I ended this posting realizing that today is Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there, do something nice for yourself today (like leave the kids home and friggin' go out and have a steak or something, lol.)
All this time I spent working on this computer - and yes I definitely got the entire machine to get things done faster - I end up finding out that it's on Qwest's end of the deal. I did half a dozen speed tests last night and came up with and average around 0.37 Mbps. I just did another one on another tester: 1107 Kpbs. That's about 1 megabyte per second. I'm paying for 7. Faster than dial - but not much. I told the Qwest rep on the phone last night that their company had promised a half dozen times to come out and bury the line - for 2 years now they have promised that.
Yeah, nothing. I didn't get upset or bitchy, in fact, I was laughing. Why not? I have absolutely no intention, whatsoever, of paying full price for the last two weeks that this machine has been running like this. I WILL be getting a discounted price this month.
I have not gone out and checked my plants in the pond yet this morning. Heck, it's only 6:30 am, I got up a bit earlier than normal for a Sunday. AC is running, whatta hoot. See all those dollars pumping through that machine in the hallway in the form of electrical use, I'm thrilled! Actually, I had forgotten the power usage has gone way up since the temps started climbing and also forgot, yesterday, to load the reader with more money. Yup, the power went out on me. One pretty sure-fire way to remember that you forgot? Just let the power go out. You'll be getting some interesting looks from people while you rush up to the store to load more money onto the prepaid card. Lol.
Well, just a short entry here. I have another person coming over to look at the room. He moved here for employment, is staying at a hotel waiting for his apartment to get ready, isn't particularly happy to pay the steep hotel bill. He said he needed a room for a week, maybe two. Great, come on over, the price is definitely right! You can get into an extended stay motel for about $200 per week. You can stay at a cheap place like Motel 6 - I think right now weekdays at the one on the way to work is $37.50, but weekends go up to $54.99. I'm charging $90 per week. I didn't want to ask too much cause' there ain't that much demand for this kind of deal going here. But it's a heck of a lot cheaper than any of that other stuff and it's much nicer to stay in a home - at least I think it is - than a hotel room. I can deal with hotel rooms for a couple of days, but weeks at a time? NOT.
Happy Sunday.
Oh - and to all moms: Happy Mother's Day!!!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Saturday, May 8, 2010
My Computer Is Back!
I've done everything I know to do with this computer. Well, I'm still uploading videos and probably will be into tomorrow. The point is that this machine today as going SO slow, it took several minutes just to bring up my email. Yet, I had done all the things that I have learned to do to get it running back to speed - and yes, I have spent CONSIDERABLE, COPIOUS amounts of time - hundreds of hours anyway - attempting to learn all this nonsense.
I figured to reboot the computer, if that didn't do, time to start fresh.
BAM. Click on a link and it's THERE. Not click on a link and 2 minutes later it's there. I'm quite serious, I WILL re-format this computer and reload ALL of that software back on here before I will tolerate a machine that is running at a snail's pace. It might take a couple of days before all the software is installed and the thing is back on par, but it's a FAR better deal than sitting here waiting eternally for something to happen.
Well, I was at it 4 hours this morning, I got sick of it and left. Went to the guy's house with the plants.
It is a recurring them to find people's homes that have ponds that not only have the ponds, but also immaculate, beautiful landscaping front, side and back yards. This man's house was no different and was QUITE amazing some of the stuff that he had done with plants.
He had 2 ponds. Well, he had 2 pond structures, I should say. The larger one had a beautiful waterfall and I was examining it closely. I was more interested in the construction of the waterfall than I was the plants - and trust me, I was VERY interested in the plants.
He had done, some 15 years ago, what my mind had been constructing for a waterfall the last week or more. I love the visual: let me see something that is already done and I can duplicate it. Well, not duplicate, really, just get an idea of how to construct it, I will come up with my own, original and final, finished product when I am done building it.
I couldn't figure how anyone could build a waterfall in one day if you were going to use cement, which I am thinking is the best thing to not only hold it together, but help make it leakproof. The answer? You CAN'T!! I was thinking that building it would be in many stages, my thinking was correct after asking the guy a lot of questions. I was eating up every word he was saying and it was apparent that he was happy to show off his expertise a little. Nothing arrogant, either, just a very intelligent person giving his views on things in a very humble and - cool - way, really.
Really, I closely inspected his entire setup. His ponds were also done in cement. He had water gushing out of the waterfall, into a large pond that was a cement liner with brick sides. I had seen another pond online like this, absolutely beautiful. The large pond poured out into a small, cement creek. This fed into another small pond, then another short creek and into yet another pond.
The other thing that I learned today was you CAN use a swimming pool pump and filtering system for a large pond. The caveat - at least according to this guy and you can pretty much bet a dude that has been engaged in it for 15 years is probably going to know what's going on - is that it has to be a sand filter, not a paper filtered system. He then went on to add that you have to use different sand for a pond in the filter than you do for a swimming pool - of which he has both.
I gleaned a lot of information from this guy today and I will be getting more in the future as I intend to go back and get 2 more lily plants. I can't wait for lillies to grow large, I will need 2 of them in each pond to help cover the water and help keep the water cool in the summer. I ended up with 2 lillies and - other plants that I don't remember the names of but will be writing them down when I go back. Or, I may be able to find them online through Google images.
LONG time lapse in writing this. A man called about the room. Was supposed to call me at 6:00 pm - it's now a quarter after. Not surprising or deflating. A Census taker came wanting info - I put that packet of papers into a pile of other stuff a while back and totally forgot about it. I was GOING to do it, I really was! He sat here for about half an hour telling me tales of the things that he has encountered while doing that job. I then decided dinner was in order, and my findings are that spaghetti is okay for a diet as long as done in moderation. Well, it didn't take much to full me up, anyway. I am in love with spaghetti sauce, which has no fat calories and few calories beyond that. I had small portions of the pasta - tasty yes, but didn't want to get carried away with the carbs.
Then I cleaned all that mess up - just in case this dude IS going to show up to see the room. The house? Very nice. Well, almost. I didn't get to cleaning the living room carpet. I DID spend a rather large amount of time cleaning the hallway carpet. I went over it 3 times - the final time I put laundry fabric softener in the water in the feed tank - it makes the carpet smell good, dry faster and feel good on the feet. Mary - the meth user that used to live here - has a lot of knowledge about cleaning things and I did manage to glean some of that knowledge from her and keep it, and yes, putting fabric softener in a carpet cleaning machine in a sort of "final rinse" was her idea.
The newest tenant cleaned the main bathroom - and did a very nice job of it I might add, I made the boys clean the kitchen floor and living room while I was standing on a chair, freeing the blades of one of the ceiling fans of dust via the use of my vacuum cleaner with an attachment. I got the new plants potted and in the water. I had no idea how that was supposed to work until the man with the plants explained it to me. Very simple, yes, but when you have nothing in your knowledge data banks to draw from, well, time to ask. The trick is to put sand on top of the soil so the dirt doesn't go flowing all over inside of your ponds. Good idea and done.
Also, the gal side of the trailer tenants finally called today. She was looking for money. Not from me. He - the guy side of that equation - had done a lot of work on some Mastercool coolers for the dude that lives behind me. The dude promised to give him a portion of the profit off of selling the units when sold. He lived up to his promise, came over here looking for them, handed me the cash and asked me to give it to them.
I, in turn, took the cash to the casino, played several rounds of Blackjack and lost all of it. I will let them know what happened to the money when they return. If you don't know me, then I must advise you that the last 2 sentences are total hook-pookey - I would NEVER take someone else's money and spend it. She is coming back here today - wherever she has been staying while her best bud/boyfriend is in the hospital apparently have not been very kind living accoutrements. She DID inform me that $25 of that $80 is mine for last week - they missed the payment. HE worked his @$$ off, in apparent bid to make them stay in good graces with me. He informed me before THAT that he would be late on that week's payment. The problem? I never said a word about it to them. The money that is. I have made it well known that they will NOT be living here for free, but at the same time, I try to be very gracious about it, and also, knowing human nature and the way things go, there will be times when they don't have the money and I am not going to sweat it.
I have not, however, told them THAT. You tell a person that you aren't going to sweat money that they should be paying you and you will find that many people will take HUGE advantage of you. No, I will give them grace when it's needed, but I will not let my "walls" down in such area. There is no good reason I can think of for letting them live here absolutely free, therefore, I won't. They are only paying me $25 per week - enough to cover their usage of electricity. He also does alot of work outside, it really does add up in the end excepting the amount of money I spent on that trailer. Well, I did it as an act of humanitarianism, not a profit-making deal, there is nothing about making money in this venture with these people in the equation, as intended from the beginning. There is also NOTHING beyond buying the trailer itself that is a money-LOSING proposition at this point. I am not spending any more money on it for now and that's it. There is still ample work to be done to the thing, but I am not doing it right now. If I find some carpet for free, I will get it and install it. No, there is no carpet on the floor but, I am not spending money on such right now.
Anyway, the day is drawing short and I need to go out and water my tomato plants and probably sit down, look at the pond, and think. You see, it is very peaceful out there and no-one bothers me. There are no TV's sounding in my ears and it is a restive spot that invokes reflection and thought.
You wanna know WHY I put those ponds in there and have done all the other work over there? I just told you.
G'day.
ben
I figured to reboot the computer, if that didn't do, time to start fresh.
BAM. Click on a link and it's THERE. Not click on a link and 2 minutes later it's there. I'm quite serious, I WILL re-format this computer and reload ALL of that software back on here before I will tolerate a machine that is running at a snail's pace. It might take a couple of days before all the software is installed and the thing is back on par, but it's a FAR better deal than sitting here waiting eternally for something to happen.
Well, I was at it 4 hours this morning, I got sick of it and left. Went to the guy's house with the plants.
It is a recurring them to find people's homes that have ponds that not only have the ponds, but also immaculate, beautiful landscaping front, side and back yards. This man's house was no different and was QUITE amazing some of the stuff that he had done with plants.
He had 2 ponds. Well, he had 2 pond structures, I should say. The larger one had a beautiful waterfall and I was examining it closely. I was more interested in the construction of the waterfall than I was the plants - and trust me, I was VERY interested in the plants.
He had done, some 15 years ago, what my mind had been constructing for a waterfall the last week or more. I love the visual: let me see something that is already done and I can duplicate it. Well, not duplicate, really, just get an idea of how to construct it, I will come up with my own, original and final, finished product when I am done building it.
I couldn't figure how anyone could build a waterfall in one day if you were going to use cement, which I am thinking is the best thing to not only hold it together, but help make it leakproof. The answer? You CAN'T!! I was thinking that building it would be in many stages, my thinking was correct after asking the guy a lot of questions. I was eating up every word he was saying and it was apparent that he was happy to show off his expertise a little. Nothing arrogant, either, just a very intelligent person giving his views on things in a very humble and - cool - way, really.
Really, I closely inspected his entire setup. His ponds were also done in cement. He had water gushing out of the waterfall, into a large pond that was a cement liner with brick sides. I had seen another pond online like this, absolutely beautiful. The large pond poured out into a small, cement creek. This fed into another small pond, then another short creek and into yet another pond.
The other thing that I learned today was you CAN use a swimming pool pump and filtering system for a large pond. The caveat - at least according to this guy and you can pretty much bet a dude that has been engaged in it for 15 years is probably going to know what's going on - is that it has to be a sand filter, not a paper filtered system. He then went on to add that you have to use different sand for a pond in the filter than you do for a swimming pool - of which he has both.
I gleaned a lot of information from this guy today and I will be getting more in the future as I intend to go back and get 2 more lily plants. I can't wait for lillies to grow large, I will need 2 of them in each pond to help cover the water and help keep the water cool in the summer. I ended up with 2 lillies and - other plants that I don't remember the names of but will be writing them down when I go back. Or, I may be able to find them online through Google images.
LONG time lapse in writing this. A man called about the room. Was supposed to call me at 6:00 pm - it's now a quarter after. Not surprising or deflating. A Census taker came wanting info - I put that packet of papers into a pile of other stuff a while back and totally forgot about it. I was GOING to do it, I really was! He sat here for about half an hour telling me tales of the things that he has encountered while doing that job. I then decided dinner was in order, and my findings are that spaghetti is okay for a diet as long as done in moderation. Well, it didn't take much to full me up, anyway. I am in love with spaghetti sauce, which has no fat calories and few calories beyond that. I had small portions of the pasta - tasty yes, but didn't want to get carried away with the carbs.
Then I cleaned all that mess up - just in case this dude IS going to show up to see the room. The house? Very nice. Well, almost. I didn't get to cleaning the living room carpet. I DID spend a rather large amount of time cleaning the hallway carpet. I went over it 3 times - the final time I put laundry fabric softener in the water in the feed tank - it makes the carpet smell good, dry faster and feel good on the feet. Mary - the meth user that used to live here - has a lot of knowledge about cleaning things and I did manage to glean some of that knowledge from her and keep it, and yes, putting fabric softener in a carpet cleaning machine in a sort of "final rinse" was her idea.
The newest tenant cleaned the main bathroom - and did a very nice job of it I might add, I made the boys clean the kitchen floor and living room while I was standing on a chair, freeing the blades of one of the ceiling fans of dust via the use of my vacuum cleaner with an attachment. I got the new plants potted and in the water. I had no idea how that was supposed to work until the man with the plants explained it to me. Very simple, yes, but when you have nothing in your knowledge data banks to draw from, well, time to ask. The trick is to put sand on top of the soil so the dirt doesn't go flowing all over inside of your ponds. Good idea and done.
Also, the gal side of the trailer tenants finally called today. She was looking for money. Not from me. He - the guy side of that equation - had done a lot of work on some Mastercool coolers for the dude that lives behind me. The dude promised to give him a portion of the profit off of selling the units when sold. He lived up to his promise, came over here looking for them, handed me the cash and asked me to give it to them.
I, in turn, took the cash to the casino, played several rounds of Blackjack and lost all of it. I will let them know what happened to the money when they return. If you don't know me, then I must advise you that the last 2 sentences are total hook-pookey - I would NEVER take someone else's money and spend it. She is coming back here today - wherever she has been staying while her best bud/boyfriend is in the hospital apparently have not been very kind living accoutrements. She DID inform me that $25 of that $80 is mine for last week - they missed the payment. HE worked his @$$ off, in apparent bid to make them stay in good graces with me. He informed me before THAT that he would be late on that week's payment. The problem? I never said a word about it to them. The money that is. I have made it well known that they will NOT be living here for free, but at the same time, I try to be very gracious about it, and also, knowing human nature and the way things go, there will be times when they don't have the money and I am not going to sweat it.
I have not, however, told them THAT. You tell a person that you aren't going to sweat money that they should be paying you and you will find that many people will take HUGE advantage of you. No, I will give them grace when it's needed, but I will not let my "walls" down in such area. There is no good reason I can think of for letting them live here absolutely free, therefore, I won't. They are only paying me $25 per week - enough to cover their usage of electricity. He also does alot of work outside, it really does add up in the end excepting the amount of money I spent on that trailer. Well, I did it as an act of humanitarianism, not a profit-making deal, there is nothing about making money in this venture with these people in the equation, as intended from the beginning. There is also NOTHING beyond buying the trailer itself that is a money-LOSING proposition at this point. I am not spending any more money on it for now and that's it. There is still ample work to be done to the thing, but I am not doing it right now. If I find some carpet for free, I will get it and install it. No, there is no carpet on the floor but, I am not spending money on such right now.
Anyway, the day is drawing short and I need to go out and water my tomato plants and probably sit down, look at the pond, and think. You see, it is very peaceful out there and no-one bothers me. There are no TV's sounding in my ears and it is a restive spot that invokes reflection and thought.
You wanna know WHY I put those ponds in there and have done all the other work over there? I just told you.
G'day.
ben
Saturday
So, I decided to go ahead an upload all the pics I wanna save off of my computer to both Photobucket and Youtube repspectively. Saving it to a flash drive would also work, but, my intentions when I took the pics or videos was to put them on the internet. I have never heard of Photobucket crashing, and unlike JS, I would like to hope that they have everything backed up. Youtube videos probably wouldn't really bother me much if they all disappeared, it's mostly just driving junk and a few videos of the boys doing little skits. Nothing grand there.
But, if you wanna see a computer that is REALLY dragging now, just come takealookit this one, cause' all that uploading is draining this thing's resources. Shutting off video surveillance helped it a little. I'm also wondering if the excessive amount of videos I have stored on this computer isn't a portion of the problem in itself in attempting to find out what, exactly, is slowing this thing down. Once those videos/pics are uploaded, I am going to delete them off the computer and see if it speeds up any - I probably have 30 plus videos at least stored on here.
Unfortunately, it takes next to forever to upload a video and I have 11 in-queue after the current one is done. Lol.
Meanwhile, I am going to go out and takealookit my ponds and see if the water levels are still good. Actually, and thankfully, when one of these ponds has a leak, it becomes quite obvious as the ground next to the leak gets muddy. I had thought you wouldn't really be able to see the water on the surface, surely it would just leech down into the ground, but that isn't the case.
Yesterday was a bit difficult day in dieting as was the day before. I ate a Subway salad - all the veggies with Tuna Fish. I have no idea what the caloric content of the fish is, but I have been eating it all along so whatever the deal, it isn't hurting the diet any. I don't put cheese on it and the only thing added for dressing is some red vinegar looking stuff (NO oil). I had to stop using Ranch dressing - delicious, yes, full of fat calories, definitely and they LOAD that stuff on there when they make a salad or a sandwich. When I came home, I didn't feel like cooking so I ate a spoon of crunchy peanut butter. A few hours later I had another spoon and that was the extent of my eating yesterday. No, I don't believe that's a lot of food or calories. In fact, I am very hungry right now and I don't want to wait too long to eat or I will just get hungrier and hungrier which, in turn, threatens today's caloric intake reduction attempt.
The best thing is to simply stay busy and it keeps my mind off of food. However, my stomach can make some pretty serious noises down there when it starts demanding food be given it.
Anyway, I'm off to the great outdoors to see if the ponds appear to still be good. If they are, I am hoping to get some plants for them today.
C'yall later.
ben
But, if you wanna see a computer that is REALLY dragging now, just come takealookit this one, cause' all that uploading is draining this thing's resources. Shutting off video surveillance helped it a little. I'm also wondering if the excessive amount of videos I have stored on this computer isn't a portion of the problem in itself in attempting to find out what, exactly, is slowing this thing down. Once those videos/pics are uploaded, I am going to delete them off the computer and see if it speeds up any - I probably have 30 plus videos at least stored on here.
Unfortunately, it takes next to forever to upload a video and I have 11 in-queue after the current one is done. Lol.
Meanwhile, I am going to go out and takealookit my ponds and see if the water levels are still good. Actually, and thankfully, when one of these ponds has a leak, it becomes quite obvious as the ground next to the leak gets muddy. I had thought you wouldn't really be able to see the water on the surface, surely it would just leech down into the ground, but that isn't the case.
Yesterday was a bit difficult day in dieting as was the day before. I ate a Subway salad - all the veggies with Tuna Fish. I have no idea what the caloric content of the fish is, but I have been eating it all along so whatever the deal, it isn't hurting the diet any. I don't put cheese on it and the only thing added for dressing is some red vinegar looking stuff (NO oil). I had to stop using Ranch dressing - delicious, yes, full of fat calories, definitely and they LOAD that stuff on there when they make a salad or a sandwich. When I came home, I didn't feel like cooking so I ate a spoon of crunchy peanut butter. A few hours later I had another spoon and that was the extent of my eating yesterday. No, I don't believe that's a lot of food or calories. In fact, I am very hungry right now and I don't want to wait too long to eat or I will just get hungrier and hungrier which, in turn, threatens today's caloric intake reduction attempt.
The best thing is to simply stay busy and it keeps my mind off of food. However, my stomach can make some pretty serious noises down there when it starts demanding food be given it.
Anyway, I'm off to the great outdoors to see if the ponds appear to still be good. If they are, I am hoping to get some plants for them today.
C'yall later.
ben
Friday, May 7, 2010
667th Post
I will be getting post the 666th post very quickly, like right NOW. I now, it's rather obsessive - don't really care what anyone thinks, I am not going to have my blog dwelling on that number for any length of time, period.
The trailer tenants are still gone. I'm still guessing after several conversations with the guy part of this deal and seeing his extreme, obvious pain, that he is in a hospital somewhere. The lady portion of this deal? NO idea where she's at. She has made it obvious in the past, however, that she is uncomfortable being here alone.
Not to be rude or obnoxious, but she is no hotty. Just to clear anyone's mind that I have hit on her since that seems to be the theme of the day - nowadays. I am not good at guessing people's ages, I am pretty good at guessing a person's weight - she's around 350-375 pounds. Again, just to state that I have not been hitting up, I am not into such. She's a nice girl and all, but I would never look at that with any form of desire or lust.
My dad wrote me, completely changing the subject and hoping the guy comes through his ordeal okay- stating he has to get rid of his sailboat. He had wanted us to come and go sailing with him this summer. Well, summer hasn't arrived and I had given it some but not much thought. A trip down there has to be planned in advance.
He cites the HOA's regulation about having such out of sight, which it is, but he doesn't feel he can do it anymore. My dad's getting old, that's what this is all about. He's 78. Not that we didn't want to go, either, I think his age is dictating to him what he can and cannot do, understandably. I have actually had nightmares of going out on a lake with him and my son somewhere, the boat capsizing and watching him drowning.
Yes, radical dreams. I'm sure a dream interpretist could tell me what's going on, I figure it's a fear of losing someone you love dearly. I have had the same with my son. In the case of my son, however, and with such dreams, I have fought bloody battles and even died in such scenarios. I tend to have vivid dreams - and also - ban the idea that if you die in a dream, you die in real life at the same time. I would be dead 50 times over if such were true, including being eaten alive by lions when I was in my teen years.
You say, that's weird. I agree. I have no control over my dream life. Sometimes my dreams really bother me, mostly I just "write it off" to a state of mind that I am not under control of and all bets are off.
Anyway, the day is drawing to a close and I am going outside to enjoy what appears to be 2, leakless ponds.
G'day and G'nite.
ben
The trailer tenants are still gone. I'm still guessing after several conversations with the guy part of this deal and seeing his extreme, obvious pain, that he is in a hospital somewhere. The lady portion of this deal? NO idea where she's at. She has made it obvious in the past, however, that she is uncomfortable being here alone.
Not to be rude or obnoxious, but she is no hotty. Just to clear anyone's mind that I have hit on her since that seems to be the theme of the day - nowadays. I am not good at guessing people's ages, I am pretty good at guessing a person's weight - she's around 350-375 pounds. Again, just to state that I have not been hitting up, I am not into such. She's a nice girl and all, but I would never look at that with any form of desire or lust.
My dad wrote me, completely changing the subject and hoping the guy comes through his ordeal okay- stating he has to get rid of his sailboat. He had wanted us to come and go sailing with him this summer. Well, summer hasn't arrived and I had given it some but not much thought. A trip down there has to be planned in advance.
He cites the HOA's regulation about having such out of sight, which it is, but he doesn't feel he can do it anymore. My dad's getting old, that's what this is all about. He's 78. Not that we didn't want to go, either, I think his age is dictating to him what he can and cannot do, understandably. I have actually had nightmares of going out on a lake with him and my son somewhere, the boat capsizing and watching him drowning.
Yes, radical dreams. I'm sure a dream interpretist could tell me what's going on, I figure it's a fear of losing someone you love dearly. I have had the same with my son. In the case of my son, however, and with such dreams, I have fought bloody battles and even died in such scenarios. I tend to have vivid dreams - and also - ban the idea that if you die in a dream, you die in real life at the same time. I would be dead 50 times over if such were true, including being eaten alive by lions when I was in my teen years.
You say, that's weird. I agree. I have no control over my dream life. Sometimes my dreams really bother me, mostly I just "write it off" to a state of mind that I am not under control of and all bets are off.
Anyway, the day is drawing to a close and I am going outside to enjoy what appears to be 2, leakless ponds.
G'day and G'nite.
ben
666th Post
I have some sort of mind deal going with the number 666 after reading the book of Revelations countless times.
This is the 666th post on this blog and this is the end of my entry.
Thank you and goodbye.
This is the 666th post on this blog and this is the end of my entry.
Thank you and goodbye.
Friday
I have shut off access to the boys to my computer. Whatever they have done to it, the thing is running like a turtle with it's legs cut off. I hate when those kids do that and I don't hate changing the password on them. I decided to get up a little earlier this morning, get on the thing and run a full scan for viruses as I have done just about everything else to it that would normally get it running back up to speed.
If the scan doesn't work, then the final alternative is to reformat the hard drive and reinstall windows, my usual modus operandi. But, I have a lot of pics on there that I would have to transfer to Photobucket first, so I guess I'm going to be busy today trying to get some stuff done on it. I am assuming that they have, indeed, downloaded some sort of virus or spy ware or malware, but who knows.
In the news, the Russians kicked @$$, took over a ship that had been hijacked by pirates, killed one of the pirates in the ensuing gunfight before taking all the rest of them when they gave up. Now? The Russians had to let them go because of legal loopholes. What's the answer? What do you think nations like China and Russia will do? Just kill them. I'll bet money that in the coming future, you will see less pirates taken into custody under such circumstances and more of them being killed. I'm not saying that's the best answer, I'm just saying that's probably THOSE nation's answer to such a problem. They'll say they were in a gun battle with the pirates and, "unfortunately" many of the pirates were killed in the battle.
I think those pirates better start thinking about their lives and whether it is really worth it to risk it for the possibility of getting huge ransoms from the ship's owners. You know these companies are getting tired of having to deal with this stuff, I just think that you are going to see more and more dead pirates.
What are the long-term effects of this oil disaster going to be? It's question I have posed to myself in musing such, no answer since I am not an expert, but how much marine life has already perished because of it?
Meanwhile, I got my pond fixed and back in the ground yesterday. I will check the water level when I get home after work today, but I am fairly confident that I have found the only other leak and it should be good to go. The patching material I am using on it is very heavy duty stuff, it isn't going to just come off of it or something.
The guy living with the girl in the trailer next to my house? I think he's in the hospital. I saw him 2 days ago, he was in EXTREME pain. They were both gone when I got home yesterday and are still gone this morning. Did they move out? Highly unlikely, if I were in the pain that guy was, I would definitely be checking myself into a hospital cause I don't think Urgent Care centers are equipped to deal with stuff like that. The guy's in his 60's and has lived a very rough life. It is likely that giving him and his girl a place to live - even if in an old trailer - is something that has taken a lot of pressure off of both of them. I really can't imagine what it must be like to be perpetually homeless, I have experienced it for short periods of time and that was bad enough.
I assume this guy will start collecting Social Security benefits in a couple of years and that will be a turning point for him. A grand a month isn't much, but when you are living in abstract poverty, it's a gold mine. Do I want these people there for 2 years? Lol. Not really. I would be nice if one of them could find a job or some kind of income and get their own place. Or even rent a lot for that trailer - I know a place that will give them a space for $200 a month.
But they don't have $200 per month. They are living on food stamps; odd jobs he might find; and she sells plasma twice a week.
Well, the work day is here. I'm headed to one of the Indian Reservations today - Gila River Indian Reservation to be precise.
G'day.
ben
If the scan doesn't work, then the final alternative is to reformat the hard drive and reinstall windows, my usual modus operandi. But, I have a lot of pics on there that I would have to transfer to Photobucket first, so I guess I'm going to be busy today trying to get some stuff done on it. I am assuming that they have, indeed, downloaded some sort of virus or spy ware or malware, but who knows.
In the news, the Russians kicked @$$, took over a ship that had been hijacked by pirates, killed one of the pirates in the ensuing gunfight before taking all the rest of them when they gave up. Now? The Russians had to let them go because of legal loopholes. What's the answer? What do you think nations like China and Russia will do? Just kill them. I'll bet money that in the coming future, you will see less pirates taken into custody under such circumstances and more of them being killed. I'm not saying that's the best answer, I'm just saying that's probably THOSE nation's answer to such a problem. They'll say they were in a gun battle with the pirates and, "unfortunately" many of the pirates were killed in the battle.
I think those pirates better start thinking about their lives and whether it is really worth it to risk it for the possibility of getting huge ransoms from the ship's owners. You know these companies are getting tired of having to deal with this stuff, I just think that you are going to see more and more dead pirates.
What are the long-term effects of this oil disaster going to be? It's question I have posed to myself in musing such, no answer since I am not an expert, but how much marine life has already perished because of it?
Meanwhile, I got my pond fixed and back in the ground yesterday. I will check the water level when I get home after work today, but I am fairly confident that I have found the only other leak and it should be good to go. The patching material I am using on it is very heavy duty stuff, it isn't going to just come off of it or something.
The guy living with the girl in the trailer next to my house? I think he's in the hospital. I saw him 2 days ago, he was in EXTREME pain. They were both gone when I got home yesterday and are still gone this morning. Did they move out? Highly unlikely, if I were in the pain that guy was, I would definitely be checking myself into a hospital cause I don't think Urgent Care centers are equipped to deal with stuff like that. The guy's in his 60's and has lived a very rough life. It is likely that giving him and his girl a place to live - even if in an old trailer - is something that has taken a lot of pressure off of both of them. I really can't imagine what it must be like to be perpetually homeless, I have experienced it for short periods of time and that was bad enough.
I assume this guy will start collecting Social Security benefits in a couple of years and that will be a turning point for him. A grand a month isn't much, but when you are living in abstract poverty, it's a gold mine. Do I want these people there for 2 years? Lol. Not really. I would be nice if one of them could find a job or some kind of income and get their own place. Or even rent a lot for that trailer - I know a place that will give them a space for $200 a month.
But they don't have $200 per month. They are living on food stamps; odd jobs he might find; and she sells plasma twice a week.
Well, the work day is here. I'm headed to one of the Indian Reservations today - Gila River Indian Reservation to be precise.
G'day.
ben
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Ugggh
Tough day for the diet. I didn't blow it, but I couldn't get my mind off of food. I was friggin' hungry. I stopped at Dunkin Donuts to get a coffee and get my free coupons. They served me an Egg White Turkey Sausage Flatbread sandwich whose egg was ice cold I think it was Monday. Disgusting. Who wants to eat cold eggs? Maybe hard-boiled eggs or egg-salad sandwich, but not an allegedly hot egg sandwich that isn't - hot.
I didn't make a big deal out of it in my usual terms of making an issue out of something, I had called the number on the receipt and left a message. The lady that called back was totally cool, we hit it off. She said she would be over at that store the next day so give til' Thursday to get some free coupons. I only expected one coupon to replace the sandwich that was bad, she had left 3 of them.
Well, I just went ahead and got another of those sandwiches, having absolutely no idea what kind of caloric content was in it. From the taste of it, not much but I had no idea. OH, and when the manager came out, she was VERY apologetic and said they had had to reprogram the ovens for the amount of time those sandwiches have to cook after I had voiced my complaint about it. So, a good thing came out of it.
I just found out the caloric content of the sandwich, DD has it posted online: 280 calories with 50 calories from fat. No wonder I have been hungry all day. Sodium content is a bit high at 34% of the recommended daily allowance, but otherwise, that sandwich really isn't a diet buster. I had all kinds of opportunities to have more food during the day - doesn't that ALWAYS happen when you are trying not to eat the bad stuff? There were bagels at work - and if you just have a plain bagel you're probably good. You have to be careful of "light spreads". Some of them write that on the packaging but when you check some of the nutrition labels, they are still loaded with fat, calories and sodium. I bypassed all of it, determined to keep on track.
The revelation that I had gone back under 200 pounds is what kept my focused. I weighed myself today, still at 198 pounds, which is hardly discouraging. My weight usually fluctuates a lot, to see it still there, under 200? Totally encouraging, really. Something happened in my head when I saw that 198 number the other day - it was THE motivation I needed to get even stricter on this diet of mine. I'm not sure what I'll have today, but I still have plenty of that frozen Talapia - VERY good. I cook some diced onions, put in the fish, wait til' it cooks a bit, drain out the juice and then dump a can of tomato sauce on it and load it with good spices.
I did that yesterday and also cooked some frozen potatotes with it. I was surprised at how small the calorie number is with certain frozen potatoes. It was less than 100 calories for a decent sized serving. It's when you start adding sauces, cheeses, ketchup - whatever, that's when the calorie value builds to astronomic proportions. I add none of that. Instead, I put on some Louisiana Hot Sauce which is basically zero calories for all intents and purposes and had a very nice meal. In fact, I ended up mixing some of spiced tomato sauce on the fish with the potatoes, very tasty, actually.
Of course, it's amazing what you will call tasty when you're ravenously hungry yet are forcing yourself to watch every single thing you take into your mouth. Still, this is the first time I have ever dieted where I don't feel like I'm dieting. In other words, I don't feel DEPRIVED of anything. That, folks, is what usually makes or breaks a person in that realm and probably why lots of folks take the variety of pills available to make you not feel hungry. I hate taking pills - but I would do it if I had to in this case - so far I don't really need that kind of help.
If you read about my devouring 2 pounds of meat in one setting in the next couple of days, well, no biggie to me. As long as I don't eat a half gallon of ice cream or some other sugary product, I really don't care about a splurge such as that. My biggest downfall are sauces and creams and cheeses added to foods that I prepare. Well, a whole cup of tomato sauce is only 90 calories - so the amount I put in there is about 23 calories with 1 gram of fat. Yeah, that's a sauce I can eat copious amounts of and not have to worry about it.
Anyway, now I can give myself permission to eat something. Spaghetti with meat sauce is 255 calories. I would probably eat about 500-600 calories worth, but it will be the extent of my eating today. I worked quite hard today so definiteley, my caloric output will far exceed any 2 meal intake that totals less than 1,000 calories.
Ponds? I forgot to write that yesterday, when I came home, one pond was down almost 6 inches. Yup. I drained that sucker out, took it out of the ground, half filled it with water and found a leak. I didn't check them before I put them in - my bad totally. My patch is holding in the other pond. Fix the leak today, dig out everything that fell into the hole and hopefully have it back in the ground - today.
Nothing else new going on, still looking for that elusive, temporary roommate, not a lot of inquiries now.
Anway, I have ohter stuff to get done and want to get at it.
Later.
ben
I didn't make a big deal out of it in my usual terms of making an issue out of something, I had called the number on the receipt and left a message. The lady that called back was totally cool, we hit it off. She said she would be over at that store the next day so give til' Thursday to get some free coupons. I only expected one coupon to replace the sandwich that was bad, she had left 3 of them.
Well, I just went ahead and got another of those sandwiches, having absolutely no idea what kind of caloric content was in it. From the taste of it, not much but I had no idea. OH, and when the manager came out, she was VERY apologetic and said they had had to reprogram the ovens for the amount of time those sandwiches have to cook after I had voiced my complaint about it. So, a good thing came out of it.
I just found out the caloric content of the sandwich, DD has it posted online: 280 calories with 50 calories from fat. No wonder I have been hungry all day. Sodium content is a bit high at 34% of the recommended daily allowance, but otherwise, that sandwich really isn't a diet buster. I had all kinds of opportunities to have more food during the day - doesn't that ALWAYS happen when you are trying not to eat the bad stuff? There were bagels at work - and if you just have a plain bagel you're probably good. You have to be careful of "light spreads". Some of them write that on the packaging but when you check some of the nutrition labels, they are still loaded with fat, calories and sodium. I bypassed all of it, determined to keep on track.
The revelation that I had gone back under 200 pounds is what kept my focused. I weighed myself today, still at 198 pounds, which is hardly discouraging. My weight usually fluctuates a lot, to see it still there, under 200? Totally encouraging, really. Something happened in my head when I saw that 198 number the other day - it was THE motivation I needed to get even stricter on this diet of mine. I'm not sure what I'll have today, but I still have plenty of that frozen Talapia - VERY good. I cook some diced onions, put in the fish, wait til' it cooks a bit, drain out the juice and then dump a can of tomato sauce on it and load it with good spices.
I did that yesterday and also cooked some frozen potatotes with it. I was surprised at how small the calorie number is with certain frozen potatoes. It was less than 100 calories for a decent sized serving. It's when you start adding sauces, cheeses, ketchup - whatever, that's when the calorie value builds to astronomic proportions. I add none of that. Instead, I put on some Louisiana Hot Sauce which is basically zero calories for all intents and purposes and had a very nice meal. In fact, I ended up mixing some of spiced tomato sauce on the fish with the potatoes, very tasty, actually.
Of course, it's amazing what you will call tasty when you're ravenously hungry yet are forcing yourself to watch every single thing you take into your mouth. Still, this is the first time I have ever dieted where I don't feel like I'm dieting. In other words, I don't feel DEPRIVED of anything. That, folks, is what usually makes or breaks a person in that realm and probably why lots of folks take the variety of pills available to make you not feel hungry. I hate taking pills - but I would do it if I had to in this case - so far I don't really need that kind of help.
If you read about my devouring 2 pounds of meat in one setting in the next couple of days, well, no biggie to me. As long as I don't eat a half gallon of ice cream or some other sugary product, I really don't care about a splurge such as that. My biggest downfall are sauces and creams and cheeses added to foods that I prepare. Well, a whole cup of tomato sauce is only 90 calories - so the amount I put in there is about 23 calories with 1 gram of fat. Yeah, that's a sauce I can eat copious amounts of and not have to worry about it.
Anyway, now I can give myself permission to eat something. Spaghetti with meat sauce is 255 calories. I would probably eat about 500-600 calories worth, but it will be the extent of my eating today. I worked quite hard today so definiteley, my caloric output will far exceed any 2 meal intake that totals less than 1,000 calories.
Ponds? I forgot to write that yesterday, when I came home, one pond was down almost 6 inches. Yup. I drained that sucker out, took it out of the ground, half filled it with water and found a leak. I didn't check them before I put them in - my bad totally. My patch is holding in the other pond. Fix the leak today, dig out everything that fell into the hole and hopefully have it back in the ground - today.
Nothing else new going on, still looking for that elusive, temporary roommate, not a lot of inquiries now.
Anway, I have ohter stuff to get done and want to get at it.
Later.
ben
The Cameras Are Coming Down
I'm driving to work this morning and I hear a news blip about an upcoming story. You know, one of those little things they throw in there to get your attention so you'll stay tuned to their channel until they finally give the story. This one was about DPS Photo Radar and how it is being shut off after July 15th of this year.
This is a totally cool development. This is concerning the cameras on the freeways only, not the red light cameras in each individual city. However, there is also a referendum that is attempting to gain enough signatures to force the issue to a vote, pointedly: ALL cameras in the state of Arizona, whether on a freeway or in the city at a light. I'm not really a fan of people running red lights, but I'm also much less a fan of these friggin' cameras being all over the place. I have a ticket that I am going to contest that I got on the freeway for allegedly doing 77 mph.
Meanwhile, the "Reverend" Al Sharpton was in town spewing out his bile all over the place in a 3 mile long protest that had people coming from all of the U.S. to protest the immigration law. The R word - racist - is being thrown around like a ping-pong ball on it's table. I need not go into my opinion of these people making these ridiculous - and stupid - statements, I have already done that many times on this particular blog. But to listen to the rhetoric that was coming out of the mouths of the protestors - they were doing interviews - just awe-inspiring, in a very negative way. These people sounded like recordings of out-spoken individuals who have gained national media attention on this issue. Just press the button and play it back. In other words, they aren't thinking for themselves. Somebody said this law is racist, so by golly, this law MUST be racist.
Again, if you are going to make such aggressive statements about a thing, person or entity, at least READ the content of what the law says to be sure you aren't sticking both of your feet into your mouth.
Today? Well, fix the other pond and put it back into the ground. Fill it back up and then hopefully it will be good to go and I can put plants in both of them this weekend. Not much work in our truck routing system today, bummer. There are some transfers and pickups, but no deliveries. Still attempting to find a temporary renter, not having much luck with that. Lots of inquiries but no takers yet. I CAN live with 2 tenants if they are paying on time - but I have to really watch my p's and q's in terms of financial output. It's a real balancing act, lemme tell ya. My dad sent a check again, a huge help. That entire check will go to power this month as I am already facing $300 per month power bills. AC is running - it almost hit 100 yesterday dunno what the forecast is for today.
With that, I must be outta here.
G'day.
ben
This is a totally cool development. This is concerning the cameras on the freeways only, not the red light cameras in each individual city. However, there is also a referendum that is attempting to gain enough signatures to force the issue to a vote, pointedly: ALL cameras in the state of Arizona, whether on a freeway or in the city at a light. I'm not really a fan of people running red lights, but I'm also much less a fan of these friggin' cameras being all over the place. I have a ticket that I am going to contest that I got on the freeway for allegedly doing 77 mph.
Meanwhile, the "Reverend" Al Sharpton was in town spewing out his bile all over the place in a 3 mile long protest that had people coming from all of the U.S. to protest the immigration law. The R word - racist - is being thrown around like a ping-pong ball on it's table. I need not go into my opinion of these people making these ridiculous - and stupid - statements, I have already done that many times on this particular blog. But to listen to the rhetoric that was coming out of the mouths of the protestors - they were doing interviews - just awe-inspiring, in a very negative way. These people sounded like recordings of out-spoken individuals who have gained national media attention on this issue. Just press the button and play it back. In other words, they aren't thinking for themselves. Somebody said this law is racist, so by golly, this law MUST be racist.
Again, if you are going to make such aggressive statements about a thing, person or entity, at least READ the content of what the law says to be sure you aren't sticking both of your feet into your mouth.
Today? Well, fix the other pond and put it back into the ground. Fill it back up and then hopefully it will be good to go and I can put plants in both of them this weekend. Not much work in our truck routing system today, bummer. There are some transfers and pickups, but no deliveries. Still attempting to find a temporary renter, not having much luck with that. Lots of inquiries but no takers yet. I CAN live with 2 tenants if they are paying on time - but I have to really watch my p's and q's in terms of financial output. It's a real balancing act, lemme tell ya. My dad sent a check again, a huge help. That entire check will go to power this month as I am already facing $300 per month power bills. AC is running - it almost hit 100 yesterday dunno what the forecast is for today.
With that, I must be outta here.
G'day.
ben
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Wednesday
Today's doings? I "get" to drive the semi into that RV park again. Trucks should not be made to go where they don't belong, and I have to tell ya, they do NOT belong in THIS place at all!
The first radical turn gives no forgiveness. If you miss the turn, you can't move something out of the way. A block fence on one side, a stop sign on the other and a Park Model trailer on the third. I have to partially drive up into the Park Model's driveway to execute the turn. I have no idea what kind of reaction those people may have, I don't wait around to find out.
The rest of it is attempting to maneuver around tight turns and keep from running over senior citizens and then.....the jobsite in the center of this place it self. An unforgiving, truck driving nightmare, the guy that wanted me to follow him in there last time was out of his mind thinking I could get through there. He had seen some heavy equipment maneuvering through there - scrapers to be precise, and thought a semi should be able to execute those turns as well.
Yeah, well, I figured I would get the pipe to where he wanted it and then I would have to back up a LONG, long way. Instead, a kind-hearted gentlemen that works at the park itself offered to simply take part of the chain-link fence down so I could more easily exit that place. Yes, please and thank you!!
I will be videoing today's attempt for my own personal entertainment, lol.
I am looking at this contraption that BP has brought to the coast and wondering how it works. Well, wondering how it hooks up to the oil gushing out and how does it stay in place? The news never gives that kind of technical data, at least some general overview of how the thing is actually secured into place while all that oil is pumping out of that hole.
Meanwhile, I found a person on Craigslist selling water plants for as low as $2 per plant. Apparently, though, watey lillies are expensive no matter where you buy them, but this guy has them for $15 instead of $39 like that store I went to yesterday. Yes, I will drive out of my way to save $24 plus tax. Count the tax as my gas money out there and back. My "bio-balls" are in the filter. Their intended purpose, as I was informed yesterday, is to create bacteria which somehow helps keep the water eco-balanced. Yeah, don't really know about that stuff, yet, give me time.
Oh, the trailer tenant - I didn't know he's in his 60's, not his 50's. Anyway, he recently had hernia operation and the thing has "expanded" and he is in pain. He said he was going to the hospital today and he didn't know whether they would keep him overnight or not. Oh, well bummer dude, hope everything turns out okay. I mostly am not regretting giving them a helping hand, the woman side of the deal is getting a little more friendly (no, not in THAT way!!) which was one of the few reservations I had about the situation.
Anyway, work day is here and I have to get offa here, lots of work to get done this morning.
Later, dudes and dudettes!
ben
The first radical turn gives no forgiveness. If you miss the turn, you can't move something out of the way. A block fence on one side, a stop sign on the other and a Park Model trailer on the third. I have to partially drive up into the Park Model's driveway to execute the turn. I have no idea what kind of reaction those people may have, I don't wait around to find out.
The rest of it is attempting to maneuver around tight turns and keep from running over senior citizens and then.....the jobsite in the center of this place it self. An unforgiving, truck driving nightmare, the guy that wanted me to follow him in there last time was out of his mind thinking I could get through there. He had seen some heavy equipment maneuvering through there - scrapers to be precise, and thought a semi should be able to execute those turns as well.
Yeah, well, I figured I would get the pipe to where he wanted it and then I would have to back up a LONG, long way. Instead, a kind-hearted gentlemen that works at the park itself offered to simply take part of the chain-link fence down so I could more easily exit that place. Yes, please and thank you!!
I will be videoing today's attempt for my own personal entertainment, lol.
I am looking at this contraption that BP has brought to the coast and wondering how it works. Well, wondering how it hooks up to the oil gushing out and how does it stay in place? The news never gives that kind of technical data, at least some general overview of how the thing is actually secured into place while all that oil is pumping out of that hole.
Meanwhile, I found a person on Craigslist selling water plants for as low as $2 per plant. Apparently, though, watey lillies are expensive no matter where you buy them, but this guy has them for $15 instead of $39 like that store I went to yesterday. Yes, I will drive out of my way to save $24 plus tax. Count the tax as my gas money out there and back. My "bio-balls" are in the filter. Their intended purpose, as I was informed yesterday, is to create bacteria which somehow helps keep the water eco-balanced. Yeah, don't really know about that stuff, yet, give me time.
Oh, the trailer tenant - I didn't know he's in his 60's, not his 50's. Anyway, he recently had hernia operation and the thing has "expanded" and he is in pain. He said he was going to the hospital today and he didn't know whether they would keep him overnight or not. Oh, well bummer dude, hope everything turns out okay. I mostly am not regretting giving them a helping hand, the woman side of the deal is getting a little more friendly (no, not in THAT way!!) which was one of the few reservations I had about the situation.
Anyway, work day is here and I have to get offa here, lots of work to get done this morning.
Later, dudes and dudettes!
ben
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Diet
I hadn't gotten onto a scale in about 2 weeks until this afternoon.
I kinda got tired of seeing the same weight and figured if I just plug away at it, take my "falls" here and there but basically stay on course, the weight will come down, even if ever-so-slowly.
Last time I got on a scale it showed 205.
Today? 198!!
Trust me when I say that some of the things I have had to resist were NOT easy to do. Just for a small example, I walked into Fry's today to put money onto the power reader card. AS soon as you step through the door, there is a stand there. This stand had a man making root beer floats. Ummm, I absolutely LOVE root beer floats. When I was a kid, a weekly family ritual was for dad to go out and buy A&W Rootbeer, get some vanilla ice cream and serve it up!
I RACED past that stand. My mind was telling me: "What could it hurt to have just one?" They were large cups - that cup of diet poison there at least 500 calories. Lots of FAT calories at that. Went in, got my business done and quickly walked past that setup. It's great that Fry's is doing that, really, I just can't have any of it, lol. DQ had a 2-fer deal going, that was also very tempting. Today I was passing by McDonald's and Arby's and Wendy's and this that and the other thing. I was ravenously hungry, it was 2:00 pm and I hadn't eaten all day.
It definitely takes some discipline to just keep driving past all of this food and not stopping and getting any - there were LOTS of places where a semi could have easily parked. I have a minimum 15 pounds to go. It's going to take a while, is all I can say. I am determined to win this fight. Each day provides it's own battles, sorta like Alcoholics Anonymous, though I am hardly "addicted" to food. I LOVE certain foods, yes, but I have forsaken them almost to the point of never eating it. Ice cream? ADORE it. I think I've had it once this year. Stopping at a fast food place to get a quick bite to eat? Very tasty stuff, cheap and fast. I have forsaken that at this point as well, except Subway.
And then, when I started looking at how much calories and fat cheese had, I had to stop having that on my salads and I also stopped using Ranch dressing - which I also love. Now? Vinegar and pepper on top of whatever the salad is. Cheese? Probably something that has caused me to gain the weight without even realizing it. I seriously had no idea just how much calories I was consuming on a daily basis in adding cheese to just about everything. LOVE that stuff. It's necessarily the main part of whatever dish you are eating that is the diet killer, I am finding, it's the stuff you ADD to it. Sauces, creams, cheese - it all adds up, incredibly.
A successful diet? You better be paying attention to calorie and fat content on every single thing you stick in your mouth. If you don't want to do that, then you better try one of those companies that sends you all the meals you need for however many days worth they send it. I had thought of doing that, but I simply cannot afford that kind of expenditure right now. It's not cheap. It probably works if you eat that stuff and ONLY that stuff, but I just can't afford it. The best alternative is to just tell myself no, don't eat this that and the other thing, eat stuff plain, add some interesting spices to it, do whatever you can with it while keeping the calories down.
Anyway, I'm home for the day. I stopped by the store that is now stocking pond plants. Their prices were very high. I will not pay $39.99 for a lily plant. They had a few in their ponds and they didn't even look that healthy. Not only that, but when I asked the guy behind the counter if there is a guarantee on them, he flatly stated no. Are you serious? Spend that kind of money on a plant, it BETTER have some kind of replacement guarantee on it, period. I said no thanks, but I DID get my bio-balls. I found lily plants online for $15. Better, not really great, but less than half the price of that store. This is an individual who has a pond and sells off the excess that grows from within it.
I will also be visiting this pond show and hopefully score some plants then, but - I need something in there now. The bio balls will help, but isn't enough in and by itself.
Whatever, I'm not going to stress about it. This thing will morph into whatever it morphs into on my timeframe. That frame is dicated by available finances. Electric use is going up and up and up. Expected but not desired.
I have more but I want to get out there and put those bio balls into my filter bucke.
G'day.
ben
I kinda got tired of seeing the same weight and figured if I just plug away at it, take my "falls" here and there but basically stay on course, the weight will come down, even if ever-so-slowly.
Last time I got on a scale it showed 205.
Today? 198!!
Trust me when I say that some of the things I have had to resist were NOT easy to do. Just for a small example, I walked into Fry's today to put money onto the power reader card. AS soon as you step through the door, there is a stand there. This stand had a man making root beer floats. Ummm, I absolutely LOVE root beer floats. When I was a kid, a weekly family ritual was for dad to go out and buy A&W Rootbeer, get some vanilla ice cream and serve it up!
I RACED past that stand. My mind was telling me: "What could it hurt to have just one?" They were large cups - that cup of diet poison there at least 500 calories. Lots of FAT calories at that. Went in, got my business done and quickly walked past that setup. It's great that Fry's is doing that, really, I just can't have any of it, lol. DQ had a 2-fer deal going, that was also very tempting. Today I was passing by McDonald's and Arby's and Wendy's and this that and the other thing. I was ravenously hungry, it was 2:00 pm and I hadn't eaten all day.
It definitely takes some discipline to just keep driving past all of this food and not stopping and getting any - there were LOTS of places where a semi could have easily parked. I have a minimum 15 pounds to go. It's going to take a while, is all I can say. I am determined to win this fight. Each day provides it's own battles, sorta like Alcoholics Anonymous, though I am hardly "addicted" to food. I LOVE certain foods, yes, but I have forsaken them almost to the point of never eating it. Ice cream? ADORE it. I think I've had it once this year. Stopping at a fast food place to get a quick bite to eat? Very tasty stuff, cheap and fast. I have forsaken that at this point as well, except Subway.
And then, when I started looking at how much calories and fat cheese had, I had to stop having that on my salads and I also stopped using Ranch dressing - which I also love. Now? Vinegar and pepper on top of whatever the salad is. Cheese? Probably something that has caused me to gain the weight without even realizing it. I seriously had no idea just how much calories I was consuming on a daily basis in adding cheese to just about everything. LOVE that stuff. It's necessarily the main part of whatever dish you are eating that is the diet killer, I am finding, it's the stuff you ADD to it. Sauces, creams, cheese - it all adds up, incredibly.
A successful diet? You better be paying attention to calorie and fat content on every single thing you stick in your mouth. If you don't want to do that, then you better try one of those companies that sends you all the meals you need for however many days worth they send it. I had thought of doing that, but I simply cannot afford that kind of expenditure right now. It's not cheap. It probably works if you eat that stuff and ONLY that stuff, but I just can't afford it. The best alternative is to just tell myself no, don't eat this that and the other thing, eat stuff plain, add some interesting spices to it, do whatever you can with it while keeping the calories down.
Anyway, I'm home for the day. I stopped by the store that is now stocking pond plants. Their prices were very high. I will not pay $39.99 for a lily plant. They had a few in their ponds and they didn't even look that healthy. Not only that, but when I asked the guy behind the counter if there is a guarantee on them, he flatly stated no. Are you serious? Spend that kind of money on a plant, it BETTER have some kind of replacement guarantee on it, period. I said no thanks, but I DID get my bio-balls. I found lily plants online for $15. Better, not really great, but less than half the price of that store. This is an individual who has a pond and sells off the excess that grows from within it.
I will also be visiting this pond show and hopefully score some plants then, but - I need something in there now. The bio balls will help, but isn't enough in and by itself.
Whatever, I'm not going to stress about it. This thing will morph into whatever it morphs into on my timeframe. That frame is dicated by available finances. Electric use is going up and up and up. Expected but not desired.
I have more but I want to get out there and put those bio balls into my filter bucke.
G'day.
ben
So, I'm listening to the news on the way to work. They always have this guy named Tony Flamino giving an opinion minute. No clue who this guy is.
He's sitting there asking why he's using the U.N. to deal with Iran instead of dealing with it himself.
This question is easily answered. Obama gave a definitive deadline for Iran to come clean earlier this year was it? When the deadline came, Iran did nothing, the U.S. also - did nothing. His deadline was totally meaningless. Iran knows we will do nothing, what impetus is there for them to change anything? Sure, they continue to say their nuclear ambitions are peaceful only, but who in this world believes THAT pile of rhetoric coming from a man who wants Israel to be "levelled"?
Obama doesn't have the nerve to deal with Iran himself, that's the answer. I am not advocating starting WWIII, but I seem to remember us destroying other facilities around the world in the past that posed a danger to the U.S. and/or it's allies. As I stated before, what is Iran going to do if we wipe out their nuclear facilities, send an army by plane to invade the U.S.? Now there are rumors that Osama bin Laden is hiding out in Iran and that he is living quite comfortably there. If Iran is ALREADY harboring terrorists and their organizations, then what difference makes it if we go take care of business? They ALREADY hate us, they already want us dead, it isn't going to make anything worse.
Okay, the probability that they would try to start doing terrorist attacks on U.S. soil would definitely increase in such a scenario, that's the only threat I can see coming from such an attack. Of course, we can just sit here and wait until they have nuclear warheads.......
And look at Iran posturing again, starting up a fresh series of war games. Do you think the U.S. military is now on it's knees, trembling in fear? Iran has a president with a big mouth and there is no-one, apparently, willing to do anything about shutting him up. Arrogance and pomposity is all I see, the man is in love with his own voice and his own image being spread on news media all over the world. Giving a man like that center stage in the U.N. talks and allowing him to speak the way he has been against the U.S. causes me to give very little credibility or credence to that organization. If there is to be a boycott of anything, perhaps the U.S. should boycott the U.N. until someone in the ranks of the governing structure finds enough balls to stand up to Iran's president and tell him to -- shut the bleep up, actually - or at least show respect to everyone there and every entity being represented.
Whatever. Some of the junk in the news I find humorous, this particular subject I do not. Anyway, I found a place that sells fish, plants - everything - that is only a few miles away from my house! Imagine that. Not only that. but there is a Pond club that is having 12 open houses to show off their ponds - an annual event - I had an email conversation with the president of the club who says lots of members bring plants to share - free - to any meetings. Well goofy loofy dooooo!
I mean, wonderful! A pond club. Heck, I might just join! lol
Ummm, I gotta get signed into work and get with the day.
Later.
ben
He's sitting there asking why he's using the U.N. to deal with Iran instead of dealing with it himself.
This question is easily answered. Obama gave a definitive deadline for Iran to come clean earlier this year was it? When the deadline came, Iran did nothing, the U.S. also - did nothing. His deadline was totally meaningless. Iran knows we will do nothing, what impetus is there for them to change anything? Sure, they continue to say their nuclear ambitions are peaceful only, but who in this world believes THAT pile of rhetoric coming from a man who wants Israel to be "levelled"?
Obama doesn't have the nerve to deal with Iran himself, that's the answer. I am not advocating starting WWIII, but I seem to remember us destroying other facilities around the world in the past that posed a danger to the U.S. and/or it's allies. As I stated before, what is Iran going to do if we wipe out their nuclear facilities, send an army by plane to invade the U.S.? Now there are rumors that Osama bin Laden is hiding out in Iran and that he is living quite comfortably there. If Iran is ALREADY harboring terrorists and their organizations, then what difference makes it if we go take care of business? They ALREADY hate us, they already want us dead, it isn't going to make anything worse.
Okay, the probability that they would try to start doing terrorist attacks on U.S. soil would definitely increase in such a scenario, that's the only threat I can see coming from such an attack. Of course, we can just sit here and wait until they have nuclear warheads.......
And look at Iran posturing again, starting up a fresh series of war games. Do you think the U.S. military is now on it's knees, trembling in fear? Iran has a president with a big mouth and there is no-one, apparently, willing to do anything about shutting him up. Arrogance and pomposity is all I see, the man is in love with his own voice and his own image being spread on news media all over the world. Giving a man like that center stage in the U.N. talks and allowing him to speak the way he has been against the U.S. causes me to give very little credibility or credence to that organization. If there is to be a boycott of anything, perhaps the U.S. should boycott the U.N. until someone in the ranks of the governing structure finds enough balls to stand up to Iran's president and tell him to -- shut the bleep up, actually - or at least show respect to everyone there and every entity being represented.
Whatever. Some of the junk in the news I find humorous, this particular subject I do not. Anyway, I found a place that sells fish, plants - everything - that is only a few miles away from my house! Imagine that. Not only that. but there is a Pond club that is having 12 open houses to show off their ponds - an annual event - I had an email conversation with the president of the club who says lots of members bring plants to share - free - to any meetings. Well goofy loofy dooooo!
I mean, wonderful! A pond club. Heck, I might just join! lol
Ummm, I gotta get signed into work and get with the day.
Later.
ben
Monday, May 3, 2010
"Living There Is Awful"
Quoted from an online news source:
"You live under a lot of pressure in Arizona. You have a hard time finding a place to rent, being able to drive," said Benitez, a father of three teenagers. "But what you make in the U.S. in one day, you make it in Mexico in one week."
"Life there is awful, but I don't go to the U.S. because I like living there," he added. "I go because I like dollars."
Life HERE is awful? ROFL!!!! Those words were spoken by a Mexican National who, along with others, were stating they were going to continue to come to Arizona illegally law or no law. They HATE it here but they love the money? Do you know what kind of internal emotions that starts to crank up inside of me? These people come here, take the jobs, the money, send it home and while they're here, they HATE - BEING - here?
If I were a violent man, I would go find some illegals to bash on their heads for a little while. It's bad enough that they come here doing what they're doing to our economy and way of life, but then to stand there and tell us how "awful" it is here?I've BEEN to THEIR place, I can tell you unequivically that life in the U.S. in terms of sanitation; housing; even the food we eat is a thousand times better than most anything to be found in Mexico. I don't live in a shack with a dirt floor (and I'm NOT dissing those over there that do, they survive however they can); I don't run an extension cord for electricity; I don't have a non-working refrigerator used for food storage; I don't have an entire family living in one room, all sleeping on one bed. And on - and on- and on........the Lord loves those people, I am not saying they are BAD, somehow, it's just the point of them coming here, raping our economy and then going back "home" to where, apparently, life is so much better........
BTW, I bet I could find an illegal within 5 minutes of leaving where I'm at and just driving around looking for one. In fact, I bet I could find a whole bunch of them. Well, now that I think about it, there are around 50 of them that hang out in front of a Circle K just down the road a few miles, looking for work. They sit out in the open, everyone knows they are illegals, apparently they have no fear, or they don't show it anyway.
Whatever the case, it is Monday, I still haven't found anyone to take the room on a temporary basis but I do have several interested individuals and a couple that stopped by yesterday to take a look. Well, at least there are fish biting on the hook, I just haven't snared anyone yet.
I have no time left, work day is here.
G'day.
ben
"You live under a lot of pressure in Arizona. You have a hard time finding a place to rent, being able to drive," said Benitez, a father of three teenagers. "But what you make in the U.S. in one day, you make it in Mexico in one week."
"Life there is awful, but I don't go to the U.S. because I like living there," he added. "I go because I like dollars."
Life HERE is awful? ROFL!!!! Those words were spoken by a Mexican National who, along with others, were stating they were going to continue to come to Arizona illegally law or no law. They HATE it here but they love the money? Do you know what kind of internal emotions that starts to crank up inside of me? These people come here, take the jobs, the money, send it home and while they're here, they HATE - BEING - here?
If I were a violent man, I would go find some illegals to bash on their heads for a little while. It's bad enough that they come here doing what they're doing to our economy and way of life, but then to stand there and tell us how "awful" it is here?I've BEEN to THEIR place, I can tell you unequivically that life in the U.S. in terms of sanitation; housing; even the food we eat is a thousand times better than most anything to be found in Mexico. I don't live in a shack with a dirt floor (and I'm NOT dissing those over there that do, they survive however they can); I don't run an extension cord for electricity; I don't have a non-working refrigerator used for food storage; I don't have an entire family living in one room, all sleeping on one bed. And on - and on- and on........the Lord loves those people, I am not saying they are BAD, somehow, it's just the point of them coming here, raping our economy and then going back "home" to where, apparently, life is so much better........
BTW, I bet I could find an illegal within 5 minutes of leaving where I'm at and just driving around looking for one. In fact, I bet I could find a whole bunch of them. Well, now that I think about it, there are around 50 of them that hang out in front of a Circle K just down the road a few miles, looking for work. They sit out in the open, everyone knows they are illegals, apparently they have no fear, or they don't show it anyway.
Whatever the case, it is Monday, I still haven't found anyone to take the room on a temporary basis but I do have several interested individuals and a couple that stopped by yesterday to take a look. Well, at least there are fish biting on the hook, I just haven't snared anyone yet.
I have no time left, work day is here.
G'day.
ben
Sunday, May 2, 2010
I'm finding a huge lack of pics of ponds in the construction stages on the net. I'm not saying there aren't any, but..........I have spent an hour plus attempting to find an article on how to build a waterfall - I have to SEE how it's done, not attempt to decipher a person's writings and how it applies in reality.
Look, installing a pre-formed pond is the "easy" part. Easy, that is, unless you are digging in the rock-filled ground that I do. Just about every time you stick the shovel in the ground, you hit a rock that has to be dug around and moved out of the ground. I have an entire front yard FILLED with those rocks that were unearthed while digging out holes for my plants.
Anyway, I used spray paint with the bottom-most part of the pre-formed pond on the ground and sprayed that outline. I dug that out and when the shelves of the pond hit ground, I painted around that and dug that out until - walaah - the pond holes are dug. Yes, I used sand on the bottom, the rocks here are sharp and pointed, no sense in taking a risk in getting a punctured liner.
This is the "lower" pond. Whatever the pic looks like, both of these ponds are small. Maybe 4X5 feet at widest points.
This is the upper pond. The bio-filter is, obviously, very tacky looking. I have only begun this project, I have a long way to go. That "filter" will be very nicely hidden once I am done with this project. Again, I basically just started this project, I wanted to get the water in and the filtration system going so it can start building up the bacteria needed to equalize the eco-system.
This will be the location of the waterfall, and for me, the most challenging part of this setup. I have looked at pic after pic after pic of waterfalls and still have no idea how I am going to go about this. Okay, I'm getting an idea, but I will only publish those thoughts after I actually try it and see if it works.
View from the lower pond looking back.
Property on the east side of my house is under-construction, hence the messes. It's slowly getting more and more to what I envisioned it to be long ago as time passes and I continue to work on it. Mother Nature will have a great effect on the property as well as the plants mature, trees grow into - trees - and the "look" is established.
Doing projects on the cheap as I have to do them forces me to stretch them out much longer than, perhaps, a person that could simply pay a contractor to come in and do it all for him/her. But, I enjoy the process and I definitely enjoy seeing something coming to life that I have created with my own hands. I also enjoy brain-storming ways to do things with materials I can acquire very inexpensively (cheap, lol) or even free, such as the rock I acquired from up North and you can see I have around the edges of the pond. I need MUCH more of that rock, frankly - I hope sometime soon to be dispatched back to that area and acquire more of it. If not, I may just have to take a trip up there and fill up the rather large expanse of trunk that my car has with it.
Regardless, it's 6:00 pm Sunday evening, the day is winding down and so is the weekend. There was nothing in the truck routing system as of the point I left on Friday - hoping someone might have thrown something in there by the time I get to work in the morning.
I have nothing more to say, except: Praise the Lord!!
Ahhh, yes, I am one of those weird Christian freaks that openly loves the Lord Jesus Christ and have been for some 20 plus years now. Not that that means anything, but there seems to be an utter lack of open Christianity these days - it's not very popular, you know.
G'day.
ben
How Far Is This Going To Go?
I don't know about anyone else, but I'm starting to get very concerned about this oil that is gushing into the Gulf of Mexico - there's talk now that currents could carry it out into the Atlantic Ocean.
Well, I don't think marine life lives to well in thick oil, meaning if this thing isn't contained soon, it could literally affect the entire planet. How is it that they don't have viable contingency plan if/when something like this happens? How are they going to get all of that oil out of the water? What is with Obama saying it's BP's problem? At the rate it's going, it's going to be the planet's problem and the Federal Government better think again about dumping responsibility onto a company that has limited options when compared to the Feds.
This Obama guy is a real piece of work.
Well, I won't say anymore about it, it's some pretty frustrating stuff to listen to that guy saying much of anything.
I just finished my bio-filter and have it up and running. The pump is only 130 gallons per hour, but that's what these people say it needs, nothing more than that, so, no big deal. It uses very little electricity. I haven't gone to any sites yet to see about whether getting plants right away is a good thing or not.
Long break. Army tenant gone, I decided to take a nap in that room and see what kind of noise filters through the wall from the living room. Nothing great - but you can hear the TV. Hence my rules at night - TV is kept low volume if tenant is here.
I also found a pond club in this area online. Not that I am going to start going to pond meetings, I wanted to see pics. Gawdy. That's all I can say. People using river rocks in their ponds. I am a big-time HATER of gawdy-looking river rocks. They used to be extremely popular in these parts in the 70's, but then the age of exotic looking landscaping rocks came into existence (and a rather large, local industry to facilitate such) and river rocks became a thing of the past.
People who still have them get rid of them. You will see them posted on Craigslist - river rocks, free come and get them. NO THANKS. Well, almost all of these ponds in the pics I was looking at are using giant and medium sized river rocks. Use a little creativity, will ya? I lined my ponds with the rocks I got from up north already. MUCH better looking than those ugly river rocks. I will need at least as many as I brought home to finish the project. I didn't figure I had gotten enough, but the place I had pulled over? I pretty much fished them all out of there.
I'm also using the rock I have dug up out of the ground. Those rocks are good looking, too - just not near as good looking as the rocks I brought from the mountains.
My concern in going to this page was to find out about keeping water cool. As I had suspected, a good waterfall is paramount to cooling water in the summer as the water cascades down the rocks. I may end up building one a bit larger than I first anticipated. They also say to use a lot of water lillies to cover the top of the pond and also to do bi-weekly water changes. Not FULL water changes, 10-20%. No waste of water there, I can pump it directly onto my nearby plants. Shade is also helpful - I might put some posts in the ground and simply use my nursery grade shade screen to keep the direct sunlight off of it.
The point? I have barely just gotten started on this project,really, lots left to do. My ponds will not be good for Koi, but should be okay for goldfish. Not deep enough. I found this out going into this, not a big deal to me. I don't want too many fish anyway. Maybe 2 per pond. I DO want a lot of water plants, of course, me being the plant lover that I am and finding a woman that is selling them $2 each doesn't hurt, either. No, if I end up wanting a Koi pond, I will do that on down the road after I get a little experience with these 2 small ponds. Then I will construct a MUCH larger pond at up to 2,000 gallons.
For now? Very happy with the little ponds, when they are completed, they shouldn't be too time consuming on maintenance and, of course, very lovely to both look at and listen to.
Well, I don't think marine life lives to well in thick oil, meaning if this thing isn't contained soon, it could literally affect the entire planet. How is it that they don't have viable contingency plan if/when something like this happens? How are they going to get all of that oil out of the water? What is with Obama saying it's BP's problem? At the rate it's going, it's going to be the planet's problem and the Federal Government better think again about dumping responsibility onto a company that has limited options when compared to the Feds.
This Obama guy is a real piece of work.
Well, I won't say anymore about it, it's some pretty frustrating stuff to listen to that guy saying much of anything.
I just finished my bio-filter and have it up and running. The pump is only 130 gallons per hour, but that's what these people say it needs, nothing more than that, so, no big deal. It uses very little electricity. I haven't gone to any sites yet to see about whether getting plants right away is a good thing or not.
Long break. Army tenant gone, I decided to take a nap in that room and see what kind of noise filters through the wall from the living room. Nothing great - but you can hear the TV. Hence my rules at night - TV is kept low volume if tenant is here.
I also found a pond club in this area online. Not that I am going to start going to pond meetings, I wanted to see pics. Gawdy. That's all I can say. People using river rocks in their ponds. I am a big-time HATER of gawdy-looking river rocks. They used to be extremely popular in these parts in the 70's, but then the age of exotic looking landscaping rocks came into existence (and a rather large, local industry to facilitate such) and river rocks became a thing of the past.
People who still have them get rid of them. You will see them posted on Craigslist - river rocks, free come and get them. NO THANKS. Well, almost all of these ponds in the pics I was looking at are using giant and medium sized river rocks. Use a little creativity, will ya? I lined my ponds with the rocks I got from up north already. MUCH better looking than those ugly river rocks. I will need at least as many as I brought home to finish the project. I didn't figure I had gotten enough, but the place I had pulled over? I pretty much fished them all out of there.
I'm also using the rock I have dug up out of the ground. Those rocks are good looking, too - just not near as good looking as the rocks I brought from the mountains.
My concern in going to this page was to find out about keeping water cool. As I had suspected, a good waterfall is paramount to cooling water in the summer as the water cascades down the rocks. I may end up building one a bit larger than I first anticipated. They also say to use a lot of water lillies to cover the top of the pond and also to do bi-weekly water changes. Not FULL water changes, 10-20%. No waste of water there, I can pump it directly onto my nearby plants. Shade is also helpful - I might put some posts in the ground and simply use my nursery grade shade screen to keep the direct sunlight off of it.
The point? I have barely just gotten started on this project,really, lots left to do. My ponds will not be good for Koi, but should be okay for goldfish. Not deep enough. I found this out going into this, not a big deal to me. I don't want too many fish anyway. Maybe 2 per pond. I DO want a lot of water plants, of course, me being the plant lover that I am and finding a woman that is selling them $2 each doesn't hurt, either. No, if I end up wanting a Koi pond, I will do that on down the road after I get a little experience with these 2 small ponds. Then I will construct a MUCH larger pond at up to 2,000 gallons.
For now? Very happy with the little ponds, when they are completed, they shouldn't be too time consuming on maintenance and, of course, very lovely to both look at and listen to.
Sunday
Second pond was installed late yesterday.
I did a trial run in filling both of them up and seeing if one will spill into the other without losing water all over the place - intended effect was accomplished. I already started pumping water from one pond to the other. As the project moves forward, it is getting more exhilarating simply because I can see what the outcome of it is going to be and it's going to be totally cool.
Today's doing will be to attempt to put that biofilter together. I still have no idea how I am going to cut out the large hole in the top side of the plastic bucket -maybe try to poke a hole through it and then cut it from there.
The female tenant is gone. She stated she wants to come back after her 60 days with of training exercises are over with. Meanwhile I've had several calls on the room and 2 no-shows plus 3 more people that are in various other parts of the state and are coming to Phoenix in the next couple of days and would like to look at the room.
Whatever. I don't hold rooms for anyone anymore and I tell them that directly on the phone. If the room is rented before they get here, well, there are plenty of other rooms (albeit, there aren't a lot of other rooms being rented on a temporary basis, which is what all of these people were looking for). If they REALLY wanted to hold the room, then back it up by putting a non-refundable deposit down.
Yeah, I didn't think so. Well, hopefully before too long here I will have it rented out for a day - a week - whatever I can get, really.
Sunday. Quiet. No kids bothering me and tenants are either not here or definitely aren't making any noise. Newest tenant may be having financial difficulties. She works, yes, but it has become apparent to me that she needs to learn how to budget. I'm not sure if this person is going to work out or not - when the rent is due we'll see. I'm not interested much in getting burned by non-paying people anymore and I am at the point where I will have very little tolerance for non-payers. I hate to throw people out - it's really not my nature - but something inside of me is being altered enough to simply say pay the rent or please have your things out of here by nightfall, thank you.
Well, I think I'm going to bring that plastic tub in here and start fiddling with it.
C'yall later and have a great day!
ben
I did a trial run in filling both of them up and seeing if one will spill into the other without losing water all over the place - intended effect was accomplished. I already started pumping water from one pond to the other. As the project moves forward, it is getting more exhilarating simply because I can see what the outcome of it is going to be and it's going to be totally cool.
Today's doing will be to attempt to put that biofilter together. I still have no idea how I am going to cut out the large hole in the top side of the plastic bucket -maybe try to poke a hole through it and then cut it from there.
The female tenant is gone. She stated she wants to come back after her 60 days with of training exercises are over with. Meanwhile I've had several calls on the room and 2 no-shows plus 3 more people that are in various other parts of the state and are coming to Phoenix in the next couple of days and would like to look at the room.
Whatever. I don't hold rooms for anyone anymore and I tell them that directly on the phone. If the room is rented before they get here, well, there are plenty of other rooms (albeit, there aren't a lot of other rooms being rented on a temporary basis, which is what all of these people were looking for). If they REALLY wanted to hold the room, then back it up by putting a non-refundable deposit down.
Yeah, I didn't think so. Well, hopefully before too long here I will have it rented out for a day - a week - whatever I can get, really.
Sunday. Quiet. No kids bothering me and tenants are either not here or definitely aren't making any noise. Newest tenant may be having financial difficulties. She works, yes, but it has become apparent to me that she needs to learn how to budget. I'm not sure if this person is going to work out or not - when the rent is due we'll see. I'm not interested much in getting burned by non-paying people anymore and I am at the point where I will have very little tolerance for non-payers. I hate to throw people out - it's really not my nature - but something inside of me is being altered enough to simply say pay the rent or please have your things out of here by nightfall, thank you.
Well, I think I'm going to bring that plastic tub in here and start fiddling with it.
C'yall later and have a great day!
ben
Saturday, May 1, 2010
First Pond
The first pond is in the ground, repaired, backfilled and only need be cleaned out of the dirt I accidentally spilled in there while backfilling. So, now I am going to have to go back out there and start digging down another 5 inches on the other pond, get it situated, levelled backfilled and the hardest part of this thing will be done.
Waterfall will also be challenging, but I think that might actually be fun. I'm not at that stage yet anyway, this next pond will be a bit more challenging because I want to place it in just such a way that it flows into the other pond. That may be easier said than done. However, I'm up for the challenge. I also have this berm of dirt against a portion of my back fence that I'm going to have to deal with. I will be Googling pics to see what others might have done in landscaping a small, dirt hill basically.
Meanwhile, the trailer tenant built a lean to out back and installed the shade screen material I have - it's for the dogs this summer. They simply will NOT be allowed in the house when I'm at work. I will be putting up the misters and am looking for a small evap cooler. This will sufficiently cool them during the hot summer months and I won't have to tolerate them pissing in my house when I'm not here. That's a sigh of relief, really, to get that done.
So, just a short entry (my version of a short entry, anyway). I'm going back outside to dig out that hole if possible and get it over with.
Then, I'm going to take a nap : )
Waterfall will also be challenging, but I think that might actually be fun. I'm not at that stage yet anyway, this next pond will be a bit more challenging because I want to place it in just such a way that it flows into the other pond. That may be easier said than done. However, I'm up for the challenge. I also have this berm of dirt against a portion of my back fence that I'm going to have to deal with. I will be Googling pics to see what others might have done in landscaping a small, dirt hill basically.
Meanwhile, the trailer tenant built a lean to out back and installed the shade screen material I have - it's for the dogs this summer. They simply will NOT be allowed in the house when I'm at work. I will be putting up the misters and am looking for a small evap cooler. This will sufficiently cool them during the hot summer months and I won't have to tolerate them pissing in my house when I'm not here. That's a sigh of relief, really, to get that done.
So, just a short entry (my version of a short entry, anyway). I'm going back outside to dig out that hole if possible and get it over with.
Then, I'm going to take a nap : )
Saturday
As the anti-immigration hysteria and hype rises, so does my amusement at such. People claiming that the entire state of Arizona are full of racists and bigots. Yessirreeee, that's what we all are, so don't come here because we hate you - all of you. Heck, I even hate people that are of my own color - white - which isn't really a color but who cares?
Okay, a little humor at the expense of all these people expending energy doing all of these marches all over the country, walking out of schools, basically getting hyped up over - what? Okay, let's deal with the immigration issue, but please oh ever-loving please drop the sentiments about Arizona and it's populous being bigoted and racists. Heck, Governor Brewer even came out with an amendment to the law basically making it illegal to engage in racial profiling - which is already illegal and has been for decades.
But people don't want to listen, they hear what they want to hear. It's racist, according to them, and that's that. Well, I doubt any of these people have read this law in it's entirety - or even marginally. I know I haven't, but I'm not against it so I'm not going to waste my time. If I WERE against it, I would definitely read the law, see what it says specifically about racial profiling and make a determination from there.
Well, whatever. I went to Home Depot and spent well over an hour attempting to find all the pieces necessary to build my bio-filter while at the same time keeping the cost of it down. I managed to do both. I will be going back outside in a little bittle to hopefully fill up one of the ponds with water. I can't find my level - I don't want to fill it up and find it's not level and have to drain it out and start over again. Waste of time and water.
The filtering system itself may take some time as I have to cut a plastic grate to size - twice and put a big hole in the top side of the setup which - I really don't have the proper tools to do it with, but I will improvise somehow and git-er done.
Meanwhile, I am running 2 ads per day trying to rent the room. 3 bites so far, one guy was supposed to come over yesterday and look at it - a Craigslist no-show, big surprise there. Another guy wrote me last night, going to try calling him in a few minutes. The room isn't actually available until tomorrow.
That's it. I'm going outside to work for several hours, catchya later.
Written by the racist-bigot:
ben
Okay, a little humor at the expense of all these people expending energy doing all of these marches all over the country, walking out of schools, basically getting hyped up over - what? Okay, let's deal with the immigration issue, but please oh ever-loving please drop the sentiments about Arizona and it's populous being bigoted and racists. Heck, Governor Brewer even came out with an amendment to the law basically making it illegal to engage in racial profiling - which is already illegal and has been for decades.
But people don't want to listen, they hear what they want to hear. It's racist, according to them, and that's that. Well, I doubt any of these people have read this law in it's entirety - or even marginally. I know I haven't, but I'm not against it so I'm not going to waste my time. If I WERE against it, I would definitely read the law, see what it says specifically about racial profiling and make a determination from there.
Well, whatever. I went to Home Depot and spent well over an hour attempting to find all the pieces necessary to build my bio-filter while at the same time keeping the cost of it down. I managed to do both. I will be going back outside in a little bittle to hopefully fill up one of the ponds with water. I can't find my level - I don't want to fill it up and find it's not level and have to drain it out and start over again. Waste of time and water.
The filtering system itself may take some time as I have to cut a plastic grate to size - twice and put a big hole in the top side of the setup which - I really don't have the proper tools to do it with, but I will improvise somehow and git-er done.
Meanwhile, I am running 2 ads per day trying to rent the room. 3 bites so far, one guy was supposed to come over yesterday and look at it - a Craigslist no-show, big surprise there. Another guy wrote me last night, going to try calling him in a few minutes. The room isn't actually available until tomorrow.
That's it. I'm going outside to work for several hours, catchya later.
Written by the racist-bigot:
ben
Friday, April 30, 2010
More
Well these tomato plants want water - every day! Assuming they want so much now, I am imaging twice daily waterings when summer arrives.
Meaning getting up earlier before work, watering them nicely and then getting them again when I get home from work.
This isn't a big issue, just didn't realize how much water they need. I planted one in a plastic planter earlier, but I got busy with installing a pond and spaced the rest of them out - until just now that is.
Looks like 2 bags of sand are good for one hole. Which is really good - I didn't want to have to buy a lot of it for this project.
Changing subject, I went to Walmart today to see if I could find a more suitable plastic container to use for the bio-filter. I haven't been able to find what I have been looking for - there is one available that is much bigger than I need it, but nothing else.
They didn't have what I was looking for, either. I wandered around the store, eventually ended up in the grocery section, got some stuff and then - headed to the meat and cheese portion of the deli. There were 3 people waiting with one employee working it. There were 2 other employees in the back - gabbing away.
I decided that, since these people were THERE this time, instead of asking for management, I would just ask that one of those individuals come up and serve me. The woman helping another person did not actually respond to my request. So I said it again, louder. That was enough for her - she called towards one of the women in the back, I'm assuming some level of management, who asked what she wanted, she replied and the lady came up to serve me. Not begrudgingly, either. In fact, it was superb customer service, albeit it the fact that I had to ask twice to get someone to do something.
I'm home, basically, for the weekend. One pond is now leveled with sand underneath. It's also the one that needed patch, patch done.
Ummm, I am really tired, I just realized and I am going to go take a nap before nightfall arrives.
Later.
ben
Meaning getting up earlier before work, watering them nicely and then getting them again when I get home from work.
This isn't a big issue, just didn't realize how much water they need. I planted one in a plastic planter earlier, but I got busy with installing a pond and spaced the rest of them out - until just now that is.
Looks like 2 bags of sand are good for one hole. Which is really good - I didn't want to have to buy a lot of it for this project.
Changing subject, I went to Walmart today to see if I could find a more suitable plastic container to use for the bio-filter. I haven't been able to find what I have been looking for - there is one available that is much bigger than I need it, but nothing else.
They didn't have what I was looking for, either. I wandered around the store, eventually ended up in the grocery section, got some stuff and then - headed to the meat and cheese portion of the deli. There were 3 people waiting with one employee working it. There were 2 other employees in the back - gabbing away.
I decided that, since these people were THERE this time, instead of asking for management, I would just ask that one of those individuals come up and serve me. The woman helping another person did not actually respond to my request. So I said it again, louder. That was enough for her - she called towards one of the women in the back, I'm assuming some level of management, who asked what she wanted, she replied and the lady came up to serve me. Not begrudgingly, either. In fact, it was superb customer service, albeit it the fact that I had to ask twice to get someone to do something.
I'm home, basically, for the weekend. One pond is now leveled with sand underneath. It's also the one that needed patch, patch done.
Ummm, I am really tired, I just realized and I am going to go take a nap before nightfall arrives.
Later.
ben
Friday
Not exactly sure how we got to the 5th month - well okay, still a day away - of this year so fast?
Well, it's also Friday, which is like totally awesome dude!
I don't have a lot of time here, I just posted an ad on Craigslist for the room that will be available on Sunday which takes precedence over writing blog entries.
Anyway, I didn't get the opportunity to take any of the rocks home yesterday because I wanted to get sand and cement mix to the house instead. Rocks can go today. Besides, I probably won't even get to the rock structure of the waterfall this weekend - but just in case, I'm going to haul as much of it home this afternoon as I can.
That's it for this entry, time's up!
ben
Well, it's also Friday, which is like totally awesome dude!
I don't have a lot of time here, I just posted an ad on Craigslist for the room that will be available on Sunday which takes precedence over writing blog entries.
Anyway, I didn't get the opportunity to take any of the rocks home yesterday because I wanted to get sand and cement mix to the house instead. Rocks can go today. Besides, I probably won't even get to the rock structure of the waterfall this weekend - but just in case, I'm going to haul as much of it home this afternoon as I can.
That's it for this entry, time's up!
ben
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