.......an answer to all of this junk with these 2 idiots living down the street. It takes quite a while to explain myself to the police every time they are called and I have to go through the ENTIRE history to get them up to snuff as to why this situation has deteriorated to the point that it has (although, that was more the next door neighbors. Ever since they put up that ugly, galvanized roofing material against their side of the fence, the problem has completely abated. I'll take the ugly roofing material over this s*** that was going on with them any day of the year!).
The obvious answer, the answer that I knew long before they advised me to do so, is to get an Injunction Against Harassment against both of them. I have wanted to do it, but going to court and getting it is time consuming and a real pain. It doesn't take much to convince a judge to give one out because the party that gets it can go to court and attempt to get it knocked down.
Of which, of course, I would be showing up for any such court dates and giving my rather lengthy, detailed side of the story, none of it made up, all of it true, and all of it very damning to them, if the judge happens to believe it. When it comes to court and these injunctions, it's all about presentation and making yourself believable. The story has to be believable, the situation that caused it has to be credible. You have to really think it through before going to court. You have to write it all out so you can see it on paper and really get the depth of what is happening and get into your mind any defense for any question. The judge doesn't want to wait for your answer, if you are not prepared, you lose credibility.
I am not afraid of such and I would definitely take the time to do all of that. I am just about convinced that it's time to really get my butt down there and get this over with. I wouldn't have to explain anything to police anymore, just hand them the copies of the papers and that would be the end of it. That would be the advantage to getting such. This is obviously going to happen again, and again and again. I am going to have to stand on my property and give this lengthy explanation, over and over.
I wouldn't have to do that if it weren't different cops, EACH and EVERY time they come to my house. I am dead serious, you never get the same cops twice. Or if you do, they come after the fact and are not the first on scene, therefore they don't really do much but give "backup" in a situation that definitely does not need backup. I will someday find it humorous that the Phoenix Police department found it necessary to send over half a dozen cop cars to this call. I am not particularly amused right now.
Rising on the list of priorities is a trip to the Justice of the Peace and filing for the injunctions against both of them at the same time. An injunction would shut them both up. They would not be able to do anything, they wouldn't be able to talk to me or come anywhere near my house.
Changing the subject, the lady that one of my tenants brought home today is the nicest, sweetest gal I have met in a long time. I think she has spent as much time talking to me as she has with him. Not that I was trying to steal her away from him, just good conversation is sometimes in the "thin" to "non-existent" department with individuals whose minds seem enveloped by current-day electronic gadgets and societal "norms" of which I do not consider normal at all. I am not sorry to tell you that if you are having a conversation with someone in person, it is totally and completely rude to start doing your texting s***, completely ignoring the person you are talking with. Your apologies about doing such will fall on deaf ears with me and I will get up and go do something else or just ignore you altogether. You will wonder why I am treating you in such a way and you might accuse me, in your mind, of being the rude jerk. I probably will not find it necessary to explain myself to you, at all, because you haven't got a clue and attempting to tell you about it is probably only going to raise tensions between us.
I know, I got completely off the subject I had started, but I find it totally unacceptable the things that many people DO find acceptable in this "modern" day and age, which I do NOT find acceptable and probably never will. This idea that you must text a person instead of calling them on the phone and talking with them is pretty much off the wall with me. I can maybe see if it's your partner and you just want to shoot a "love" line or something that doesn't need a phone call over, but this texting junk is new, at least to me, even IF it's been around for a "long, long time" as one teenager recently "informed" me. No, buddy, it hasn't been around that long.
One co-worker put it succinctly after I asked him why he would rather text a person rather than simply call them on the phone: "Well, we really don't WANT to talk to the person". This, I assume, is another extension of internet communication, a thing that to many degrees I have come to accept, especially emailing. I DO like emailing and I don't mind instant messages, either. But this is normally to people that are living somewhere half way around the world or clear across the United States, not a person I work with or someone I know. The idea that attempting to push those very tiny buttons with my very large fingers is somehow better than simply dialing the number and talking to them on the phone - another argument - doesn't really do anything for me. In a half hour's worth of texting you could speak with the person and say the same things in a few minutes.
Regardless, she asked me if had a girlfriend. No, having no clue where this might be leading. Well do you want one? If a person can wave a magic wand and instantly I am with the girl of my dreams, please do so. I wasn't really thinking that when she said it, this lady is really sweet, but it sort of crossed my mind afterwards. Ummm, well yes. She started to talk about her best friend that she has known since they were both young. This went on for quite a while. Now, looks aren't everything, but they ARE something, at least to me. I have already gone on dates with ladies that have black teeth, unkempt and generally - not very appealing looking. She got out her phone and showed me a couple of pics which just about floored me. For a lady of the age of 43, this one is absolutely gorgeous!
I had stated how sweet and nice she is, she stated how much nicer and sweeter her friend is than her. I am not a fan of blind dates. They don't normally turn out too well, but she stated they would set one up with her and Rey (my tenant) going, too. That would help things out quite a bit, I do believe.
I've been "writing-happy" lately, no explanation for it. Well, sort of. When a lot of stuff starts coming at me I find release and even some help in writing it all out. It's good to vent versus blowing up. My mind is all over the place and there is too much in it. I think church has been helping me with that - peace in the inner man. I get that in the worship services which I am finding no where else excepting maybe sitting out next to my ponds and letting things drop out of my mind.
At the same time, I have tremendous mind battles in just GETTING to church, or even thinking about going. Once I am there, I mostly have no problems being there excepting last Sunday. I didn't want to be there and I wanted it to be over with. Conversely, Wednesday I was very happy to be there and the service was great, at least for me.
Whatever.
I'm done.
ben
Saturday, July 9, 2011
The Police
I guess I'll delve into the situation with the police department visiting my house yet again on Thursday.
I was in my house, online and checking things out when Mark came and asked me if I knew what was going on across the street. No. I went out there, the ex-con and the 30-something year old meth user on Shirley's property, going underneath her house for what reason I did not know.
I went inside and got my camera and started videoing them. I was still on my property and yelled over there, asking them what they were doing. They didn't respond, of course, I really didn't expect them to. For a couple of years now, I have been getting harassed by both of them and recently decided - after that idiot threatened one of my tenants telling him he was going to have me killed for catching cats - that I was not going to take any more of either of their BS - at all. I did yell at him down the street: Hey, why don't you come over here and threaten to kill me again?
Probably not the smartest move on earth, but, I have taken enough abuse from them without giving any kind of response that I vented a bit. They called the police.
I came out a bit later to find them entering my property, removing the lock off of the gate and letting themselves in. They didn't bother to try and use the doorbell button that is clearly visible out front. I had already spoken with the Department about this practice of theirs of just entering my property without even trying to use the doorbell.
These were YOUNG cops. They immediately gave off attitude. I don't tolerate it. They didn't want to hear anything I had to say, they just wanted to tell me how things were going to go. Instead of responding to it, I asked the youngest looking one - I swear he didn't look 18 years old - to please close the gate. "I am not going to close the gate". I took the time to tell them that my dogs were in the house but would eventually come out and would beeline it straight for the gate if he didn't close it.
He flatly, smugly and adamantly refused to close the gate. I wasn't going to stop asking him until he did it. His third response was: Not only am I NOT going to close the gate, I am going to fire upon your dogs if they try to bite me. Unbelievable. I stopped talking to them altogether and called the police department. "What are you doing? Are you calling the police department?!" YES, I AM. After this display of unprofessional, outrageous and juvenile behavior, I refused to talk to them further.
I asked for a manager once I got an officer on the phone. I was informed there are no managers there. Because I used the wrong terminology, they refused to allow me to speak to anyone. I then simply stated: whoever is the next up in the chain of command. That got me a supervisor. I began asking her about the police simply allowing themselves onto my property, reaching through a gate and removing a lock without any probable cause. She refused to answer my question. I asked again, she again refused to answer my question, stating a Sergeant was on his way over there and that HE would answer my questions. I asked her how long this was going to take, it was getting late and I had to get up at 3:15 am the next morning.
She never answered my question and eventually hung up on me. Meanwhile, the dogs all came out. And yes, the Danes went straight to the gate after sniffing the cop with the attitudinal problem. I said nothing, I wanted to see if he would actually let my dogs run free through the gate. They ran straight to him, he backed up, they did nothing more than sniff and then took off for the gate. This guy runs for the gate and shuts it - not all the way closed though - but enough to keep them from getting out.
I didn't say another word to these cops the entire time they were there. I waited for the sergeant. The young dude stood there, holding the gate instead of simply latching it shut. The sergeant and a slew of other cop cars arrives. I guess it was my inference that South Mountain precinct already HAS a bad reputation - NATIONWIDE - and that I could help that along further with this cop refusing to close my gate that got all of them out there. There were at least 7 cop cars in front of my house. This sergeant had a huge entourage accompanying him through the gate.
You would have thought the Prince of Persia was visiting my property. I was completely unimpressed or intimidated. Apparently this is what they wanted to do, intimidate me. With a person like me, this only makes things worse. Don't these officers have other and much more productive things to do than have THAT many people showing up at a residence that clearly is not offering any type of violence, physical resistance or anything, really, that would facilitate the need for so many officers? Apparently not. They ALL stayed there, too, the entire time the sergeant was there.
The sergeant was hardly a go-between. He informed me that I had broken the law. For what, I asked, videoing 2 guys trespassing on a neighbor's property? No, he stated emphatically, the law YOU broke was Disorderly Conduct. This is the generic thing that cops use when they don't have anything to hold against you but they want to make trouble for you. Sorry Charlie, that wasn't working with me, either. The sergeant then stated I had harassed those 2 when I approached them and started yelling at them.
I politely, but emphatically informed the officer that I had never ONCE left my property except to look at the address of my neighbor on her mailbox in case those 2 took their trespassing to a higher level. I also informed the officer that one of them is a meth head - he does nothing but get high all day long and the other is an ex-convict who spent 9 years in prison for selling methamphetamine out of his house. This guy was starting to act as bad as the kid cop who was threatening to shoot my dogs. Well, he stated, I have meth users on my street and I don't have problems with them.
????I'll bet he doesn't! They undoubtedly know he's a cop and they aren't going to go anywhere near him! ROFL!! I asked him if he had them over for dinner? Does he talk to them? Does he WANT to talk to them? Does he have BBQ's with them? Ohhh, nooooo, I don't want anything to with them. Yes, EXACTLY!!! I don't bother with these guys, they have started this crap with ME and kept it going for over 2 years now.
The end? They all left. They weren't getting anywhere with me and if they wanted to arrest me on a bogus charge of disorderly conduct, have at it. Trial by jury and then sue the Phoenix Police Department. I have now written a letter to the chief of police and if that doesn't get anywhere, I'll just have to go down there and ask for an audience with him. Or make an appointment if I have to. Any way about it, I have had enough with cops with attitudes and making up stories so they can try to intimidate you. I have SERIOUS doubts they have any legal authority to remove a lock from a gate and allow themselves onto someone's property unless they have REAL probable cause.
I was in my house, online and checking things out when Mark came and asked me if I knew what was going on across the street. No. I went out there, the ex-con and the 30-something year old meth user on Shirley's property, going underneath her house for what reason I did not know.
I went inside and got my camera and started videoing them. I was still on my property and yelled over there, asking them what they were doing. They didn't respond, of course, I really didn't expect them to. For a couple of years now, I have been getting harassed by both of them and recently decided - after that idiot threatened one of my tenants telling him he was going to have me killed for catching cats - that I was not going to take any more of either of their BS - at all. I did yell at him down the street: Hey, why don't you come over here and threaten to kill me again?
Probably not the smartest move on earth, but, I have taken enough abuse from them without giving any kind of response that I vented a bit. They called the police.
I came out a bit later to find them entering my property, removing the lock off of the gate and letting themselves in. They didn't bother to try and use the doorbell button that is clearly visible out front. I had already spoken with the Department about this practice of theirs of just entering my property without even trying to use the doorbell.
These were YOUNG cops. They immediately gave off attitude. I don't tolerate it. They didn't want to hear anything I had to say, they just wanted to tell me how things were going to go. Instead of responding to it, I asked the youngest looking one - I swear he didn't look 18 years old - to please close the gate. "I am not going to close the gate". I took the time to tell them that my dogs were in the house but would eventually come out and would beeline it straight for the gate if he didn't close it.
He flatly, smugly and adamantly refused to close the gate. I wasn't going to stop asking him until he did it. His third response was: Not only am I NOT going to close the gate, I am going to fire upon your dogs if they try to bite me. Unbelievable. I stopped talking to them altogether and called the police department. "What are you doing? Are you calling the police department?!" YES, I AM. After this display of unprofessional, outrageous and juvenile behavior, I refused to talk to them further.
I asked for a manager once I got an officer on the phone. I was informed there are no managers there. Because I used the wrong terminology, they refused to allow me to speak to anyone. I then simply stated: whoever is the next up in the chain of command. That got me a supervisor. I began asking her about the police simply allowing themselves onto my property, reaching through a gate and removing a lock without any probable cause. She refused to answer my question. I asked again, she again refused to answer my question, stating a Sergeant was on his way over there and that HE would answer my questions. I asked her how long this was going to take, it was getting late and I had to get up at 3:15 am the next morning.
She never answered my question and eventually hung up on me. Meanwhile, the dogs all came out. And yes, the Danes went straight to the gate after sniffing the cop with the attitudinal problem. I said nothing, I wanted to see if he would actually let my dogs run free through the gate. They ran straight to him, he backed up, they did nothing more than sniff and then took off for the gate. This guy runs for the gate and shuts it - not all the way closed though - but enough to keep them from getting out.
I didn't say another word to these cops the entire time they were there. I waited for the sergeant. The young dude stood there, holding the gate instead of simply latching it shut. The sergeant and a slew of other cop cars arrives. I guess it was my inference that South Mountain precinct already HAS a bad reputation - NATIONWIDE - and that I could help that along further with this cop refusing to close my gate that got all of them out there. There were at least 7 cop cars in front of my house. This sergeant had a huge entourage accompanying him through the gate.
You would have thought the Prince of Persia was visiting my property. I was completely unimpressed or intimidated. Apparently this is what they wanted to do, intimidate me. With a person like me, this only makes things worse. Don't these officers have other and much more productive things to do than have THAT many people showing up at a residence that clearly is not offering any type of violence, physical resistance or anything, really, that would facilitate the need for so many officers? Apparently not. They ALL stayed there, too, the entire time the sergeant was there.
The sergeant was hardly a go-between. He informed me that I had broken the law. For what, I asked, videoing 2 guys trespassing on a neighbor's property? No, he stated emphatically, the law YOU broke was Disorderly Conduct. This is the generic thing that cops use when they don't have anything to hold against you but they want to make trouble for you. Sorry Charlie, that wasn't working with me, either. The sergeant then stated I had harassed those 2 when I approached them and started yelling at them.
I politely, but emphatically informed the officer that I had never ONCE left my property except to look at the address of my neighbor on her mailbox in case those 2 took their trespassing to a higher level. I also informed the officer that one of them is a meth head - he does nothing but get high all day long and the other is an ex-convict who spent 9 years in prison for selling methamphetamine out of his house. This guy was starting to act as bad as the kid cop who was threatening to shoot my dogs. Well, he stated, I have meth users on my street and I don't have problems with them.
????I'll bet he doesn't! They undoubtedly know he's a cop and they aren't going to go anywhere near him! ROFL!! I asked him if he had them over for dinner? Does he talk to them? Does he WANT to talk to them? Does he have BBQ's with them? Ohhh, nooooo, I don't want anything to with them. Yes, EXACTLY!!! I don't bother with these guys, they have started this crap with ME and kept it going for over 2 years now.
The end? They all left. They weren't getting anywhere with me and if they wanted to arrest me on a bogus charge of disorderly conduct, have at it. Trial by jury and then sue the Phoenix Police Department. I have now written a letter to the chief of police and if that doesn't get anywhere, I'll just have to go down there and ask for an audience with him. Or make an appointment if I have to. Any way about it, I have had enough with cops with attitudes and making up stories so they can try to intimidate you. I have SERIOUS doubts they have any legal authority to remove a lock from a gate and allow themselves onto someone's property unless they have REAL probable cause.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Vacation
I have opted for the week of the 8th of August to take the entire week off, of course, that is, if it's approved. I haven't really had any vacation requests turned down, sometimes I have to change the dates.
Where to go? I dunno that I am going to GO......ANYWHERE. The thought of simply booking a flight to the other side of the country and the coming back here - for no more reason than to get the airplane trip out of it - has gained traction.
I absolutely LOVE flying and I haven't been on an airplane since my flight back from the state of Washington in - 2006 I believe it was - when I drove a truck up there for the company I was working for. I could be living in Seattle right now, making $33 per hour to drive a belly dump and getting lots of OT on top of it. The distinct reason that I would NEVER want to live in Seattle is the open faucet that is set in the sky. It RAINS and RAINS and RAINS up there.
The flight back was fabulous. I really mean that. It was daylight when we took off and going up to 35,000 feet, we passed through at least half a dozen different cloud levels. We'd get above one and find another one on top of that. It seemed like we went up forever. It was a good long flight, too. I dunno, just another world for me when I am sitting in any kind of plane, large or small, and taking in the views and listening the to the engines roaring.
I guess the cost of tickets, though, are rising now. I am also not very well convinced that I want x-rays of my body being taken and I most definitely don't want some dude groping my private parts to see if I might have a bomb concealed behind my testicles. In fact, that would be the only drawback to a flying trip. I have read too many accounts of what I consider to be abusive behavior by TSA agents groping people. I don't wonder if some of those people TRULY enjoy their jobs in being able to touch people in places that ought not to be touched, unless it's your partner, of course.
The, the trip from Washington had none of that. It was before the machines and the groping. I made the whole thing an experience and I still look back at it fondly.
The question of where, exactly, I would go also has surfaced in my mind. I mean, big cities? New York? I already live in the 5th largest city in the U.S., visiting another one doesn't have much appeal to me. A flight into some place that is full of pine crested mountains where I could go hiking for a couple of days sounds like much more fun. Or perhaps a visit to my childhood stomping grounds of Pittsburgh - though admittedly, I know no-one that lives there at this point.
Another intriguing idea originates from reading Fin's blog and all of his adventures on cruise ships. I think you probably have to schedule those things a bit further in advance than the month I have before I take my time off.
In reality? The prudent thing to do is nothing, just take another staycation. The economics of our current times are not exactly conducive towards spending money on a limited vacation. I have all kinds of ideas, but in the end, it all costs money. Perhaps I could spend a bit of money on camping equipment and take the dogs - all 400 pounds of them - up to the burnt, cool, mountains of Arizona and smell the aftermath of huge, vast areas of forests that have burned down due to human stupidity. Yeah, sounds fun.
Okay, selfishly, perhaps, I have scheduled the vacation for the week when Caleb is allegedly getting out of that camp. It could easily turn out that he will be able to get a ride home from someone at the camp, which is fine by me, but, if he needs a ride, I will certainly drive up there and get him.
Another idea that popped into my head, though, is to take a trip on the Grand Canyon Railway. I have never been on it, but I have had many, many friends tell me it is an awesome ride. My mother also went on it some years ago and said it was awesome. I just looked up pricing: $180 for round trip on the observation deck - it's elevated above the rest of the train and looks to have an outstanding view of everything. They have a sale price on packages for "couples" for a 2 night stay up at the rim, but, I don't have the other half to take up with me. Oh well.
Who knows. Enjoy life while you can enjoy, I have observed. Such as one of my tenants that just walked in and spent yet another several days in the hospital. This time, because of the meds he is on, he fell asleep at the wheel and rolled the car over. Ouch.
I'll pondering what, if anything, to do with the total of 9 days off of work. I can honestly say that staying at home and doing nothing, especially during a hot summer and not having to go out to work, has it's merits. I haven't really minded doing it the last what, 2 years in a row, I just thought maybe doing something else - preferably out of this town and away from this whole atmosphere - might be a good diversion.
Meanwhile, life at the ranch. The AC coming on and going off all day and night long. The heat outside. The "neighbors" starting trouble yet again (I haven't even gone into the police visit last night). Tenants and their issues. High electric bills. This, that and the other thing. I need a bit of relief, I do believe.
Where to go? I dunno that I am going to GO......ANYWHERE. The thought of simply booking a flight to the other side of the country and the coming back here - for no more reason than to get the airplane trip out of it - has gained traction.
I absolutely LOVE flying and I haven't been on an airplane since my flight back from the state of Washington in - 2006 I believe it was - when I drove a truck up there for the company I was working for. I could be living in Seattle right now, making $33 per hour to drive a belly dump and getting lots of OT on top of it. The distinct reason that I would NEVER want to live in Seattle is the open faucet that is set in the sky. It RAINS and RAINS and RAINS up there.
The flight back was fabulous. I really mean that. It was daylight when we took off and going up to 35,000 feet, we passed through at least half a dozen different cloud levels. We'd get above one and find another one on top of that. It seemed like we went up forever. It was a good long flight, too. I dunno, just another world for me when I am sitting in any kind of plane, large or small, and taking in the views and listening the to the engines roaring.
I guess the cost of tickets, though, are rising now. I am also not very well convinced that I want x-rays of my body being taken and I most definitely don't want some dude groping my private parts to see if I might have a bomb concealed behind my testicles. In fact, that would be the only drawback to a flying trip. I have read too many accounts of what I consider to be abusive behavior by TSA agents groping people. I don't wonder if some of those people TRULY enjoy their jobs in being able to touch people in places that ought not to be touched, unless it's your partner, of course.
The, the trip from Washington had none of that. It was before the machines and the groping. I made the whole thing an experience and I still look back at it fondly.
The question of where, exactly, I would go also has surfaced in my mind. I mean, big cities? New York? I already live in the 5th largest city in the U.S., visiting another one doesn't have much appeal to me. A flight into some place that is full of pine crested mountains where I could go hiking for a couple of days sounds like much more fun. Or perhaps a visit to my childhood stomping grounds of Pittsburgh - though admittedly, I know no-one that lives there at this point.
Another intriguing idea originates from reading Fin's blog and all of his adventures on cruise ships. I think you probably have to schedule those things a bit further in advance than the month I have before I take my time off.
In reality? The prudent thing to do is nothing, just take another staycation. The economics of our current times are not exactly conducive towards spending money on a limited vacation. I have all kinds of ideas, but in the end, it all costs money. Perhaps I could spend a bit of money on camping equipment and take the dogs - all 400 pounds of them - up to the burnt, cool, mountains of Arizona and smell the aftermath of huge, vast areas of forests that have burned down due to human stupidity. Yeah, sounds fun.
Okay, selfishly, perhaps, I have scheduled the vacation for the week when Caleb is allegedly getting out of that camp. It could easily turn out that he will be able to get a ride home from someone at the camp, which is fine by me, but, if he needs a ride, I will certainly drive up there and get him.
Another idea that popped into my head, though, is to take a trip on the Grand Canyon Railway. I have never been on it, but I have had many, many friends tell me it is an awesome ride. My mother also went on it some years ago and said it was awesome. I just looked up pricing: $180 for round trip on the observation deck - it's elevated above the rest of the train and looks to have an outstanding view of everything. They have a sale price on packages for "couples" for a 2 night stay up at the rim, but, I don't have the other half to take up with me. Oh well.
Who knows. Enjoy life while you can enjoy, I have observed. Such as one of my tenants that just walked in and spent yet another several days in the hospital. This time, because of the meds he is on, he fell asleep at the wheel and rolled the car over. Ouch.
I'll pondering what, if anything, to do with the total of 9 days off of work. I can honestly say that staying at home and doing nothing, especially during a hot summer and not having to go out to work, has it's merits. I haven't really minded doing it the last what, 2 years in a row, I just thought maybe doing something else - preferably out of this town and away from this whole atmosphere - might be a good diversion.
Meanwhile, life at the ranch. The AC coming on and going off all day and night long. The heat outside. The "neighbors" starting trouble yet again (I haven't even gone into the police visit last night). Tenants and their issues. High electric bills. This, that and the other thing. I need a bit of relief, I do believe.
Friday 8/7/2011
I finally found it. The Barber Shop that has a person that can actually do something with my hair. $16 cut - worth it to look good. Got that done today. Will be looking for that particular person when I go in there from this point forth. I have a very full head of hair and it is VERY thick. It's hard to do anything with. This guy worked his magic on it and it's the best cut, by far, that I have had in years. Not weeks or months, years. I do NOT like to wait at a barber shop, but I will do so if it's the right person.
I don't remember if I put this in yesterday's blog entry, I don't think I did. The Army Reservist had her pickup repossessed. She is, undoubtedly, in a world of hurt. I can't help her. She owes me rent and I won't wait forever for it. I can't help a person that gets fired for stealing at work. Though I understand the temptation to get a bite to eat, especially if you're broke and hungry, I don't take stuff from my employer because - fill in the blank. It's not the moral/ethical thing to do. I finally remembered to bring home copies of the "Pay or Vacate" notice, which I will be filling out and giving to her today or tomorrow.
I am BONE dead tired. I was AT work at 4:00am. I figured I would get a short day in getting out early, I figured wrong. The delivery didn't take too terribly long and then I was back at the yard, pulling a large order for Monday. I wanted to leave early, I really did, lol, I was and am that tired. But, a delivery to a place near Coolidge came up - a 42-mile (one way) to take some materials down south. It was decided that it needed to get done today because there is not going to be time Monday. So, for this pay period, I have the first 80 hour period since - at least 2-1/2 years ago. Our numbers were way up last month and already this month we are starting to get up there and a lot more work in queue.
Which is good, because there are even MORE financial experts now starting to talk a double-dip recession or even a depression. Employment numbers were dismal for last month and that has a lot of people worried at this point. I am not going to worry, well not too much anyway, it is only human to start thinking about things when they have the potential for affecting you - drastically I might ad.
On that note, I got my 2008 W-2 from work - lost the original. I can't find the mortgage interest payment information, so I guess I'll have to call two companies to get that information for 2007 and 2008. If it is worth it, I will modify 2007 with interest payment to get even more money out of it, if not, then I will milk the 2008 cow for it. I'm going to get every penny I can out of it and get some money in the bank to help tide me over if the situation starts getting really rough.
I have my ideas for saving my property if I ever lose my job and can't find another one - I have sort of gone over that on this blog before, but, those ideas are still there. I actually have room for another travel trailer in my driveway if I back the one I already have up all the way to the fence. I could live in it and rent out my master bedroom, which could net me at least $500 per month. I am not there and don't even want to go there..
Lynnette, one of the trailer tenants, announced today that she was upping her rent. A bit unusual for a renter to up their own rent, but, they aren't paying very much, lol. I have not hinted at it nor did the thought cross my mind to ask them for more. I figure they are probably paying their share of the utilities they are using and that's all I wanted to get out of them considering their situation. I didn't turn it down. I didn't even try to turn it down. The reason is simple: since they are paying more money, I can get a window AC unit for them cheap. They can shut off the swamp cooler and turn on actual AC. The extra money will pay for the extra use of electricity. Trust me, those swamp coolers do not work well this time of year. If it's 118 outside, it's 90 something inside. Or not, the thought crossed my mind and I figured I might help them have a bit better quality of life in that thing by having it actually cooled versus a reduction in heat that isn't enough to make it feel cool in there.
I have a lot of junk going on in my head right now, in case you hadn't noticed. Not that I am really sweating anything, just really pondering things. The situation of going to church has caused me to really do some serious soul-searching and intended changes of lifestyle.
One change will occur Monday: the weight/fat loss competition at work starts and I intend on going full out on it. I REALLY want to the last 10 or 12 very stubborn pounds. I have decided that I am going to buy tons of those Weight Watchers frozen meals and that is ALL I am going to eat for the most part, with a deviation here and there for some fresh cooked chicken maybe thrown into a chicken salad type of thing. That and start pumping iron at the gym. I think it cool to be a part of that kind of competition and see what kind of results occur for everyone, not just me. There are some "robust" individuals at work, quite a number of them that need to lose at least 100 pounds. Yes, I said at least 100 pounds.
This is the status quo for America today, obesity and extreme overweight is no longer the exception as one might say it was 30 years ago. Seeing extremely large people walking around is not uncommon anymore, you see it everywhere. I am not dissing overweight people, but I am saying how much more motivating it might be for any given person to be in a contest with other people they know and work with to try and lose it.
Ummm, can the economy be fixed, a question posed to readers for an "unscientific" poll. I don't wonder if it wouldn't already be well on it's way to recovery if the government hadn't meddled in it so much? Obama isn't going to carry much weight into election "season" if the economy keeps tanking as it is.
Well whatever. I don't want to go there right now. This economic chaos has been going on a long time now and the related unemployment and housing crash, it really serves no great purpose to dwell on it.
I have no plans this weekend excepting going to church on Sunday. Yes, my self-made, 4 week in a row church visit commitment has been fulfilled and is over as of last Sunday. But, that didn't mean I didn't want to keep going. I wanted to go to the same church and see how receptive they are to new people, cause honey, there are plenty of cliquish churches out there with people that don't want anything to do with the "newbies". You can't get into their circles/realm if you paid them. Not that I would want to pay anyone for such a thing, it's just the point that people can be extremely selfish.
The exterminator is coming tomorrow morning. This after I got rather upset that they did not show up 7 days after the first spraying when they said they were going to AND I have seen 3 roaches since the "cleanout". It was the fact that they didn't even bother to call, much less show up that caused me to call the owner of the company and demand my money back. Well, not exactly. I demanded they either come out and get rid of these roaches as they promised to do or give me my money back. He's a really nice guy and all, but I shelled out $150 for this guaranteed service with a 2 visit application to make sure they are all gone. In my view, that's a lot of money for 2, 30-minute visits, well not even that long.
I have no desire, whatsoever, to get up early and take all of that stuff out of those cupboards again, but buy golly, it's gonna be done and they will have total access to all of it, just like the first time.
Oh, I forgot: I want to find a place to shoot off some rounds in that 12 gauge shotgun. There are some shooting ranges around, I guess I could go to one of them.
G'day/nite
ben
I don't remember if I put this in yesterday's blog entry, I don't think I did. The Army Reservist had her pickup repossessed. She is, undoubtedly, in a world of hurt. I can't help her. She owes me rent and I won't wait forever for it. I can't help a person that gets fired for stealing at work. Though I understand the temptation to get a bite to eat, especially if you're broke and hungry, I don't take stuff from my employer because - fill in the blank. It's not the moral/ethical thing to do. I finally remembered to bring home copies of the "Pay or Vacate" notice, which I will be filling out and giving to her today or tomorrow.
I am BONE dead tired. I was AT work at 4:00am. I figured I would get a short day in getting out early, I figured wrong. The delivery didn't take too terribly long and then I was back at the yard, pulling a large order for Monday. I wanted to leave early, I really did, lol, I was and am that tired. But, a delivery to a place near Coolidge came up - a 42-mile (one way) to take some materials down south. It was decided that it needed to get done today because there is not going to be time Monday. So, for this pay period, I have the first 80 hour period since - at least 2-1/2 years ago. Our numbers were way up last month and already this month we are starting to get up there and a lot more work in queue.
Which is good, because there are even MORE financial experts now starting to talk a double-dip recession or even a depression. Employment numbers were dismal for last month and that has a lot of people worried at this point. I am not going to worry, well not too much anyway, it is only human to start thinking about things when they have the potential for affecting you - drastically I might ad.
On that note, I got my 2008 W-2 from work - lost the original. I can't find the mortgage interest payment information, so I guess I'll have to call two companies to get that information for 2007 and 2008. If it is worth it, I will modify 2007 with interest payment to get even more money out of it, if not, then I will milk the 2008 cow for it. I'm going to get every penny I can out of it and get some money in the bank to help tide me over if the situation starts getting really rough.
I have my ideas for saving my property if I ever lose my job and can't find another one - I have sort of gone over that on this blog before, but, those ideas are still there. I actually have room for another travel trailer in my driveway if I back the one I already have up all the way to the fence. I could live in it and rent out my master bedroom, which could net me at least $500 per month. I am not there and don't even want to go there..
Lynnette, one of the trailer tenants, announced today that she was upping her rent. A bit unusual for a renter to up their own rent, but, they aren't paying very much, lol. I have not hinted at it nor did the thought cross my mind to ask them for more. I figure they are probably paying their share of the utilities they are using and that's all I wanted to get out of them considering their situation. I didn't turn it down. I didn't even try to turn it down. The reason is simple: since they are paying more money, I can get a window AC unit for them cheap. They can shut off the swamp cooler and turn on actual AC. The extra money will pay for the extra use of electricity. Trust me, those swamp coolers do not work well this time of year. If it's 118 outside, it's 90 something inside. Or not, the thought crossed my mind and I figured I might help them have a bit better quality of life in that thing by having it actually cooled versus a reduction in heat that isn't enough to make it feel cool in there.
I have a lot of junk going on in my head right now, in case you hadn't noticed. Not that I am really sweating anything, just really pondering things. The situation of going to church has caused me to really do some serious soul-searching and intended changes of lifestyle.
One change will occur Monday: the weight/fat loss competition at work starts and I intend on going full out on it. I REALLY want to the last 10 or 12 very stubborn pounds. I have decided that I am going to buy tons of those Weight Watchers frozen meals and that is ALL I am going to eat for the most part, with a deviation here and there for some fresh cooked chicken maybe thrown into a chicken salad type of thing. That and start pumping iron at the gym. I think it cool to be a part of that kind of competition and see what kind of results occur for everyone, not just me. There are some "robust" individuals at work, quite a number of them that need to lose at least 100 pounds. Yes, I said at least 100 pounds.
This is the status quo for America today, obesity and extreme overweight is no longer the exception as one might say it was 30 years ago. Seeing extremely large people walking around is not uncommon anymore, you see it everywhere. I am not dissing overweight people, but I am saying how much more motivating it might be for any given person to be in a contest with other people they know and work with to try and lose it.
Ummm, can the economy be fixed, a question posed to readers for an "unscientific" poll. I don't wonder if it wouldn't already be well on it's way to recovery if the government hadn't meddled in it so much? Obama isn't going to carry much weight into election "season" if the economy keeps tanking as it is.
Well whatever. I don't want to go there right now. This economic chaos has been going on a long time now and the related unemployment and housing crash, it really serves no great purpose to dwell on it.
I have no plans this weekend excepting going to church on Sunday. Yes, my self-made, 4 week in a row church visit commitment has been fulfilled and is over as of last Sunday. But, that didn't mean I didn't want to keep going. I wanted to go to the same church and see how receptive they are to new people, cause honey, there are plenty of cliquish churches out there with people that don't want anything to do with the "newbies". You can't get into their circles/realm if you paid them. Not that I would want to pay anyone for such a thing, it's just the point that people can be extremely selfish.
The exterminator is coming tomorrow morning. This after I got rather upset that they did not show up 7 days after the first spraying when they said they were going to AND I have seen 3 roaches since the "cleanout". It was the fact that they didn't even bother to call, much less show up that caused me to call the owner of the company and demand my money back. Well, not exactly. I demanded they either come out and get rid of these roaches as they promised to do or give me my money back. He's a really nice guy and all, but I shelled out $150 for this guaranteed service with a 2 visit application to make sure they are all gone. In my view, that's a lot of money for 2, 30-minute visits, well not even that long.
I have no desire, whatsoever, to get up early and take all of that stuff out of those cupboards again, but buy golly, it's gonna be done and they will have total access to all of it, just like the first time.
Oh, I forgot: I want to find a place to shoot off some rounds in that 12 gauge shotgun. There are some shooting ranges around, I guess I could go to one of them.
G'day/nite
ben
Thursday, July 7, 2011
This Is Not Friday Morning, But This Post Will Have To Suffice
That's because my manager called me a couple of hours ago and told me that there is an order that needs to go out to the Intel plant. Yes? It needs to be THERE at 5:30 am. I see. He wasn't sure what was on the order because the order wasn't made up yet but wanted to ask me first if I would do it.
We don't get liked in companies if we don't go out of the way when asked to do the things that need to be done when they need to be done. I would scoff at the idea of the main branch taking an order that we should be doing because I didn't want to get up early. PLEEEEEAAAAAASE. Besides the fact that I have no problem doing it, the talk behind my back would be endless.
I actually LIKE going out of my way to show that I am capable and willing to do whatever needs to be done, even if it means getting up at 3:30AM to go to work and get the job done. Who CARES about the time of day? I can always sleep in on Saturday morning, take a nap after work tomorrow, whatever.
Of course, the hour of departure for work and arrival at work precludes and idea of writing a journal entry tomorrow morning AT work, before I sign in, so, I felt to write an entry now.
So, after work I went and took a look at trailer. In appearance, marginally better looking then the thing outside my house - but it wouldn't take much to make it look much better. I was interested in the claim that the electricity works, water lines are tight and the propane lines are good. None of which held true, though probably wouldn't take much to fix all of it. However, I left it at: fix all of this and then I will be interested.
I get home to hear the latest news: the Army reservist lost her job, I already knew that, but now she lost her truck. 2 individuals here saw the repo truck show up and tow the pickup off. I stated before they told me that I bet it took less than 30 seconds. Yup, there and gone. This doesn't bode well for her. Phoenix is a massive, sprawling place. The BEST way to get around is in your own vehicle, the public transit system takes FOREVER to get ANYWHERE. I hate to do it, but she has options so I don't hate it that much. She needs to leave. She is behind in her rent - 3 weeks to be exact, and though she has dug out of it before, I see no indication that that is going to be the case now.
So, here we are. All kinds of different things going on, including still dealing with the aftermath of what I now consider to be the worst dust storm that has ever occurred in the Phoenix area. Leaves of plants covered in it. I started spraying them off today, no rain here, just sunshine, heat and some humidity.
Which reminds me, enough time left of daylight, I need to get out there and get some of it done.
G'day.
ben
We don't get liked in companies if we don't go out of the way when asked to do the things that need to be done when they need to be done. I would scoff at the idea of the main branch taking an order that we should be doing because I didn't want to get up early. PLEEEEEAAAAAASE. Besides the fact that I have no problem doing it, the talk behind my back would be endless.
I actually LIKE going out of my way to show that I am capable and willing to do whatever needs to be done, even if it means getting up at 3:30AM to go to work and get the job done. Who CARES about the time of day? I can always sleep in on Saturday morning, take a nap after work tomorrow, whatever.
Of course, the hour of departure for work and arrival at work precludes and idea of writing a journal entry tomorrow morning AT work, before I sign in, so, I felt to write an entry now.
So, after work I went and took a look at trailer. In appearance, marginally better looking then the thing outside my house - but it wouldn't take much to make it look much better. I was interested in the claim that the electricity works, water lines are tight and the propane lines are good. None of which held true, though probably wouldn't take much to fix all of it. However, I left it at: fix all of this and then I will be interested.
I get home to hear the latest news: the Army reservist lost her job, I already knew that, but now she lost her truck. 2 individuals here saw the repo truck show up and tow the pickup off. I stated before they told me that I bet it took less than 30 seconds. Yup, there and gone. This doesn't bode well for her. Phoenix is a massive, sprawling place. The BEST way to get around is in your own vehicle, the public transit system takes FOREVER to get ANYWHERE. I hate to do it, but she has options so I don't hate it that much. She needs to leave. She is behind in her rent - 3 weeks to be exact, and though she has dug out of it before, I see no indication that that is going to be the case now.
So, here we are. All kinds of different things going on, including still dealing with the aftermath of what I now consider to be the worst dust storm that has ever occurred in the Phoenix area. Leaves of plants covered in it. I started spraying them off today, no rain here, just sunshine, heat and some humidity.
Which reminds me, enough time left of daylight, I need to get out there and get some of it done.
G'day.
ben
Thursday July 7, 2011
Thursday
Not much time here - I got engrossed in a myriad of different stories in the online news ranging from bears mauling and killing people to the White House asking Texas to stop the planned execution of a Mexican national. Well that "guy" raped and killed a teenaged girl.
If we give the idea to foreignors that they can come over here and do whatever they want and just be able to get away with it? Dunno, the Supreme Court has been asked to stop the execution.
I dunno, I don't go around killing people, do you? The thought of taking another person's life never even crosses my mind on any given day. I can only see a few, limited scenarios where I would be willing to do whatever it takes to save my or someone else's life by killing someone else. Certainly a scenario I hope to never have to face. But, you rape a teenaged girl and I guess to get rid of a witness, you kill her?
Anyway, I did end up going to church last night and I was not sorry I went. It was a much different atmosphere - if nothing else inside of my mind - and I was getting something out of the guest speaker's words. It went on until 9:00pm, the only drawback of it. Getting home is only a 5 minute or so drive, so that's not an issue, just being out that late on a work night tends to drag me down a bit the next day, and yes, I am feeling it this morning. Make it through the day and go home and take a nice nap.
At least the speaker had the mind to not do any kind of "ministry" as that could go on for a long time. He said he was saving that for the Sunday service when he will also be at the church as a guest speaker.
Anyway, there are a few things to do in the truck routing menu and right now? It's time to go to work.
G'day.
ben
Not much time here - I got engrossed in a myriad of different stories in the online news ranging from bears mauling and killing people to the White House asking Texas to stop the planned execution of a Mexican national. Well that "guy" raped and killed a teenaged girl.
If we give the idea to foreignors that they can come over here and do whatever they want and just be able to get away with it? Dunno, the Supreme Court has been asked to stop the execution.
I dunno, I don't go around killing people, do you? The thought of taking another person's life never even crosses my mind on any given day. I can only see a few, limited scenarios where I would be willing to do whatever it takes to save my or someone else's life by killing someone else. Certainly a scenario I hope to never have to face. But, you rape a teenaged girl and I guess to get rid of a witness, you kill her?
Anyway, I did end up going to church last night and I was not sorry I went. It was a much different atmosphere - if nothing else inside of my mind - and I was getting something out of the guest speaker's words. It went on until 9:00pm, the only drawback of it. Getting home is only a 5 minute or so drive, so that's not an issue, just being out that late on a work night tends to drag me down a bit the next day, and yes, I am feeling it this morning. Make it through the day and go home and take a nice nap.
At least the speaker had the mind to not do any kind of "ministry" as that could go on for a long time. He said he was saving that for the Sunday service when he will also be at the church as a guest speaker.
Anyway, there are a few things to do in the truck routing menu and right now? It's time to go to work.
G'day.
ben
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Fry's Food Stores - Baseline and 48th Street Tempe, AZ
I was in there today. I have BEEN in that store hundreds of times - a conservative estimate to say the least.
I have written a dozen entries in this blog - at least - about their piss-poor customer service which relate mostly to some serious attitudinal problems and/or negation of duties in not performing functions that are a fundamental part of showing customers that you care. More like: you could care less whether the customer is happy or not and while you're at it, thumb it in your face. THIS is the kind of service I have come to expect at Fry's, at least the on at the location listed in the title to the entry.
So, I think it only fair - if only once, lol - to give a few kudos on a day when I go in there and get some great treatment. First off is the lady that was standing at the entrance. She is an older gal, guessing in her 60's - maybe 50's (I freely admit I am not the greatest judge of age). She has been working there since I started going to that store, well probably a lot longer than that I am guessing - which has been going on 8 years now. \
She used to scowl at me whenever I came in the store or went out. I just brushed it off: I did not go in there to make friends or have a social engagement, though I am not opposed to it - but if they want to be friendly I can talk with most people about anything or nothing at all and enjoy myself doing it. Well, they changed a few minor things around at the entrance, I was looking for the new ad and found it on a table she had set up with free coffee. She came up asking me if I was looking for the new ad before I had picked one up.
Yes, thanks, I found them laying here. This is the first conversation I have EVER had with that lady. She started going over the ad with me to see what was in there. Half gallons of milk on sale for 75 cents (GREAT deal!). Chicken breast on sale for 88 cents a pound (another great deal!). She then offered me a coffee. Who am I to turn down coffee? Decaf, though, since it was afternoon. We talked a bit more and I headed into the store.
The guy that wanted to get into a fist-fight with me - the big black dude that works in the meat department - well he's still working there. I mostly steer clear of him, not because I am afraid of him but because I am not interested in a useless, waste-of-time confrontation with a person that has ......... issues. I have smiled at him recently to try and break the ice - no avail - but I keep trying. It's the Christian thing to do, yes? I am not saying anything happened there today, I just went by and instead, another meat department worker greeted me, so, I greeted him back.
So, I got everything I went in there for, a hand basket-full and headed to the self-service checkout. If there is anything in that store that has given me more trouble and problems, it's idle workers who are not paying attention to the customers checking themselves out in not dealing with the "wait-a-minute-while-the-screen-puts-you-on-hold-and-yes-you-are-screwed-until-an-attendant-helps-you" checkout computer.
The particular lady working the self checkouts was definitely paying attention today. I didn't have to wait for the inevitable "an assistant has been called to help" screen that comes up, even though you didn't CALL or ASK for an assistant's help. She took care of those screens immediately. I got done, paid for it and then started scrutinizing my receipt. I don't care what kind of store you are at, you should always look at the receipt and make sure you haven't been over-charged for something.
Sure enough, a package of chicken that was on sale - which should have charged me a bit less than $3? I had been charged over $8 for. I never, EVER pay that much money for one package of chicken, ever. If it ain't on sale, I ain't buying it. The price I had been charged wasn't anywhere on the packaging - which showed 3 different prices. So, I walked into the hornet's nest, hoping not to get stung cause' this woman has never liked me, either, and asked her to check the price and my receipt. I KINDLY asked her to do so, laid back, chill, all that new age terminology.
She got a genuine smile on her face and said, "Sure, I'll be happy to do that for you". She was as mystified as I was at the price I had been charged since it did not correlate with any of the prices that were on the package. Instead of telling me to go to customer service - which they always do - she took care of it herself. I got the difference back between what I should have been charged and what was charged.
Now, Fry's has a policy: It's free if it's under $5.00 or you get a gift card if it's over when a scanning error takes places. In reality, I should have gotten all the money I paid for it back. I didn't push the issue this time, normally I definitely would have asked for it, but since the general tones of my visit to the store today was a positive one, I didn't want to get out of that mode and start in on what I should have gotten back per the store's policy - so I let it go.
Oh, the front of the store wasn't all trashed out today, either. I have found out that this particular store is used as a training grounds for managers - general managers - I have seen 4 come and go, minus the 1 that is in there - since I started keeping track.
Anyway, that's my visit to Fry's today.
As for church tonight? Undecided. I don't really feel like going. Not that I won't, but I don't want to stay up late. They go on too long for me for a weeknight. It's a special guest speaker, a minister from a church in Tennessee. About 6:30 I guess I will have to make a decision. Lol.
G'day.
ben
I have written a dozen entries in this blog - at least - about their piss-poor customer service which relate mostly to some serious attitudinal problems and/or negation of duties in not performing functions that are a fundamental part of showing customers that you care. More like: you could care less whether the customer is happy or not and while you're at it, thumb it in your face. THIS is the kind of service I have come to expect at Fry's, at least the on at the location listed in the title to the entry.
So, I think it only fair - if only once, lol - to give a few kudos on a day when I go in there and get some great treatment. First off is the lady that was standing at the entrance. She is an older gal, guessing in her 60's - maybe 50's (I freely admit I am not the greatest judge of age). She has been working there since I started going to that store, well probably a lot longer than that I am guessing - which has been going on 8 years now. \
She used to scowl at me whenever I came in the store or went out. I just brushed it off: I did not go in there to make friends or have a social engagement, though I am not opposed to it - but if they want to be friendly I can talk with most people about anything or nothing at all and enjoy myself doing it. Well, they changed a few minor things around at the entrance, I was looking for the new ad and found it on a table she had set up with free coffee. She came up asking me if I was looking for the new ad before I had picked one up.
Yes, thanks, I found them laying here. This is the first conversation I have EVER had with that lady. She started going over the ad with me to see what was in there. Half gallons of milk on sale for 75 cents (GREAT deal!). Chicken breast on sale for 88 cents a pound (another great deal!). She then offered me a coffee. Who am I to turn down coffee? Decaf, though, since it was afternoon. We talked a bit more and I headed into the store.
The guy that wanted to get into a fist-fight with me - the big black dude that works in the meat department - well he's still working there. I mostly steer clear of him, not because I am afraid of him but because I am not interested in a useless, waste-of-time confrontation with a person that has ......... issues. I have smiled at him recently to try and break the ice - no avail - but I keep trying. It's the Christian thing to do, yes? I am not saying anything happened there today, I just went by and instead, another meat department worker greeted me, so, I greeted him back.
So, I got everything I went in there for, a hand basket-full and headed to the self-service checkout. If there is anything in that store that has given me more trouble and problems, it's idle workers who are not paying attention to the customers checking themselves out in not dealing with the "wait-a-minute-while-the-screen-puts-you-on-hold-and-yes-you-are-screwed-until-an-attendant-helps-you" checkout computer.
The particular lady working the self checkouts was definitely paying attention today. I didn't have to wait for the inevitable "an assistant has been called to help" screen that comes up, even though you didn't CALL or ASK for an assistant's help. She took care of those screens immediately. I got done, paid for it and then started scrutinizing my receipt. I don't care what kind of store you are at, you should always look at the receipt and make sure you haven't been over-charged for something.
Sure enough, a package of chicken that was on sale - which should have charged me a bit less than $3? I had been charged over $8 for. I never, EVER pay that much money for one package of chicken, ever. If it ain't on sale, I ain't buying it. The price I had been charged wasn't anywhere on the packaging - which showed 3 different prices. So, I walked into the hornet's nest, hoping not to get stung cause' this woman has never liked me, either, and asked her to check the price and my receipt. I KINDLY asked her to do so, laid back, chill, all that new age terminology.
She got a genuine smile on her face and said, "Sure, I'll be happy to do that for you". She was as mystified as I was at the price I had been charged since it did not correlate with any of the prices that were on the package. Instead of telling me to go to customer service - which they always do - she took care of it herself. I got the difference back between what I should have been charged and what was charged.
Now, Fry's has a policy: It's free if it's under $5.00 or you get a gift card if it's over when a scanning error takes places. In reality, I should have gotten all the money I paid for it back. I didn't push the issue this time, normally I definitely would have asked for it, but since the general tones of my visit to the store today was a positive one, I didn't want to get out of that mode and start in on what I should have gotten back per the store's policy - so I let it go.
Oh, the front of the store wasn't all trashed out today, either. I have found out that this particular store is used as a training grounds for managers - general managers - I have seen 4 come and go, minus the 1 that is in there - since I started keeping track.
Anyway, that's my visit to Fry's today.
As for church tonight? Undecided. I don't really feel like going. Not that I won't, but I don't want to stay up late. They go on too long for me for a weeknight. It's a special guest speaker, a minister from a church in Tennessee. About 6:30 I guess I will have to make a decision. Lol.
G'day.
ben
Wednesday 7/6/2011
Wednesday
Well I didn't expect that dust storm last night to make national news, but some of the pics they have of it are totally awesome! One pic makes it look more like giant waves of water crashing down on the city more than making it look like a thick, dense dust storm.
I have seen a lot of dust storms in Phoenix, they used to be far more prevalent in the 70's, but I don't ever recall one as thick as that one. Everything on my property is covered with an almost sooty type of dust. Windows are filthy, cars are covered with such a thick layer of it you'd think they'd been hit by volcanic ash, not dust from a storm. Quite the cleanup today after I get home, I am sure.
Oh, but wait: after work today I am supposed to go look at the trailer and see if it's anything I want to get involved with.
Bath Salts. Methylenedioxypyrovalerone. Try saying that word 3 times fast without goofing up! "Designer Drugs". This stuff pops out of the woodwork. It's just incredible the stuff that is available nowadays compared to when I was a teenager. The difference, though, is that this junk coming out now can be deadly and is sending a lot of people to hospital emergency rooms. Not so much when I was a kid, it was "pure" whatever: heroine; cocaine; pot, not synthetic versions of them.
Well whatever. The stories keep coming out about all these different, new drugs that "chemists" are pumping out, just amazing what people will do to themselves in order to get high.
Anyway, I finally figured out how to unload that 12 gauge shotgun without killing anyone. It wasn't that hard, I just got a bit fearful of the thing. No, there wasn't a shell in the chamber when I was fooling with it, I made sure of that. The thing just ejects them out of the side when you want to unload it. This is the disadvantages of not growing up with guns. I will be finding a legal spot to take the thing and fire off a box worth of shells to get comfortable with shooting it.
Time's up, to work it is!
G'day.
ben
Well I didn't expect that dust storm last night to make national news, but some of the pics they have of it are totally awesome! One pic makes it look more like giant waves of water crashing down on the city more than making it look like a thick, dense dust storm.
I have seen a lot of dust storms in Phoenix, they used to be far more prevalent in the 70's, but I don't ever recall one as thick as that one. Everything on my property is covered with an almost sooty type of dust. Windows are filthy, cars are covered with such a thick layer of it you'd think they'd been hit by volcanic ash, not dust from a storm. Quite the cleanup today after I get home, I am sure.
Oh, but wait: after work today I am supposed to go look at the trailer and see if it's anything I want to get involved with.
Bath Salts. Methylenedioxypyrovalerone. Try saying that word 3 times fast without goofing up! "Designer Drugs". This stuff pops out of the woodwork. It's just incredible the stuff that is available nowadays compared to when I was a teenager. The difference, though, is that this junk coming out now can be deadly and is sending a lot of people to hospital emergency rooms. Not so much when I was a kid, it was "pure" whatever: heroine; cocaine; pot, not synthetic versions of them.
Well whatever. The stories keep coming out about all these different, new drugs that "chemists" are pumping out, just amazing what people will do to themselves in order to get high.
Anyway, I finally figured out how to unload that 12 gauge shotgun without killing anyone. It wasn't that hard, I just got a bit fearful of the thing. No, there wasn't a shell in the chamber when I was fooling with it, I made sure of that. The thing just ejects them out of the side when you want to unload it. This is the disadvantages of not growing up with guns. I will be finding a legal spot to take the thing and fire off a box worth of shells to get comfortable with shooting it.
Time's up, to work it is!
G'day.
ben
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Tuesday/Late (For Me, Anyway) 7/5/2011
I was standing outside earlier, sunset to be exactly. The air was still and I was talking with a person on the phone, working with my ponds. I was looking around and looked up.
It's a good thing to look up once in a while. There was an UGLY sky coming right at me. I can't describe it. It's like nothing I have ever seen before, and yes I have seen tornadoes and other ugly stuff. Not 60 seconds later, the winds started blowing heavily. That isn't unusual in these parts: no wind one moment and then heavy, relentless winds another.
It was the DUST that I couldn't believe. INSTANTLY, there was such a thick haze of dust that it was like being in a fog. I am not over-exaggerating here, it was dense in a span of time that was amazing. I went inside - I have had respiratory problems all of my life since I was very young and breathing that stuff in isn't exactly doctor-recommended. I just went out there again - it's even WORSE now than it was before. This is the kind of dust storm where opening your mouth, you get dirt in it type of thing. I have grit in my teeth right now. I can't imagine what the roadways are like right now and what kind of - unfortunate - accidents might be going on.
Well, anyway, I am indoors and will be the rest of the night. Deal with the pond aftermath tomorrow after work. Several plants in 2 ponds have been pushed over by the winds and attempting to upright them was fruitless: the winds are too heavy. Those plants will survive a night in the water so I am not worried about it.
The topic of my interest tonight, however, is based upon an ad I placed yesterday on Craigslist. I have place a few such ads in the past, with no luck. I mean, people responded but what they had and what I was looking for were on 2 completely different planets.
You see, I have wanted to get those people in the trailer out there out of that old thing and into something a bit nicer. Doesn't have to be new or even close to it, but something that is still in good condition. That thing - is not in good condition. We did the best we could before they moved into it and after that? No thanks. No room to work - at all.
So, this guy replies to my ad today. His trailer is almost as old as mine, but the marked difference is that it is in good shape, the interior is still nice and the appliances all work. The propane system is still intact for cooking and heating water. I haven't SEEN it yet, be doing that possibly tomorrow. It would be an almost across the board, straight up trade. I would have to come up with a vehicle to move the trailers - or pay to have them moved I suppose.
I haven't said anything to the trailer people about it yet, I won't until I know it's really as good as the guy says it is and that a deal has been worked.
Ummm, anyway. Not going to get excited about anything until eyeballs meet metal and titles are transferred. Not that there is anything to get excited about: to switch out trailers will be a lot of work. Take off the evap cooler off of mine to put it on the other one. They will have to move everything out of that thing and move back into the "new" one. Probably the "new" trailer will have a fold-down couch, I doubt that's going to work for them so the couch would have to be removed to put the bed back in. It would have to be removed CAREFULLY and stored, as I wouldn't want to just throw it away.
I ain't there, yet, just getting it rolling.
The missing tenant showed up today. 10 days gone. 5 days past due. Eviction notice under his door. Notice of Abandonment would have come in 2 more days. He handed me 3/4's of this month's rent, said he was in Tucson, his car had broken down, he was spending the 4th of July with family, etc etc etc. He ONLY had to tell me that on the phone. That's all. I don't REALLY know what he's been up to. No, I don't necessarily believe his story, but I am not involved in his personal life and as long as it doesn't affect me, I don't really care what he does as long as it isn't illegal junk.
To end this, I just read a story of a family that was out on a beach. They were having a 4th of July picnic or whatever out there. A guy, out of the blue, grabs their 2 year old boy and starts off with him. The father sees him and apparently gets into an altercation with the man, getting his son away from the man. That was that, they got a police officer, the police found the guy still on the beach and arrested him.
I am not judging the father, at all. People think differently, I am good with that. I can only say, however, that if it had been my 2 year old son (who isn't anything near 2 years old now, lol), the ending for that man would have been far worse. I know how I am. We all know ourselves, yes? I know that the intense rage of a man attempting to take my only son would have been enough for me to tear that guy apart. He would have not just run off into the crowd, he would have been tackled to the ground - and that would be the least that would have happened to him.
Anyway, I am covered with dust and I guess I better hit the shower and go to bed. That stuff is all in my hair and I wasn't even out there that long!
G'day/night.
ben
It's a good thing to look up once in a while. There was an UGLY sky coming right at me. I can't describe it. It's like nothing I have ever seen before, and yes I have seen tornadoes and other ugly stuff. Not 60 seconds later, the winds started blowing heavily. That isn't unusual in these parts: no wind one moment and then heavy, relentless winds another.
It was the DUST that I couldn't believe. INSTANTLY, there was such a thick haze of dust that it was like being in a fog. I am not over-exaggerating here, it was dense in a span of time that was amazing. I went inside - I have had respiratory problems all of my life since I was very young and breathing that stuff in isn't exactly doctor-recommended. I just went out there again - it's even WORSE now than it was before. This is the kind of dust storm where opening your mouth, you get dirt in it type of thing. I have grit in my teeth right now. I can't imagine what the roadways are like right now and what kind of - unfortunate - accidents might be going on.
Well, anyway, I am indoors and will be the rest of the night. Deal with the pond aftermath tomorrow after work. Several plants in 2 ponds have been pushed over by the winds and attempting to upright them was fruitless: the winds are too heavy. Those plants will survive a night in the water so I am not worried about it.
The topic of my interest tonight, however, is based upon an ad I placed yesterday on Craigslist. I have place a few such ads in the past, with no luck. I mean, people responded but what they had and what I was looking for were on 2 completely different planets.
You see, I have wanted to get those people in the trailer out there out of that old thing and into something a bit nicer. Doesn't have to be new or even close to it, but something that is still in good condition. That thing - is not in good condition. We did the best we could before they moved into it and after that? No thanks. No room to work - at all.
So, this guy replies to my ad today. His trailer is almost as old as mine, but the marked difference is that it is in good shape, the interior is still nice and the appliances all work. The propane system is still intact for cooking and heating water. I haven't SEEN it yet, be doing that possibly tomorrow. It would be an almost across the board, straight up trade. I would have to come up with a vehicle to move the trailers - or pay to have them moved I suppose.
I haven't said anything to the trailer people about it yet, I won't until I know it's really as good as the guy says it is and that a deal has been worked.
Ummm, anyway. Not going to get excited about anything until eyeballs meet metal and titles are transferred. Not that there is anything to get excited about: to switch out trailers will be a lot of work. Take off the evap cooler off of mine to put it on the other one. They will have to move everything out of that thing and move back into the "new" one. Probably the "new" trailer will have a fold-down couch, I doubt that's going to work for them so the couch would have to be removed to put the bed back in. It would have to be removed CAREFULLY and stored, as I wouldn't want to just throw it away.
I ain't there, yet, just getting it rolling.
The missing tenant showed up today. 10 days gone. 5 days past due. Eviction notice under his door. Notice of Abandonment would have come in 2 more days. He handed me 3/4's of this month's rent, said he was in Tucson, his car had broken down, he was spending the 4th of July with family, etc etc etc. He ONLY had to tell me that on the phone. That's all. I don't REALLY know what he's been up to. No, I don't necessarily believe his story, but I am not involved in his personal life and as long as it doesn't affect me, I don't really care what he does as long as it isn't illegal junk.
To end this, I just read a story of a family that was out on a beach. They were having a 4th of July picnic or whatever out there. A guy, out of the blue, grabs their 2 year old boy and starts off with him. The father sees him and apparently gets into an altercation with the man, getting his son away from the man. That was that, they got a police officer, the police found the guy still on the beach and arrested him.
I am not judging the father, at all. People think differently, I am good with that. I can only say, however, that if it had been my 2 year old son (who isn't anything near 2 years old now, lol), the ending for that man would have been far worse. I know how I am. We all know ourselves, yes? I know that the intense rage of a man attempting to take my only son would have been enough for me to tear that guy apart. He would have not just run off into the crowd, he would have been tackled to the ground - and that would be the least that would have happened to him.
Anyway, I am covered with dust and I guess I better hit the shower and go to bed. That stuff is all in my hair and I wasn't even out there that long!
G'day/night.
ben
Monday, July 4, 2011
Monday: Independence Day July 4, 2011
Happy 4th of July to all the Stateside folks who call the good ole' USA their home and are patriotic. If you are patriotic to some other nation (such as many of the illegals here who claim how much better it is in Mexico than it is to live here), please go to your homeland and stay there, thank you. You can bash the U.S. from THERE, not from our homeland. Bastards.
I have told more than a couple of handfuls of those people where they can go, and it ain't nowhere in the US, I can assure you of that. People that come here, work the jobs, get the money, send it home and then call us a bunch of rich and greedy "white people". As if the entire country only has white people that have any kind of money, or that every person in the U.S. is rich, much less greedy. It aggravates me to no end these people and their disdain of our country and their marked disinterest for integrating into our society. I undoubtedly see a LOT more of this than most other people living in the Phoenix area which is rife with illegals.
Whatever. I am having grilled steak, coleslaw, some kind of vegetable and potatoes in celebration today, screw the diet (for one day, anyway). Actually, when the work contest starts, I am going to go gung-ho on working out and limiting my eating. Not necessarily to win the contest, just to have that kind of motivation to get me going on the last 10 or so pounds that need to be shed, while at the same time, building muscle.
No, changing the subject completely, I am not going to wait in a line to leave a store. When you go into Fry's Electronics and buy something, you know that they are going to attempt to stop you on the way out and put a yellow permanent marker slash on your ticket. It is not a membership club, therefore they do not have the right to detain you if you do not want to be detained, you can simply walk on out the door. They will yell after you, I am waiting for the day when I am "chased" out of the store. My issue is the line that forms to get out of the blooming place. I waited in line to PAY for my merchandise, I am NOT going to wait to get out of there.
So it was today. I walked right on by the line and right out the door and yes, with at least one person yelling "sir, we need to check your receipt". I didn't even look back, I had the receipt clearly visible in my hand and I kept right on walking. It's bad enough that you go into a place and see all of these people at the cashiers pulling out their wallets and purses WELL after the cashier has already rung up the purchases. Did these people forget that they have to pay for the items? NO. Yet, today, here is a guy in a conversation with the attendant who is supposed to be checking receipts. Again, I couldn't care less, I am leaving and that is that.
I did have security rush out of a Walmart store once when I refused to allow the people at the door to see my receipt. This practice apparently has been abandoned by Walmart because all of them I have been in recently DO have people at the exit door but do NOT sit there and try to demand to see my ticket. ALL Walmarts have security looking through multiple cameras all over those stores, let them catch the shoplifters that way, leave ME alone. I turned to the security people and informed them that if they did not leave me alone, I would be calling the police. That was enough for them to turn around and walk away. No threats, no attempt to detain me, they simply do not have the right. Doesn't mean I hate Walmart - though I have had SUBSTANTIAL problems there over the years with customer service "associates", I like the prices, but that isn't enough to make me want to shop there exclusively.
I heard from Caleb (my son) today. He has today off, or at least a part of it, apparently. He said he was totally exhausted from the previous week and had crashed out yesterday, using his free time to sleep. He IS a sound sleeper - that kid can sleep through the noise of bombs going off, I do believe. He said today he was going to spend a few hours off, alone, listening to his music. He also stated they are about half way over for the season. Makes sense, he said they would be going through the first week of August. I didn't hear a single complaint from him about his experience so far up there, though, that's a good thing.
2 tenants are facing eviction. 1 hasn't shown up in at least 8 days and is now 3 days past due on his rent. He called on the 30th and said he would be coming back on the 1st, but that never materialized. I am not going to call him, I posted a Quit or Pay 5-Day Notice on his door on the 2cd and that's that. If he does not "materialize" by the 7th, I am posting a Notice of Abandonment on his door instead of going to court. That will simply make it much cheaper - and must faster - to legally remove his stuff from that room and get it re-rented. Yes, it's another 5 day waiting period, but to evict a person from your house takes about 25 days and costs around $200. Abandonment is free excepting putting his belongings in storage. The fact of the matter is, though, even with an eviction, if a renter does not appear, I STILL legally have to put the person's belongings in storage for a minimum of 30 days before I can get rid of it.
If the renter shows up out of the blue wanting his stuff, he has to pay whatever it cost me to store the stuff upfront. That includes renting the truck: if I pay helpers and the storage cost itself. I can imagine a scenario like that getting pretty ugly, but the days of me waiting for people to pay rent are over. I refuse to continue to be shafted by people who lose their ability - or desire - to pay rent and then put you off for weeks, leaving and not paying anything.
Changing the subject, again. Well not. I wrote that and got caught up in an article.
The 3 day weekend is almost over, I don't feel as if it's been 3 days but that's how it goes and I ............... am going to ask for a week off in August. If I stay home and do nothing, so beit.
G'day.
ben
I have told more than a couple of handfuls of those people where they can go, and it ain't nowhere in the US, I can assure you of that. People that come here, work the jobs, get the money, send it home and then call us a bunch of rich and greedy "white people". As if the entire country only has white people that have any kind of money, or that every person in the U.S. is rich, much less greedy. It aggravates me to no end these people and their disdain of our country and their marked disinterest for integrating into our society. I undoubtedly see a LOT more of this than most other people living in the Phoenix area which is rife with illegals.
Whatever. I am having grilled steak, coleslaw, some kind of vegetable and potatoes in celebration today, screw the diet (for one day, anyway). Actually, when the work contest starts, I am going to go gung-ho on working out and limiting my eating. Not necessarily to win the contest, just to have that kind of motivation to get me going on the last 10 or so pounds that need to be shed, while at the same time, building muscle.
No, changing the subject completely, I am not going to wait in a line to leave a store. When you go into Fry's Electronics and buy something, you know that they are going to attempt to stop you on the way out and put a yellow permanent marker slash on your ticket. It is not a membership club, therefore they do not have the right to detain you if you do not want to be detained, you can simply walk on out the door. They will yell after you, I am waiting for the day when I am "chased" out of the store. My issue is the line that forms to get out of the blooming place. I waited in line to PAY for my merchandise, I am NOT going to wait to get out of there.
So it was today. I walked right on by the line and right out the door and yes, with at least one person yelling "sir, we need to check your receipt". I didn't even look back, I had the receipt clearly visible in my hand and I kept right on walking. It's bad enough that you go into a place and see all of these people at the cashiers pulling out their wallets and purses WELL after the cashier has already rung up the purchases. Did these people forget that they have to pay for the items? NO. Yet, today, here is a guy in a conversation with the attendant who is supposed to be checking receipts. Again, I couldn't care less, I am leaving and that is that.
I did have security rush out of a Walmart store once when I refused to allow the people at the door to see my receipt. This practice apparently has been abandoned by Walmart because all of them I have been in recently DO have people at the exit door but do NOT sit there and try to demand to see my ticket. ALL Walmarts have security looking through multiple cameras all over those stores, let them catch the shoplifters that way, leave ME alone. I turned to the security people and informed them that if they did not leave me alone, I would be calling the police. That was enough for them to turn around and walk away. No threats, no attempt to detain me, they simply do not have the right. Doesn't mean I hate Walmart - though I have had SUBSTANTIAL problems there over the years with customer service "associates", I like the prices, but that isn't enough to make me want to shop there exclusively.
I heard from Caleb (my son) today. He has today off, or at least a part of it, apparently. He said he was totally exhausted from the previous week and had crashed out yesterday, using his free time to sleep. He IS a sound sleeper - that kid can sleep through the noise of bombs going off, I do believe. He said today he was going to spend a few hours off, alone, listening to his music. He also stated they are about half way over for the season. Makes sense, he said they would be going through the first week of August. I didn't hear a single complaint from him about his experience so far up there, though, that's a good thing.
2 tenants are facing eviction. 1 hasn't shown up in at least 8 days and is now 3 days past due on his rent. He called on the 30th and said he would be coming back on the 1st, but that never materialized. I am not going to call him, I posted a Quit or Pay 5-Day Notice on his door on the 2cd and that's that. If he does not "materialize" by the 7th, I am posting a Notice of Abandonment on his door instead of going to court. That will simply make it much cheaper - and must faster - to legally remove his stuff from that room and get it re-rented. Yes, it's another 5 day waiting period, but to evict a person from your house takes about 25 days and costs around $200. Abandonment is free excepting putting his belongings in storage. The fact of the matter is, though, even with an eviction, if a renter does not appear, I STILL legally have to put the person's belongings in storage for a minimum of 30 days before I can get rid of it.
If the renter shows up out of the blue wanting his stuff, he has to pay whatever it cost me to store the stuff upfront. That includes renting the truck: if I pay helpers and the storage cost itself. I can imagine a scenario like that getting pretty ugly, but the days of me waiting for people to pay rent are over. I refuse to continue to be shafted by people who lose their ability - or desire - to pay rent and then put you off for weeks, leaving and not paying anything.
Changing the subject, again. Well not. I wrote that and got caught up in an article.
The 3 day weekend is almost over, I don't feel as if it's been 3 days but that's how it goes and I ............... am going to ask for a week off in August. If I stay home and do nothing, so beit.
G'day.
ben
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Saturday 7/2/2011
9 hours of overtime this week. Yesterday, to keep from getting OT, I would have had to stay home, actually, as I was already 30 minutes over. Instead, I got caught up with a delivery that took almost 3 hours at an Intel plant. After getting done with that, I went back to the yard to find out that a delivery to one of the mines up in the mountains was still on! I reminded my manager how far over I was, he didn't care. Which is fine by me, but he will have to explain it to the Ops manager and maybe even with the General Manager, who explicitly informed me to "watch your hours" some time ago.
I'll take the money and be happy, is all I can say about it, and hope for more!
I'm guessing the news might have a few blips about the heat over here on a nationwide level. Just because of the extreme temps that we have had and now, today, the expect high of anywhere up to 120 degrees. I can only say that my central AC system is working quite well and keeps the house as cool as I want it, which is about 78 degrees. Here's when you know it's going to be hot: the LOW tonight will be 87 degrees, lol.
Gun shop just down the road from me, I am going there in a bit after they open. They are claiming to have some great deals available today (4th of July weekend, people get out of Dodge in these parts instead of staying at home like I do, thusly, I doubt their store is going to be loaded with customers). I want either a 9mm, .40 or .45 caliber handgun - or - a 12 gauge shotgun of some sort and possibly get a .380 - smaller gun that can be hidden easier - if I ever decided to do the concealed carry route. But, mostly, I just want some home protection. I do believe Federal law prohibits commercial drivers from having any kind of firearm in their possession on in their vehicle.
_________________________________________
I checked a bunch of places online, but the one I had intention of going to had numerous good reviews, especially about the knowledge of the associates working there and the best prices. I went. Torn between a handgun or a shotgun, I asked the store guy's opinion. His instantaneous response to "what is the best home protection" was a 12 gauge shotgun. Cheaper than handguns, even a brand new one was only $207 with tax. Yes, I brought it home. Background check cleared instantly. Next up: educate myself on the rules of when you can use lethal force - and when you cannot. If a guy comes barging into my house with a gun drawn, that's pretty obvious.
I know, I have several readers that hate guns. My parents did too, when I was a kid. They wouldn't allow us to even have a BB gun, much less a real shotgun or rifle. My mother did an about face when she started living in Sun City - 55 plus retirement community - and found out how many predators of the aged there are out there. She now owns 3 handguns and I think there is also a shotgun around somewhere. Someone knocks at her door with ill intent, well, won't open the door for them, anyway, but if somehow they got in, well, what they don't see is the handgun in her - hand - loaded and ready to fire. And yes, she goes to the shooting range a couple of times a year. I fully intend on getting a small handgun as well.
I hope I never have to use the thing, at least for self defense purposes. Taking it out somewhere where it's legal to shoot and doing some practice is another situation entirely. Not that you need much practice with a shotgun: aim in the general direction and likely you are going to hit the intended target.
It's 11:00 am and it's already 108 out there, gag.
I have not heard anything from Caleb since a week ago. Allegedly, at least a portion of Saturday is free time for the counselors. So I am hoping he will visit his FB page and make an entry and perhaps send me even a short email. Hey, I used to talk to my parents even when I was on the mission field!
Well, this day is done. Not that much, but enough, it's almost 6:00 pm and I started this entry at somewhere around 7:30 am. I have been fooling with the ponds; had one of the trailer tenants in that couldn't take the heat (95 in that trailer with a swamp cooler); tried to get the oil changed on my car (neighborhood kid, sometimes hard to find); fooled with the new shotgun (no, I did not accidentally discharge it); had the dogs following me in and out, even though I didn't really want them to (large dogs, too hot for them outside); responded to several emails and other minutia.
G'day.
ben
I'll take the money and be happy, is all I can say about it, and hope for more!
I'm guessing the news might have a few blips about the heat over here on a nationwide level. Just because of the extreme temps that we have had and now, today, the expect high of anywhere up to 120 degrees. I can only say that my central AC system is working quite well and keeps the house as cool as I want it, which is about 78 degrees. Here's when you know it's going to be hot: the LOW tonight will be 87 degrees, lol.
Gun shop just down the road from me, I am going there in a bit after they open. They are claiming to have some great deals available today (4th of July weekend, people get out of Dodge in these parts instead of staying at home like I do, thusly, I doubt their store is going to be loaded with customers). I want either a 9mm, .40 or .45 caliber handgun - or - a 12 gauge shotgun of some sort and possibly get a .380 - smaller gun that can be hidden easier - if I ever decided to do the concealed carry route. But, mostly, I just want some home protection. I do believe Federal law prohibits commercial drivers from having any kind of firearm in their possession on in their vehicle.
_________________________________________
I checked a bunch of places online, but the one I had intention of going to had numerous good reviews, especially about the knowledge of the associates working there and the best prices. I went. Torn between a handgun or a shotgun, I asked the store guy's opinion. His instantaneous response to "what is the best home protection" was a 12 gauge shotgun. Cheaper than handguns, even a brand new one was only $207 with tax. Yes, I brought it home. Background check cleared instantly. Next up: educate myself on the rules of when you can use lethal force - and when you cannot. If a guy comes barging into my house with a gun drawn, that's pretty obvious.
I know, I have several readers that hate guns. My parents did too, when I was a kid. They wouldn't allow us to even have a BB gun, much less a real shotgun or rifle. My mother did an about face when she started living in Sun City - 55 plus retirement community - and found out how many predators of the aged there are out there. She now owns 3 handguns and I think there is also a shotgun around somewhere. Someone knocks at her door with ill intent, well, won't open the door for them, anyway, but if somehow they got in, well, what they don't see is the handgun in her - hand - loaded and ready to fire. And yes, she goes to the shooting range a couple of times a year. I fully intend on getting a small handgun as well.
I hope I never have to use the thing, at least for self defense purposes. Taking it out somewhere where it's legal to shoot and doing some practice is another situation entirely. Not that you need much practice with a shotgun: aim in the general direction and likely you are going to hit the intended target.
It's 11:00 am and it's already 108 out there, gag.
I have not heard anything from Caleb since a week ago. Allegedly, at least a portion of Saturday is free time for the counselors. So I am hoping he will visit his FB page and make an entry and perhaps send me even a short email. Hey, I used to talk to my parents even when I was on the mission field!
Well, this day is done. Not that much, but enough, it's almost 6:00 pm and I started this entry at somewhere around 7:30 am. I have been fooling with the ponds; had one of the trailer tenants in that couldn't take the heat (95 in that trailer with a swamp cooler); tried to get the oil changed on my car (neighborhood kid, sometimes hard to find); fooled with the new shotgun (no, I did not accidentally discharge it); had the dogs following me in and out, even though I didn't really want them to (large dogs, too hot for them outside); responded to several emails and other minutia.
G'day.
ben
Friday, July 1, 2011
Friday 7/1/2011
Friday
I have read more forecasts about what the temp is going to be tomorrow that contradict each other - but - in the end? It's just going to be plain hot. The predicted high temp forecasts range from 114 to 120.
There IS one odd thing going on this summer. On the days when we've hit 115/116, the electric usage wasn't as much as I would have expected, considering previous years. I know the cost of electricity hasn't gone DOWN - at ALL.
Therefore, the only logical conclusion is tenants. Whoever was doing whatever in their room, using whatever electrical powered device. Slightly maddening. Yesterday, it got up to 114, but only used $11 worth of electricity. That would have cost more like $15 or 16 during 2 previous years. How do I deal with people using too much electricity when I don't even know what they are doing?
"Millions" of workers are tapping into their 401k's for loans or, if losing their job, cashing them out completely in order to pay bills. Was just reading that.
I have 2 of those loans going. One of them is down to $325 owed, the other is something like $800. The experts, of course, advise against borrowing against your 401k for any reason. I can only say when your back is against the wall and you have no other options, you are going to do what you have to do. Unfortunately, that probably also means paying for it somewhere down the line, even if well down the line.
But, I have read enough of this stuff to cause me to take some action. I raised the amount being taken out. I am considering automatic withdrawal of an additional 2% going into a savings account versus it all going into 401k.
Haven't really made my mind up on that one, but if things keep going the way they have been for the last several weeks, my paychecks will be a bit bigger - by about $100 to $150. Or, possibly, use the raise that I am getting in August to go directly to savings instead of into a checking account. It's only $80 per month, which I could live without since I am living without it now, anyway, and just have it going into savings instead.
Well, I have a mind ful of stuff going on right now, but, it's time to get to work.
G'day.
ben
I have read more forecasts about what the temp is going to be tomorrow that contradict each other - but - in the end? It's just going to be plain hot. The predicted high temp forecasts range from 114 to 120.
There IS one odd thing going on this summer. On the days when we've hit 115/116, the electric usage wasn't as much as I would have expected, considering previous years. I know the cost of electricity hasn't gone DOWN - at ALL.
Therefore, the only logical conclusion is tenants. Whoever was doing whatever in their room, using whatever electrical powered device. Slightly maddening. Yesterday, it got up to 114, but only used $11 worth of electricity. That would have cost more like $15 or 16 during 2 previous years. How do I deal with people using too much electricity when I don't even know what they are doing?
"Millions" of workers are tapping into their 401k's for loans or, if losing their job, cashing them out completely in order to pay bills. Was just reading that.
I have 2 of those loans going. One of them is down to $325 owed, the other is something like $800. The experts, of course, advise against borrowing against your 401k for any reason. I can only say when your back is against the wall and you have no other options, you are going to do what you have to do. Unfortunately, that probably also means paying for it somewhere down the line, even if well down the line.
But, I have read enough of this stuff to cause me to take some action. I raised the amount being taken out. I am considering automatic withdrawal of an additional 2% going into a savings account versus it all going into 401k.
Haven't really made my mind up on that one, but if things keep going the way they have been for the last several weeks, my paychecks will be a bit bigger - by about $100 to $150. Or, possibly, use the raise that I am getting in August to go directly to savings instead of into a checking account. It's only $80 per month, which I could live without since I am living without it now, anyway, and just have it going into savings instead.
Well, I have a mind ful of stuff going on right now, but, it's time to get to work.
G'day.
ben
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Learn From Experience: Plastic Pipe, Time Wasted and Gifts
New truck drivers and some intermediate drivers and even many old-timers simply never learn. Impatience gets you NOWHERE in this particular line of work.
I got back to the shop at 2:00 pm. I wanted to go home. Why? Because it is 1/2 hour past my "normal" time off and that's the only reason. No, not really, I was tired and wanted to go home. I stayed up too late last night with church plus my "normal" awakening in the middle of the night which netted maybe in 5 hours of sleep. I have gotten used to it, but some days it's hard to deal with.
It doesn't happen every day like that, thank God, but it happens often enough.
Now, my information was to pick up a load of C-900, PVC water pipe at the manufacturer's yard in west Phoenix. I got there, talked to the people at will call - they know me by name and we struck it off long ago, never had a problem with them - got my paperwork. Another truck driver wanted to talk. Well, as long as it isn't holding me up, I'm game. I can see out the window of that will call whether the truck is being loaded or not and at that place, I do not have to be out there for them to load it, they get to business as soon as will call calls them - forklift operators - on the walkie talkie.
I talked for a while with this guy, I have no problems striking up a conversation with other truck drivers, I have only been doing it 26 years and experiences in trucking that new drivers or anyone that started past the age of commercial licenses will even believe. No, they usually don't believe me with my stories of the past. But, this guy I was talking to is much older than me and has a few stories of his own.
Regardless, the forklift showed up and it was time to get outside, or in the terminology of some ancient past: book it.
Got the load on, strapped it down tightly, drove the 40 miles back to my branch.
When I arrived, my manager started looking at the paperwork. I had not seen the order that this pipe was on because it had come online after I had left early in the morning, so I had no clue that.......this is not the right pipe. It was DR18 PVC C900 pipe, what I was supposed to get was DR14 PVC C900 pipe. The difference is in the thickness of the walls of the pipe and subsequently, the amount of pressure it can withstand.
The paperwork I had received from the manufacturer showed shipping DR18 pipe, not DR14. I had the right pipe according to their paperwork. Here we go. The contractor where this pipe is going wants this pipe delivered early, along with a bunch of other stuff and that's that.
Yup, I had to leave at after 2:00 pm and go all the way back there, get the wrong pipe unloaded and get the right pipe loaded up.
I wasn't unhappy, I really don't care that much if I don't have something going on after work, but at the same time, I was tired. That's my only sticking point. I get it into my head that I am going home and then find out I have hours worth of driving more to do, well, I have to force myself into another mind-frame and that can take some doing.
That didn't take much. I got out of there quickly and got on the freeway, off that freeway and onto another one, off of that and onto I-10. Is there anyone that has never heard of I-10? It only runs the entire width of the United State of America, from California to Florida. And there is a LOT of truck and bus traffic going through Phoenix on that highway.
So, I am driving along in the fast lane. Yes, I was in the fast lane in a semi because the traffic in the other lanes was going 10 MPH slower than the speed limit and I was easily keeping up with traffic. So along comes this tour bus in the HOV lane, which, of course, is right next to the "fast lane". The driver slowed down right next to me. I'm always checking my mirrors and my load, but that got me going: I immediately checked my load from 3 angles to see if there was something wrong.
What was going on in that bus, I will never know. I didn't even think, at first, to look at the windows of the bus, I don't really care that much. There are people in there, they are in their own world, whatever. The thing that caught my attention was the fact that no matter what speed I was going, that bus sped up or slowed down next to me.
I then felt it. Eyes. I know that feeling, someone is not just watching me, they are staring at me. The height of the passenger level of that bus was in fact, looking down at me. So, they could see everything I was doing in my truck. Which isn't much on a freeway, messing with a few things, usually not changing gears, umm, just driving. I looked over at the windows, they weren't that much higher, just slightly elevated. People staring into the cab of my truck. Fingers, pointing, laughing, all kinds of stuff. I promise, I wasn't doing nasty things in my truck. I was just driving and listening to music.
MUSIC!!! That's it!! Maybe that's it, anyway. I tend to get animated if a good song comes on. You don't have to be on your feet to dance, folks. This just crossed my mind now, that might have been it. Or not, who knows. Whatever the case, it went on for about 15 miles and I ended up getting off the freeway. I will never know.
I got back to the pipe yard and hadn't even got my paperwork done - I am a truck driver, you fill in your time and mileage before you do anything else after stopping - and look up to see a forklift sitting there, waiting to unload the truck. Thank you. No time wasted, I jumped out, un-did the strap, got them off the pipe and he went into a flurry of getting all of that off of the trailer. I start rolling the straps back up. I have to throw them over pipe when it's that high, I can't just take the straps, un-rolled and try to get them over it.
One of the will-call guys comes out on a cart. He's totally cool, but both of them in that will call are always cool. He's got a big smile on his face: Sorry, Ben, for the problem. I smiled back and greeted him and then told him I knew it wasn't his fault. Obviously, the sales rep input the information wrong. No biggies. I threw out: But, I want a steak dinner gift card at, ohhh, maybe Black Angus or Claim Jumpers. He smiled real big again and took off.
Meanwhile, I'm rolling up straps and the forklift dude is done unloading pipe and starts loading the "real" pipe on. The will-call guy is out again. But not for me, another truck. He drives by: "We want recompense, dinner will work!", I shouted, but in jest, we both know that isn't going to happen. Again, I say something similar, he's laughing now. He knows I am messing with him, but in a light-hearted way, this isn't anything serious at all.
One last time, he comes out to count the pipe. But, now I can tell he is embarrassed about this situation. I have been going there for 5-1/2 years and have never had a problem with the wrong pipe being loaded. If the wrong amount of pipe is loaded, either I or they catch it, but it's caught before I leave. The only problem I have ever had is burnt pipe - many contractors will reject it. Arizona sun has that effect on plastic pipe if it's out there too long.
Well, he disappears and I get to getting with strapping, it's getting late and I want to get back to the yard and go home. I get done with strapping and go into the will-call center. You see, he had come out and had me sign the paperwork, but didn't give me a copy of it, which he automatically does. He has NEVER come OUTSIDE to give me paperwork, I always go in there to get it and I might add that doesn't bother me at all. We all have our little realms that we work in, I respect that. He did not, however, give me a copy of the paperwork. You cannot receive into your inventory anything unless you have the paperwork to go along with it.
So, he isn't there. The other guy is, we get into a conversation, albeit short. He calls his partner on the phone, where are you, what's up? He'll back back in a minute, he had gone into the main office. I wait. He shows up, hands me the copies of the paperwork and slips a card into my hand. This was totally unexpected. I didn't even THINK that anything would become of my playing around with him about the dinner, stuff. I looked at the card: a $50 gift card to Sam's Club.
I look up at him, he has this big grin on his face. I'm like, wow! Thank you! I am not accustomed to receiving freebies at work when it comes to our contractors or our vendors, besides vendors showing up to our main branch with food. I am on the clock and getting paid for my time, that is sufficient for me. There are 2 contractors that come to mind,however, that I would like to meet up with in a dark alley or a bar somewhere and knock the teeth out of their heads - yes, not Christian speech at all, but I am at least being honest about it, and yes, if the opportunity came..............well I better not go there.
Ahhhhh, I'm done. It's late - for me, anyway - I am ready to go to sleep. I did offer half of it to my manager, who had to put up with as much earful about it as I did having to deal with the physical aspect of it, he simply said he didn't have a Costco membership. Neither do I, but if you think, for one moment, that that is going to stop me from going on there and using that gift card, think again. It will happen. I will get him his whatever canned nutrition drinks he likes and I will get - dunno. $25, my half, will buy a few things, not much, but it's free and that's that.
G'nite.
ben
I got back to the shop at 2:00 pm. I wanted to go home. Why? Because it is 1/2 hour past my "normal" time off and that's the only reason. No, not really, I was tired and wanted to go home. I stayed up too late last night with church plus my "normal" awakening in the middle of the night which netted maybe in 5 hours of sleep. I have gotten used to it, but some days it's hard to deal with.
It doesn't happen every day like that, thank God, but it happens often enough.
Now, my information was to pick up a load of C-900, PVC water pipe at the manufacturer's yard in west Phoenix. I got there, talked to the people at will call - they know me by name and we struck it off long ago, never had a problem with them - got my paperwork. Another truck driver wanted to talk. Well, as long as it isn't holding me up, I'm game. I can see out the window of that will call whether the truck is being loaded or not and at that place, I do not have to be out there for them to load it, they get to business as soon as will call calls them - forklift operators - on the walkie talkie.
I talked for a while with this guy, I have no problems striking up a conversation with other truck drivers, I have only been doing it 26 years and experiences in trucking that new drivers or anyone that started past the age of commercial licenses will even believe. No, they usually don't believe me with my stories of the past. But, this guy I was talking to is much older than me and has a few stories of his own.
Regardless, the forklift showed up and it was time to get outside, or in the terminology of some ancient past: book it.
Got the load on, strapped it down tightly, drove the 40 miles back to my branch.
When I arrived, my manager started looking at the paperwork. I had not seen the order that this pipe was on because it had come online after I had left early in the morning, so I had no clue that.......this is not the right pipe. It was DR18 PVC C900 pipe, what I was supposed to get was DR14 PVC C900 pipe. The difference is in the thickness of the walls of the pipe and subsequently, the amount of pressure it can withstand.
The paperwork I had received from the manufacturer showed shipping DR18 pipe, not DR14. I had the right pipe according to their paperwork. Here we go. The contractor where this pipe is going wants this pipe delivered early, along with a bunch of other stuff and that's that.
Yup, I had to leave at after 2:00 pm and go all the way back there, get the wrong pipe unloaded and get the right pipe loaded up.
I wasn't unhappy, I really don't care that much if I don't have something going on after work, but at the same time, I was tired. That's my only sticking point. I get it into my head that I am going home and then find out I have hours worth of driving more to do, well, I have to force myself into another mind-frame and that can take some doing.
That didn't take much. I got out of there quickly and got on the freeway, off that freeway and onto another one, off of that and onto I-10. Is there anyone that has never heard of I-10? It only runs the entire width of the United State of America, from California to Florida. And there is a LOT of truck and bus traffic going through Phoenix on that highway.
So, I am driving along in the fast lane. Yes, I was in the fast lane in a semi because the traffic in the other lanes was going 10 MPH slower than the speed limit and I was easily keeping up with traffic. So along comes this tour bus in the HOV lane, which, of course, is right next to the "fast lane". The driver slowed down right next to me. I'm always checking my mirrors and my load, but that got me going: I immediately checked my load from 3 angles to see if there was something wrong.
What was going on in that bus, I will never know. I didn't even think, at first, to look at the windows of the bus, I don't really care that much. There are people in there, they are in their own world, whatever. The thing that caught my attention was the fact that no matter what speed I was going, that bus sped up or slowed down next to me.
I then felt it. Eyes. I know that feeling, someone is not just watching me, they are staring at me. The height of the passenger level of that bus was in fact, looking down at me. So, they could see everything I was doing in my truck. Which isn't much on a freeway, messing with a few things, usually not changing gears, umm, just driving. I looked over at the windows, they weren't that much higher, just slightly elevated. People staring into the cab of my truck. Fingers, pointing, laughing, all kinds of stuff. I promise, I wasn't doing nasty things in my truck. I was just driving and listening to music.
MUSIC!!! That's it!! Maybe that's it, anyway. I tend to get animated if a good song comes on. You don't have to be on your feet to dance, folks. This just crossed my mind now, that might have been it. Or not, who knows. Whatever the case, it went on for about 15 miles and I ended up getting off the freeway. I will never know.
I got back to the pipe yard and hadn't even got my paperwork done - I am a truck driver, you fill in your time and mileage before you do anything else after stopping - and look up to see a forklift sitting there, waiting to unload the truck. Thank you. No time wasted, I jumped out, un-did the strap, got them off the pipe and he went into a flurry of getting all of that off of the trailer. I start rolling the straps back up. I have to throw them over pipe when it's that high, I can't just take the straps, un-rolled and try to get them over it.
One of the will-call guys comes out on a cart. He's totally cool, but both of them in that will call are always cool. He's got a big smile on his face: Sorry, Ben, for the problem. I smiled back and greeted him and then told him I knew it wasn't his fault. Obviously, the sales rep input the information wrong. No biggies. I threw out: But, I want a steak dinner gift card at, ohhh, maybe Black Angus or Claim Jumpers. He smiled real big again and took off.
Meanwhile, I'm rolling up straps and the forklift dude is done unloading pipe and starts loading the "real" pipe on. The will-call guy is out again. But not for me, another truck. He drives by: "We want recompense, dinner will work!", I shouted, but in jest, we both know that isn't going to happen. Again, I say something similar, he's laughing now. He knows I am messing with him, but in a light-hearted way, this isn't anything serious at all.
One last time, he comes out to count the pipe. But, now I can tell he is embarrassed about this situation. I have been going there for 5-1/2 years and have never had a problem with the wrong pipe being loaded. If the wrong amount of pipe is loaded, either I or they catch it, but it's caught before I leave. The only problem I have ever had is burnt pipe - many contractors will reject it. Arizona sun has that effect on plastic pipe if it's out there too long.
Well, he disappears and I get to getting with strapping, it's getting late and I want to get back to the yard and go home. I get done with strapping and go into the will-call center. You see, he had come out and had me sign the paperwork, but didn't give me a copy of it, which he automatically does. He has NEVER come OUTSIDE to give me paperwork, I always go in there to get it and I might add that doesn't bother me at all. We all have our little realms that we work in, I respect that. He did not, however, give me a copy of the paperwork. You cannot receive into your inventory anything unless you have the paperwork to go along with it.
So, he isn't there. The other guy is, we get into a conversation, albeit short. He calls his partner on the phone, where are you, what's up? He'll back back in a minute, he had gone into the main office. I wait. He shows up, hands me the copies of the paperwork and slips a card into my hand. This was totally unexpected. I didn't even THINK that anything would become of my playing around with him about the dinner, stuff. I looked at the card: a $50 gift card to Sam's Club.
I look up at him, he has this big grin on his face. I'm like, wow! Thank you! I am not accustomed to receiving freebies at work when it comes to our contractors or our vendors, besides vendors showing up to our main branch with food. I am on the clock and getting paid for my time, that is sufficient for me. There are 2 contractors that come to mind,however, that I would like to meet up with in a dark alley or a bar somewhere and knock the teeth out of their heads - yes, not Christian speech at all, but I am at least being honest about it, and yes, if the opportunity came..............well I better not go there.
Ahhhhh, I'm done. It's late - for me, anyway - I am ready to go to sleep. I did offer half of it to my manager, who had to put up with as much earful about it as I did having to deal with the physical aspect of it, he simply said he didn't have a Costco membership. Neither do I, but if you think, for one moment, that that is going to stop me from going on there and using that gift card, think again. It will happen. I will get him his whatever canned nutrition drinks he likes and I will get - dunno. $25, my half, will buy a few things, not much, but it's free and that's that.
G'nite.
ben
Thursday 6/30/2011
Thursday
Church.
Yes, I went to church last night. It went on a bit long, too. I didn't leave, though, I stayed until it ended at 9:00pm and didn't waste any time getting out of there, getting home and getting to bed.
I got a bit of a surprise yesterday as I was about to leave work. No, the ops manager did not show up to hand me a pink slip. My manager handed me a white piece of paper and said here.
Okaaaaaay. I open it up and read a one-liner. I says I am receiving a $.55 per hour raise. Uhh, that's not bad, really. In fact, I was surprised I got any kind of raise after all the commotion was started when I was pulled over twice in December for vehicle inspections and given fully 4 warnings: 2 per inspection. Seriously, that information came down from the near the top and went through every level of management until it got to my manager.
Okay, warnings for commercial drivers carry more weight after the initiation of "CSA2010". Some people say they have the same weight as getting an actual ticket itself, I would seriously have to disagree with that assessment. I asked about this new "thing" they have come out with that regulate the trucking industry much more than ever and affects commercial drivers to the point that, well, some companies may have trouble keeping their doors open if DOT comes in and shuts down their fleet.
But, anyway, they are not, allegedly, revoking class A priviledges for warnings. But, warning have a rating system through points. I think I am understanding it correctly that the points stack up against the company and that at some point, if enough points in a specific time period are accrued, DOT can come in and start the beginning levels of "big brotherism".
In some cases, I would assess that yes, some companies need to be watched like a hawk. If drivers in that company are getting into accidents or if the company is having them drive around unsafe equipment, then yes, I agree.
June 30, 2011 6:03 AM
Anonymous said...
But to not get a warning when they pull you over the exception, not the rule. They find one little thing wrong and they write up a warning. The first guy that pulled me over was a 20-something and definitely had the "god" syndrome going. You will bow and worship him, he is the final authority and if you don't, he'll make your life even more miserable.
It usually isn't worth getting into arguments with them, but I did confront him on the "following too closely" statement. NO sir, you weren't even parked in such a position as to SEE what was going on. Back and forth, but I knew it wouldn't help anything, still, I had to make my case.
The second officer that month was an older gentlemen, nice enough, who adamently claimed that the reduced speed limit was clearly posted coming into the construction zone. A trip back through determined that there was NO signage showing a new speed limit. The DOT crews had put up a STAND for the sign, but they never actually got around to putting the sign up itself.
That's when I complained to AZDOT. "Your officers are handing out warnings and tickets for a construction zone with signage that does not exist." The DOT officer that wrote me back said I would have to go through my company to file a formal complaint, but that he was also going to forward that email I sent to him on to AZDOT.
Yes, the signage magically appeared after that. I would laugh, but there is nothing funny about it. No-one was doing their job in that case. The DOT officers weren't looking to see if the signage had been placed - before handing out their invitations and the state of Arizona obviously hadn't done it's job since the new speed limit, which was supposed to be posted, was not.
The thing that really got me in this case is that there were cars speeding by me going at least 10mph faster than I. The officer didn't care about THOSE people who were REALLY speeding.
These are the kinds of things that make DOT officers mostly unliked in the realm of commercial drivers. They give us a hard time and frequently are very disrespectful, even if the driver is respecting them. If it had been a ticket I had been issued, I would have won that one hands down, because when I saw that the signs were down, I would have immediately driven home, got my camera and taken both pictures and a video of it.
Well whatever, the end of month today, although there is usually a big push to get out whatever product we can to bring up our numbers, all of our stores are doing very well this month. Save some for next month, lol.
G'day.
ben
Church.
Yes, I went to church last night. It went on a bit long, too. I didn't leave, though, I stayed until it ended at 9:00pm and didn't waste any time getting out of there, getting home and getting to bed.
I got a bit of a surprise yesterday as I was about to leave work. No, the ops manager did not show up to hand me a pink slip. My manager handed me a white piece of paper and said here.
Okaaaaaay. I open it up and read a one-liner. I says I am receiving a $.55 per hour raise. Uhh, that's not bad, really. In fact, I was surprised I got any kind of raise after all the commotion was started when I was pulled over twice in December for vehicle inspections and given fully 4 warnings: 2 per inspection. Seriously, that information came down from the near the top and went through every level of management until it got to my manager.
Okay, warnings for commercial drivers carry more weight after the initiation of "CSA2010". Some people say they have the same weight as getting an actual ticket itself, I would seriously have to disagree with that assessment. I asked about this new "thing" they have come out with that regulate the trucking industry much more than ever and affects commercial drivers to the point that, well, some companies may have trouble keeping their doors open if DOT comes in and shuts down their fleet.
But, anyway, they are not, allegedly, revoking class A priviledges for warnings. But, warning have a rating system through points. I think I am understanding it correctly that the points stack up against the company and that at some point, if enough points in a specific time period are accrued, DOT can come in and start the beginning levels of "big brotherism".
In some cases, I would assess that yes, some companies need to be watched like a hawk. If drivers in that company are getting into accidents or if the company is having them drive around unsafe equipment, then yes, I agree.
June 30, 2011 6:03 AM
Anonymous said...
But to not get a warning when they pull you over the exception, not the rule. They find one little thing wrong and they write up a warning. The first guy that pulled me over was a 20-something and definitely had the "god" syndrome going. You will bow and worship him, he is the final authority and if you don't, he'll make your life even more miserable.
It usually isn't worth getting into arguments with them, but I did confront him on the "following too closely" statement. NO sir, you weren't even parked in such a position as to SEE what was going on. Back and forth, but I knew it wouldn't help anything, still, I had to make my case.
The second officer that month was an older gentlemen, nice enough, who adamently claimed that the reduced speed limit was clearly posted coming into the construction zone. A trip back through determined that there was NO signage showing a new speed limit. The DOT crews had put up a STAND for the sign, but they never actually got around to putting the sign up itself.
That's when I complained to AZDOT. "Your officers are handing out warnings and tickets for a construction zone with signage that does not exist." The DOT officer that wrote me back said I would have to go through my company to file a formal complaint, but that he was also going to forward that email I sent to him on to AZDOT.
Yes, the signage magically appeared after that. I would laugh, but there is nothing funny about it. No-one was doing their job in that case. The DOT officers weren't looking to see if the signage had been placed - before handing out their invitations and the state of Arizona obviously hadn't done it's job since the new speed limit, which was supposed to be posted, was not.
The thing that really got me in this case is that there were cars speeding by me going at least 10mph faster than I. The officer didn't care about THOSE people who were REALLY speeding.
These are the kinds of things that make DOT officers mostly unliked in the realm of commercial drivers. They give us a hard time and frequently are very disrespectful, even if the driver is respecting them. If it had been a ticket I had been issued, I would have won that one hands down, because when I saw that the signs were down, I would have immediately driven home, got my camera and taken both pictures and a video of it.
Well whatever, the end of month today, although there is usually a big push to get out whatever product we can to bring up our numbers, all of our stores are doing very well this month. Save some for next month, lol.
G'day.
ben
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Wednesday 6/29/2011
Wednesday
Some pretty strange stuff going on out there.
Uhh, but that's pretty normal in this world.
Anyway, the contest at work starts next month on the 11th. It is a body fat contest: which team can shed the most fat, basically.
I'm definitely joining that one. I am down to low 190 pound range. It is taking a while to get there. You know, the "Last Ten Pounds" syndrome? Not a syndrome, but that's what I'm calling it anyway. Takes forever and a lot of perseverence to get it off.
I walked in the house after getting off of work - late, btw - yesterday and saw it. The entire contents of all of those cupboards laying out everywhere.
This was for the roach cleanout, as the pest control company calls it. It's a bit pricey at $150, but they come twice and it has a lifetime guarantee. That's what the dude told me yesterday: lifetime guarantee. I'm not going to turn that guarantee down, but I think that a bit much if you are serious about staying in business, lol.
However, it was 5:00 pm when he left and he said don't put anything back in the cupboards for at least 2 hours.
In case you didn't guess, I didn't put ANYTHING away last night. I was burnt out from 10 straight hours of bust-@$$ work in the heat yesterday and I just said screw it. Lol.
I am exchanging a couple free weeks of rent to the trailer tenants in exchange for cleaning out all the cupboards today and putting the stuff back. They, of course, didn't want to accept the exchange, saying they would do it and still pay rent. Yes, of course, I would probably say the same thing if I were in their position, but, I am not going to ask them to do that much work for nothing.
Gun. Well I have been trying to win an auction for a 9mm, the last one being a Ruger model, but I am not around a computer near the ending of these auctions and therefore don't really have a chance to play the bidding war game.
I did go and price out new guns at a gun shop - not a pawn shop, either - to get an idea of how much they are worth. I'm hardly an expert, here.
Lastly, I was listening to yet another "expert" giving the doom and gloom speech - this went on for an hour and it still wasn't done - on the US, it's financial state of being and his declaration that if the runaway deficit isn't controlled, completely, and soon, we are going to be in a world of hurt. Nothing new here, just a much more detailed explanation of the why's and how's a financial meltdown is going to occur instead of generic statements that really tell you nothing.
I don't know. I don't even look for this stuff. I surf the net and there it is. I have no idea if these so-called expert opinions are going to come to pass. But I do read it with interest. The housing factor is still in chaos and there are still 14 million Americans out of work, that alone is enough to persuade me that yes, something drastic COULD potentially happen.
But, living life in fear of what may happen is generally not the greatest way to live your life, so I won't. I will just continue to read whatever material I find - regardless of the stance of the write of that material - and see if any of it comes to pass. I have plan B, C, D and F in the case of a financial meltdown and facing the potential prospect of getting laid off at work.
But, I hope not to have to go there. We are talking DRASTIC measures that would be less than pleasant, to say the least. Nothing illegal. Oh, church tonight? Dunno yet. Maybe go and leave at 8:30 whether the service is done or not? Again, dunno yet.
G'day.
ben
Some pretty strange stuff going on out there.
Uhh, but that's pretty normal in this world.
Anyway, the contest at work starts next month on the 11th. It is a body fat contest: which team can shed the most fat, basically.
I'm definitely joining that one. I am down to low 190 pound range. It is taking a while to get there. You know, the "Last Ten Pounds" syndrome? Not a syndrome, but that's what I'm calling it anyway. Takes forever and a lot of perseverence to get it off.
I walked in the house after getting off of work - late, btw - yesterday and saw it. The entire contents of all of those cupboards laying out everywhere.
This was for the roach cleanout, as the pest control company calls it. It's a bit pricey at $150, but they come twice and it has a lifetime guarantee. That's what the dude told me yesterday: lifetime guarantee. I'm not going to turn that guarantee down, but I think that a bit much if you are serious about staying in business, lol.
However, it was 5:00 pm when he left and he said don't put anything back in the cupboards for at least 2 hours.
In case you didn't guess, I didn't put ANYTHING away last night. I was burnt out from 10 straight hours of bust-@$$ work in the heat yesterday and I just said screw it. Lol.
I am exchanging a couple free weeks of rent to the trailer tenants in exchange for cleaning out all the cupboards today and putting the stuff back. They, of course, didn't want to accept the exchange, saying they would do it and still pay rent. Yes, of course, I would probably say the same thing if I were in their position, but, I am not going to ask them to do that much work for nothing.
Gun. Well I have been trying to win an auction for a 9mm, the last one being a Ruger model, but I am not around a computer near the ending of these auctions and therefore don't really have a chance to play the bidding war game.
I did go and price out new guns at a gun shop - not a pawn shop, either - to get an idea of how much they are worth. I'm hardly an expert, here.
Lastly, I was listening to yet another "expert" giving the doom and gloom speech - this went on for an hour and it still wasn't done - on the US, it's financial state of being and his declaration that if the runaway deficit isn't controlled, completely, and soon, we are going to be in a world of hurt. Nothing new here, just a much more detailed explanation of the why's and how's a financial meltdown is going to occur instead of generic statements that really tell you nothing.
I don't know. I don't even look for this stuff. I surf the net and there it is. I have no idea if these so-called expert opinions are going to come to pass. But I do read it with interest. The housing factor is still in chaos and there are still 14 million Americans out of work, that alone is enough to persuade me that yes, something drastic COULD potentially happen.
But, living life in fear of what may happen is generally not the greatest way to live your life, so I won't. I will just continue to read whatever material I find - regardless of the stance of the write of that material - and see if any of it comes to pass. I have plan B, C, D and F in the case of a financial meltdown and facing the potential prospect of getting laid off at work.
But, I hope not to have to go there. We are talking DRASTIC measures that would be less than pleasant, to say the least. Nothing illegal. Oh, church tonight? Dunno yet. Maybe go and leave at 8:30 whether the service is done or not? Again, dunno yet.
G'day.
ben
Tuesday 6/28/2011
Tuesday
So, this is what happens when we leave a REAL threat unchallenged: Iran and it's braggadocious that they can hit US bases in the region with their missiles. The "leadership" in that country needs to be brought down. Here is a real case, at least IMO, where we should have done something LONG ago, when we first found out about their nuclear intentions.
My manager calls me at 9:00 pm last night. I was just about to shut the lights off in my bedroom and go to sleep. Seems that a certain salesman - who is self-exalted and sitting on his man-made throne - called him bitching at him about the "fact" that a set of bolts was not delivered today to a jobsite that I took the delivery to. In other words, he was blaming both of us for messing up a delivery.
I remembered that order and did not remember any 16 inch bolt sets on it. But I wasn't sure. I wasn't exactly sitting around doing nothing yesterday, I got off work late because of the extreme workload and today looks to be another dose of the same.
Well, of course, the first thing I did when I got here to work this morning (after making the coffee, of course), was to check the order. No such bolts on the order.
That guy calls ME again and starts giving me fluff, I am going to shove it right back in his face. I get a bit tired of 20 somethings, arrogant, egotistical and smug, talking S*** to a person that has been there, done htat, and has learned a little about the concept of humility in life. I can only say for the poor soul that sooner or later, he is in for a fall and it is going to be a hard one. Your props that are holding you up will only last so long..........
Today's high is slated to be 115. I have a full day's work today, our truck routing system for today is stacked. Which is why I am eating breakfast and lunch now, it's a given there will not be time for it one the clock starts.
Hmm, well that 3 day weekend coming up is sounding even nicer as the days close in on it.
That said, I am done with this one.
G'day.
ben
So, this is what happens when we leave a REAL threat unchallenged: Iran and it's braggadocious that they can hit US bases in the region with their missiles. The "leadership" in that country needs to be brought down. Here is a real case, at least IMO, where we should have done something LONG ago, when we first found out about their nuclear intentions.
My manager calls me at 9:00 pm last night. I was just about to shut the lights off in my bedroom and go to sleep. Seems that a certain salesman - who is self-exalted and sitting on his man-made throne - called him bitching at him about the "fact" that a set of bolts was not delivered today to a jobsite that I took the delivery to. In other words, he was blaming both of us for messing up a delivery.
I remembered that order and did not remember any 16 inch bolt sets on it. But I wasn't sure. I wasn't exactly sitting around doing nothing yesterday, I got off work late because of the extreme workload and today looks to be another dose of the same.
Well, of course, the first thing I did when I got here to work this morning (after making the coffee, of course), was to check the order. No such bolts on the order.
That guy calls ME again and starts giving me fluff, I am going to shove it right back in his face. I get a bit tired of 20 somethings, arrogant, egotistical and smug, talking S*** to a person that has been there, done htat, and has learned a little about the concept of humility in life. I can only say for the poor soul that sooner or later, he is in for a fall and it is going to be a hard one. Your props that are holding you up will only last so long..........
Today's high is slated to be 115. I have a full day's work today, our truck routing system for today is stacked. Which is why I am eating breakfast and lunch now, it's a given there will not be time for it one the clock starts.
Hmm, well that 3 day weekend coming up is sounding even nicer as the days close in on it.
That said, I am done with this one.
G'day.
ben
Monday, June 27, 2011
Monday 6/27/2011
Monday
2 of the ponds were getting a tad warm, so I am now dumping huge chunks of ice in them every morning to keep the temp from getting too high in them.
But, as I was looking into both of those ponds yesterday, something caught my eye: baby fishies! Koi, too. Little itty bitty things scampering around in there looking for morsels of food.
Anyway, one of the pond's temps was closing in on 90 degrees, I'm pretty sure that is a bit warm even for hardy fish that can take higher temps.
My pot roast - took all day and all night to cook. I have NO clue. I mean, this morning it was flaking apart with a fork, the way I like to cook it, but it was in there for 21 hours! Maybe my crock pot needs replacing, dunno, but the liquid was boiling in there this morning, so it must be getting hot enough. I'll say one thing: you put a roast in at 8 am you expect by 5:00 pm to be eating it, which never materialized yesterday.
Oh well. Church yesterday. As normal, I slipped in just before the service started and slipped out just as it was ending. 2 and a half hours worth, mind you. I might have thought about staying longer and seeing if I could chit chat with anyone, but 2-1/2 hours was plenty enough of it for me.
It should come as no surprise to me that this group is going to do their first evangelical outreach to the community in a couple of weeks. I say that because this seems to happen at every church I go to. I don't really feel like I am in the position to do any preaching right now so I am probably going to take a pass on it.
I am also not giving out the information of what I used to do: street preaching/ministering/etc. I don't want to be pressured into doing anything, that kind of information could well lead to such a situation and then? I would probably just leave and stop going to church again. Nice people there, the kind of church I like. Pretty much the beliefs I adhere to, a bit important when considering making any particular church your home.
So, 3 weeks in a row and again I find myself contemplating the Wednesday night service, which the pastor went on about encouraging more people to show up to. Maybe, is what I thought to myself: maybe I will go. I just don't like the idea of a service STARTING at 7:00 pm. Not when you get up at 4:22 am. I suppose I could position myself near the exit door and when such an such a time arrives: about 8:30, I could just leave.
I don't really like getting up in the middle of a service and leaving, though, it seems rude.
So, we're leaving Afghanistan. It wouldn't bother me one iota if we packed up everything RIGHT NOW and got the bleep out of there. I put that war right up there with Vietnam. We may have had a point going in there initially looking for Osama, but that ended quite a while back as they couldn't find him and they thought he had left the country. I don't see the point of us being there, at all. I understand about terrorism, but that stuff is going to exist on this earth regardless.
Not to turn a blind eye to it, at the same time, those people have been killing each other over there for centuries, why involve our men and women in the US military? It may sound cold, but they can do just as good a job of killing themselves over there without our help.
Well whatever. Inventory is over and there is plenty of work to do this morning and .........my pre-work time is almost up.
G'day.
ben
2 of the ponds were getting a tad warm, so I am now dumping huge chunks of ice in them every morning to keep the temp from getting too high in them.
But, as I was looking into both of those ponds yesterday, something caught my eye: baby fishies! Koi, too. Little itty bitty things scampering around in there looking for morsels of food.
Anyway, one of the pond's temps was closing in on 90 degrees, I'm pretty sure that is a bit warm even for hardy fish that can take higher temps.
My pot roast - took all day and all night to cook. I have NO clue. I mean, this morning it was flaking apart with a fork, the way I like to cook it, but it was in there for 21 hours! Maybe my crock pot needs replacing, dunno, but the liquid was boiling in there this morning, so it must be getting hot enough. I'll say one thing: you put a roast in at 8 am you expect by 5:00 pm to be eating it, which never materialized yesterday.
Oh well. Church yesterday. As normal, I slipped in just before the service started and slipped out just as it was ending. 2 and a half hours worth, mind you. I might have thought about staying longer and seeing if I could chit chat with anyone, but 2-1/2 hours was plenty enough of it for me.
It should come as no surprise to me that this group is going to do their first evangelical outreach to the community in a couple of weeks. I say that because this seems to happen at every church I go to. I don't really feel like I am in the position to do any preaching right now so I am probably going to take a pass on it.
I am also not giving out the information of what I used to do: street preaching/ministering/etc. I don't want to be pressured into doing anything, that kind of information could well lead to such a situation and then? I would probably just leave and stop going to church again. Nice people there, the kind of church I like. Pretty much the beliefs I adhere to, a bit important when considering making any particular church your home.
So, 3 weeks in a row and again I find myself contemplating the Wednesday night service, which the pastor went on about encouraging more people to show up to. Maybe, is what I thought to myself: maybe I will go. I just don't like the idea of a service STARTING at 7:00 pm. Not when you get up at 4:22 am. I suppose I could position myself near the exit door and when such an such a time arrives: about 8:30, I could just leave.
I don't really like getting up in the middle of a service and leaving, though, it seems rude.
So, we're leaving Afghanistan. It wouldn't bother me one iota if we packed up everything RIGHT NOW and got the bleep out of there. I put that war right up there with Vietnam. We may have had a point going in there initially looking for Osama, but that ended quite a while back as they couldn't find him and they thought he had left the country. I don't see the point of us being there, at all. I understand about terrorism, but that stuff is going to exist on this earth regardless.
Not to turn a blind eye to it, at the same time, those people have been killing each other over there for centuries, why involve our men and women in the US military? It may sound cold, but they can do just as good a job of killing themselves over there without our help.
Well whatever. Inventory is over and there is plenty of work to do this morning and .........my pre-work time is almost up.
G'day.
ben
Sunday ((Morning)) 6/26/2011
The Sunday morning mind battle is on.
I stayed up too late last night to boot, meaning standing for over an hour isn't all that appealing of an idea, either.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
I walked away from this entry, got to business and got to church. Good service today, too. I mean, I guess they are all good services but I particularly liked this one.
It figures, however, that they are just about to do their first, evangelical outreach. I can't seem to go into one of these places and not have that happening. In case you didn't know, I have a lot of experience in evangelizing, coordinating, street preaching, etc etc etc, I just haven't done any in recent memory. I do not feel like I am in any position, whatsoever, however, to be involved in any evangelizing and I will take a pass on it this time. These people don't know my background and history in this particular realm and I am not going to be giving up that information easily.
The only thing I knew earlier when I started writing this entry, is that if I sat around letting my mind wander in useless territory, I would not end up going.
I didn't go this week, but I am giving more weight to the idea of going on Wednesday, just because I like what the subject is going to be about and it probably will speak to my heart and soul. I'm starting to become intrigued by all of this.
Didn't finish this yesterday, it in draft version in my dashboard, posting it anyway.
ben
I stayed up too late last night to boot, meaning standing for over an hour isn't all that appealing of an idea, either.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
I walked away from this entry, got to business and got to church. Good service today, too. I mean, I guess they are all good services but I particularly liked this one.
It figures, however, that they are just about to do their first, evangelical outreach. I can't seem to go into one of these places and not have that happening. In case you didn't know, I have a lot of experience in evangelizing, coordinating, street preaching, etc etc etc, I just haven't done any in recent memory. I do not feel like I am in any position, whatsoever, however, to be involved in any evangelizing and I will take a pass on it this time. These people don't know my background and history in this particular realm and I am not going to be giving up that information easily.
The only thing I knew earlier when I started writing this entry, is that if I sat around letting my mind wander in useless territory, I would not end up going.
I didn't go this week, but I am giving more weight to the idea of going on Wednesday, just because I like what the subject is going to be about and it probably will speak to my heart and soul. I'm starting to become intrigued by all of this.
Didn't finish this yesterday, it in draft version in my dashboard, posting it anyway.
ben
Saturday, June 25, 2011
A bit strange to find my son's Facebook page, I didn't know he had one. I knew he had Myspace and other stuff, but not FB. I just read a news article online a few days ago about kids departing post-haste from Myspace and hooking up on FB, though.
Well, you go on someone's FB page and you can find out a lot of things about that person. Mainly, who that person's friends are. I already knew many of them from my Little League coaching days, to see them graduating High School and going off to the various things they are doing is trippy. That is not proper English and frankly, I don't care. Comes from MY teenaged days, and teenaged is not proper English, either, lol.
In one case, one of my assistant coaches son's is one of my son's best friends. That kid is going off to the Army.
I coached a lot of kids in Little League. Beyond that, I was an umpire for 10 years plus was on the Board of Directors. Occasionally, I get called out. "Coach"?!! You see a kid that was a complete - well anyway, a person that needed something more than their parents were giving them in life, putting it mildly, that has somehow at least partially transformed into a normal human being talking to you as if they were your best friend.
Perhaps a person, in some cases anyway, remembers a person that was influential in their life. One such case is the kid working at the theater. I hadn't seen him in a couple of years. He was a cry-baby and would throw temper tantrums in the dugout and on the field. I would make him go sit down in the dugout in any such endeavors and I would not cave in. This went on for quite some time. In fact, the entire season. His parents came up to me at one point and asked why I wasn't putting him at such and such a position.
I am usually brutally honest about things, rather blunt as well, when confronted by people in a hostile or otherwise non-civil manner. I mean, did you see your son throwing a tantrum in the dugout yesterday? Are you saying you didn't HEAR that nonsense going on? The kid, I thought, hated me. But when he called me out by name - baseball name/coach - at the theatre, I didn't even recognize him. He had a huge smile on his face and he had a confidence I certainly didn't recognize, either.
Umm, well this kid going to the Army wasn't a cry-baby, that's for sure. His parents eventually opted out of Little League baseball and became the leaders of the group that supports the JROTC in the High School that their son was going to. JROTC has a lot of activities and necessitates the participation of enough parents to oversee such.
I........uhhhhh............can say that volunteering is a great thing, but, after I got divorced it became a thing of the past. I can honestly say that I have spent tens of thousands of hours of my life in volunteering (that is not an error, I spent 5 years as a full-time missionary, that alone is over 40,000 hours worth if you count it in 24 hours days) in various things that I thought worthwhile and some of it certainly has vivid memories. I am not saying my days as a volunteer are over, hardly the case. Case in point it the neighborhood I am living in. But I have gone into that in the past and not worth going into again, at least not until/if/ever I attempt such.
It's occurred to me that success in life is hardly about money. Or fame. The saying that success is what you define it be is well and fine, but not conclusive. Did you live your life WELL? Regardless of whether you were broke or rich. Did you make the right choices? When it counted, did you do the right thing? At the end of the day, can you live with yourself in the life that you have led? You made mistakes. Of course. Sometimes, you outright decided to do the wrong thing. Granted.
This is a release type of blog entry. I must admit that I was not prepared for the complexity of emotion that I have experienced since my son went "off on his own". If you want to talk about a mid-life crisis, this would be the thing that has affected me the most. I have not cared, one iota, about my brothers and their "success" in financial terms. To find wealth and eliminate your family is not success in my book, it is total failure. The end of that line is emptiness.
Probably why I am going back to church is to find myself again. I lost it in divorce and pastoral shunning, but I refuse to let it affect me the rest of my life. I am not going to tell those people, at the church I am trying to get myself into, of my missionary past. I am not going to recount the days of volunteering in the church. I don't want to be pressed for the information, either. It isn't relevant to anyone but, perhaps, the Lord.
Ohhh, I could go on with this, but it is far past my bedtime, almost 11:00pm and I am fully intent on going to church tomorrow. Thankfully, it doesn't start until 10:00am and I did the wash today, clothes are ready.
Well, you go on someone's FB page and you can find out a lot of things about that person. Mainly, who that person's friends are. I already knew many of them from my Little League coaching days, to see them graduating High School and going off to the various things they are doing is trippy. That is not proper English and frankly, I don't care. Comes from MY teenaged days, and teenaged is not proper English, either, lol.
In one case, one of my assistant coaches son's is one of my son's best friends. That kid is going off to the Army.
I coached a lot of kids in Little League. Beyond that, I was an umpire for 10 years plus was on the Board of Directors. Occasionally, I get called out. "Coach"?!! You see a kid that was a complete - well anyway, a person that needed something more than their parents were giving them in life, putting it mildly, that has somehow at least partially transformed into a normal human being talking to you as if they were your best friend.
Perhaps a person, in some cases anyway, remembers a person that was influential in their life. One such case is the kid working at the theater. I hadn't seen him in a couple of years. He was a cry-baby and would throw temper tantrums in the dugout and on the field. I would make him go sit down in the dugout in any such endeavors and I would not cave in. This went on for quite some time. In fact, the entire season. His parents came up to me at one point and asked why I wasn't putting him at such and such a position.
I am usually brutally honest about things, rather blunt as well, when confronted by people in a hostile or otherwise non-civil manner. I mean, did you see your son throwing a tantrum in the dugout yesterday? Are you saying you didn't HEAR that nonsense going on? The kid, I thought, hated me. But when he called me out by name - baseball name/coach - at the theatre, I didn't even recognize him. He had a huge smile on his face and he had a confidence I certainly didn't recognize, either.
Umm, well this kid going to the Army wasn't a cry-baby, that's for sure. His parents eventually opted out of Little League baseball and became the leaders of the group that supports the JROTC in the High School that their son was going to. JROTC has a lot of activities and necessitates the participation of enough parents to oversee such.
I........uhhhhh............can say that volunteering is a great thing, but, after I got divorced it became a thing of the past. I can honestly say that I have spent tens of thousands of hours of my life in volunteering (that is not an error, I spent 5 years as a full-time missionary, that alone is over 40,000 hours worth if you count it in 24 hours days) in various things that I thought worthwhile and some of it certainly has vivid memories. I am not saying my days as a volunteer are over, hardly the case. Case in point it the neighborhood I am living in. But I have gone into that in the past and not worth going into again, at least not until/if/ever I attempt such.
It's occurred to me that success in life is hardly about money. Or fame. The saying that success is what you define it be is well and fine, but not conclusive. Did you live your life WELL? Regardless of whether you were broke or rich. Did you make the right choices? When it counted, did you do the right thing? At the end of the day, can you live with yourself in the life that you have led? You made mistakes. Of course. Sometimes, you outright decided to do the wrong thing. Granted.
This is a release type of blog entry. I must admit that I was not prepared for the complexity of emotion that I have experienced since my son went "off on his own". If you want to talk about a mid-life crisis, this would be the thing that has affected me the most. I have not cared, one iota, about my brothers and their "success" in financial terms. To find wealth and eliminate your family is not success in my book, it is total failure. The end of that line is emptiness.
Probably why I am going back to church is to find myself again. I lost it in divorce and pastoral shunning, but I refuse to let it affect me the rest of my life. I am not going to tell those people, at the church I am trying to get myself into, of my missionary past. I am not going to recount the days of volunteering in the church. I don't want to be pressed for the information, either. It isn't relevant to anyone but, perhaps, the Lord.
Ohhh, I could go on with this, but it is far past my bedtime, almost 11:00pm and I am fully intent on going to church tomorrow. Thankfully, it doesn't start until 10:00am and I did the wash today, clothes are ready.
Saturday 6/25/2011 Camp Pics
So there is going to be a contest at work: who can lose the most fat. Not who can lose the most weight, mind you, the most fat.
That makes a weight loss contest a bit fairer. It is pretty well known that a person that is extremely overweight who decides to lose it - and really goes all out to do so - can dump weight like crazy. If you only have 10 or 15 pounds to shed compared to someone who needs to lose 150 pounds, well, the contest is a joke if it's only about weight.
Well, I'll be all over this one. This will give me the extra added motivation to hit the gym and pump the iron and still go for my mountain walks regardless of hot it is outside. Not sure when the contest is going to start, but I have everything I need to get it going except - an MP3 player. I'm going to have to go to Walmart and get one cheap. Downloading the music is another matter entirely, cross that bridge when I get to it.
Caleb wrote me yesterday. Another fire. This time DPS thinks it started from a trailer being pulled down the highway. A tire went flat, the thing was riding on it's steel rim and the sparks started the fire, or so the theory goes. This one was adjudged to be around 2,000 acres, but they have it fully contained. Only 18 miles from where Caleb is, campers were sent home. A fresh load of them going up today as electricity was restored.
Yes, they and apparently the entire town of Heber was without power for however long. Although a disruption for sure, the temps up there are beautiful and that camp doesn't even have AC that I could see in any of it's buildings. So, the disruption would be in cooking and apparently they had to throw out a lot of food that spoiled because of non functioning refrigeration units.
Well, welcome to camping life. I have camped a good portion of my life in places that are out in the middle of nowhere and yes, definitely without electricity and that done on purpose. Get away from the electronic gadgets for a while and enjoy the peace that God has to offer out in a wooded forest somewhere away from people. You'll be surprised how refreshing and rejuvenating such an experience is - as long as you go fully prepared, lol. Tent, sleeping bag, cushion if hard ground isn't your thing; water jugs; coolers; ice; drinks; lots of food and some snacks; camp oven, on and on. I like to camp, yes, but I'm not an outdoorsman, I want some of the niceties of modern living with me!
It's still early. I was already out there cleaning out a pond filter and also replanting some plants just before it gets boiling hot out there and I don't feel like doing anything. A huge Taro uprooted itself out of it's container and was just floating there. Had to replant it and pulled some of the smaller plants that were growing off the side of it and replanted those as well. The water is not cooling down very much at night, so I am putting large containers of water in my freezer to put into the water during the day. I really need to put a waterfall in the middle of that horse trough which will cool the water quite a bit - I just didn't get that far with it today. I need to go to Home Depot and get some fittings for it for one thing.
Temps are going to get pretty nasty for the rest of this month. High today slated at 109. Yuck.
Some pics of the camp that my son is working at. Click on any pic to enlarge it.
This is their version of a chapel/church. Yes, they do try to get the kids saved, they make no bones about it and it IS the Salvation Army, after all.
My son and I standing on the porch of one of the - dorms I guess, whatever you call it where the campers sleep. Pretty modern type of setup.
What small town doesn't have a local gossip diner? Plenty of restaurants in this little town, but this one stood out because of how small it was and how many cars were in the parking lot. This has got to be the "locals" hangout for sure. Next time I'm up there, I'm going to stop there and eat.
The camp's leader, another young counselor and my son in the cart in front of me, heading to the dorm where Caleb would be staying. They give him his own room away from the campers to sleep in, but not too far away, lol.
View from the entrance to the facility. This place is huge. The building is an office facility plus sleeping quarters for the camp's leader.
To the right of the pic you will see a wooden structure. They have outdoor meetings there and it's also their "bonfire" setup. The forests are under tight clampdown: no open fires, bummer for the campers but good for the forest.
More of the sleeping dorms. Again, the place is huge, lots of buildings all over the place.
Just more dorms.
The last time I saw my son. He was heading into the office facility. Perhaps dad was feeling just a wee tinge of separation "anxiety", but I quickly got over it on the beautiful drive home.
The Rim. It's sort of not much of a drop off there, I should have pulled over and taken a pic of the extreme drop offs, beautiful views included at new extra charge.
No clue. "The Castle". Dilapidated dump. But interesting, lol.
How would you like to have one of THOSE things in your front yard?!! I wish I had had more time, but it was a Sunday, it was closing in on mid afternoon. I would have stopped just to examine those carvings closer and take a look at the price tags, lol.
That's it. I don't know if I'm the one going up there to get him or not when he's done, but that's still well over a month off anyway. Caleb was saying maybe the first week of August is when it shuts down, just before school starts.
ben
That makes a weight loss contest a bit fairer. It is pretty well known that a person that is extremely overweight who decides to lose it - and really goes all out to do so - can dump weight like crazy. If you only have 10 or 15 pounds to shed compared to someone who needs to lose 150 pounds, well, the contest is a joke if it's only about weight.
Well, I'll be all over this one. This will give me the extra added motivation to hit the gym and pump the iron and still go for my mountain walks regardless of hot it is outside. Not sure when the contest is going to start, but I have everything I need to get it going except - an MP3 player. I'm going to have to go to Walmart and get one cheap. Downloading the music is another matter entirely, cross that bridge when I get to it.
Caleb wrote me yesterday. Another fire. This time DPS thinks it started from a trailer being pulled down the highway. A tire went flat, the thing was riding on it's steel rim and the sparks started the fire, or so the theory goes. This one was adjudged to be around 2,000 acres, but they have it fully contained. Only 18 miles from where Caleb is, campers were sent home. A fresh load of them going up today as electricity was restored.
Yes, they and apparently the entire town of Heber was without power for however long. Although a disruption for sure, the temps up there are beautiful and that camp doesn't even have AC that I could see in any of it's buildings. So, the disruption would be in cooking and apparently they had to throw out a lot of food that spoiled because of non functioning refrigeration units.
Well, welcome to camping life. I have camped a good portion of my life in places that are out in the middle of nowhere and yes, definitely without electricity and that done on purpose. Get away from the electronic gadgets for a while and enjoy the peace that God has to offer out in a wooded forest somewhere away from people. You'll be surprised how refreshing and rejuvenating such an experience is - as long as you go fully prepared, lol. Tent, sleeping bag, cushion if hard ground isn't your thing; water jugs; coolers; ice; drinks; lots of food and some snacks; camp oven, on and on. I like to camp, yes, but I'm not an outdoorsman, I want some of the niceties of modern living with me!
It's still early. I was already out there cleaning out a pond filter and also replanting some plants just before it gets boiling hot out there and I don't feel like doing anything. A huge Taro uprooted itself out of it's container and was just floating there. Had to replant it and pulled some of the smaller plants that were growing off the side of it and replanted those as well. The water is not cooling down very much at night, so I am putting large containers of water in my freezer to put into the water during the day. I really need to put a waterfall in the middle of that horse trough which will cool the water quite a bit - I just didn't get that far with it today. I need to go to Home Depot and get some fittings for it for one thing.
Temps are going to get pretty nasty for the rest of this month. High today slated at 109. Yuck.
Some pics of the camp that my son is working at. Click on any pic to enlarge it.
This is their version of a chapel/church. Yes, they do try to get the kids saved, they make no bones about it and it IS the Salvation Army, after all.
My son and I standing on the porch of one of the - dorms I guess, whatever you call it where the campers sleep. Pretty modern type of setup.
What small town doesn't have a local gossip diner? Plenty of restaurants in this little town, but this one stood out because of how small it was and how many cars were in the parking lot. This has got to be the "locals" hangout for sure. Next time I'm up there, I'm going to stop there and eat.
The camp's leader, another young counselor and my son in the cart in front of me, heading to the dorm where Caleb would be staying. They give him his own room away from the campers to sleep in, but not too far away, lol.
View from the entrance to the facility. This place is huge. The building is an office facility plus sleeping quarters for the camp's leader.
To the right of the pic you will see a wooden structure. They have outdoor meetings there and it's also their "bonfire" setup. The forests are under tight clampdown: no open fires, bummer for the campers but good for the forest.
More of the sleeping dorms. Again, the place is huge, lots of buildings all over the place.
Just more dorms.
The last time I saw my son. He was heading into the office facility. Perhaps dad was feeling just a wee tinge of separation "anxiety", but I quickly got over it on the beautiful drive home.
The Rim. It's sort of not much of a drop off there, I should have pulled over and taken a pic of the extreme drop offs, beautiful views included at new extra charge.
No clue. "The Castle". Dilapidated dump. But interesting, lol.
How would you like to have one of THOSE things in your front yard?!! I wish I had had more time, but it was a Sunday, it was closing in on mid afternoon. I would have stopped just to examine those carvings closer and take a look at the price tags, lol.
That's it. I don't know if I'm the one going up there to get him or not when he's done, but that's still well over a month off anyway. Caleb was saying maybe the first week of August is when it shuts down, just before school starts.
ben
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