen for employment.  People getting angry at each other and blowing up all the time.

Fortunately for me, the ex manager of the place - he became a salesman - heard the s*** from his office and came up later and asked about it.  I heard everything that was said.  Good, I thought, I have a backup if it comes to that.  In fact, every time something happens with someone saying something stupid to me or saying something and forgetting later or WHATEVER I have had witnesses around.  I never did get to speak to the manager about this.  The ex manager asked if I had done so? Nope, haven't had time and he's been gone when I have had the time.

I don't necessarily feel inclined that if I do one thing for one person, I therefore should have to do the exact same thing for someone else. What I do with my money and how I spend is my decision, no someone else's.  At least not anyone earthly.

Moved to closer town to work.  Trip is 35 miles and 30 minutes of driving.  Probably a little less time today for I tend to put the hammer down once I hit the freeway, which is now only a few minutes away compared to quite a distance before.  Although I like the 2 lane country road that leads to former residence, I didn't much care for it driving in the dark weekday mornings going to work.

Work itself is still a circus.  More like The Devil's Rejects - old clown movie from hell basically.  Anyway, I'm dealing with it best as anyone can.  I'm biding my time to see if, in several months time, I will be able to land a position at my company's location in Longview.  There is also one in Tyler but it's a small operation and they don't currently need anyone.  After this year is over and I see what is going to happen I may entertain moving on to higher paying job in the area.  There are several of them listed but there are a lot of people applying for them.  I have a stable work history - one that does not include jumping around from place to place - which is what employers like to see in terms of the trucking industry.

But I am growing to hate the truck industry and it's ridiculous amounts of regulations and am seriously considering a late life shift to something else, even if college is necessary.  I am intrigued by her ex's job as a plant operator.  His particular job requires a 2 year degree but there are jobs out there that only require a 90 day training program.  Excellent pay and benefits, driving not necessary.  Great vacation benefits and good health care coverage.

Whatever the case, I am losing interest in an industry that is over regulated and no long has public respect.  Hasn't had public respect in ages.  Then again, there are a lot of drivers out there - trucks that is - that have no business being on the road and take zero pride in their work.  They dress like street people and throw urine bottles out the windows. Their trucks are filthy and they are unkempt and many are extremely over weight, eating truck stop food instead of taking due diligence to watch their weight and health.  But the federal government isn't helping things, either and lots of veteran drivers are leaving the driving work force.  Eventually this situation will play itself out, but it may be years down the road.

Well, time to be off to work.

G'day.

Walaah.
I got a call today from soon to be ex-landlord. New property
owners said I could stay til' Sunday to get my stuff out of  here.
Were they being nice or did they contact the Realtor to find out
their rights? I hope the former and that they are being nice to let
me have the time I need to get everything accomplished.  I was
over at my potential new place today - the bedroom is awesome.
It's huge with a HUGE private bathroom and a very large walk-in
closet.  I find out Saturday about whether these people will actually
rent to me.

I have a bad feeling about it, to be honest.  Yes, Val got this going,
but I didn't realize that this is a much younger couple with a newborn
baby. The baby doesn't scare me, the younger couple part does.
Simply because that age realm usually likes to hang out with - the
same age realm, not a much older person.  I had my hopes up about
this place, now I don't know.  I guess I better start looking again
in case this falls through.

Early to work today, normal time getting off, busted @$$ all day
long. Felt good.  Same thing tomorrow, at least about starting
early, I was informed as delivery to be made at a place that is
1-1/2 hour drive and delivery needs to be there by 8.  Well, I'm
going to show up at 6:30 and if it gets there by 8, wonderful, if
not, oh well.  

Fallout,

Roller coasters go up and down.

And around.

Some of them go upside down - several times and then around and up and down.

Imagine being on one all the time and never getting off of it.

Regardless, intended move date is Friday.  Actually, I can't move into new

place until I meet the husband of the lady that offered the room.  He has

been out of town and won't be returning until late Friday night.  Which means 

I don't get to meet him til' Saturday - but - I have to be out of this place no 

later than Friday.

Actually, they tried to change the move-out date to Thursday/tomorrow to

which I refused.  They didn't even give me 30 days notice to move, which is

required by law if I wanted to be a stickler about it and then they gave me 

Friday as a "no-later-than" move out date and then at the last minute attempting

to tell me I have to be out Thursday?  No thank you.  The current owner said

okay then, I'll just let them know.  

I then found out she didn't even ask them if I could stay as a renter or not.

She had told me on a couple of occasions that she would.  Perhaps I will meet

the new owners on Friday since it will close and usually new owners want to 

move in right away - I know Val is planning on the same thing as soon as she

can get on her new property.  But it isn't her property until her house closes,

the money is transferred to all the intended recipients and her house is officially

owned by someone else and her new house is officially owned by - her.  Back 

to the subject, if, by some remote chance, the new owners would let me stay,

moving becomes a moot point.  I would love to stay right where I am at.  

Regardless, I have a new place to live - potentially anyway it's not set in 

stone yet - and it's 15 miles closer to work.  It's 15 miles further away from

church but the loss of miles to work far outweighs many other factors.  At

least for the time being anyway.  There are other factors that may present 

themselves in the not-so-distant future but I refrain from going into that right

now since nothing is definitive yet.

Now - is just a waiting game.  Packing is almost complete, I am in a small

place and I don't have a lot over here.  In fact, the furniture belong entirely

to Val as she set this place up before I came to town.  It is all going back to

her place as intended new living arrangements is fully furnished and no need

for anything at all from what I know.  I need to call that lady today and make

sure we are still on that course.  It's "all but guaranteed" that I can move in, 

the husband thinks he should meet me first even if there are no reservations at

all about it.

I don't blame him. They didn't advertise their room for rent, the former renter

moved to another town.  They "didn't want just anyone" moving into their

home.  I've been doing that for years with my house in Phoenix, but it is a

 totally different story over there.  It's a come what may situation and if whoever

comes doesn't work, they are summarily removed - legally of course - but

they are given the boot.  It takes a truly rotten person for it not to work over

there.  And yes, I have had some truly rotten people in there.  

German Wing Airplane that crashed into the French Alps.  I have a love affair

with flying, even though I will never be a pilot though in the last 2 years I have

been able to get on some commercial jets and get some passenger time in - 

crammed to the gills situations which I was not accustomed to but whatever.

I have watched probably every episode of Air Crash Disaster and Mayhem

and I think there's another one.  Which doesn't make me afraid of flying, 

much to the contrary, the shows give glimpses of different aspects of how

commercial jets work as they delve into the specifics of why any particular 

airplane crashed.  This latest one has been described as a debris field of no

more than 2 football fields wide - which means to me the thing came straight

down and explains why one official said everything is "pulverized".  

I feel for the families/loved ones of the deceased as no-one survived, but still

it is a fascinating subject.  The reasons for these crashes vary greatly.  The

last episode I watched was of a plane that got into the draft of a jumbo jet

ahead of it.  The pilot punched the aileron pedal to the left, then the right,

then the left, then the right and then the left again.  Or the other way around,

I don't remember, but there were 5 hard inputs that the aircraft was not designed

to be able to hand, which led to parts of the aircraft breaking off and the aircraft

plummeting into the ground.  Turns out the carrier had trained the pilots that this

was an acceptable method of attempting to correct an aircraft and bring it back

to level flight. Not until after that crash and investigators eventually found out

what caused the crash that it became known that that is NOT an acceptable

means to correct the aircraft.

Simply saying that there are so many things that could go wrong after watching

so many of these investigations that speculation usually doesn't do much of anything

but feed the news medias headlines to keep it of interest to the general public.  And 

attempt to allay fears that there is something inherently wrong with that aircraft - or

conversely - attempt to show that the aircraft is a dangerous piece of junk flying

through the air as was the case with the DC-10 and it's numerous crashes back 

in the - 80"s? 70's? don't remember.  

Enough.  

I was going to meet up with two people today to look at rooms they had for rent.  One texted me and said a person that had viewed the room previously had decided to take the room and was going to pay her tonight.  The other - I drove clear out there at previously agreed time and find out the dude is still at work and won't be home until 8:00 pm - we were to meet at 6:00.  Kinda pissed me off he didn't bother to contact me about that.

I've been spending more time than I care to admit to try and find a new place to live and am not coming up with anything good.  There was a duplex that sounded good - until I got there and saw this trashed out looking dump that I would never even think of living in.  I've looked at apartments, duplexes, rooms, whatever.  One place has an RV for rent but it's $475 per month.  That's pretty pricey for an old RV, even if it is in good condition.  There are not a lot of options out here, not like Phoenix.

Got on the 4 wheeler today and took a ride around the property.  No-one was there, I beat them home from wherever they were at.  It's really a beautiful piece of land.  I drove to an area of thick trees and sat there.  Quiet, beautiful, serene.  That is until a yellow 4 wheeler came zooming up with Nathan on it.  Hadn't seen the kids since Sunday.  We talked for a while until a very loud voice yelled out: Nathanael!!!!! from up above.  Ummm, Nathan, did you ask if you could go for a ride?  No.  Ohhhh, I think you're in trouble.  But, he's always in trouble so he doesn't really care that much.

I have too much going on and taking a ride to get some peace was good.  More of that is necessary for me.  Alone, away from people and all the noise and chaos.

Work pretty much blowing up.  Young driver went into our manager today and "informed" him that another driver is lazy and doesn't do anything.  The manager looked at him and said, "well isn't that kinda like the pot calling the kettle black?".  The kid driver goes around bashing everyone behind their back, yes he's the worse employee there. These new devices they dumped on us show everything.  I mean everything.  Where you are at. The entire route you have taken. If you stopped somewhere, it shows where you stopped and how long you were there.  They were looking at a route he took last week.  He was going 100 MILES out of the way to get to a job site. Why? Because he wants to drag out his runs and make sure he doesn't get back too quick.

He has made enemies out of the rest of the drivers.  On another front, the receptionist was cussed out by purchasing agent. She - the receptionist - is not a person you want to mess with and this "man" is going to find that out.  She stopped him in mid sentence - on the phone that is - and told him ... I don't know who the f*** you think you are talking to, but this ain't going to fly with me.  It's the most poorly run operation in terms of tolerance for unbelievable verbal abuse that I have ever seen.  And even more going on over there that I won't bother going into because I don't feel like it and it's getting late.

I mean, I drove over to that area to meet that guy and see the room and he was held up.  I went to the property and rode my 4 wheeler waiting for Val/kids to get home. Then we did my taxes.  That took an hour and a half.  $1,600 coming back, so I ain't going to complain but I am extremely tired and it's time to go to bed.

G'nite.

So, I'm at work today. It's pouring rain starting early this morning.  I mean, there are 4 drivers standing around doing nothing.  The rain has been going on for quite a long time now, it has hit our business hard.  Hours cut back for drivers - from 50 per week to 45. Gonna hit hard the first paycheck that sees that kind of hour cut.  I came out here expecting 50 hours of work per week because that is what I was promised.

Anyway, I'm standing in the shed - they call it a shed it's a very large metal building used for material storage. Pretty much when there's nothing to do we go out there and hang out.  Eddie - another driver - comes walking out from the building across the way yelling my name. Ben!!! Ben!!! He gets close enough to respond without yelling and I'm like - what?  Why the hell didn't you tell us?  Why didn't I tell you WHAT?!!
What the bleep are you talking about?

These new phones! You knew what they could do and you didn't tell any of us about it!  He starts telling me he had a friend technician take a look at it.  Well that's heavier than a phone and that ain't no phone.  Nope, I said, it isn't a phone.  It has phone capabilities but it's far from a phone.  It is Big Brother.  These things are the newest generation of delivery tracking devices such as you see FedEx or UPS using - but it's smaller than an Iphone and is all touch screen.  The first time I looked at it I told them - management - what I thought about such technology being used "against" it's own personnel.

They can listen to your phone conversations, see every text message, see where you are at anywhere at anytime. But this thing can be used to remotely listen to your private conversations.  Both the microphone and the camera can be turned on remotely.  It can be turned on remotely AND you, the driver, won't know it's watching and listening to you.  I spoke my extreme resistance to the thing and told management I would be bundling the thing in a towel so it can see or hear NOTHING of my private life inside a truck.  They don't NEED to know that.  Humanity has survived - forever - without such s*** and can go on without it.

How did I know the thing could do that? I didn't know, I just knew.  Technology is going too far.  It is intruding into our personal lives and taking over society.  Some of it was good in the beginning, but it is going to far.  Scientists are attempting to devise a system that literally reads your mind.  Do you really want that? Because if they persist, I believe they will eventually get it.  How far do we let this stuff go before we say gee, this isn't such a great idea after  all?  I grew up without all of this stuff and life was grand.

How Eddie knew I knew I have no idea.  I didn't ask him as the conversation went directly into what this thing's capabilities are.  You don't spend the kind of money the company spent on it for something that doesn't give them the information they are looking for.  Data and research be damned, this world is going to hell and technology is making it happen much faster.  But then again, the Bible speaks of such.

It is no secret the advancement of technology. Police cars can be equipped with readers. The car is parked facing traffic with this reader reading license plates. Traffic tickets are mailed and all kinds of information is acquired.  It's outrageous. I don't care what "good" they affix to it, it's total bulls***. Just like when police want to search your car or home.  What do you have to hide? When you tell them no, which I have done. I have nothing to hide, I have everything to resist.  You have no right to search anything unless you have probable cause and nowadays, that is a slippery slope. A lot of "probable cause" issues that have come before courts have been tossed when the facts come out and it's established there WAS no probable cause.

The conversation in the shed ended with gee, yes, if you don't want them to hear your personal conversations or be able to video record what you are doing, take that freaking thing and wrap it up to the point it can see or hear nothing.