Monday

Yes, I'm at work, no I'm not on the clock and yes, I decided that I am not going to forsake my daily rituals because of one person's sour attitude towards me - a person I don't even know.
Until someone says something different, I will continue to do so. I suppose I could just as easily sit at home and drink coffee and surf the internet before leaving for work, but it's much easier to do it here - get done with surfing go straight into work mode. I'll be waiting for whatever news is going to come my way because of all of this.

Meanwhile, I'm reading of 13 students that were killed in Juarez, Mexico. Rather shocking, really, I spent a lot of time in that city from 1985 until 1990 doing missionary work. At least once a week I would drive over there and hand out food, clothing and blankets, but many weeks I would be over there every single day. We had found the orphanages and the old people that couldn't fend for themselves and would make it a point to help them. It's crazy, but neighborhood kids would see some of these old people walking to the store and would simply take their money from them.

I say shocking - the killings - just because of the time I spent over there. I never witnessed anything like that, but that was a long time ago and now I am reading that some of the leaders of these drug cartels actually live in Juarez. For those that don't know, Juarez is directly across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas. It is also the largest border city in Mexico that I know of, much larger than Tijuana.

I would venture to guess that many Americans are not necessarily including any kind of trip to any point in Mexico as a vacation destination at this point. I wonder what the missionaries are doing nowadays. I was always of the mindset that if I was there doing the Lord's work - providing that He actually wanted me to go - He would protect me. I could tell some pretty crazy stories, in fact, I did have many of them written into my old JS blog, which is, of course, gone.

Anyway, overshadowing even that is this new budget proposal of Obama's. Money really does grow on trees! Oh, wait, no, they can just print more! How long is it going to be before the U.S. dollar is as worthless as a twig laying in the gutter on a street? No guesses here, but at this rate, I can't imagine it being forever.

I digress. If people think the Bush administration - or President Bush specifically - will go down as the worst president ever, let's try rethinking that. This Obama character has done absolutely NOTHING as far as I'm concerned, excepting to spend trillions of dollars and apparently wants to spend trillions more. The 4 years of his presidency will not be over fast enough, I cannot imagine that man getting a second term.

Well, the work day approaches and certainly, I don't want to be even one second over in getting off the internet and about the day's business. However, and realistically, I have so many breaks that have gone unused - those are half hour breaks that come off of my time automatically, every day whether I take it or not - I could legitimately sit here for days and days doing nothing but spending my breaks. Seriously. I wouldn't do that, of course, but I'm just sayin'.

G'day.

ben

American Kennel Club-Great Dane,Color, Markings and Patterns

I think I'm going to have to kill Prince, my black Great Dane.
Why? Because by the AKC's standards for Great Danes, the following applies for black Danes:
Black--The color shall be a glossy black. White markings at the chest and toes are not desirable.
Unfortunately for Prince, he has white markings both at the chest AND at the toes. He MUST be killed because he is undesirable.
Who the BLEEP is AKC? Do they want to take care of my Great Danes for the rest of their lives because they are undesirable?
Will they compensate me - on the other end of the spectrum - for taking care of "undesirable" traits that should put the animal to rest?

I mean, seriously. When they say these traits are undesirable, shall I go get a butcher knife and stab both of them through the heart?

You think I'm exaggerating, perhaps I am. They have their guidelines, wonderful. All canines outside of their guidelines - we should do WHAT with?

They fail to illiterate their stance on THAT particular stance, they certainly illucidate their stand on Danes that don't meet their standards.

I think Prince is an absolutely BEAUTIFUL dog. So is Duke. They have personality and character.

AKC needs to illucidate these standards of theirs, and what, exactly, we should do with Danes that do not meet them.

Sunday

Feeling a little better. Also feeling better about the situation at work. Whatever happens, I feel I did the right thing. Not doing anything would have had management believing I do nothing, or mostly nothing and that's not a good place to be in. I kinda feel in the middle of some pretty shaky ground, right now, to be honest - either way it is a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation, or at least it has the potential of being that. I only know that I have given 4 years of my life working at that company, I love working there, still do, but I will not have my name or reputation tarnished and blemished because of misinformation being thrown around in offices and behind closed doors - or wherever it's happening - simply because I might have been afraid to say anything and potentially rock the boat.

In other words, if, for some reason, this ends up costing me my job, I will have the confidence and peace-of-mind that I went out standing up for myself, regardless of the potential consequences. I did not get into anyone's face about it, I wrote a simple email. I did make some comments on my Facebook page - oh well, that's MY page and at work, I cannot even access Facebook. No-one can through the company's internet. The comments? Things like what a genius I am, I can drive a truck AND be at the shop, surfing the internet at the same time!!

Well, for any potential naysayers, put yourself into my shoes. I work - hard - for 4 years running at a job. I go to great lengths to learn as much as I possibly can that is available to learn. I learn how to write up orders, do counter sales, shipping-receiving, pulling orders - a far greater role than just being a truck-driver only, and trust me, there are a LOT of truck drivers out there that will do nothing beyond the role of driving the truck. I do what is asked of me and more - sometimes far more. I don't complain and I willingly and gladly do all of it, without hesitation.

When my manager called me on Sunday at 9:00 pm asking me to go down to Tucson on an all-night run, I didn't huff and gaw, I said okay, what are the details, I'll be out of here in less than 10 minutes - and I was. I drove all night. I am not a night person anymore, that run messed me up for days!

At the same time, the company helped me out tremendously when my house burned down. A LOT of co-workers came to my aid with gift cards - some with HUGE amounts on them and furniture and all kinds of things. The company's family fund granted me 5 grand to help me get back on my feet. I am indebted to the company for the extreme and great amount of help I received in a dire time of need. I took 2 weeks off of work - the company granted me that and said if I need more, don't hesitate to ask. I had the hours saved up, yes, I'm just saying they went out of their way to help me out, and I am eternally grateful for such.

But, it tends to mess with my head when someone starts making accusations. I get a bit riled up. I think I have gotten over the riled up portion this weekend, I just wrote it out, processed it and now let the chips fall where they may. EVERYONE gets talked about behind their backs at some point or another during the span of your life - how you deal with it certainly is telling of the character and mold you come out of, the mettel that you are made of. I am of the mindset that when someone says something about you that you know is not true, then stand up to that person, regardless of their position - of course, do it respectfully and with some amount of grace. I like to think back to the scripture that says "we are all equal in the eyes of God". No man is really greater than another, we are all just specks of dust, according to Moses. Even Paul, one of the greatest characters in the New Testament oft-times lamented how far he fell short of the calling of which he acquired to attain, the prize that lay before him.

I only write all of this because, for whatever reason, I am feeling uneasy about what may lay ahead at work tomorrow/this coming week. Perhaps it's just the side of me that wonders what's going to become of all of this - usually, though, it's the part of me that goes through every conceivable ending - good and bad - in analyzing potential outcomes. Of course, if you look at the potential outcomes of the "bad" endings - well, there is always something else down the road, around the corner past the next bend.

Meanwhile, I have a big project ahead of me - or not. I'll see after this guy sees what it is. I already informed him the other trailer I was going to get was a piece of trash. He had offered to help fix up whatever I end up getting. Okay, well, we'll see how determined he is.
The tenant that left for CA is still gone and no phone call. I forgot to save his phone number in my cell - I know he has my number in his, he can call if he wants to to let me know what's going on. I'm wondering if I should put the room back up for rent? No, have to go through the legal procedure, in this case Abandonment proceedings - which has no court case at all. It's simply a notice posted on the door and whatever other contact info you might have for the person, contact those numbers/email addresses and give notification. Still have to keep whatever posssessions the person has in storage for X amount of time and give it back to them if they come to claim it - which is all well and fine, my only intent is to be getting money in from that room's use.

Well, I have a lot of laundry and cleaning projects to do today so I best get with the program.
ben

Venting

Between Facebook, this blog and copying and pasting to my other blog, I think I over-vented yesterday. It still blows me away that such an accusation could not only be made by a manager, but also be made without even ATTEMPTING to verify the validity of it either before or after the accusation was broadcast to at least 2 other managers, probably even more.

It was really my fortune that this man said something to me about my alleged over-use of the internet the other day, elsewise I wouldn't have ever known about it and the accusations that were made behind my back? Maybe would have found out about it at the pink slip table, who knows. The thing about this that sticks in my mind is the way he said it, when he said "you are on the internet quite a lot" or whatever he said, my mind is allowing that to phase out so as I don't dwell - and stew - on it so much.

I made my case to the general manager and now whatever happens is in his realm of authority to deal with. I have to wonder just how many ears heard about this "fact" that I am sitting on the internet all the time, doing nothing? How far out of management ranks did it go? It's pure poison, or maybe more like a contagious disease - it spreads easily and quickly.

How long am I going to go on about this? Until there is a resolution to the situation. When a manager in a company makes unjustifiable statements and it's found out, the only thing that will resolve it for me is a heart-felt apology. If I don't get that, then at the very least, keep his nose out of the inner workings of a store that he has absolutely nothing to do with, is not his job title or role and falls under no category, whatsoever, of the realm of his dealings.

Anyway, I bought a trailer today. It's the one that I have been vascillating on whether to get it or not. I figured, after all this time, that I wasn't going to find anything better for the money. I may be able to find other units - this one needs a lot of interior work, yes, but the price tag on it won't be that great - carpet, some wall panelling, a good cleaning. What sold me on it is that it is obvious the roof has never leaked, the structure is good. The back bedroom will have it's wood workings torn out of it, carpet installed and then either a twin or queen bed put into it. The front - needs panelling, some caulking, just fix up stuff.

If the guy that is intended to move into it doesn't want it, I will fix the thing up and resell it for what I have into it. Or just try to resell it for what I paid for it, plus the $50 I am giving to my neighbor tomorrow to move it over here. This isn't really a money-making deal here. Though, really, if I spent $300 on the interior in buying the stuff to refurbish it, I could sell it for somewhere near twice what I paid for it. I'll have to decide that when/if I come to that bridge.

Nothing else. I am attempting to relax. I spent the week working while sick and that takes it's toll. There is plenty to do around here, but most of it can wait. Laundry and house-cleaning are always on the top of the list on weekends - and it will get done regardless of how I feel - but it can wait until tomorrow morning after I get back with the trailer. I have Friday off next week - our company gives a birthday holiday to everyone, I put in last month for it off so I could have a 3-day weekend.

I did not get the safe-driver award - with no explanation as to why. I do not have any at-fault accidents or tickets. Who knows. The money would have been nice, but oh well. It does have to do with management input - I don't wonder if this "internet" scandal had anything to do with it. I was kinda hoping for it - it would have paid for most of this trailer.

Oh, the tenant that left for CA last week to go to a funeral? No word. He has my phone number. I have no idea whether he left anything in his room or not. I'm guessing not. On Monday, if I have not heard from him, I will place a Notice of Abandonment on his bedroom door. If there is anything in there, it will be stored somewhere and that will be the end of that. I was VERY happy that the ex-Marine paid for the entire month's rent - I know he is hurting for money since he is still not employed, but he gets that disability check every month and fortunately for me, having a roof over his head takes precedence over - whatever else. The weekly payer - always pays. So, I'm only short this 3rd person right now. Actually, if he decided to leave, I could offer this older gent the room for a reduced rate - in exchange for work - and would be much nicer than a trailer.

Thats all folks. Major Payne is on - one of the few comedy movies that I thoroughly enjoy and I intend on watching it.

Later.

Friday - Internet At Work

I take great pride in my offerings at work. I work my @$$ off, I try to do the best job I can of not making mistakes. I am a safe driver and endeavor to avoid accidents at all costs. I almost always have a good attitude - maybe this week I was a wee bit grumpy because I was working when I should have been home, in bed, getting rest to get over this illness.

So, when a manager accuses me of "spending a good deal of time" surfing the internet, well, I'm pissed to say the least.

The story:
Wednesday morning. Raining. I'm sick. I don't feel well. It's the end-of-month time and the company always wants to push out as much material as possible to get our numbers up as high as possible. So, I go out in the rain, yes, it was raining and it was raining enough to get me nicely wetted in a short period of time - pull the transfer orders. They are simply orders for material we have that they either need for a delivery at another branch or need for stock material.

I come back in, sit down at my computer and was looking at an order that was supposed to go, that I suspected probably would not be going out. Rain usually shuts most job-sites down. So, I am contacting the inside-salesman for the account via instant messenger while looking up Mapquest - on the internet yes, but totally work related - to see how to get to another delivery out in the far east valley.

A "higher-level" manager comes walking through and asks me if I'm surfing the internet again. I thought he was joking, but I responded that I was attempting to find out whether an order was going to go or not due to the rain. He goes over to the water cooler and then comes walking back by me, looks down at me and says: "You spend a good deal of time on the internet". I was floored by this statement.

When a manager says something like that to you, you figure he's thinking you're sluffing off at work, wasting time doing nothing. I'm 100% opposite of that mindset. I have been working since I was 10 years old and before that I was doing odd jobs for money. I have the old-school work ethic - work your @$$ off and you will be rewarded for it. I don't LIKE being at work doing nothing, it's boring, I don't feel like I'm earning my pay and I would rather be out in the warehouse pushing a broom if there's nothing to do than sit around doing nothing.

This man did not wait around for an answer or an explanation, he told me he had come to this conclusion because he had been sitting at my computer when we had inventory last week and saw all the sites I was visiting - and then walked off. I mean, without even giving me the benefit of a doubt, this guy is my judge, jury and executioner. I went to get a cup of coffee and saw him standing in the main room of the building, I verbalized that I do get on the internet - when I come in early before clocking in - every single day. He got a foul look on his face while ignoring me.

I became suspicious that this guy was telling other managers about this situation - we are a 2-man crew at the branch I work at, I guess if we wanted to slouch off, we could get away with it - or could we? NOT. There is too much work to do - we hit $260,000 worth of sales out of branch - most of that comes from the deliveries I make in the semi truck - this month. If I were sitting around F****** off, looking at the internet, there is NO WAY that kind of sales revenues would ever be generated.

I wrote an email to the general manager. If this kind of stuff gets back to him - well - what's going to happen to my job? Buh-bye, nobody wants slouchers in a recessed economy where there are 1,000 workers for every job that is available. Even if it were a GREAT economy, I would NEVER sit around screwing off. I wrote about the incident and the fact that I often-times do not even get a break during the day - losing 1/2 hour of time that is automatically deducted from my hours whether I take the break or not - and that I had worked 10-1/2 hours the day before, sick and getting NO break at all. It was not a whiny letter, more of an information event, I'm covering my @$$. People are going to talk shit about me behind my back, all well and fine, but if I find out about it, I'm going to do whatever I can to rectify the situation.

I re-read my letter before sending it - is it communicating what I want to say? Yes, definitely, I hit the send field on the screen and that was that. Come to find out, yes, this man has said something to both the general and ops manager about this and gave the message that the internet, apparently, should be shut off at our store. UNBELIEVABLE. Without even ASKING my manager, at the very least, about what's going on, without attempting to find out if there's a LEGITIMATE REASON for the usage of the internet, he simply makes a carpet-sweep judgment and then broadcasts it to the world.

I would like to say here that this man is not my manager, he's not my manager's manager and he's not the manager's manager's manager - who would be the General Manager - a person I have come to respect and admire as well - and really, at least from my standpoint - has absolutely no business whatsoever interjecting himself into a situation of which he has no knowledge at all. A person should at least VERIFY the 'facts' before going around spouting them off to everyone.

So, yes, I'm pissed. This is personal - the statement being made is that I'm a sloucher, which is total BULLSHIT. Should I be writing this on the World Wide Web? I don't care. I pay the price to receive my paycheck, I do it willingly and with a good attitude, I have NOTHING to hide here. My manager and I work our asses off, there is nothing else to say about it.

The man actually had the audacity to ask my manager why I hadn't left yet, the day he showed up at our branch. He has NO CLUE what's going on, yet is starting all kinds of shit. Again, there is nothing that will rise my ire more than baseless accusations - ESPECIALLY something that concerns my work ethic. It just FRIES me.

I must move onto some other subject, because this subject is causing me small amounts of irritation and even anger.

The weekend is here. I have no idea what I am going to do this weekend because, all day long, my mind has been consumed with this manager's SHIT statements.

I'm just going to end this one, I cannot get off the subject and hopefully a couple of beers and relaxation - and YES - SURFING THE FREAKING INTERNET - will help me calm down.

Venting session over, and yes, it does feel better.

Friday

At last......I have been sick half of this work week and have felt none too good. It's end of month - our company always pushes to get as much product out as possible, therefore the reason I didn't call in sick. Wednesday was the worst day of it and the longest work day this week as well.

Anyway, my quest for a travel trailer goes on. I have contacted another guy who wants $700 for a gutted trailer. Meaning there is nothing inside it besides the cabinets and shower I believe. Everything else has been removed. I am trying to get the guy to bring down his price - he has been advertising the thing on Craigslist for over 2 weeks now. Another guy has an RV thing he converted to an office which no-one is apparently interested in because he has been advertising it for over a month. I keep making offers, sooner or later, I'll get a positive reply.

Meanwhile, on the home front. I'm sitting in my kitchen yesterday late-afternoon when I hear a woman starting to yell loudly. Of course I got up, went outside to see what was going on. It was the big, heavy (at least 300 pounds probably closer to 400) man that lives 2 doors down, starting trouble again. The woman apparently didn't want his help on something they were doing at my neighbor's house, so she was telling him to back off.

This guy, unfortunately, is a total hot-head. I got right in that woman's face and threatened to kick her @$$. That's when I dialed 911. This guy is a troll and a bully. He tried to pull that crap on me a few weeks ago, instead of responding in kind, I simply informed him I would be calling the police if he continued. That shut him up. Anyway, this woman was visiting my neighbor, who flew off the handle, got into the big man's face - I thought they were going to get into a fight.

Fast-forward several hours. Police had come and gone, no-one was arrested but at least the situation had been calmed. My neighbor has heart problems and high blood pressure. Again, I'm sitting in my kitchen and it's now night time, I hear the fire truck and ambulance at the station a block from my house fire up their sirens - and come - to my neighbor's house. Yup, all that anger and yelling almost did him in. They carted him away in the ambulance with the explanation that his blood pressure was very high and they were unable to bring it down.

I am biding my time in the neighborhood. It is easily the worst neighborhood I have ever lived in. I can't sell the house, upside-down by at least 10k on the mortgage, I have no choice but to bear with all the nonsense until - if-ever - the housing market comes back up again. I would oh-so-ever-loving LOVE to get OUT of that neighborhood and never see it again.

Well work day approacheth, I'm outta here.

More Rain

Unbelievably, it is raining again. It's not that I'm tired of the rain - bring it on - but just shut it off while we have to work outside, okay? Another "I should have called in sick" day. There is about half a day's work in the system, I'm hoping to get it done and go home early.

Of course, that was my hope yesterday, as well, but instead spent 10-1/2 hours at work. I feel better than I did yesterday, but I'm certainly nowhere near 100%.

Ummm, not much going on, really. I didn't watch the president's speech. No interest in that president, therefore, no interest in much of anything he has to say. The man has focused on a bill that will waste a BIG pile of money while totally ignoring the fact that our economy is in a shambles and certainly, spending even MORE money is NOT the answer. Why don't we try to find a way to help all these people who don't have jobs and have lost their homes first? I'm sure those people could give a whack's ass about anything BUT getting jobs and getting back into decent housing.

I fret everyday at work - I haven't heard of any more layoffs coming, but who knows? I do my job, hope to be employed at the end of the day - and the next morning - and that's the size of the American economy right now. Those that are fortunate enough to still be employed are certainly not thinking that their jobs are removed from the chopping block potential. It's a very bleak scenario for many, many people, if the government wants to help (which I have serious reservations that the government should have ever tried to get involved with any of this to begin with) let it help people start growing a bank account again. The rest is pure bunk.

Whatever. Work day is here, it's pouring rain outside, I don't feel well - great day!

Wednesday

Already? Dang. Slept like a log last night - I always get the best sleep when I'm sick. I do not feel well at all, I don't even know how I dragged myself out of bed this morning, but somehow, I made it to here - work that is - and will do my deliveries - but probably won't be going home early cause' there is too much to do in our truck routing system.

Which, of course, does not lend to getting better. Mother's insistent, continual, unchanging advice since I was a kid: drink lots of fluids and get lots of rest. Well, if I get REALLY sick, I will call in sick and that will be that until I get better. Otherwise, we are already short-handed and having to take a driver from our main location to come over here isn't helping anything at all if it can be avoided.

Okay, well my head feels like it was just dragged through a shredder and my body is somewhere in the torture device realm. Yes, it's that bad. I have to be so sick that I can't get out of bed before I won't show up for work.

The search for someone to move the trailer continues. Apparently, the man that the owner was going to use to move it wants $200 for 24 miles. This guy claims that it's going to cost $75 in fuel. He is going to use a semi tractor to move it. I guess that answers my question: A semi truck CAN move a 5th wheel RV trailer - I was concerned about king pin sizes, I am thinking they must all be the same diamter regardless.

Ummm, but $75 in fuel for 25 miles? NOT. Even at $3 per gallon, a truck getting 5 miles to the gallon is going to use - 5 gallons X $3 = $15. No problem in making a little money, but those people were attempting to do a rip-off - I mean, I AM a truck driver, I KNOW how much fuel it's going to use and my estimate is on the liberal side.

Well, work day is here so I'm done.

ben

The Scope Of Things

I never cease to marvel at the vast illiteracy to be found on Craigslist. I read some of the stuff and find the content so illegible, it's actually funny. Yes, I was just at Craigslist and yes, I was reading a posting by a person who must have just fallen off the watermelon wagon. Then there is the guy who keeps posting a date for the end of the world, I think it was sometime next year. He claims that satan is in control of the church.

Okayyyyyyy then. Last time I looked, God was still on the throne and He wasn't too worried about the devil taking over the earth. Just one man's take on it, yes, but I think a pretty reliable statement that you can bookmark and store away somewhere as factual. Pretty much, I go to Craiglist every morning for a daily dose of entertainment.

Yes, well enough of that. The search for someone to move the trailer goes on. I spoke with a gentleman yesterday who says he's coming over to my house - sent by the seller - to ensure that the thing can actually be maneuvered onto my property. ???? I don't have a problem with that, but I didn't know the thing was that long that it needed that kind of scrutiny? The man informed me that the trailer is 40 feet long. Exactly what I did NOT want, a behemoth of a trailer taking up a lot of space on the side of my house. Well, if it ever does come to pass, it is not a permanent setup. In fact, I have a good idea what to do with the thing after I am done with it on my property. There is a small RV park on Main street in Tempe - I lived in that little park for a short period of time LONG ago when I was broke, destitute and had a little travel trailer to live in - it was better than the streets.

The lot rent there is something like $125 per month. The trailer could be parked there and I could simply "sublet" the space to someone else that is also broke, destitute and needing a helping hand for a little more than that - gotta make something off the deal. Say - $250. Alright, how about $225? $200? Well, whatever. Whatever I can get, that is. The park allows you to set up a little fenced area - you could have a dog there as well if you wanted one. I would make it a nice little setup with everything a person needs including an SRP M-Power meter - the prepaid power stuff. I wouldn't get dumped with a monthly bill for electricity and the potential tenant could - pay for electricity or not.

You'd be surprised at how many people are living in dark houses. That is, a house without power. Again, broke, destitute, losing hope, they have a shell of what their lives once were. Middle-class Americans that would have never dreamed that life was going to get so bleak for want of money. I have lived that life - for decades actually - I KNOW what it's like to live without and do it for extended periods of time. You want to know why I am doing whatever it takes to hold onto my property? I have images of living in travel trailers or apartments or some other kind of rental unit somewhere: those images DRIVE me to stay solvent.

The thought of going back to that kind of living is actually repulsive to me. Just BECAUSE I lived that kind of life for so long. In reality, if I could find a plot of land somewhere - cheap of course - I could make my own RV park and have the units already in place to rent them out. At a cheap enough price, that park would be full of people in no time. At least in the current economy, anyway. Just as an example, I was reading an ad by a couple that are relocating here and are needing a temporary place to stay. They freely admit they are broke and have a large dog - a Great Dane to be precise. I am always having thoughts about how to increase my income without really putting myself out too much.

Anyway, I am hoping this guy can move the trailer and I will keep his number if he can for when I need it moved again.

As for this entry, I actually was going to go on as I feel "talkative" through writing this morning, but the clock is ticking against me and I must be getting my head into work mode.

G'day, folks.
ben

Monday

Didn't sleep well last night. Oh well. Lots of stuff to do today - I'll be pulling orders and driving all over the valley pretty much all day long.

Diet is having it's intended effect: my pants are starting to loosen up. I put on a pair of jeans this morning that had been fairly tight, they are now falling off my @$$ without use of a belt. This was the only reason, really, that I started this diet, so that I would not have to move up to a size 34 from my current size 33. I'll find out in a few minutes if the waist reduction is also seen with my work pants which REALLY started getting tight and I was really thinking of ordering a whole new set of the next size up.

Yesterday, however, I went overboard on calories in eating 2 burritos and a bowl of french soup. The soup was pretty low on calories by virtue of fact of adding only a smidgeon of cheese, but the burritos - a different story.

I don't really mind "indulging" once in a while to combat the effect on the mind that I am denying myself. Especially on a Sunday, and while watching NFL football. Speaking of that, that Saints V Vikings game last night was a true nailbiter. It went into overtime - the score was 28 - 28. Saints got the ball first and - yes - the Saints scored first, winning the game.

I am neither a Saints nor a Vikings fan, but I would have liked to seen Favre go to the Superbowl. I am also not a fan of the rule they changed however many years ago in "the first team that scores, wins" in OT. I'm sitting there watching Favre gut it out - watching OT finish out his hopes of goin to the bowl and not even getting a chance to throw the ball. I've seen this scenario played out many times over and I just think they should revert it back to a full, 15-minute period. I think they did that to shorten games.

I really have little interest in either team going to the Superbowl this year, but I am a football fan and I will watch the game anyway.

Nothing much new on the homefront. The weekly-paying tenant - paid. The ex-Marine - no clue what's going to happen there, he's still waiting to hear back about his new job - he had to do drug testing and that was a sticking point - pass it he's hired, don't pass it - obvious. The other guy is hurting and offered me most of the rest of what he owes for this month, but I gave him a pass because he was headed out to CA to go to a funeral of a relative who died last week of a drug overdose.

I have heard nothing from the guy with the 5th wheel and I am about to give up on it. If he calls, great, if he doesn't no loss.

Work day almost here, gotta get offa here.

Have a great day!

Cafe World Tips Part 4

I have had several of my Cafe World neighbors asking me in Facebook messages how I get my Cafe points up so quickly.

Well I can tell you it isn't because I sit at work all day long playing the game - any streaming video/footage is banned at work - it simply won't come through. I don't normally have time for such, anyway.

There are 2 answers to the question.

1st: It's simply that I keep my ovens cooking all the time. I am at work now, but I have chocolate cake "cooking" on my stoves. When I get home from work, the cake is done, I serve it, start cooking something else. I just base the game on my schedule and when I think I'll be home to be able to sit down for a few minutes and get it done.

2cd: I am of the competitive nature. If one of my neighbors starts catching up to me and am at threat of being overtaken in Cafe points by such, I sort of cheat. It's not really cheating, but it does cost you gold coins. I will start making serving after serving after serving of the dumplings. It gives you 20 points for each phase of preparing the food to be cooked. When it starts cooking, I delete the dish and start over. I can rack up thousands of points quickly simply by doing that.

I don't do that often and right now, the nearest neighbor is over 60,000 points behind me. I have 113 neighbors.

I also have currently around 200,000 servings of food on my counters. It doesn't take long to get those kinds of numbers up when you are cooking basically around the clock.

That's it for this one. Remember that when you get gifts from neighbors, they do NOT add up for any Cafe points. Not that you shouldn't use them, but if you are looking to rack up points, gifts are not going to do it for you.

Sunday

This blog is getting close to 500 entries. Yikes.

I have no valid reason to offer why I think this, but today feesl like Monday. Perhaps because I got off of work so early on Friday, I really don't know, but I was panicing thinking that I was late/missing work. Fortunately it wasn't true, funny the realms the mind goes to whilst in sleep.

I have not heard back from the guy with the RV - though I think I may end up finding someone on my own to move the thing. In fact, I think I will find out whether the king pin on a travel trailer is the same as on a semi trailer - I could just give work some money in exchange for use of the semi to move that thing. I'm just afraid that perhaps the king pins are different widths between the 2 and then - could be a disaster pulling it down the road.

Cleaning day. I am going to go into full blown clean mode here in a little while. I'm not saying my place is a disaster, but it does not a good, major cleaning. The are a couple of football games - my teams are eliminated, I'm to root for the 3-time retired (in word, only) Favre since he's only a few years younger than me and is still kicking-@$$ on the football field - admirable from my view. So I'm rooting for the Vikings, in other words, to go all the way. I thought "old-men" could only play baseball in a professional realm, this guy certainly proves that wrong. Considering he's playing today with his team for the NFC Championship, you can't really say he's a washed-up has-been. Well, you can, I suppose, but it would hardly be true.

A trip to the Home Depot is also in order - early. Oh, btw, I have no love for the Jets or the Saints and I couldn't care less who wins that game - well, I prefer to see the Saints win just for sheer dislike of the Jets QB - which is merely a personal thing that has nothing to do with any logic or reason, so I defer any further comment on my distaste for the man. Back to the point of the paragraph, I want to buy the black, plastic edging that you put around plants to keep the landscaping rocks away from their little pooling area where I water them.

Ahhhhhh, the smell of clean. I took a break from this and spent 40 minutes doing a very nice cleaning of the living room. Looks clean, IS clean.

So it begins - the cleaning that is.

Off to the races.

Later.
ben

Saturday

The deal with the 5th wheel? Waiting game. Owner is attempting to find someone that can move the thing. No hurry here, really, but I would like to get it done this weekend.

Meanwhile, I'm cooking down a huge pot of onions for French Onion Soup. I promised myself last weekend that I would do it this weekend. I still have to go to the store and get the cheese and baguettes. Actually, now that I think about it, I don't have any crocks, either, to use in the oven. Not sure where to find that cheese - Gruyere.

The rain has finally stopped and the skies are clear. I have a lot of floor cleaning to do with people and dogs coming in and out with wet feet. Prolly get out the steam cleaning machine and go over the high traffic areas on the carpet. Kitchen floor is a disaster, lol.

Just a short entry, really. I had thoughts about digging into a couple of subjects - but I think I'd rather head out to the store and grab the stuff I will need to finish this soup. That and clean the floors.

C'yall later.

Fifth Wheel

I've spent a good portion of the afternoon making one phone call after another after another. Unbelievable. I am attempting to get the 5th wheel - it doesn't need any work and it's going for $650, versus the travel trailer that would need a lot of work - and money - and is going for $600. Anyway, I found a guy to move it at a good price. He went over there to look at it - he lives like 10 blocks away from where it's parked - called me back and said it needs a truck with no bed on it - a semi in other words or a pickup that is a flatbed - with a 5th wheel - to move it.

So, that threw the whole deal back into chaos as I had the whole thing worked out. Gag. Well, whatever. Now the deal is back into the seller's hands who is going to find someone he knows to move it and lets get this deal over with already.

Thank you.

I have this feeling the tenancy situation is going to change around here and I have no clue s to why. Butwhen I get feelings like that, I don't tend to ignore them. Meaning I may well be in the "throes" of having to find another tenant soon. Or more than 1, who knows. I haven't gotten any notices from anyone, just got that feeling.

Whatever. Deal with it as it comes. It's been a pretty good, long run on this current crowd of tenants paying regularly, on-time or close enough to on-time, it's been very nice.

The weekend is here. The state of Arizona - I think it's all flooded. The normally dry Salt River running through Tempe and Phoenix and such is now running with water. Tempe Town Lake is now a river, basically. It rained some today, but nothing like yesterday. Yesterday was a gully-washer, that's a fact. I guess it is still raining around different portions of the state and possibly even the valley, but not here.

Crying. I was writing this and it suddenly popped into my head that I was going to make French Onion Soup, and that I was going to cook the onions the night before. Or even put if off until Sunday, but get the onions going. Yes, cutting onions makes my eyes burn and water and I don't remember how to avoid that. I just cut them up - a huge slow-cooker full of them, so it's all over now. But if anyone knows how to cut onions without the burning and tearing effect, I would certainly like my memory refreshed for next time. I am cheating on the French Onion Soup - you are supposed to cook them over the stop top. I am going to cook 1/3rd of them over the stove top and the rest in the slow cooker - my slow cooker is full and I still have 4 very large onions left is the only reason why.

Well, anyway, with seemingly endless number of people chiming in with recipes and how to make French Onion Soup (Googling for recipes, that is, not on this blog), landing on the post that said that cooking the stuff is easy if you just dump the onions into a slow cooker and leave them in there on low for about 12 hours. The next person in the thread I was reading said she tried it, but put the cooker on high for 8 hours. WHATEVER. Okay, well, I want a good soup but laboring over a stove top for countless hours seems ridiculous. I like to cook - but not THAT much. Well, there are certain recipes that I will make here and there that do take quite a bit of time and prep., but I don't do it often.

BTW, what WOULD we do without Google? I don't LIKE any of the other search engines, and I've tried a lot of them. Just thought I'd throw that in there. On that line, what would we do without cellphonees? Well, I'm of the age - I didn't get one until I was in my mid 30's, lol. It IS a useful tool, but like everything, moderation. Plus the new-found fact - apparent fact anyway - that long-term, heavy use can cause brain tumors. I have had that fear ever since cellphones came out, frankly. I went through about a 2-year stint where I was talking on cellphones anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 minutes per month. I figure my use is less than 500 - well probaby not even close to that - now.

Oh, BTW 2: for the naysayers about renting out a travel trailer. I'm not charging full price, the real deal is getting someone to do work around the place in exchange for - a large trailer actually. 36 feet is pretty big, doncha think? That person can dig the trench right off the git-go to install a sewer line and they will have full bathroom priviledges right there in the trailer, as those things are all set up to simply attach a garden hose to it. I have the PVC schedule 40 pipe to run from the other side of the house to that trailer as well. The trench would have to go clear over there anyway to connect with the sewer line in the ground.

Wow. Now that I think about it - that's a LONG trench. about 125 feet to connect with the line which is actually in front of the house. Well, whatever. If the person is motivated to do so, they will do it, if not, the house is always available.

This entry is getting long.

Have a great evening?!!

ben

Friday

Woke up in the middle of a very deep and sound sleep. That alarm clock was at it's second level of beeping. I am groggy and haven't been able to fully wake up. I could have slept several more hours at least. This is the 3rd time this week that this has happened - I have been on a sleep deficit for quite some time, apparently something in the brain has clicked and said it's time to do something about that.

Rain has stopped this morning, but it was obvious it had rained all night long. All that stuff going on in California is coming straight over here. The interesting point of yesterday was the tornado warning. No, folks, I have never heard of a tornado warning in Phoenix, Arizona. It was at least a 5 hour long warning and I went outside, in the rain and was looking around at the sky. I didn't hear of any tornados touching down, but then again, I haven't read the local news yet. I believe it's supposed to rain off and on all day today as well. Well, I just looked at AZcentral.com and there is a spoof in there saying that a tornado actually touched down on the Arizona/California line. It also said the governor has issued a state of emergency. The only thing I can say is our state NEEDS this water, rainfall has been WELL below normal this year.

I'll also say that living on the base of a mountain has it's advantages - unless the ENTIRE valley is going to fill up with qadrillions of gallons of water, the only flooding I ever see is the small stream that starts flowing along my west wall from one end of the property to the other, plus a pool of water where I have my little gras patch growing.

Meanwhile, I was looking into some information on speeding tickets issued by photo radar on the city's freeways. Apparently, DPS targets "freqent fliers" - people who get clicked by those cameras frequently and do not pay the fines. It is also apparent they don't really bother with a "one-timer". Legally, if I don't respond to their snail-mail sent demands to pay $180.00, they have to have me served. I am totally opposed to cameras being set up all over the place for a variety of reasons, and I certainly have no problem of doing absolutely nothing about this photo ticket I received in the mail last month.

As for today's work, I doubt there will be anything but pickups from vendors. All deliveries have been moved out to Monday, which means Monday will be a very busy day for me. Not to mention the fact that today is inventory - they count everything, I will have nothing to do with it because, again, drivers aren't allowed, lol. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or making a bad statement against truck drivers? I'll leave that one alone : )

Ava' great day!
ben

French Onion Soup

I have read - too many - recipes of how to make French Onion Soup. Moreover, I have read FAR too many opinions from people - even French cooks - who snoot the idea of "factory" broth - store bought instead of homemade - and how it "degrades" the recipe. There are SO many variations of the recipe, I was at a loss, but not for long.

I have been cooking since I was 4 years old. I am not a "professional" per se, but I not only learned from my mother, I invented my own recipes. I was making soft chocolate chip cookies LONG before anyone ever put them on the market. It was a mistake, really. One day, I was making my beloved chocolate chip cookies and as was my want, I always stood there, as a kid, and watched them back the entire process.

No, I didn't go do something else. I would have the oven light on and I would watch them bake. A wild hair hit me one day and I thought, "what would they taste like if I pull them out early?". I was instantly in love. I was - 10 years old at the time. My mother had some group of women over for whatever function they were doing - they all ate my cookies and demanded - and I DO mean demanded - to know how I made them that way. I refused to tell them. I thought: A good chef keeps his cooking secrets to himself. I gave them clues, but I really didn't tell them that the only difference, at least in my version of it, was cooking time. Soft, gooey, still-melting choco chips. Ohh, the yum of it. I gave that stuff up long ago - you can watch your belly grow when eating stuff like that.

Totally off-subject, as normal. The point is that I always add my own stuff - or do things my own way - in cooking someone else's recipes. I have decided to combine all of what I have read and do my own thing. I have 20 pounds of onions - if you're going to do it, do it right. Tomorrow after I get off of work, I am going to start cooking them. I was going to put them into a slow-cooker as some have suggested the easiest way to do it, but I don't really LIKE the way onions turn out out of a slow-cooker, so I'm going to pan-fry them. Probably at least 2 large pans full of it. Butter, a small amount of salt and just cook them down. I have done this many, many times on a lessor scale - I love that stuff. It takes a while to cook them down, but they are talking cooking them REALLY down. I already have a good feel for cooking onions, I'll get it to where I think it will taste good in a soup and I will refrigerate them overnight. Saturday, I will actually make the soup and see what comes out of it.

It is a trial cook for me. I will figure out what works and what doesn't and I will cook the stuff again - and again - until I have my perfected version of it. Isn't that what a cook does? You make it the way that tastes good to you. Most likely, if you like, a lot of other people will, too. Around here, my cooking disappears quickly.

I can say that even if the first batch isn't "perfect", it will be good. A cup of chopped onions contains 64 calories. I am looking at calorie content. I don't normally care about veggies and fruits - though fruits usually have much higher calorie counts - I really couldn't care less about calories in an onion. I eat onions in differing food frequently. No, it's the bread and cheese in French Onion Soup that should be looked at in calorie content. I may very well find a reduced calorie content cheese and bread that will help my diet.

Whatever the case, I am actually psyched about trying to make this stuff and see what I come up with.

Thursday

RAIN!!!
It's raining cats and dogs outside, there is little chance that anyone is going to be working on any construction sites today. They - the forecasters at least got this one right, they said there would be a deluge, there certainly is one going on at the moment.
the branch's computers were all shut down - happens for some reason every single time it rains. Took forever to get everything going again in here and now I only have limited time before I have to sign in for work.

Anyway, I found a 5th wheel travel trailer - for $400. It looks perfect on the outside, the inside needs some work. For $400, I'd take the thing as a project to turn it around and resell it.

Also found a 26 foot travel trailer - perfect on the outside, inside needs lots of work. They took the walls off, took out the carpet - couch - all that stuff is gone. They want $600 for that thing. I haven't actually seen either of them in person, just looking at pics that both parties sent me. Prolly, I'll offer the travel trailer dude $300 just because it will take some time to put in carpet and walls and all that, not to mention some money (though, I'm the king of finding good used stuff cheap, and not just on Craigslist, either).

Meanwhile, the definers of what are going to happen at my branch that I work out of are slowly coming out. Calling it a "Hybrid" store, the talk is that plumbing will get one end of the building and that side of the yard and we - will get "this" end, the end I'm at currently and will split this place in half, also splitting the rent cots.

Just a quick synopsis since my time is rather limited. If I get either trailer, I intend on renting it out for $250 or $300 per month for several months and then get rid of it. It's nothing permanent and I already have takers for it if I get one. I know, seems odd, but I sit here and think of ways to make money without having to get a second job, basically.

Well, that's it. Probably not much to do today since the forecast is for rain all day long, but you ever know.

Have a great day!
ben

Wednesday

Forecasters. Where do they get these people? It was forecast to rain all day today, now it's not forecast to rain at all except "early" morning hours. Then, it's supposed to be a gully-washer tomorrow. Bahhhh.

Whatever. I guess it's a good thing for getting deliveries out, but I was looking forward to an entire weekday's week worth of raining every day.

So, the Dems agenda is now in an upheaval. I'm not sorry to say that there are plenty of Americans out there that are totally opposed to this health-care plan as it currently exists and don't want it. What amazes me is that they are now saying:"well, if we can't have a filibuster-proof majority, then we ought to approve the Senate version of it and send it directly to Obama's desk" while several of these morons are stating THEY HAVEN'T EVEN READ OR ANALYZED IT YET!!!

HOW do THESE people get into office? Do you consider it good representation from your elected representatives to sit there and just vote in bills that they haven't read? That they hand to aids to scrutinize FOR them? Or not even do that at all?

That's like you or I signing a contract for something and not bother to read all of that fine print that may be and probably is laden with clauses, fees, and whatever other junk they want to cram in there, knowing that MOST people won't bother to read that stuff. Then, when trouble hits, you're screwed. They vote in these measures and there is junk in there? It's you and I, the American public that is screwed.

Well, I think I'll get off of that subject because - it leads nowhere. We continue to vote in a bunch of people that are rich, have no connection/clue about the working man, have the best health care on the planet given to them for free, do not live in want, probably never have and simply don't get it. It's almost always a popularity contest, not a contest about who's going to do the job best and represent the most people from the state in a way that voices the people's concerns.

I don't even know this Brown dude that got in there - but he has made some interesting statements that I would LOVE to see if he follows through with or not. Probably NOT. They ALL say stuff just to get into office, then when they get there, they backtrack/180 and do their own thing.

Ummm, well, I've had 3 offers on travel trailers, but, they all say they "need work". Well, if they need too much work I don't want it. I have fixed up travel trailers in the past and that can consume a lot of time and money in getting the job done to a point of satisfaction. I am not even sure I want to go down that path, yet. It's only worth doing it if it's at least half-decent and someone will take the thing as their "room" and pay me monthly rent for it. That's it.

Anyway, work day approaches and I might get offa here.

G'day.
ben

Magic Jack: Good or Bad?

Hello to all you Googlers who have come here to see what one man's opinion of this device known as a Magic Jack is.

It's coming close to 2 years since I first got the Magic Jack device. I was going through some financial rollercoaster rides - still am actually - and decided to save money where I could. I had heard about the Magic Jack and decided to give it a try. I actually believe it was one of those "too good to be true" stories, considering they only wanted $19.95 per year for the service plus another $20 initially to get the device.

I figured if I could make it work at all, my $27.95 per month home phone bill would go away and that would be a substantial savings right there. Note that that phone bill was bare-bones, basic service that still came out that high every month, mostly because of unbelievable taxation.

I had some problems getting the thing to work at first. Number 1, if you have more than one account user on your computer, the device will automatically reload the software on each user's account as different users access it. When more the Magic Jack is loaded more than once onto the same computer - look out, cause' it ain't gonna work. You have to go into the other user's account and end the duplicated software running itself twice.

When I did get the thing to work, I was amazed at the quality of sound in making phone calls. It's not some thing that has a bunch of background noise and being hard to hear what a person on the other end is saying, it's pretty much crystal clear. Long distance if free. The thing will send your voice mails to your email account - you can actually play back your voice mails on Microsoft Media player! I'm serious, I get an email, click on the link and it takes me to that software and plays it back.

So the pro's and the cons.

Start with the downside: You MUST have high speed internet for it to work. I had that at the time anyway, no problem there and I am not getting rid of high speed internet if I don't have to.
The device itself? Where the nub sticks into a hub portal? Treat it like a package with Fragile written on it - it can't take a lot of "abuse", meaning plugged in and removed too many times. It will loosen up and the device will quit working. Well, really, if you just are careful with it, I'm sure it will be alright. I had a person in my house who would yank the jack out of the hub on my computer, take it to his room and plug it back in.

He was not being careful with it and I demanded he stop doing that. That person no longer lives at my house.

The other con, again, is that sometimes you have to unplug the thing and then plug it back in to get it to work. Not that often and not a big deal. Whether it's plugged in or not, you will still receive voicemail to your email account or, of course, you can call to get your voicemail as well.

Another thing that I don't like about the service is the fact that if you have a problem, you cannot call the company. You have to go to their website and jump through a lot of hoops to get to a "live operator" that is just an Instant Message type of thing. I have yet to "speak" to any of them that actually KNEW - ANYTHING. They all type unbelievably slow making a conversation with them take for freaking ever. I have only had to do that a couple of time, fortunately. Well, one time I did call the inventor - I found his phone number by searching the net for a while, called his home and asked for a new magicjack for free - the old one broke and they refused to send me a new one free. As I said before, you really need to treat these things with care, they ARE a bit flimsy.

The pro's:
Works beautifully, crystal clear sound.
Can change your phone number at any time.
Can take it with you if desired anywhere you go, if there is a computer with high speed internet, you can have free phone service.
The price, obviously, is what is drawing people to it. It's as good as Vonage without the high price tag. In fact, I HAD Vonage - for one month and then dropped that sucky service.

There isn't much to not like about it. At the price, anyone can afford to at least try it once and see if you like it or not. They give even lower prices if you buy 5 years worth at a time. Will the price always be $19.95? I have no idea. I can see where some company will buy it out and jack up the prices, at least a good possibility of that. Still, what do you have to lose? The total start-up price is $39.99 plus tax.

I do not work for Magic Jack, I am a pretty happy customer with it. I have started to turn this particular blog of mine into a critique of different companies and dealings with entities and decided to write one up about this particular product.

Monday

The devastation in Haiti is unbelievable. I can't not read the news about it. The Marines arrival should help to get relief supplies to where it's needed. I have very little to say about the situation except - God have mercy. The very sad thing is that these people are either blaming God for this or openly expressing that there is no God. I'm not judging them, the extremeness of the disaster is paled only by the fact that sufficient amount of aid in the form of medical supplies; food and water have yet to arrive for most of the people that need it. People sitting there bluntly saying: "we're dying".

Completely changing the subject, yesterday's football fiasco was disappointing to say the least. These blow-out games in the off-season are ridiculous. How does a team make it that far and then tank in the most important game for that team of the season? Cowboys totally sucked - I'm not a fan in fact I hate that team so it was not sooo terribly bad, but still, they could have put up a much better fight. Last week, the Cardinals got completely blown away. I certainly hope whoever ends up in the Superbowl - that we don't see anything like this. The only good playoff games, imo, are games that are nail-biters, anyone-could-win-the-game-to-the-finish of the game.

I slightly broke diet yesterday in eating 5 tacos and a medium sized plate of spaghetti. I didn't eat anything else, but that in itself is a lot of food. I don't believe a lot of fat calories, though, cause' I used 93% lean ground beef for the tacos, the rest of it is vegetables,hot sauce and fat free sour cream. Today I will be back full-fledged into a strict eating regime that will mirror last week's determination. I figured one of these weekends days I would probably not do as well as the days before it, so there you go.

As for projects, I spent a couple of hours yesterday clearing out dead leaves and rocks and stuff around the plants and then spreading the new landscaping rock around them. I have a lot left to do, but I am enjoying the work and am not really in a huge hurry - mostly because I AM enjoying it. It has become blatantly obvious that the living room carpet needs to be replaced. I have put out some feelers to see about pricing and get that situation rectified, as I want to keep my house looking good. It's just worn down from the amount of foot traffic - both human and dog - that goes through there. I would rather have ceramic tile installed, but I can't afford that right now. Well, I take that back, maybe I could afford the tile - not really sure - but I have no idea how to install it, I would have to watch someone who does it for a living.

So, perhaps I'll give a little more thought and effort to looking into pricing on the tile and seeing about getting someone over to do it - there seems to be several people that "claim" to do have been doing it for a living on Craigslist that are unemployed now, perhaps I could get one of those people over at a bit reduced rate. I just know that carpet is cheaper and getting it installed is much cheaper - one room is not much work for a professional installer.

Anyway, word day is here and I'm outta here.
Have a great day (and keep Haiti in your prayers)!
ben