Wednesday
Wrote this this morning and forgot to post it, lol.
The boasting and gloating is over. That's exactly what I call those people that picketed the Wisconsin state house and finally "won" a victory through a judge. They now lost, though I don't wonder if the thing will be pushed through to a higher court.
From what I have seen of unions, at least the ones in the news, they are extremely petty, extremely selfish and have no interest whatsoever in the companies or entity's well-being that they are working for.
They don't seem to care even if it pushes a company to the point of bankruptcy or even insolvency in their actions to strike against companies because of "unfair" benefits or not enough pay. These people seem to live in la-la land - the economy has tanked, there are millions of people out of work, yet here they are, pushing their agenda: we are unfairly paid and we want MORE!
Join the rest of the crowd - the people that aren't in unions and fend for ourselves. I don't get a pension when I quit my current company. I don't expect to have X amount of percentage added to my pay every year, though I will certainly fight for it. These people, however, are "entitled".
The thing that got me on the fast track to greatly disliking unions is when that Boeing machinists union, I think it was, effectively shut down a giant company who losses because of it were in the hundreds of millions of dollars range.
Whatever. I upped my deduction for 401K earlier this year to 5% and am considering either adding 2 more percent to it or doing a 2% automatic savings plan. There is so much on the internet now from all kinds of sources saying we simply do not save enough money and we end up getting caught red-handed at the "end" - retirement years - meaning having to work longer and longer. Well, frankly, I have no guarantees that I am going to be physically CAPABLE of working at the age of 70, and to be even more frank about it: I am sure I won't WANT to work a full-time job at that age.
It means, to me, that I am going to really have to get my deductions up to at least 10%. I'm beginning to sweat this one: I'm 47 years old and I only have 12k in my retirement account. By now, I should have 200k or more in savings.
I don't know what else to do - at least within my means. I've thought about having another structure built on my property - either a rental unit or my new living quarters and either rent that out or rent out my master bedroom. Take that money and save it. I could get $500 per month for my master bedroom because it has it's own bathroom and walk-in closet, something that people really like and will pay more for.
To that end, I am going to start getting all my tax documents re-assembled and get into an accountant's office and have redo everything and get my money out of that house fire. I'm guessing we're talking another 10k.
Further, there are all kinds of out of work carpenters looking for rooms to rent for free or greatly reduced in exchange for work around the house. As long as they could prove that they are who they say they are in the realm of expertise, the carpentry for the structure would be very cheap. The biggest expense would be the materials and the plans that would have to be submitted to the city along with permits.
This is an idea that is getting more of my attention. With cheap labor plus some of my connections for materials - I work for the company that is the largest, contractor's plumbing supply outlet in the country, or if not, certainly in the top 3, and the fact that I get all that material at cost, the numbers go down in terms of costs.
There is quite a bit of plumbing both in a house and leading up to it.
This is no longer a pipe dream with the money that I already have from taxes and the money I am looking at getting. The other option is to looking at getting another property entirely. Such as the one across the street.
Well, no time to go into all of that now, just something that is "swirling" around in my head and gaining traction as I am finding my paperwork and thinking about getting something going. I don't trust that the money I am going to earn from work and save is going to be enough for retirement, I never have and I have to find some other means to get me there.
_____________
Home from work. At a 260 calorie sandwich this morning, but sorta blew it on around 500 calories of something else later on. Well, that still isn't that many calories, really. I went for a hike up into the mountain after work. Nice and hot out there. No one else hiking in those conditions!
That's it.
G'day.
ben
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011
It Is A Foregone Conclusion That..........
............I will not be writing my normal, early, workday entry tomorrow morning, so I'm writing something now instead.
I put in 10-1/2 hours today and didn't get everything done that needed to be done. Hence, the contractor I was supposed to make an afternoon delivery to wants his stuff there, at the site atttttt...................5:30 am. That means getting up a bit before 4:00 am to take my shower and get ready for work, get to work, open up shop, get the semi to the front of the store, do my paperwork, close up shop and leave. That's going to take longer than I am figuring here, I'm probably going to have to get up at 3:30 am to get it done. Oh well.
The worst part about days like today are that I do not get to keep the hours. I will have to leave 3 hours early sometime this week. Tomorrow may go over as well, not sure yet, but rest assured, some day this week will be slow and I will end up going home early - very early.
If I could get 10 hours a day, every day, at work, I would have no further need of tenants. Or at most, 1 and rent out 2 rooms to 1 person (lots of people look for such situations). Pipe dream.
So, I heard back from my son yet again. By now, the campers (kids) are there. I am sure they get right on with camp activities shortly after they arrive since the kids are only there for 6 days. He gave a devotional last night and apparently it touched the hearts of those that were listening. He didn't answer any of my questions, lol, about the car, college, etc, his mind is undoubtedly in a different place right now, I'll give him a pass on that one.
I worked my @$$ off today, so much so that I had no need of going to a gym today. I was getting a workout all day long loading and unloading that truck and pulling 2 massive orders. It didn't quite wipe me out, but it came close to it. Which is a good thing, I will need to be going to bed extra early and I don't want to have trouble staying asleep. I never have a problem GETTING to sleep, it's STAYING asleep that sometimes defies me. Oh and work today? No break, all day long, no time for it. The difference is, the computer system at work is no longer robbing me of half hours of time - it used to be I logged out and it would automatically deduct a half hour. Not now, they changed it - after 5 years of losing a lot half hours and involuntarily donating that time to the company - it asks you if you took a break. If you did, what time, if you didn't it doesn't deduct anything. Nice, finally and about time.
For whatever reason, the diet is starting to work again. Oh, maybe it's the hikes up into the mountains and redoubled efforts to keep calorie counts down. I've consumed about 1,200 calories today, total. I have only had water and a peach tea thing that has no calories in it. I just looked it up to be sure, 0 calories and the only thing in is a small amount of sodium. I will consume no more calories today, at all and start all over again tomorrow with the same mindset. It's much easier for me to keep with it during the weekdays while at work and even when I come home from work. A tad bit harder during the weekends, but I'm pretty motivated to get rid of the excess and be done with it. I was stuck at 197 for a long time, with fluctuations of course, but it has shown at 193 for a couple of days now and hopefully I can soon break the 180 wall and maybe KEEP it down there this time. Oops, I had coffee this morning with no fat creamer (I haven't used sugar in coffee in at least 25 years) - 10 calories per serving. 2 cups of coffee equals next to nothing.
Well, I gotta go out and check on the fishies before it gets dark. I fed them earlier but I didn't do my daily "inspection". OH, and the AC in the semi is definitely fixed!! Yahoooooooo!
G'day.
ben
I put in 10-1/2 hours today and didn't get everything done that needed to be done. Hence, the contractor I was supposed to make an afternoon delivery to wants his stuff there, at the site atttttt...................5:30 am. That means getting up a bit before 4:00 am to take my shower and get ready for work, get to work, open up shop, get the semi to the front of the store, do my paperwork, close up shop and leave. That's going to take longer than I am figuring here, I'm probably going to have to get up at 3:30 am to get it done. Oh well.
The worst part about days like today are that I do not get to keep the hours. I will have to leave 3 hours early sometime this week. Tomorrow may go over as well, not sure yet, but rest assured, some day this week will be slow and I will end up going home early - very early.
If I could get 10 hours a day, every day, at work, I would have no further need of tenants. Or at most, 1 and rent out 2 rooms to 1 person (lots of people look for such situations). Pipe dream.
So, I heard back from my son yet again. By now, the campers (kids) are there. I am sure they get right on with camp activities shortly after they arrive since the kids are only there for 6 days. He gave a devotional last night and apparently it touched the hearts of those that were listening. He didn't answer any of my questions, lol, about the car, college, etc, his mind is undoubtedly in a different place right now, I'll give him a pass on that one.
I worked my @$$ off today, so much so that I had no need of going to a gym today. I was getting a workout all day long loading and unloading that truck and pulling 2 massive orders. It didn't quite wipe me out, but it came close to it. Which is a good thing, I will need to be going to bed extra early and I don't want to have trouble staying asleep. I never have a problem GETTING to sleep, it's STAYING asleep that sometimes defies me. Oh and work today? No break, all day long, no time for it. The difference is, the computer system at work is no longer robbing me of half hours of time - it used to be I logged out and it would automatically deduct a half hour. Not now, they changed it - after 5 years of losing a lot half hours and involuntarily donating that time to the company - it asks you if you took a break. If you did, what time, if you didn't it doesn't deduct anything. Nice, finally and about time.
For whatever reason, the diet is starting to work again. Oh, maybe it's the hikes up into the mountains and redoubled efforts to keep calorie counts down. I've consumed about 1,200 calories today, total. I have only had water and a peach tea thing that has no calories in it. I just looked it up to be sure, 0 calories and the only thing in is a small amount of sodium. I will consume no more calories today, at all and start all over again tomorrow with the same mindset. It's much easier for me to keep with it during the weekdays while at work and even when I come home from work. A tad bit harder during the weekends, but I'm pretty motivated to get rid of the excess and be done with it. I was stuck at 197 for a long time, with fluctuations of course, but it has shown at 193 for a couple of days now and hopefully I can soon break the 180 wall and maybe KEEP it down there this time. Oops, I had coffee this morning with no fat creamer (I haven't used sugar in coffee in at least 25 years) - 10 calories per serving. 2 cups of coffee equals next to nothing.
Well, I gotta go out and check on the fishies before it gets dark. I fed them earlier but I didn't do my daily "inspection". OH, and the AC in the semi is definitely fixed!! Yahoooooooo!
G'day.
ben
Monday 6/13/2011
Welcome to Monday (at least in this part of the world).
The Wallow fire is now 10% contained. I'm a bit more of an optimist, I guess, cause' the news story I was reading said "only 10% contained". Well that's better than the 0% it was at for weeks and then the 5% it's been stuck at for days.
I will be glad when this family is out of my house. They got their own place, a 4 bedroom house in Glendale. They plan on renting out 2 of the rooms to help pay for it. Good luck, folks, you have no idea what you are getting yourselves into. They figure they can do what I am doing. Which is okay, I guess, but these people really aren't the types that are going to be able to deal with the situations that arise when you have roommates.
I guess they'll figure that one out on their own. They offered me $60 for the wood bedset in that room, I simply said no thanks. The guy that left that stuff said it cost him a small fortune and it IS a very good looking set. Now, they want to buy the love seat that I have been trying to seel forever for $50, they can have at it. In fact, I would sell the entire living room stuff to them for $100 and start over again in there. The couch is still in very good condition - but the coffee table is a bit scratched up. Kids.
Anyway, I do have a few interested individuals that want to take a look at the room, but I think I am going to wait until they are gone. I am going to have to buy a new mattress for that bed in there. I have found a couple of pretty nice ones on Craigslist for a good price.
So, in the near future, there will be work to do. But, the trailer tenants help me nowadays in getting rooms ready to rent. They will go in there and clean the carpet and basically clean the entire room out. I don't have to ask them to do this, either, I guess they feel compelled to do whatever they can to help me out since they have been around - for quite a long time now, actually. It's been a year and a half or so. I wish I could get a hold of a nicer living unit for them - maybe an old RV whose engine is blown but still has a nice interior or something. Not high on my list of priorities. In fact, it isn't on that list at all.
I did, at one point, put out an ad seeing if anyone would like to help out a homeless couple, it was worth a try. I got some stupid people saying I was a beggar and that I shouldn't post such stuff on Craigslist. Sometimes, you would like to meet those people in person and give them a taste of how you feel about them talking to you like that, but I usually just ignore it and move on.
Has there ever been anything that has happened to you in your life that you would like to "make right" with the person that did something to you? I was thinking about that with Caleb up at camp. As a kid, I was sent off to all kinds of camps up in the mountains during summer school breaks.
One such camp had a 20-something year old "counselor" that was a total @$$. He enjoyed making life hell for the campers - which in my case, I think I was all of 12 years old. I remember one morning sitting down at a table to eat breakfast. He asked me a question, can't remember what it was now, and I responded. I guess he didn't like my answer and proceeded to grab my arm and bend it around my back. It felt, at the time, like he was breaking my arm, it was pretty painful. It was enough to make me cry, I'll say that much.
I would love to meet up with that individual today. I would let him know in no uncertain terms just how much I appreciated a "man" inflicting pain on a boy half his size and age.
Regardless, the work day is here and plenty to do.
Thusly,
G'day.
ben
The Wallow fire is now 10% contained. I'm a bit more of an optimist, I guess, cause' the news story I was reading said "only 10% contained". Well that's better than the 0% it was at for weeks and then the 5% it's been stuck at for days.
I will be glad when this family is out of my house. They got their own place, a 4 bedroom house in Glendale. They plan on renting out 2 of the rooms to help pay for it. Good luck, folks, you have no idea what you are getting yourselves into. They figure they can do what I am doing. Which is okay, I guess, but these people really aren't the types that are going to be able to deal with the situations that arise when you have roommates.
I guess they'll figure that one out on their own. They offered me $60 for the wood bedset in that room, I simply said no thanks. The guy that left that stuff said it cost him a small fortune and it IS a very good looking set. Now, they want to buy the love seat that I have been trying to seel forever for $50, they can have at it. In fact, I would sell the entire living room stuff to them for $100 and start over again in there. The couch is still in very good condition - but the coffee table is a bit scratched up. Kids.
Anyway, I do have a few interested individuals that want to take a look at the room, but I think I am going to wait until they are gone. I am going to have to buy a new mattress for that bed in there. I have found a couple of pretty nice ones on Craigslist for a good price.
So, in the near future, there will be work to do. But, the trailer tenants help me nowadays in getting rooms ready to rent. They will go in there and clean the carpet and basically clean the entire room out. I don't have to ask them to do this, either, I guess they feel compelled to do whatever they can to help me out since they have been around - for quite a long time now, actually. It's been a year and a half or so. I wish I could get a hold of a nicer living unit for them - maybe an old RV whose engine is blown but still has a nice interior or something. Not high on my list of priorities. In fact, it isn't on that list at all.
I did, at one point, put out an ad seeing if anyone would like to help out a homeless couple, it was worth a try. I got some stupid people saying I was a beggar and that I shouldn't post such stuff on Craigslist. Sometimes, you would like to meet those people in person and give them a taste of how you feel about them talking to you like that, but I usually just ignore it and move on.
Has there ever been anything that has happened to you in your life that you would like to "make right" with the person that did something to you? I was thinking about that with Caleb up at camp. As a kid, I was sent off to all kinds of camps up in the mountains during summer school breaks.
One such camp had a 20-something year old "counselor" that was a total @$$. He enjoyed making life hell for the campers - which in my case, I think I was all of 12 years old. I remember one morning sitting down at a table to eat breakfast. He asked me a question, can't remember what it was now, and I responded. I guess he didn't like my answer and proceeded to grab my arm and bend it around my back. It felt, at the time, like he was breaking my arm, it was pretty painful. It was enough to make me cry, I'll say that much.
I would love to meet up with that individual today. I would let him know in no uncertain terms just how much I appreciated a "man" inflicting pain on a boy half his size and age.
Regardless, the work day is here and plenty to do.
Thusly,
G'day.
ben
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Church
I went. I sat out in the parking lot for 10 minutes engaged in a mind battle as to whether I should actually go into the place or not.
But, I did. The foyer? 2 people greeted me, but, fantastically, they did not ask me to fill out a guest card. They all want your name and personal information. I don't necessarily want to give out that information right off the bat, what if I don't like and I don't WANT them contacting me?
It's in a large cluster of office buildings - so yes, this church is actually set up in an office setting. Where do I got? Lady pointed down a long hallway. Got there and there were quite a number of people there. I quickly found a seat and - sat. I was feeling very uncomfortable. Not because of the people, just being IN church.
Numerous people came up and introduced themselves. I knew that would happen, but I didn't really want the interaction. I know, I sound like a recluse, but this is something I want to ease back into, not go full throttle right off the bat. Of course, those people don't know that and besides, it's their "duty", so to speak. Nice people.
Worship starts - contemporary. A live band, something I greatly appreciate. I have been in many churches that play the music off of a CD, not appealing to me at all. Talented kids, too, they were into what they were doing and it showed.
That went on for an hour and a half, amazingly. Then the pastor got up. I further appreciated not being singled out as a "newbie". I don't want or need that recognition, which occurs at most churches I have been to, regardless of size, when I have been a first timer there. He went on for about an hour. It was a good discussion he gave, really, though the service waxed on for 2 and a half hours, I was good at an hour and a half. Well, he dismissed everyone but offered prayer and it was obvious social hour had also started. I am not going to say I want nothing to do with it, just that I was not prepared for 2-1/2 hours of a service and I quickly departed.
I was almost to the door when an older gentleman tapped/sorta grabbed me by the shoulder. "I hope you'll come back again next week". He had, apparently, chased me out of the auditorium. I appreciated the kindness, acknowledged it, thanked him and left.
I will go back, I think, next week. Unless something comes up, of course. I want to get back into the fellowship of believers, I just want to do it slowly.
As for other news, Caleb wrote me back yet again since I went to church. He had replied to my message to him from yesterday and I tried to give him a bit of advice without being push or know-it-all about it. It was concerning his preparation to give a daily devotional with the kids. I won't go into that, it was a private discussion and I think it best kept unsaid, just that thanked me for the advice. He sounds like he is doing well, which is what I was really wanting to hear, one way or the other. It was good to have some communication with him.
Home life? The family tenants apparently have found a place. I have had interest in the room, but no-one committing to come over and look at it yet.
I dunno, don't really want to go into too much else. I have some reflecting to do on the words that I heard today.
ben
But, I did. The foyer? 2 people greeted me, but, fantastically, they did not ask me to fill out a guest card. They all want your name and personal information. I don't necessarily want to give out that information right off the bat, what if I don't like and I don't WANT them contacting me?
It's in a large cluster of office buildings - so yes, this church is actually set up in an office setting. Where do I got? Lady pointed down a long hallway. Got there and there were quite a number of people there. I quickly found a seat and - sat. I was feeling very uncomfortable. Not because of the people, just being IN church.
Numerous people came up and introduced themselves. I knew that would happen, but I didn't really want the interaction. I know, I sound like a recluse, but this is something I want to ease back into, not go full throttle right off the bat. Of course, those people don't know that and besides, it's their "duty", so to speak. Nice people.
Worship starts - contemporary. A live band, something I greatly appreciate. I have been in many churches that play the music off of a CD, not appealing to me at all. Talented kids, too, they were into what they were doing and it showed.
That went on for an hour and a half, amazingly. Then the pastor got up. I further appreciated not being singled out as a "newbie". I don't want or need that recognition, which occurs at most churches I have been to, regardless of size, when I have been a first timer there. He went on for about an hour. It was a good discussion he gave, really, though the service waxed on for 2 and a half hours, I was good at an hour and a half. Well, he dismissed everyone but offered prayer and it was obvious social hour had also started. I am not going to say I want nothing to do with it, just that I was not prepared for 2-1/2 hours of a service and I quickly departed.
I was almost to the door when an older gentleman tapped/sorta grabbed me by the shoulder. "I hope you'll come back again next week". He had, apparently, chased me out of the auditorium. I appreciated the kindness, acknowledged it, thanked him and left.
I will go back, I think, next week. Unless something comes up, of course. I want to get back into the fellowship of believers, I just want to do it slowly.
As for other news, Caleb wrote me back yet again since I went to church. He had replied to my message to him from yesterday and I tried to give him a bit of advice without being push or know-it-all about it. It was concerning his preparation to give a daily devotional with the kids. I won't go into that, it was a private discussion and I think it best kept unsaid, just that thanked me for the advice. He sounds like he is doing well, which is what I was really wanting to hear, one way or the other. It was good to have some communication with him.
Home life? The family tenants apparently have found a place. I have had interest in the room, but no-one committing to come over and look at it yet.
I dunno, don't really want to go into too much else. I have some reflecting to do on the words that I heard today.
ben
Sunday 6/12/2011 Teetering On The Verge Of.......
...........going to church this morning.
I can't believe I'm even actually, seriously considering it.
Well,I consider it every week, but I don't do anything about it. There is a church just a few miles away that, at least in print, has the same type of beliefs and outlook that I have on the church, the Bible, God, etc etc etc.
Which doesn't mean it's heaven on earth. I have had that reality shoved in my face on more than one occasion.
One trepidation that I have in going to a new church, especially a smaller one, is that I will see someone there from the past that I know from other churches. I don't want to know anyone there. I want every single face there to be a complete and total stranger to me.
If I'm going to go and I get a good feel about it, I want to go to it for at least 4 services in a row - 4 Sundays - and find out if they really practice what they preach. I am not trying to judge them before I even go in there or set it up in my mind for failure before I even walk through the door, just that I've been there, done that.
Humans are not, of course, perfect. But, we use this excuse all to often to bypass short-comings in an organization that should not have such types of short comings in a prevalent posture. It's the leadership of the church that I am interested in scrutinizing. I know that sounds bad, but I have been burned too many times, I don't trust anyone in the church at this point and I have no reason to. Trust is, as most of us know, earned, not given away like door prizes at a newly opened convenience store. And I can say, unfortunately, that it would take a lot to earn my trust in looking at a church organization and reviewing my past in being shunned by a church and it's pastor.
Of course, pointing the finger at me, I have a lot of personal issues. But, so does everyone. This isn't something cataclysmic in volume. It's a statement that I am willing to try to get out of my box and enter a bigger one as long as the effort goes both ways. I have no intention of going into a church and dumping my history and problems on everyone or anyone, at all. My sole intention, above all of it, is to worship the Lord. I'm sure there will be the "fake" smiles of people acting genuinely interested that you came that day, shake your hand and that's it.
As I said, I've been there and done that. I have been in leadership in the church. The difference is, when I shook a person's hand and they wanted to release it all, I would not only stand there and listen, I would also offer to pray about it with them and if they came back the next week, I would ask them how they are doing. I am not in leadership in any church right now, obviously and further: I have absolutely zero desire to do so, at least at this point. I don't need anyone's pity, I just want to be together with genuine Christians, people who truly love the Lord. That's really all there is to it. I have this feeling that there will be someone there that I know. So, I am planning it the way I want a first encounter at a church to go: show up right when the service is starting, find a seat and blend in. When the service is over, get out of there.
Why? Just because I haven't been in church in a long time now and I don't really feel comfortable with it anymore. At one point in my life, I was spending up to 8 hours or even more in church on Sunday. Now, 7 or 8 years later, I don't even remember the last time I was in a church. No, I do remember now, well I don't know for sure. I think it was that big church I had started to go to just before my house burned down in 2007. I asked them for help - actually I wasn't going to ask them but someone on one of my blogs encouraged me to do so, so I did. They gave me a bit of a heave about it, too, saying they didn't have any record of me ever being there before. I thought that shallow, very shallow. I HAD been there several times and had filled out the card with my information on it on my first visit.
Well, they weren't shallow when one particular lady got involved, I do give that church credit that they really did help me out to some extent with some furniture and food. But it's a giant church, thousands of members, I have never really felt that a big, huge church is my type of thing. You can easily get lost in a place like that. Going to service every Sunday, you could come and go and no-one would ever know who you are. At the same time, at least right now, I am feeling very uncomfortable with a small church.
Shut up, Ben, just go take a shower, get dressed and get ready to go.
Hmmm, good idea.
G'day.
ben
I can't believe I'm even actually, seriously considering it.
Well,I consider it every week, but I don't do anything about it. There is a church just a few miles away that, at least in print, has the same type of beliefs and outlook that I have on the church, the Bible, God, etc etc etc.
Which doesn't mean it's heaven on earth. I have had that reality shoved in my face on more than one occasion.
One trepidation that I have in going to a new church, especially a smaller one, is that I will see someone there from the past that I know from other churches. I don't want to know anyone there. I want every single face there to be a complete and total stranger to me.
If I'm going to go and I get a good feel about it, I want to go to it for at least 4 services in a row - 4 Sundays - and find out if they really practice what they preach. I am not trying to judge them before I even go in there or set it up in my mind for failure before I even walk through the door, just that I've been there, done that.
Humans are not, of course, perfect. But, we use this excuse all to often to bypass short-comings in an organization that should not have such types of short comings in a prevalent posture. It's the leadership of the church that I am interested in scrutinizing. I know that sounds bad, but I have been burned too many times, I don't trust anyone in the church at this point and I have no reason to. Trust is, as most of us know, earned, not given away like door prizes at a newly opened convenience store. And I can say, unfortunately, that it would take a lot to earn my trust in looking at a church organization and reviewing my past in being shunned by a church and it's pastor.
Of course, pointing the finger at me, I have a lot of personal issues. But, so does everyone. This isn't something cataclysmic in volume. It's a statement that I am willing to try to get out of my box and enter a bigger one as long as the effort goes both ways. I have no intention of going into a church and dumping my history and problems on everyone or anyone, at all. My sole intention, above all of it, is to worship the Lord. I'm sure there will be the "fake" smiles of people acting genuinely interested that you came that day, shake your hand and that's it.
As I said, I've been there and done that. I have been in leadership in the church. The difference is, when I shook a person's hand and they wanted to release it all, I would not only stand there and listen, I would also offer to pray about it with them and if they came back the next week, I would ask them how they are doing. I am not in leadership in any church right now, obviously and further: I have absolutely zero desire to do so, at least at this point. I don't need anyone's pity, I just want to be together with genuine Christians, people who truly love the Lord. That's really all there is to it. I have this feeling that there will be someone there that I know. So, I am planning it the way I want a first encounter at a church to go: show up right when the service is starting, find a seat and blend in. When the service is over, get out of there.
Why? Just because I haven't been in church in a long time now and I don't really feel comfortable with it anymore. At one point in my life, I was spending up to 8 hours or even more in church on Sunday. Now, 7 or 8 years later, I don't even remember the last time I was in a church. No, I do remember now, well I don't know for sure. I think it was that big church I had started to go to just before my house burned down in 2007. I asked them for help - actually I wasn't going to ask them but someone on one of my blogs encouraged me to do so, so I did. They gave me a bit of a heave about it, too, saying they didn't have any record of me ever being there before. I thought that shallow, very shallow. I HAD been there several times and had filled out the card with my information on it on my first visit.
Well, they weren't shallow when one particular lady got involved, I do give that church credit that they really did help me out to some extent with some furniture and food. But it's a giant church, thousands of members, I have never really felt that a big, huge church is my type of thing. You can easily get lost in a place like that. Going to service every Sunday, you could come and go and no-one would ever know who you are. At the same time, at least right now, I am feeling very uncomfortable with a small church.
Shut up, Ben, just go take a shower, get dressed and get ready to go.
Hmmm, good idea.
G'day.
ben
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Wallow Fire Updates 6/11/2011
I am simply posting here a link to a site that is keeping folks updated on the Wallow fire, which at present (10:00 pm Arizona time/Mountain time, June 11th) is only 6% contained.
http://www.azcentral.com/
A local, online news agency, it has several daily updates on the fire.
http://www.azcentral.com/
A local, online news agency, it has several daily updates on the fire.
Saturday 6/11/2011
Very unusual for me, I woke up this morning with a bad headache. It lasted much of the day and only now - at 9:00 at night - is it subsiding. No clue.
I was speaking with someone earlier about alcohol and drunks - I have had several of them in my house as tenants as well as numerous encounters - which got me to thinking about my alcohol use. I am not a drunkard or even a habitual user. But I have had my moments, lol.
One of them was when the AC broke down on this house of mine. That AC unit was all of 13 months old and the compressor failed on a - Saturday - yes it was Saturday. It was under warranty. I spent the night in my car with the AC on so I could sleep. The next morning, Sunday, the AC guy came out and said he couldn't fix it, it would have to be Monday. It was 114 degrees outside if I recall correctly.
It was miserable in the house, I ended up going to the store, buying a 12 pack of Bud light, putting it in a cooler and sitting outside, all day long. Yes, I did. I also called into work and told them I would not be in, I would have to be home for the AC guy to come and fix the thing. I am not really sure I HAD to be home, but I was not about to have them do a no-show while I am at work, expecting them to fix the thing. I could have gone to a hotel, but, I think money was tight and I had to pay $800 for the service call. Yes, a 13 month old central AC unit that was under warranty still set me back $800. Plus my dogs and just didn't feel right about going to a hotel.
I did not drink the entire 12 pack, btw, but I was not feeling the heat that much, either, lol. I freely admit that I drank enough beer to make the heat feel like a beach in the Carribean, a place I have never been but I am sure that must be what it's like, lol. On Monday, the repairman didn't show up until late morning and yes, I started all over again. When he finally got the unit going again, the house was so hot that it took the entire day of that thing running without stopping to cool it back down.
I also like a good glass of Merlot or other red wine on occasion.
And then there have been the extremely unpalatable projects that I have had to do in yucky conditions that called for a couple of beers. Indeed.
The ravages of alcohol are such that I am not interested in revisiting the days of my teen years of getting extremely drunk, high on pot and smoking or snorting various drugs. You end up losing your life and living in a pretend world that is propped up by the constant high. It is a way to deal with things you are not seemingly able to deal with, yes, but it is definitely not a GOOD way to deal with anything.
Not to mention the expense. Beer and wine are hardly cheap! My biggest "vice" would be cigar smoking, but I don't do that much, either. I have a lot of cigars sitting here right now, too. I gave Mark -one of the trailer tenants - some money to get some cigars at the smoke shop. He has a way with talking the owner into giving him $60 worth of cigars for $20. They are sitting there. I am not compelled. I like them, but - not worth dying over.
It was just interesting to give some thought to what kinds of things that we do to ourselves, usually knowing full well that it is, in some way, self destructive. We do those things anyway. It doesn't have to be alcohol or cigars, either. Eating too much food and not getting enough exercise seems to be the mainstay of American self-destruction these days. Diabetes, for one, is on the rise in people getting it and mostly that is due to obesity, so I have read anyway. We are killing ourselves and you can see it everywhere you go. Men and women walking around with huge guts and extremely large thighs.
I am not dissing anyone that is in such condition, just making the observation. This is a condition that I desire to avoid at all costs. I hiked up into South Mountain twice this week after getting bored at the gym to get a good, solid, cardio workout. It was warm, but it was exhilarating at the same time. My manager at work has a MP3 player that he is going to sell to me if he can ever find it, lol. Listening to the music I want to listen to versus the trash they play at that gym would make working out a much better experience. I am not a big fan of Lady Gaga and retro dance music. In fact, I despise Lady Gaga and I think the music is pure trash, to be honest. Don't mean to ruffle anyone's feathers if you happen to like that stuff, but I find nothing in that form of "music" that is appealing to me, at all.
Ohhh, there was the Christmas party - 4 years ago? It was in the good times when our company was raking in the bucks before the housing bubble. They had the party at a fancy resort up north, very fancy resort. I was drinking some very fine wine that they kept refilling - and refilling - umm, you get the picture. I was having a great time talking with all kinds of people and didn't realize - until I got up to go to the dance floor - how much I had drank. I don't think I have revealed this before, but I started dancing and fell flat on my face.
Another good reason to not drink, making a complete and total fool of yourself. I vowed after that night I would NEVER drink like that again. I spent 2 days recovering from that night. The problem was it was dark, there was loud music, we were all talking our heads off and I simply wasn't paying any attention to the amount of wine I was drinking. These waiters kept coming and refilling and it was high quality wine. The next morning revealed the truth: my lips and teeth were purple.
To change this to a different note, my son has no interest in alcohol or drugs, at all. I have not heard from him since he went up to the mountains, but I found out today that basically, they really clamp down and restrict the use of cellphones, computers or any electronic devices. Only allowed at certain times and that the best way to contact him would be via email. So I emailed him today and hope to hear back. My ex said that he replied to her email and told her he is having the time of his life. Up in the mountains, away from highly populated civilization, and this coming week starting the arrival of the kids. I'm proud of my son, in case you can't tell.
Alcohol? It's amazing. My work? Almost everyone drinks and drinks daily. Our society seems to be built up around the idea that to have fun, there must be booze. Umm, I don't know.
As for this day, well, it's past my bedtime. Like almost 10:00 pm - an hour past my bedtime.
G'nite.
ben
I was speaking with someone earlier about alcohol and drunks - I have had several of them in my house as tenants as well as numerous encounters - which got me to thinking about my alcohol use. I am not a drunkard or even a habitual user. But I have had my moments, lol.
One of them was when the AC broke down on this house of mine. That AC unit was all of 13 months old and the compressor failed on a - Saturday - yes it was Saturday. It was under warranty. I spent the night in my car with the AC on so I could sleep. The next morning, Sunday, the AC guy came out and said he couldn't fix it, it would have to be Monday. It was 114 degrees outside if I recall correctly.
It was miserable in the house, I ended up going to the store, buying a 12 pack of Bud light, putting it in a cooler and sitting outside, all day long. Yes, I did. I also called into work and told them I would not be in, I would have to be home for the AC guy to come and fix the thing. I am not really sure I HAD to be home, but I was not about to have them do a no-show while I am at work, expecting them to fix the thing. I could have gone to a hotel, but, I think money was tight and I had to pay $800 for the service call. Yes, a 13 month old central AC unit that was under warranty still set me back $800. Plus my dogs and just didn't feel right about going to a hotel.
I did not drink the entire 12 pack, btw, but I was not feeling the heat that much, either, lol. I freely admit that I drank enough beer to make the heat feel like a beach in the Carribean, a place I have never been but I am sure that must be what it's like, lol. On Monday, the repairman didn't show up until late morning and yes, I started all over again. When he finally got the unit going again, the house was so hot that it took the entire day of that thing running without stopping to cool it back down.
I also like a good glass of Merlot or other red wine on occasion.
And then there have been the extremely unpalatable projects that I have had to do in yucky conditions that called for a couple of beers. Indeed.
The ravages of alcohol are such that I am not interested in revisiting the days of my teen years of getting extremely drunk, high on pot and smoking or snorting various drugs. You end up losing your life and living in a pretend world that is propped up by the constant high. It is a way to deal with things you are not seemingly able to deal with, yes, but it is definitely not a GOOD way to deal with anything.
Not to mention the expense. Beer and wine are hardly cheap! My biggest "vice" would be cigar smoking, but I don't do that much, either. I have a lot of cigars sitting here right now, too. I gave Mark -one of the trailer tenants - some money to get some cigars at the smoke shop. He has a way with talking the owner into giving him $60 worth of cigars for $20. They are sitting there. I am not compelled. I like them, but - not worth dying over.
It was just interesting to give some thought to what kinds of things that we do to ourselves, usually knowing full well that it is, in some way, self destructive. We do those things anyway. It doesn't have to be alcohol or cigars, either. Eating too much food and not getting enough exercise seems to be the mainstay of American self-destruction these days. Diabetes, for one, is on the rise in people getting it and mostly that is due to obesity, so I have read anyway. We are killing ourselves and you can see it everywhere you go. Men and women walking around with huge guts and extremely large thighs.
I am not dissing anyone that is in such condition, just making the observation. This is a condition that I desire to avoid at all costs. I hiked up into South Mountain twice this week after getting bored at the gym to get a good, solid, cardio workout. It was warm, but it was exhilarating at the same time. My manager at work has a MP3 player that he is going to sell to me if he can ever find it, lol. Listening to the music I want to listen to versus the trash they play at that gym would make working out a much better experience. I am not a big fan of Lady Gaga and retro dance music. In fact, I despise Lady Gaga and I think the music is pure trash, to be honest. Don't mean to ruffle anyone's feathers if you happen to like that stuff, but I find nothing in that form of "music" that is appealing to me, at all.
Ohhh, there was the Christmas party - 4 years ago? It was in the good times when our company was raking in the bucks before the housing bubble. They had the party at a fancy resort up north, very fancy resort. I was drinking some very fine wine that they kept refilling - and refilling - umm, you get the picture. I was having a great time talking with all kinds of people and didn't realize - until I got up to go to the dance floor - how much I had drank. I don't think I have revealed this before, but I started dancing and fell flat on my face.
Another good reason to not drink, making a complete and total fool of yourself. I vowed after that night I would NEVER drink like that again. I spent 2 days recovering from that night. The problem was it was dark, there was loud music, we were all talking our heads off and I simply wasn't paying any attention to the amount of wine I was drinking. These waiters kept coming and refilling and it was high quality wine. The next morning revealed the truth: my lips and teeth were purple.
To change this to a different note, my son has no interest in alcohol or drugs, at all. I have not heard from him since he went up to the mountains, but I found out today that basically, they really clamp down and restrict the use of cellphones, computers or any electronic devices. Only allowed at certain times and that the best way to contact him would be via email. So I emailed him today and hope to hear back. My ex said that he replied to her email and told her he is having the time of his life. Up in the mountains, away from highly populated civilization, and this coming week starting the arrival of the kids. I'm proud of my son, in case you can't tell.
Alcohol? It's amazing. My work? Almost everyone drinks and drinks daily. Our society seems to be built up around the idea that to have fun, there must be booze. Umm, I don't know.
As for this day, well, it's past my bedtime. Like almost 10:00 pm - an hour past my bedtime.
G'nite.
ben
Friday, June 10, 2011
Cousins
I'm home for the weekend.
Sitting here minding my own business.
The doorbell rings.
I have no idea.
I mean, I am not expecting anyone, but tenants
might be.
Or maybe the neighbors called the police again, even
though there haven't been any interactions since the last time
the police were called some weeks ago.
It's Anthony's cousin and a friend. Now, I KNOW by
now that kid knows what's going on and that they don't
live here anymore. What does he want? I know this kid
well, he turned 18 not long ago, he was brought up in
hellish conditions and yes, he is definitely a product
of his upbringing. Drugs, pot, theft. That's his life.
I have some sympathy for the kid because his mother
didn't do anything to raise him right. She is a thief
and is currently in jail. She is also a meth user, again,
the kid hasn't really been brought up in an atmosphere that
would nuture a life with morals, ethics and respect for
fellow man.
This conversation didn't get beyond my gate, I was not
letting him in. Not even into the back yard.
Remember, I said he is a thief. He has a bag full of stuff.
All kinds of electronics. I knew it was stolen without him
telling me. I wanted none of it. I was nice to him, didn't
try to start getting into his face, it wouldn't have done any
good at all. He needs intervention in a big way and it's going
to happen on it's own.
We talked for a while. I just wasn't going to budge, no, I don't
want anything you have. So, what is this kid doing with his life?
Well, first off, he was as high as a kite. He was obviously stoned
or on drugs. He pulls out a scale. "Selling weed?". I had a scale
when I was young, yes, I sold marijuana when I was a teenager. I don't
talk about it much because I don't particularly think it was the greatest
period of my life and certainly nothing to be proud of.
But that's also why I can have empathy with the kid. I know what he's
going through. I've been there and done all of that. I broke into houses;
I sold drugs and weed; I was living a sordid, even evil lifestyle: I knew
it then and I know it now. I was into destroying people's homes, cars and
physical body. I didn't care and that was that. How I EVER made it through
that and OUT of that into the life I am living now, I will never know. Oh,
wait a minute, I DO know: the intervention of the Lord Jesus Christ. I say
that with all seriousness, that intervention happened 27 years ago and I still
stand by it.
But, having empathy does not equate to encouraging the lifestyle. He'll need
to be at Hell's gates, undoubtedly, before anything can happen. That's where I was
at when I gave it all up and turned to the Lord. After we talked awhile, he asked
if I could give him a ride. Yes, to be honest, I did. Get him out of the neighborhood
and away from my house. He isn't ready for the kind of help I can give him. He isn't there
yet. I don't know where he is at internally/the heart, I just know he isn't there yet.
So, I took him to an intersection that is all of 2 miles away, that is, apparently,
where he is living with yet another cousin. This particular family lines has a LOT
of people in it. I know this from personal experience - 6 years of it.
Something is always going on around here. Always. I'm not about to say that all of it is good, either, with all these tenants and the junk that can occur. I'm just saying that there never seems to be a lack of "excitement", if you can call it that.
Sitting here minding my own business.
The doorbell rings.
I have no idea.
I mean, I am not expecting anyone, but tenants
might be.
Or maybe the neighbors called the police again, even
though there haven't been any interactions since the last time
the police were called some weeks ago.
It's Anthony's cousin and a friend. Now, I KNOW by
now that kid knows what's going on and that they don't
live here anymore. What does he want? I know this kid
well, he turned 18 not long ago, he was brought up in
hellish conditions and yes, he is definitely a product
of his upbringing. Drugs, pot, theft. That's his life.
I have some sympathy for the kid because his mother
didn't do anything to raise him right. She is a thief
and is currently in jail. She is also a meth user, again,
the kid hasn't really been brought up in an atmosphere that
would nuture a life with morals, ethics and respect for
fellow man.
This conversation didn't get beyond my gate, I was not
letting him in. Not even into the back yard.
Remember, I said he is a thief. He has a bag full of stuff.
All kinds of electronics. I knew it was stolen without him
telling me. I wanted none of it. I was nice to him, didn't
try to start getting into his face, it wouldn't have done any
good at all. He needs intervention in a big way and it's going
to happen on it's own.
We talked for a while. I just wasn't going to budge, no, I don't
want anything you have. So, what is this kid doing with his life?
Well, first off, he was as high as a kite. He was obviously stoned
or on drugs. He pulls out a scale. "Selling weed?". I had a scale
when I was young, yes, I sold marijuana when I was a teenager. I don't
talk about it much because I don't particularly think it was the greatest
period of my life and certainly nothing to be proud of.
But that's also why I can have empathy with the kid. I know what he's
going through. I've been there and done all of that. I broke into houses;
I sold drugs and weed; I was living a sordid, even evil lifestyle: I knew
it then and I know it now. I was into destroying people's homes, cars and
physical body. I didn't care and that was that. How I EVER made it through
that and OUT of that into the life I am living now, I will never know. Oh,
wait a minute, I DO know: the intervention of the Lord Jesus Christ. I say
that with all seriousness, that intervention happened 27 years ago and I still
stand by it.
But, having empathy does not equate to encouraging the lifestyle. He'll need
to be at Hell's gates, undoubtedly, before anything can happen. That's where I was
at when I gave it all up and turned to the Lord. After we talked awhile, he asked
if I could give him a ride. Yes, to be honest, I did. Get him out of the neighborhood
and away from my house. He isn't ready for the kind of help I can give him. He isn't there
yet. I don't know where he is at internally/the heart, I just know he isn't there yet.
So, I took him to an intersection that is all of 2 miles away, that is, apparently,
where he is living with yet another cousin. This particular family lines has a LOT
of people in it. I know this from personal experience - 6 years of it.
Something is always going on around here. Always. I'm not about to say that all of it is good, either, with all these tenants and the junk that can occur. I'm just saying that there never seems to be a lack of "excitement", if you can call it that.
Friday 6/10/2011
Friday
Well, the Army Reservist tenant is certainly going through it. She apparently "took" a sandwich from work yesterday - she works at Subway - and they fired her for it. She didn't bother to tell me about it, of course, she told someone else in the house.
When I worked in restaurants, they used to give out a free meal every shift. I am hearing now that many restaurants don't do this anymore? I think she gave most of her money to me for rent - she was a month behind and I had issued her a 5-day pay or quit/eviction notice as I was prepared to take her to court and get her out of my house. Umm, but she should be able to collect unemployment and there's always emergency food stamps in such situations.
I am wondering how long it is going to take her to find another job and more importantly: how long before I see another dime from her. Currently, she is 10 days past due on this month's rent. Will I just up and throw her out? No, but she does have a very viable option, one that she should be seriously considering: school. She should just go back to school. She will start receiving almost $1,400 a month from the military for doing such and she NEEDS an education, anyway. The schooling is also paid for by the military, the only expense she has is to go and learn.
Now, if I were in her situation, which I'm not, but if I were, I would drop all ideas of finding another job immediately and just go re-start the schooling up. Then I would go find another part-time job. But that's just me.
On the other tenant front, the "family" is desperately trying to find their own apartment. Bad credit, apparently, is holding them back. Honestly? I can't wait til' they leave. I have heard enough complaints about their levels of cleanliness - or lack thereof - including having sex in the bathroom - that they are prime candidates for the fence action: don't let it hit you in the @$$ on the way out. Nice people, yes, but seriously.
The OTHER tenant - the one I got into it with about computer use the other day - is not speaking to me. I don't wonder if this entire lot of tenants are on their way out now. Which wouldn't bother me in the least, start over fresh and new. But, I am definitely going to have the big room available again, wonder what kind of person I will end up with in there this time?
So, that's that. The reason I am not concerned about any of this is because I have all that tax money sitting in the bank. I don't have to worry about whether I can pay the mortgage or not. Not that I am going to leave those rooms empty, but, I am not going to be robbing Peter to pay Paul type of thing here, either.
Umm, what else? Like, what am I doing this weekend? I dunno, but I have been working out like crazy of lates. I have been sitting on that diet, too, meaning I have been watching the calories closely. Yesterday was a total of 1,200 calories on low fat, low calorie meals. I'm finding it easier to just buy the Weight Watchers frozen meals or similar type to keep track of calories than trying to do it myself. I am only feeding myself now, so no big deal, plus I always find one of those brands of frozen meals on sale, so I am not paying a fortune for them, either.
June 10, 2011 6:05 AM
Anonymous said...
Yesterday, I finally was able to take the semi in to get the AC fixed. It will probably be in the shop until Monday. Meanwhile, we also got a brand new pickup with a rack on it - meaning I can do deliveries in a pickup truck more often than in the semi. We didn't have a rack on the old pickup, it was only a half ton truck and it was pretty worthless for deliveries. Meaning, anyway, that I am not going to have to spend next week in a very hot semi truck. It is going to start getting hot next week, at least according to the weather reports, I was making quite a fuss about getting in. It's the only way to get something like that done - otherwise, they "need" for the use of the truck out weighs the need for the comfort of the driver.
Yes, well I am at an age - or mindset - now that I don't WANT to sit in a hot truck, burning up. I guess my constant prodding about it - whether that is advisable or not I didn't care - finally got the situation taken care of.
The Wallow fire finally is at 5% containment. Considering it has been at 0% containment for all this time, that's at least a foot in the door. When this thing is done and over with, I want to go up there and look at what it looks like now. I have seen it - 50 times at least on camping trips - in the beautiful, pristine state it WAS in, then to see what it looks like after an idiot or idiots left a camp fire burning, unattended.
I will be calling my son tomorrow to see how things are going. But I am guessing the real excitement doesn't start until Sunday or Monday, when actual campers/kids show up. It isn't some regimented thing, it's a fun camp with all kinds of fun things to do. Which is cool. Caleb hasn't called for a ride back, which I wouldn't give to him anyway, lol, he made a commitment and I would try to talk him into keeping that commitment regardless of how "hard" it may be. I didn't think he would, though.
I remember my first year on the mission field, conditions were pretty bad and I could only think about quitting. The ONLY reason I stayed is because of a thing my dad planted in my head: I suggest you commit to staying there for at least a year. I also suggest that no matter how hard or bad things get - unless beyond reasonable - you stay and tough it out.
Those words have really stuck with me my entire adult life. Usually, you get to the other side of something difficult and you are a better person for having had gone through it. You also feel good that you didn't quit and there is relief - whatever it is - that made the struggle worth it.
Anyway, the final work day of this week is upon me, must be offa here.
ben
Well, the Army Reservist tenant is certainly going through it. She apparently "took" a sandwich from work yesterday - she works at Subway - and they fired her for it. She didn't bother to tell me about it, of course, she told someone else in the house.
When I worked in restaurants, they used to give out a free meal every shift. I am hearing now that many restaurants don't do this anymore? I think she gave most of her money to me for rent - she was a month behind and I had issued her a 5-day pay or quit/eviction notice as I was prepared to take her to court and get her out of my house. Umm, but she should be able to collect unemployment and there's always emergency food stamps in such situations.
I am wondering how long it is going to take her to find another job and more importantly: how long before I see another dime from her. Currently, she is 10 days past due on this month's rent. Will I just up and throw her out? No, but she does have a very viable option, one that she should be seriously considering: school. She should just go back to school. She will start receiving almost $1,400 a month from the military for doing such and she NEEDS an education, anyway. The schooling is also paid for by the military, the only expense she has is to go and learn.
Now, if I were in her situation, which I'm not, but if I were, I would drop all ideas of finding another job immediately and just go re-start the schooling up. Then I would go find another part-time job. But that's just me.
On the other tenant front, the "family" is desperately trying to find their own apartment. Bad credit, apparently, is holding them back. Honestly? I can't wait til' they leave. I have heard enough complaints about their levels of cleanliness - or lack thereof - including having sex in the bathroom - that they are prime candidates for the fence action: don't let it hit you in the @$$ on the way out. Nice people, yes, but seriously.
The OTHER tenant - the one I got into it with about computer use the other day - is not speaking to me. I don't wonder if this entire lot of tenants are on their way out now. Which wouldn't bother me in the least, start over fresh and new. But, I am definitely going to have the big room available again, wonder what kind of person I will end up with in there this time?
So, that's that. The reason I am not concerned about any of this is because I have all that tax money sitting in the bank. I don't have to worry about whether I can pay the mortgage or not. Not that I am going to leave those rooms empty, but, I am not going to be robbing Peter to pay Paul type of thing here, either.
Umm, what else? Like, what am I doing this weekend? I dunno, but I have been working out like crazy of lates. I have been sitting on that diet, too, meaning I have been watching the calories closely. Yesterday was a total of 1,200 calories on low fat, low calorie meals. I'm finding it easier to just buy the Weight Watchers frozen meals or similar type to keep track of calories than trying to do it myself. I am only feeding myself now, so no big deal, plus I always find one of those brands of frozen meals on sale, so I am not paying a fortune for them, either.
June 10, 2011 6:05 AM
Anonymous said...
Yesterday, I finally was able to take the semi in to get the AC fixed. It will probably be in the shop until Monday. Meanwhile, we also got a brand new pickup with a rack on it - meaning I can do deliveries in a pickup truck more often than in the semi. We didn't have a rack on the old pickup, it was only a half ton truck and it was pretty worthless for deliveries. Meaning, anyway, that I am not going to have to spend next week in a very hot semi truck. It is going to start getting hot next week, at least according to the weather reports, I was making quite a fuss about getting in. It's the only way to get something like that done - otherwise, they "need" for the use of the truck out weighs the need for the comfort of the driver.
Yes, well I am at an age - or mindset - now that I don't WANT to sit in a hot truck, burning up. I guess my constant prodding about it - whether that is advisable or not I didn't care - finally got the situation taken care of.
The Wallow fire finally is at 5% containment. Considering it has been at 0% containment for all this time, that's at least a foot in the door. When this thing is done and over with, I want to go up there and look at what it looks like now. I have seen it - 50 times at least on camping trips - in the beautiful, pristine state it WAS in, then to see what it looks like after an idiot or idiots left a camp fire burning, unattended.
I will be calling my son tomorrow to see how things are going. But I am guessing the real excitement doesn't start until Sunday or Monday, when actual campers/kids show up. It isn't some regimented thing, it's a fun camp with all kinds of fun things to do. Which is cool. Caleb hasn't called for a ride back, which I wouldn't give to him anyway, lol, he made a commitment and I would try to talk him into keeping that commitment regardless of how "hard" it may be. I didn't think he would, though.
I remember my first year on the mission field, conditions were pretty bad and I could only think about quitting. The ONLY reason I stayed is because of a thing my dad planted in my head: I suggest you commit to staying there for at least a year. I also suggest that no matter how hard or bad things get - unless beyond reasonable - you stay and tough it out.
Those words have really stuck with me my entire adult life. Usually, you get to the other side of something difficult and you are a better person for having had gone through it. You also feel good that you didn't quit and there is relief - whatever it is - that made the struggle worth it.
Anyway, the final work day of this week is upon me, must be offa here.
ben
Thursday 6/9/2011
Thursday
Week is flying by, which is a good thing.
Well look, the biggest news around here is still the fire, actually more than one fire is burning in this state. But the Wallow fire is the biggest news, considering it's enormity and apparently grasping the attention of the nation.
I was surprised to learn that the 747 super tanker was just now scheduled to be brought in. I mean, they don't make 'em bigger than that. I have seen the 747 Evergreen plane parked at the Mesa/Phoenix Gateway airport on numerous occasions. http://www.evergreenaviation.com/supertanker/index.html
Take a look at THAT thing spewing out fire retardant! Who'da thought they would ever be able to use an aircraft that large in that capacity? Not me!
Fire officials are still fearing the possibility of any one of a number of small, mountain towns possibly being burned up and several of them have been completely evacuated. This is crazy stuff going on up there - and it just happens that this is definitely not the rainy season. If it was, this fire would not be an issue, the forests would be soaked and fire control would be easy.
It makes the point to ban camp fires completely. There are too many idiots going up there that don't give a hootinanny's holler about whether they trash the natural beauty of our forests or not. Go up there and find trash and beer cans laying all over the place. It's not surprising that some moron left a campfire unattended and burning, a BIG no-no, something I learned as a little kid in the cub scouts, much less going on frequent camping trips with my family.
I imagine a push to ban open fires is going to come at this point. It's ridiculous. Go buy a camp stove and cook on that thing, you want to sit around a campfire and sing songs, tough, it only takes a few instances like this to figure out that there are too many know-nothings going up there that don't have a clue.
I mean, really. I learned at a very young age that you smother fires with dirt if you don't have water and you stick around and keep smothering it until you are absolutely sure the fire is out. Not just the fire, the hot coals that feed it from underneath. Smother it or drench it, but get it all the way out.
I used to think everyone knew this, but experience over the last several decades proved otherwise. Coming upon smoldering camp fires with no one around and obviously not coming back. It really ticked me off, though, when I started seeing dozens of beer bottles and cans in otherwise pristine forest laying all over the ground.
Well, whatever. The work day is almost here and I must be offa here.
ben
Week is flying by, which is a good thing.
Well look, the biggest news around here is still the fire, actually more than one fire is burning in this state. But the Wallow fire is the biggest news, considering it's enormity and apparently grasping the attention of the nation.
I was surprised to learn that the 747 super tanker was just now scheduled to be brought in. I mean, they don't make 'em bigger than that. I have seen the 747 Evergreen plane parked at the Mesa/Phoenix Gateway airport on numerous occasions. http://www.evergreenaviation.com/supertanker/index.html
Take a look at THAT thing spewing out fire retardant! Who'da thought they would ever be able to use an aircraft that large in that capacity? Not me!
Fire officials are still fearing the possibility of any one of a number of small, mountain towns possibly being burned up and several of them have been completely evacuated. This is crazy stuff going on up there - and it just happens that this is definitely not the rainy season. If it was, this fire would not be an issue, the forests would be soaked and fire control would be easy.
It makes the point to ban camp fires completely. There are too many idiots going up there that don't give a hootinanny's holler about whether they trash the natural beauty of our forests or not. Go up there and find trash and beer cans laying all over the place. It's not surprising that some moron left a campfire unattended and burning, a BIG no-no, something I learned as a little kid in the cub scouts, much less going on frequent camping trips with my family.
I imagine a push to ban open fires is going to come at this point. It's ridiculous. Go buy a camp stove and cook on that thing, you want to sit around a campfire and sing songs, tough, it only takes a few instances like this to figure out that there are too many know-nothings going up there that don't have a clue.
I mean, really. I learned at a very young age that you smother fires with dirt if you don't have water and you stick around and keep smothering it until you are absolutely sure the fire is out. Not just the fire, the hot coals that feed it from underneath. Smother it or drench it, but get it all the way out.
I used to think everyone knew this, but experience over the last several decades proved otherwise. Coming upon smoldering camp fires with no one around and obviously not coming back. It really ticked me off, though, when I started seeing dozens of beer bottles and cans in otherwise pristine forest laying all over the ground.
Well, whatever. The work day is almost here and I must be offa here.
ben
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Wednesday 6/8/2011
Wednesday
I've pretty much caught a break this week: the temps are staying down, less than 100 degrees. Driving around in a semi with no AC in 98 degree heat isn't exactly fun, but it's nothing like what it would be if it were 110 out there. That truck is going into the shop no later than Friday afternoon and that's the end of the story, at least if I have anything to do with it. Next week, they have Friday slated with a high of 112.
Speaking of semi's, we're smack dab in the middle of a nationwide effort to stop commercial vehicles and do inspections. They set up 1,000's of stations all over the country. I have been avoiding the roads and areas where they are known to set up such stations, but that doesn't mean I won't hit one today, unfortunately, as I am heading south to the Indian reservation and one of the areas I have no choice but to drive through goes right by an area where they love to pull over trucks.
On the theme of heat, we are getting it lucky, apparently lots of the rest of the country is not. The bad part about that is, is that when high heat hits areas where people are neither used to it nor are prepared for it, you often read about heat-related deaths in the news. We used to get that at the beginning of the high heat here, every summer as well: construction workers who have just moved here thinking they can just go all day long as they would in some other region and not hydrating or cooling off properly. Heat stroke, baaam, goodbye. Used to, because construction work around these parts is almost non-existent compared to what it used to be before the housing bubble.
I haven't heard from Caleb since I dropped him off, but then again, I wasn't expecting to. I will call him on Saturday or Sunday and see how things are going. I'm sure the leader of that camp uses this training week to figure out who is going to do what in levels of importance and yes, stature. I fully expect that Caleb will excel and thrive in whatever role he is placed in.
As for me, I have stepped up my search for a churchy. I MUST get back into church, I feel almost as if I have isolated myself from the world in not going, not making new friends and basically giving up on the whole thing. It was easy to do during the divorce - quit that is - now it's not so easy to start all this up again.
I am not the most trusting soul after that ordeal and the idea of having to start from the beginning in yet another church isn't very palatable. That is mostly why I haven't really gone, I won't know anyone and I will be starting from scratch. I will have to put forth more energy than I want to to get involved and start building new relationships.
But I am still looking at a couple of places, anyway.
Umm, Rey had a cousin over last night. This was obvious in what was attempting to be done here: hook me up. Problem? This girl is like 20 years old, lol, and has a 4 year old kid! I was polite and visited with them, but clearly made no "advances".
Anyway, that's enough. The fire up north(east) is still out of control, though they seem to be getting it controlled enough to not burn down entire small towns. Hundreds of thousands of acres are already burned. Gag. Our forests are turning into blackened wastelands. I mean, great that they are saving the communities, bad that everything around those communities is going to look like a scene from one of those movies where earth has become a nuclear wasteland.
I'm done. Preparing myself for the day's work ahead.
G'day.
ben
I've pretty much caught a break this week: the temps are staying down, less than 100 degrees. Driving around in a semi with no AC in 98 degree heat isn't exactly fun, but it's nothing like what it would be if it were 110 out there. That truck is going into the shop no later than Friday afternoon and that's the end of the story, at least if I have anything to do with it. Next week, they have Friday slated with a high of 112.
Speaking of semi's, we're smack dab in the middle of a nationwide effort to stop commercial vehicles and do inspections. They set up 1,000's of stations all over the country. I have been avoiding the roads and areas where they are known to set up such stations, but that doesn't mean I won't hit one today, unfortunately, as I am heading south to the Indian reservation and one of the areas I have no choice but to drive through goes right by an area where they love to pull over trucks.
On the theme of heat, we are getting it lucky, apparently lots of the rest of the country is not. The bad part about that is, is that when high heat hits areas where people are neither used to it nor are prepared for it, you often read about heat-related deaths in the news. We used to get that at the beginning of the high heat here, every summer as well: construction workers who have just moved here thinking they can just go all day long as they would in some other region and not hydrating or cooling off properly. Heat stroke, baaam, goodbye. Used to, because construction work around these parts is almost non-existent compared to what it used to be before the housing bubble.
I haven't heard from Caleb since I dropped him off, but then again, I wasn't expecting to. I will call him on Saturday or Sunday and see how things are going. I'm sure the leader of that camp uses this training week to figure out who is going to do what in levels of importance and yes, stature. I fully expect that Caleb will excel and thrive in whatever role he is placed in.
As for me, I have stepped up my search for a churchy. I MUST get back into church, I feel almost as if I have isolated myself from the world in not going, not making new friends and basically giving up on the whole thing. It was easy to do during the divorce - quit that is - now it's not so easy to start all this up again.
I am not the most trusting soul after that ordeal and the idea of having to start from the beginning in yet another church isn't very palatable. That is mostly why I haven't really gone, I won't know anyone and I will be starting from scratch. I will have to put forth more energy than I want to to get involved and start building new relationships.
But I am still looking at a couple of places, anyway.
Umm, Rey had a cousin over last night. This was obvious in what was attempting to be done here: hook me up. Problem? This girl is like 20 years old, lol, and has a 4 year old kid! I was polite and visited with them, but clearly made no "advances".
Anyway, that's enough. The fire up north(east) is still out of control, though they seem to be getting it controlled enough to not burn down entire small towns. Hundreds of thousands of acres are already burned. Gag. Our forests are turning into blackened wastelands. I mean, great that they are saving the communities, bad that everything around those communities is going to look like a scene from one of those movies where earth has become a nuclear wasteland.
I'm done. Preparing myself for the day's work ahead.
G'day.
ben
Tuesday 6/7/2011
Tuesday
Well, one thing I have pretty good grasp on: there area where Caleb is, is not threatened, whatsoever, by the Wallow fire. There may be a lot of smoke, I dunno about that. My ex spoke with him yesterday and he is doing well. I am not going to bother him until this coming weekend when all the learning/training is over and he is on the verge of kids showing up and doing - camp stuff.
He will be so engrossed in what he is doing, I suspect, that the idea of getting "homesick" will undoubtedly not even cross his mind.
Anyway, the fire is the big news around these parts and rightly so: many of the communities threatened are Phoenician summer getaways. Go up there to camp or get a room at a lodge and enjoy the mountain fresh air, cooler temps and scenery - which apparently is going to go to pot. Instead of tall pines there's going to be blackened earth. Even if those communities survive the fire, I wonder what kind of tourism it's going to be with that kind of view?
Dunno, can't do anything about it. The only real thing that would stop this fire right now is a good downpouring of rain.
Well, a drive to up to - the mountains. Nowhere near the fire, fortunately as I don't want to be exposed to breathing in all that smoke. My system does not do well in such situations.
I'm also weighing whether I should even take a vacation. Just when you think maybe there is a glimmer of hope for the economy, some of the finanical "gurus" start talking a double-dip recession and even a few of them suggesting a depression just around the corner.
Dunno. Maybe get some camping equipment and just go up to the mountains - where there is no fire, thank you, still plenty of that around just in a different direction - and enjoy something other than sitting at home all the time, especially with summer. I dunno, though, about taking all those dogs with me, I think that might be a handful. 1 dog?
Work day approaches and already before starting time there are have been 2 people in here - in grumpy moods, to say the least, about their situation for today.
Fortunately, I neither had anything to do with their mood or have anything to do with what they are going to have to do today, lol.
G'day.
ben
Well, one thing I have pretty good grasp on: there area where Caleb is, is not threatened, whatsoever, by the Wallow fire. There may be a lot of smoke, I dunno about that. My ex spoke with him yesterday and he is doing well. I am not going to bother him until this coming weekend when all the learning/training is over and he is on the verge of kids showing up and doing - camp stuff.
He will be so engrossed in what he is doing, I suspect, that the idea of getting "homesick" will undoubtedly not even cross his mind.
Anyway, the fire is the big news around these parts and rightly so: many of the communities threatened are Phoenician summer getaways. Go up there to camp or get a room at a lodge and enjoy the mountain fresh air, cooler temps and scenery - which apparently is going to go to pot. Instead of tall pines there's going to be blackened earth. Even if those communities survive the fire, I wonder what kind of tourism it's going to be with that kind of view?
Dunno, can't do anything about it. The only real thing that would stop this fire right now is a good downpouring of rain.
Well, a drive to up to - the mountains. Nowhere near the fire, fortunately as I don't want to be exposed to breathing in all that smoke. My system does not do well in such situations.
I'm also weighing whether I should even take a vacation. Just when you think maybe there is a glimmer of hope for the economy, some of the finanical "gurus" start talking a double-dip recession and even a few of them suggesting a depression just around the corner.
Dunno. Maybe get some camping equipment and just go up to the mountains - where there is no fire, thank you, still plenty of that around just in a different direction - and enjoy something other than sitting at home all the time, especially with summer. I dunno, though, about taking all those dogs with me, I think that might be a handful. 1 dog?
Work day approaches and already before starting time there are have been 2 people in here - in grumpy moods, to say the least, about their situation for today.
Fortunately, I neither had anything to do with their mood or have anything to do with what they are going to have to do today, lol.
G'day.
ben
Monday, June 6, 2011
Trouble In The Mountains
The fire - called the Wallow fire - in the northeastern section of Arizona is growing and they are still saying it is zero percent contained.
My curiosity was piqued when Lynnette comes in and tells me heard "something" about Heber and Showlow being evacuated on channel 10 news just now. Huh? That fire is over 100 miles away, that can't be right. I couldn't find anything on the news about THAT, Heber was already burned out, so to speak, some 9 years ago. A lot of land was burned and there isn't enough fuel for a fire to rage through there, I don't think anyway, as it is in the woods.
So, alerted for a moment, standing down. Now, there might be a problem with smoke and breathing problems, who knows, I read online the smoke is being seen as far north as Iowa! Rest assured if there was some sort of evacuation called for Heber, I would be up there in a hurry to get my boy.
In other news, I was just asked by a tenant that is moving out for a $245 loan. I gave it no thought, whatsoever: no. I'm going to loan money to a tenant to move into his own apartment? And I am going to see the repayment of this money, when, exactly?
I haven't seen the kid tenant since I - finally - gave him an overdose of his own medicine last night.
About the usual stuff going on over here.
My curiosity was piqued when Lynnette comes in and tells me heard "something" about Heber and Showlow being evacuated on channel 10 news just now. Huh? That fire is over 100 miles away, that can't be right. I couldn't find anything on the news about THAT, Heber was already burned out, so to speak, some 9 years ago. A lot of land was burned and there isn't enough fuel for a fire to rage through there, I don't think anyway, as it is in the woods.
So, alerted for a moment, standing down. Now, there might be a problem with smoke and breathing problems, who knows, I read online the smoke is being seen as far north as Iowa! Rest assured if there was some sort of evacuation called for Heber, I would be up there in a hurry to get my boy.
In other news, I was just asked by a tenant that is moving out for a $245 loan. I gave it no thought, whatsoever: no. I'm going to loan money to a tenant to move into his own apartment? And I am going to see the repayment of this money, when, exactly?
I haven't seen the kid tenant since I - finally - gave him an overdose of his own medicine last night.
About the usual stuff going on over here.
Monday 6/6/2011
Monday
JD shows up early last night.
What's up? I ask him, you're hear early.
Well I wanted to ask you about that note you left the other day.
The note was to the kid tenant: stop telling people to get off of the computer, thank you. He will tell people flat out to get off the thing because "I need to use it".
Not in MY house that kind of s*** isn't going to happen. Well, I started explaining it and then the kid tenant (he's like 23 years old, I think) comes out and interjects himself into the conversation. He got instantly into "in your face" mode and I was having none of it. I got right back in his face and then he left the F bomb drop.
I was all over that. Hey dude, let me offer this proposal to you: STAY THE **** OFF OF MY COMPUTER. I got flaming mad at the point he let the f bomb drop and yes, I raised my voice considerably. No need to go into all of it. He lost, I won. He backed down, still tried to argue, I just said the same thing: my way or nothing. It's MY computer, I will have done with it as I please.
The problem with this kid is he doesn't ever try to see things through another person's eyes. He ONLY sees things through HIS rather tunnel-visioned eyes and he seemingly doesn't CARE what is going on with anyone else. I did try to get that through his thick skull last night: try just for once placing yourself in someone else's shoes.
I'll just get off of that now. I just read an email from my manager: apparently Monday has blown up. Too much to do, too many people wanting things done at such and such a time, are we going to be able to do it, please try to be ready to leave by the time I get there. He shows up later than I do by design.
June 7th through June 9th. The commercial vehical safety alliance. This is an annual thing, I think. They pull trucks over and do inspections. When I say an inspection, I mean open up the hood, get out the creeper and crwl under the truck, THAT kind of inspection. Besides the AC not working the thing, everything else is cherry. Working AC is not, obviously, required as a functioning part of a tractor trailer rig. I do not, however, want any part of any inspections and I will avoiding their favorite places to pull trucks over, even if it means going out of my way to get somewhere. I have HAD that truck inspected, 6 ways from Sunday, it's in excellent condition. Inspections take time, too much time.
Umm, well anyway. The Big Weekend is over, Caleb is up in his temporary new life in the mountains, I will wait until the weekend and see how it's going. He's only doing training this week, kids don't actually start showing up until Monday. I'm sure he'll do fine, in fact, I fully expect that he will excell in his position and that they will love him up there. He is great with kids and he has already been in a leadership role through the JROTC as a commander over 60 kids. I expect in life that he will be management material wherever he goes, if that's the case and if he "succeeds" in life - then my job is over. He will have done better than I and that is good with me.
Bad news: the Wallop fire may take down both Greer and Alpine, AZ. I have spent some time in Greer, it's a popular vacation spot for Phoenicians to go up into the mountains and get out of the heat during the summer. They are evacuating both towns. The fire is out of control, has zero containment and God help those people that live up there. Pray for rain, that's all I can say.
Well, time is up and I am going straight to work.
G'day.
ben
JD shows up early last night.
What's up? I ask him, you're hear early.
Well I wanted to ask you about that note you left the other day.
The note was to the kid tenant: stop telling people to get off of the computer, thank you. He will tell people flat out to get off the thing because "I need to use it".
Not in MY house that kind of s*** isn't going to happen. Well, I started explaining it and then the kid tenant (he's like 23 years old, I think) comes out and interjects himself into the conversation. He got instantly into "in your face" mode and I was having none of it. I got right back in his face and then he left the F bomb drop.
I was all over that. Hey dude, let me offer this proposal to you: STAY THE **** OFF OF MY COMPUTER. I got flaming mad at the point he let the f bomb drop and yes, I raised my voice considerably. No need to go into all of it. He lost, I won. He backed down, still tried to argue, I just said the same thing: my way or nothing. It's MY computer, I will have done with it as I please.
The problem with this kid is he doesn't ever try to see things through another person's eyes. He ONLY sees things through HIS rather tunnel-visioned eyes and he seemingly doesn't CARE what is going on with anyone else. I did try to get that through his thick skull last night: try just for once placing yourself in someone else's shoes.
I'll just get off of that now. I just read an email from my manager: apparently Monday has blown up. Too much to do, too many people wanting things done at such and such a time, are we going to be able to do it, please try to be ready to leave by the time I get there. He shows up later than I do by design.
June 7th through June 9th. The commercial vehical safety alliance. This is an annual thing, I think. They pull trucks over and do inspections. When I say an inspection, I mean open up the hood, get out the creeper and crwl under the truck, THAT kind of inspection. Besides the AC not working the thing, everything else is cherry. Working AC is not, obviously, required as a functioning part of a tractor trailer rig. I do not, however, want any part of any inspections and I will avoiding their favorite places to pull trucks over, even if it means going out of my way to get somewhere. I have HAD that truck inspected, 6 ways from Sunday, it's in excellent condition. Inspections take time, too much time.
Umm, well anyway. The Big Weekend is over, Caleb is up in his temporary new life in the mountains, I will wait until the weekend and see how it's going. He's only doing training this week, kids don't actually start showing up until Monday. I'm sure he'll do fine, in fact, I fully expect that he will excell in his position and that they will love him up there. He is great with kids and he has already been in a leadership role through the JROTC as a commander over 60 kids. I expect in life that he will be management material wherever he goes, if that's the case and if he "succeeds" in life - then my job is over. He will have done better than I and that is good with me.
Bad news: the Wallop fire may take down both Greer and Alpine, AZ. I have spent some time in Greer, it's a popular vacation spot for Phoenicians to go up into the mountains and get out of the heat during the summer. They are evacuating both towns. The fire is out of control, has zero containment and God help those people that live up there. Pray for rain, that's all I can say.
Well, time is up and I am going straight to work.
G'day.
ben
Sunday, June 5, 2011
The Trip
Ummm, it was a good day and a an odd day at the same time.
The new tire I put on the car took care of the vibration problem - a good thing considering a 300 mile round trip.
Caleb and I talked most of the way up there. I knew I wasn't going to see him again for 2 months unless I make a trip up there and I don't even know if he wants that kind of intrusion. It was a nice drive and I was glad I was able to do it instead of someone else doing it for him.
Such as my mother, who wanted to take him up there. No, mom, I'm doing to do it, I WANT to do it, but thanks for the offer. It isn't any kind of inconvenience for me, at all. I hadn't been up that road in quite a while, I had forgotten all the construction that was going on a few years ago - and still is. They are turning a long stretch of 2 lane highway into 4 lanes, divided. I don't really like it, to be honest. My memories are of a small, narrow, 2 lane highway surrounded by the woods. Now it's 4 huge lanes with a huge divider and the woods are well off to the side.
But, that is neither here nor there, just saying.
We got to Heber and went to a steak house for lunch. Not giving him up quite that fast, lol. He had a buffalo chicken wrap, I had a rib eye steak.
We spend some time talking there as well. We also watched a group of bikers pull in. One of them put out the kick stand, got off and started walking away. The bike - a Harley - fell over and smashed the pickup truck next to it. Ouch!!
Then came the time to go to the camp. Just a few miles down the road. We pulled in. I was in awe of the size of the place. Very clean, kempt and very nice layout. 15 buildings I am guessing, anyway. We got out of the car, went to an out door covered area where there was some people sitting at picnic tables with laptops. They were part of the staff who introduced themselves and we introduced ourselves back. Led inside the building where the real management was, apparently. One man was obviously the dude over the entire place.
Very charismatic and definitely in charge of the place. He introduced himself and we all got into a conversation, though I didn't want to interject myself too much, this is Caleb's deal, not mine, he is going to have to figure this one out on his own and this is what life is about.
I do feel he is going to fit right in with that crowd and I believe he is going to do very well, but that, of course, coming from a potentially less-than-objective viewpoint considering I am his father and I am very proud of what he has done and what he is doing with his life. FAR better than what I did at his age.
So, anyway, got done with the paperwork - he can sign for himself now that he's 18, lol, and then he got into a golf cart thingy with that guy and another leader and I got into my car to follow them to his new living quarters for the next week. A LONG drive, too. Passed all kinds of buildings, including a huge mess hall, a large church and numerous smaller buildings that were designated for varying purposes.
We finally pulled up to a grouping of 3 large buildings. "Cabins", if you can call them that, for the girls. The boys and the girls are separated by QUITE the distance in their quarters. One thing that did hold true, though: large rooms filled with bunk beds. Reminded me of when I was a kid. I have to admit, though, my memories of staying in real cabins struck me as better than staying in modernized buildings. I am a true camper at heart, I can stay in a tent, sleeping bag and have all my own stuff and not have ANY of life's modernizations around me besides what I brought with me and be PERFECTLY happy.
The time was rapidly slipping away, I knew I would have to bid him good bye and I didn't want to do it. Call me sappy if you want. I won't see him for 2 months, but it's a taste of things to come, he will be gone soon enough into his own life and I will be a very small part of it. I will always be there for him as long as I am alive, of course, but the natural course of things is for the offspring to depart from their parents. We took his things in there and then back out onto the porch, where I asked the guy in charge to snap a pic of us. He said he would be honored to and snapped off 2 photos.
We then left those buildings, Caleb got back into the car with me and we drove back up front. We got out, I hugged him and said goodbye, as did he. My son is a gift to me, I will always think that way about him. There are certain things in my life that I consider extremely precious, Caleb is one of those. The only thing I can do now is pray for him. My mother is going to go up there and take him out to lunch sometime during his stay - he doesn't have to work 7 days a week, they get free time on odd days and she asked him if it would be okay, of which he said of course.
And that was it. I watched him walk off to the picnic tables where we had started this out with and then walked into the building. He looked back and waved, I waved back, turned the car on and left.
It was a "nest is empty" moment for me. But, I am happy for him, I hope he has a good time up there.
I wasted no time, though, getting out of there when it was time to leave. Sunday afternoon, people heading home from the mountains, popular thing to do when it starts getting warm. The highway was already getting filled up and I didn't want to get stuck in a huge traffic jam. Admittedly, however, that thought hadn't even crossed my mind until I had actually left and saw what was going on out there. It took a bit longer to get home than going up there with the traffic, but it was a nice drive so no biggies.
That's it.
ben
The new tire I put on the car took care of the vibration problem - a good thing considering a 300 mile round trip.
Caleb and I talked most of the way up there. I knew I wasn't going to see him again for 2 months unless I make a trip up there and I don't even know if he wants that kind of intrusion. It was a nice drive and I was glad I was able to do it instead of someone else doing it for him.
Such as my mother, who wanted to take him up there. No, mom, I'm doing to do it, I WANT to do it, but thanks for the offer. It isn't any kind of inconvenience for me, at all. I hadn't been up that road in quite a while, I had forgotten all the construction that was going on a few years ago - and still is. They are turning a long stretch of 2 lane highway into 4 lanes, divided. I don't really like it, to be honest. My memories are of a small, narrow, 2 lane highway surrounded by the woods. Now it's 4 huge lanes with a huge divider and the woods are well off to the side.
But, that is neither here nor there, just saying.
We got to Heber and went to a steak house for lunch. Not giving him up quite that fast, lol. He had a buffalo chicken wrap, I had a rib eye steak.
We spend some time talking there as well. We also watched a group of bikers pull in. One of them put out the kick stand, got off and started walking away. The bike - a Harley - fell over and smashed the pickup truck next to it. Ouch!!
Then came the time to go to the camp. Just a few miles down the road. We pulled in. I was in awe of the size of the place. Very clean, kempt and very nice layout. 15 buildings I am guessing, anyway. We got out of the car, went to an out door covered area where there was some people sitting at picnic tables with laptops. They were part of the staff who introduced themselves and we introduced ourselves back. Led inside the building where the real management was, apparently. One man was obviously the dude over the entire place.
Very charismatic and definitely in charge of the place. He introduced himself and we all got into a conversation, though I didn't want to interject myself too much, this is Caleb's deal, not mine, he is going to have to figure this one out on his own and this is what life is about.
I do feel he is going to fit right in with that crowd and I believe he is going to do very well, but that, of course, coming from a potentially less-than-objective viewpoint considering I am his father and I am very proud of what he has done and what he is doing with his life. FAR better than what I did at his age.
So, anyway, got done with the paperwork - he can sign for himself now that he's 18, lol, and then he got into a golf cart thingy with that guy and another leader and I got into my car to follow them to his new living quarters for the next week. A LONG drive, too. Passed all kinds of buildings, including a huge mess hall, a large church and numerous smaller buildings that were designated for varying purposes.
We finally pulled up to a grouping of 3 large buildings. "Cabins", if you can call them that, for the girls. The boys and the girls are separated by QUITE the distance in their quarters. One thing that did hold true, though: large rooms filled with bunk beds. Reminded me of when I was a kid. I have to admit, though, my memories of staying in real cabins struck me as better than staying in modernized buildings. I am a true camper at heart, I can stay in a tent, sleeping bag and have all my own stuff and not have ANY of life's modernizations around me besides what I brought with me and be PERFECTLY happy.
The time was rapidly slipping away, I knew I would have to bid him good bye and I didn't want to do it. Call me sappy if you want. I won't see him for 2 months, but it's a taste of things to come, he will be gone soon enough into his own life and I will be a very small part of it. I will always be there for him as long as I am alive, of course, but the natural course of things is for the offspring to depart from their parents. We took his things in there and then back out onto the porch, where I asked the guy in charge to snap a pic of us. He said he would be honored to and snapped off 2 photos.
We then left those buildings, Caleb got back into the car with me and we drove back up front. We got out, I hugged him and said goodbye, as did he. My son is a gift to me, I will always think that way about him. There are certain things in my life that I consider extremely precious, Caleb is one of those. The only thing I can do now is pray for him. My mother is going to go up there and take him out to lunch sometime during his stay - he doesn't have to work 7 days a week, they get free time on odd days and she asked him if it would be okay, of which he said of course.
And that was it. I watched him walk off to the picnic tables where we had started this out with and then walked into the building. He looked back and waved, I waved back, turned the car on and left.
It was a "nest is empty" moment for me. But, I am happy for him, I hope he has a good time up there.
I wasted no time, though, getting out of there when it was time to leave. Sunday afternoon, people heading home from the mountains, popular thing to do when it starts getting warm. The highway was already getting filled up and I didn't want to get stuck in a huge traffic jam. Admittedly, however, that thought hadn't even crossed my mind until I had actually left and saw what was going on out there. It took a bit longer to get home than going up there with the traffic, but it was a nice drive so no biggies.
That's it.
ben
Sunday 6/5/2011
Just a quick note here.
Taking off to Heber/White Mountains in just a few minutes.
Arizona is on fire again, but Heber looks to be at least 70 miles from the flames.
I hope it stays that way.
Just looked it up, much further than that, the fire is threatening the town of Alpine - been through there many times in the past - it's 111 miles from Heber.
Heber already was partially subjected to the largest wild fire in AZ history early last decade when a firefighter that "needed work" intentionally started a blaze at one place and a woman who was lost intentionally started a blaze at another. Eventually, the two came together and burned over 500,000 acres of forest.
I don't think they pressed charges against the woman, though they certainly gave her a hard time about it, the ex-firefighter is in prison.
So, I haven't been up there since that fire and it will be interesting to see how Mother Nature has worked to bring it back. My mother's property was subjected to fire long ago, before she bought it, trees were growing back, brush, it's the way of the wild, I do believe.
Anyway, I think my son is excited about the adventure, I do believe that he is going to find it isn't ALL fun and games, especially dealing with troubled youth. I am going to encourage him to stick with it regardless of how hard it gets. He is getting paid for his time up there, I think a couple of grand for the 2 months. Not great money, but not bad, either, considering room and board/eating. Plus, I am going to take some pics,it's really majestic views.
Later.
ben
Taking off to Heber/White Mountains in just a few minutes.
Arizona is on fire again, but Heber looks to be at least 70 miles from the flames.
I hope it stays that way.
Just looked it up, much further than that, the fire is threatening the town of Alpine - been through there many times in the past - it's 111 miles from Heber.
Heber already was partially subjected to the largest wild fire in AZ history early last decade when a firefighter that "needed work" intentionally started a blaze at one place and a woman who was lost intentionally started a blaze at another. Eventually, the two came together and burned over 500,000 acres of forest.
I don't think they pressed charges against the woman, though they certainly gave her a hard time about it, the ex-firefighter is in prison.
So, I haven't been up there since that fire and it will be interesting to see how Mother Nature has worked to bring it back. My mother's property was subjected to fire long ago, before she bought it, trees were growing back, brush, it's the way of the wild, I do believe.
Anyway, I think my son is excited about the adventure, I do believe that he is going to find it isn't ALL fun and games, especially dealing with troubled youth. I am going to encourage him to stick with it regardless of how hard it gets. He is getting paid for his time up there, I think a couple of grand for the 2 months. Not great money, but not bad, either, considering room and board/eating. Plus, I am going to take some pics,it's really majestic views.
Later.
ben
Friday, June 3, 2011
Lookit' What The Cat Dragged In
Caleb brings home an old friend - one we both know from years past. Like at least 6 years now.
His name is Kyle. He has been in and out of trouble. Last I had heard of him, he had disappeared. He became hooked on heroin and that's - about as bad as it gets. He had turned himself into the authorities, who put them on their style of detox: lock him in a room. No drug to help detox and get over it, either, too bad, so sad.
I get the tough approach and tough love and all of that, but a person that is hooked on heroin? The drug helps the person not throw up and have convulsions, basically.
Well, he came over with Caleb to talk to me. Yup, I know this kid pretty well. We used to talk, a lot. I asked him some pointed questions, to be frank and honest about it. He impregnated a girl and yes, she is going to have the baby. Bad? I don't think so. I think it's bad to kill a kid because the parents are messed up. Let the kid live, if the parents can't deal with it, plenty of folks are lined up to adopt babies. I am pro-life, definitely. That was an interesting conversation to say the least.
Caleb doesn't want to leave Saturday, I figured he wouldn't. Sunday will be a long day of driving. Not quite so bad while up in the mountains, and in my newer car and now the AC works in it, but still, the map says 140 miles, I don't believe it. It's 123 miles to my mother's property, which is well before you get to Heber. Same roads, shorter distance.
So, one thing I am going to spend money on with this IRS money (my money) is to get the windows on the west side of the house windows covered with solar screen. It dramatically cuts down on the amount of heat that the sun is generating coming into your house - thus - lower electric bills. Especially the kitchen sliding glass door. This is money-spent, money-saved deals. Pay for itself in a short period of time.
The non-paying tenant finally paid up - all of it - for last month Yayyyy! Which leaves this month.......
I just told the family of people that they can leave whenever they want, don't stay if you don't want to. I thought about it today: it gets to the point where there is no upside to having people living with you that don't want to be there. Numerous complaints about them have suddenly surfaced. Amazing. I ask frequently: are there any problems? Is there something going on that needs to be dealt with? Talk about opening a can of worms - but in this case, the can was opened by someone else, I am left to deal with the aftermath of a situation that I have absolutely NOTHING to do with.
AC in the semi is out. It has been for over a week now. It hit 100 today, I think. I was in that truck and it was not pleasant, and that's only at 100, what will it be like at 105? 110? Oh, yes, I know, I have done that before. It's MISERABLE. We have permission from upper management to get it fixed, problem is, we have to use it, lol. Umm, so, if it doesn't get in the shop by the end of next week, I am going to propose we get a rental truck, thank you very much. Should only need one for one day.
I am NOT going to drive around all summer long in hell heat without AC, period.
OH, last thing. Michael and Anthony. Caleb said they were just now at the black kids house down the street. I simply told Caleb to not say anything to them. I don't want them coming over here destroying things while I am either sleeping or not here, just let it go. However, it does tell me something that Michael was over there: they aren't doing so well. Michael never leaves home, hardly for anything, from home. He plays his games and that's it. If he leaves, it's because there are bad times. I figured by now that would be the case, in fact, I figured long ago that would be the case.
At this point, however, I have zero sympathy for them. That's all I am going to say about my feelings about this stuff that went on for almost 6 years. Long-time readers undoubtedly know why I am saying this at this point in my life, washed my hands of it 10 months ago and haven't looked back. I have reminisced - there were some good times - but - the last year or so of them being around? No thanks.
That's it. Tomorrow, since I am not leaving for the mountains, I am going to finish some of the pond issues. I have no other plans and don't really intend on doing much besides that. Well, I am contacting some people about solar sunscreens and getting that done soon. Pay bills online, clean house, normal stuff.
ben
His name is Kyle. He has been in and out of trouble. Last I had heard of him, he had disappeared. He became hooked on heroin and that's - about as bad as it gets. He had turned himself into the authorities, who put them on their style of detox: lock him in a room. No drug to help detox and get over it, either, too bad, so sad.
I get the tough approach and tough love and all of that, but a person that is hooked on heroin? The drug helps the person not throw up and have convulsions, basically.
Well, he came over with Caleb to talk to me. Yup, I know this kid pretty well. We used to talk, a lot. I asked him some pointed questions, to be frank and honest about it. He impregnated a girl and yes, she is going to have the baby. Bad? I don't think so. I think it's bad to kill a kid because the parents are messed up. Let the kid live, if the parents can't deal with it, plenty of folks are lined up to adopt babies. I am pro-life, definitely. That was an interesting conversation to say the least.
Caleb doesn't want to leave Saturday, I figured he wouldn't. Sunday will be a long day of driving. Not quite so bad while up in the mountains, and in my newer car and now the AC works in it, but still, the map says 140 miles, I don't believe it. It's 123 miles to my mother's property, which is well before you get to Heber. Same roads, shorter distance.
So, one thing I am going to spend money on with this IRS money (my money) is to get the windows on the west side of the house windows covered with solar screen. It dramatically cuts down on the amount of heat that the sun is generating coming into your house - thus - lower electric bills. Especially the kitchen sliding glass door. This is money-spent, money-saved deals. Pay for itself in a short period of time.
The non-paying tenant finally paid up - all of it - for last month Yayyyy! Which leaves this month.......
I just told the family of people that they can leave whenever they want, don't stay if you don't want to. I thought about it today: it gets to the point where there is no upside to having people living with you that don't want to be there. Numerous complaints about them have suddenly surfaced. Amazing. I ask frequently: are there any problems? Is there something going on that needs to be dealt with? Talk about opening a can of worms - but in this case, the can was opened by someone else, I am left to deal with the aftermath of a situation that I have absolutely NOTHING to do with.
AC in the semi is out. It has been for over a week now. It hit 100 today, I think. I was in that truck and it was not pleasant, and that's only at 100, what will it be like at 105? 110? Oh, yes, I know, I have done that before. It's MISERABLE. We have permission from upper management to get it fixed, problem is, we have to use it, lol. Umm, so, if it doesn't get in the shop by the end of next week, I am going to propose we get a rental truck, thank you very much. Should only need one for one day.
I am NOT going to drive around all summer long in hell heat without AC, period.
OH, last thing. Michael and Anthony. Caleb said they were just now at the black kids house down the street. I simply told Caleb to not say anything to them. I don't want them coming over here destroying things while I am either sleeping or not here, just let it go. However, it does tell me something that Michael was over there: they aren't doing so well. Michael never leaves home, hardly for anything, from home. He plays his games and that's it. If he leaves, it's because there are bad times. I figured by now that would be the case, in fact, I figured long ago that would be the case.
At this point, however, I have zero sympathy for them. That's all I am going to say about my feelings about this stuff that went on for almost 6 years. Long-time readers undoubtedly know why I am saying this at this point in my life, washed my hands of it 10 months ago and haven't looked back. I have reminisced - there were some good times - but - the last year or so of them being around? No thanks.
That's it. Tomorrow, since I am not leaving for the mountains, I am going to finish some of the pond issues. I have no other plans and don't really intend on doing much besides that. Well, I am contacting some people about solar sunscreens and getting that done soon. Pay bills online, clean house, normal stuff.
ben
Friday 6/3/2011
Friday
Came home from work yesterday afternoon to find 2 cop cars parked in front of my house. Good grief, WHAT now? I'm not even THERE and the cops are being called? It was the tail end of the call, the cops were leaving.
One tenant allegedly threatened another with a box knife over cleaning the bathroom, or so the cops told me. I'm sure they believed that as much as I don't believe it.
So, Rey comes out and starts telling me this story about Mark going after him with a box knife. I didn't believe him and I told him flat to his face: I seriously doubt Mark would do anything like that, at all. The man is pretty much harmless.
Rey changes his story. It was over the bathroom and he started yelling at me in front of my girlfriend's daughter - yada yada yada. I still wasn't buying that the cops were called over the bathroom and whether a person is cleaning it or not.
I brushed him off, I was in an instant bad mood and didn't feel like hearing more bull**** from the man. Much later on, Lynnette comes in and asks me to go meet Mark "by the ponds". Alright, let's here his side of the story.
I can't even print here what he told me what the real reason was. So I won't. It had nothing to do with the bathroom, it something to do with money and money owed is as far as I am going with it on a public venue. Okay, it ended with the bathroom because the 2 were pissing on each other, from what I can tell and it ALL came out, apparently. Mark cleans the bathroom, Rey doesn't clean anything. He SAYS he does, but he really doesn't.
June 3, 2011 5:57 AM
Anonymous said...
So, the end of the story? Rey, his girlfriend and his girlfriend's daughter who has been staying with them for the week (school's out, a 10 year old) are leaving. No sweat off of my back. Sort of a bad time of year to be trying to find tenants, but, fortunately, I have that IRS check sitting in my bank now. Plus I get paid today plus the money that was already in there.
Speaking of the IRS, they now want 2009 taxes. No problem, another 3 to 5 grand coming from them isn't going to bother me at all. But I thought I had turned that in? It wasn't an audit notice, whatever, no biggies, I have "all" of that information on hand - a W-2 and mortgage interest payment. But I'll have to re do 2008 to get the house fire loss to carry over through 2008 on to 2009. I dunno what kind of time limit I have, I'll call them and find out when they think it is due.
Umm, the weekend is almost here. I still haven't hashed out whether I am taking Caleb up to the White Mountains tomorrow and spend the night in a hotel or just drive all day Sunday - up and back. I would rather not drive all day Sunday, really, but I am guessing Caleb is going to want to spend his final night with his friends on Saturday night before leaving town for 2 months.
When he comes back, some of his friends who graduated will already be out of town. One of his best friends will be in boot camp somewhere, I think a couple more off to college.
Anyway, work day almost here. The workload has doubled since I left yesterday. There are 2 deliveries that I already knew about, but now there are 2 more that I didn't know about. And those 2 deliveries mean picking up stuff on the west side of Phoenix and then driving clear out to the far east valley.
Oh, yes, back to the incident with the tenants. I have been there and done that with fighting tenants in the past. The guy calling the cops was just stupid. I found out from Lynnette yesterday he was going to give me a 30 day notice - he told her this earlier this week. I assume calling the cops was his way of trying to snake out of rent. He can go piss off. I got really cranky with that guy yesterday after he lied to me. Gag. Well, I am not going to let that ruin my trip up to the mountains, I haven't been in a few years. I just hope while I'm gone that peace can be had, cause' I don't want to get an ugly phone call about the cops being there again while driving on a 2 lane road in the forest up on the Rim.
I think I'll quit there, the potential story only gets worse..........
G'day.
ben
Came home from work yesterday afternoon to find 2 cop cars parked in front of my house. Good grief, WHAT now? I'm not even THERE and the cops are being called? It was the tail end of the call, the cops were leaving.
One tenant allegedly threatened another with a box knife over cleaning the bathroom, or so the cops told me. I'm sure they believed that as much as I don't believe it.
So, Rey comes out and starts telling me this story about Mark going after him with a box knife. I didn't believe him and I told him flat to his face: I seriously doubt Mark would do anything like that, at all. The man is pretty much harmless.
Rey changes his story. It was over the bathroom and he started yelling at me in front of my girlfriend's daughter - yada yada yada. I still wasn't buying that the cops were called over the bathroom and whether a person is cleaning it or not.
I brushed him off, I was in an instant bad mood and didn't feel like hearing more bull**** from the man. Much later on, Lynnette comes in and asks me to go meet Mark "by the ponds". Alright, let's here his side of the story.
I can't even print here what he told me what the real reason was. So I won't. It had nothing to do with the bathroom, it something to do with money and money owed is as far as I am going with it on a public venue. Okay, it ended with the bathroom because the 2 were pissing on each other, from what I can tell and it ALL came out, apparently. Mark cleans the bathroom, Rey doesn't clean anything. He SAYS he does, but he really doesn't.
June 3, 2011 5:57 AM
Anonymous said...
So, the end of the story? Rey, his girlfriend and his girlfriend's daughter who has been staying with them for the week (school's out, a 10 year old) are leaving. No sweat off of my back. Sort of a bad time of year to be trying to find tenants, but, fortunately, I have that IRS check sitting in my bank now. Plus I get paid today plus the money that was already in there.
Speaking of the IRS, they now want 2009 taxes. No problem, another 3 to 5 grand coming from them isn't going to bother me at all. But I thought I had turned that in? It wasn't an audit notice, whatever, no biggies, I have "all" of that information on hand - a W-2 and mortgage interest payment. But I'll have to re do 2008 to get the house fire loss to carry over through 2008 on to 2009. I dunno what kind of time limit I have, I'll call them and find out when they think it is due.
Umm, the weekend is almost here. I still haven't hashed out whether I am taking Caleb up to the White Mountains tomorrow and spend the night in a hotel or just drive all day Sunday - up and back. I would rather not drive all day Sunday, really, but I am guessing Caleb is going to want to spend his final night with his friends on Saturday night before leaving town for 2 months.
When he comes back, some of his friends who graduated will already be out of town. One of his best friends will be in boot camp somewhere, I think a couple more off to college.
Anyway, work day almost here. The workload has doubled since I left yesterday. There are 2 deliveries that I already knew about, but now there are 2 more that I didn't know about. And those 2 deliveries mean picking up stuff on the west side of Phoenix and then driving clear out to the far east valley.
Oh, yes, back to the incident with the tenants. I have been there and done that with fighting tenants in the past. The guy calling the cops was just stupid. I found out from Lynnette yesterday he was going to give me a 30 day notice - he told her this earlier this week. I assume calling the cops was his way of trying to snake out of rent. He can go piss off. I got really cranky with that guy yesterday after he lied to me. Gag. Well, I am not going to let that ruin my trip up to the mountains, I haven't been in a few years. I just hope while I'm gone that peace can be had, cause' I don't want to get an ugly phone call about the cops being there again while driving on a 2 lane road in the forest up on the Rim.
I think I'll quit there, the potential story only gets worse..........
G'day.
ben
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Thursday 6/2/2011
Thursday
Normally, the bank would put a hold on a check that large. Not an IRS/government backed check, apparently. Instant credit. I haven't seen that much money in my checking account since my house burned down and my dad wrote me out a large check to help me out.
Anyway, Thursday. Inching closer to Caleb's departure day. He's been hanging out with friends quite a lot - it has come to all of their attention that soon, everyone is going their separate ways and probably won't be seeing each other again for a while - quite a while. Maybe never. That's the way it goes in life.
But you never know. Facebook wasn't around when I was that age, computers weren't even that popular now that I think of it.
Anyway, I haven't been up in the White Mountains in years, it will be just as good a trip for me to get away as it is for my son to get jump started into adult life. Welcome to the real world, now go to the mountains, lol.
Ummm, well I got busy again, time to end this one.
Later.
ben
Normally, the bank would put a hold on a check that large. Not an IRS/government backed check, apparently. Instant credit. I haven't seen that much money in my checking account since my house burned down and my dad wrote me out a large check to help me out.
Anyway, Thursday. Inching closer to Caleb's departure day. He's been hanging out with friends quite a lot - it has come to all of their attention that soon, everyone is going their separate ways and probably won't be seeing each other again for a while - quite a while. Maybe never. That's the way it goes in life.
But you never know. Facebook wasn't around when I was that age, computers weren't even that popular now that I think of it.
Anyway, I haven't been up in the White Mountains in years, it will be just as good a trip for me to get away as it is for my son to get jump started into adult life. Welcome to the real world, now go to the mountains, lol.
Ummm, well I got busy again, time to end this one.
Later.
ben
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