Times of "nothing" don't seem to last long. Problems, that is. Just when I thought I finally had some peace around here, baam, this guy is filing to take this to the Superior Court. The only good thing about this appeal 350 man has made is that the Harassment Injunction can NOT be stayed while the appeal is going on. I read that online on the judiciary site yesterday. The other thing is that appeals always take forever. It might be 2 months before this thing gets through the court, or even longer.
Dunno yet. But, I already have several arguments running through my head. In an appeal, the most important thing to focus on and spend as much time as necessary is the brief. This is why, if I recall correctly, you get 30 days to file your reply brief AFTER you receive the appellant's brief. The judge will read the brief and most likely come up with a ruling just by reading the briefs and going over the facts of the original trial. Oral arguments don't really count for much. In fact, when it comes my turn to present an oral argument? I will probably simply say that my entire argument was already outlined in my brief and that I have nothing further to add to it. Whatever the case, the evidence at trial - mainly 350 man's own mouth belying himself - is extremely compelling and I have doubts that any judge is going to reverse the decision or, if such case, remand it back to the Justice court to have a do-over trial. I hope not, because 350 man will undoubtedly learn to keep his mouth shut, which is what go him into this mess to begin with, he simply doesn't know when to shut up.
Meanwhile, my mother scored big time for my trailer in going to yard sales yesterday. Just throwing it in there. She enjoys yard saleing and trying to find the deals, now she has a "mission" and it's even more enjoyable because it isn't just looking through stuff to see if there is anything there she might want, it's now a mission to find the stuff she thinks I will need for that trailer.
Today is the "infamous" 11/11/11. The only ominous sign is a helicopter flying around in circles above my area right now, and has been for about 20 minutes. This usually denotes the police searching for someone and using the chopper to help them out with that. They will shine a very powerful spotlight into everyone's back yards looking for whoever in an attempt to see if someone is hiding out. I don't give a morsel's choice of a flash of anything in credence that today, somehow and for some reason other than the fact that the same number is the only number in today's date (though technically, it's 2011, not 11, so there) and that, therefore, must elude to the "fact" that something bad is going to happen. It's Friday, it's a great day!
Yes, it's Friday. Supposedly a trip to Arizona City - a small town in the middle of the desert - to deliver to a new well site being built, but yesterday there were glitches with the order and I have no idea, now, whether it's going to happen or not. I hope so - or hope something is in the system, cause' I like being busy with something to do.
The situation with Sandusky and Penn State? I have no comment. Well, I have plenty of comments, if it's true what McCreary is saying then - vile is all I can say about it. I'm just reading the developments as they come out. But, there has been no trial yet, there has been no decision of a jury, wait and see.
As for this weekend? It says possibility of rain on Sunday, meaning tomorrow I might get up on that trailer roof, take off the vent cover and take a lookit the situation. I dunno what else, I think just continuing on with my landscaping project, of which I have taken several days off since I have been getting home from work late.
Oh, and then there is this photo ticket. I am half laughing/half nauseated about it. How do they send me a ticket for someone else's vehicle that is registered in another state to a person that has the same last name as me, but for that, the ONLY similarity? A car I have never seen before, much less driven.
Time to leave for work.
G'day.
ben
Friday, November 11, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Speeding Ticket/350 Man Appeal
I pulled 2 surprises out of my mailbox today.
First was a letter from the city of Chandler, AZ.
It was a photo enforcement ticket. Chandler
is loaded with photo radar setups at numerous
intersections, I know where all of them are. If
I were inclined to be excessively speeding, I
certainly wouldn't be doing so through an intersection that
has photo radar doing both speeding and red light infractions.
Further, I didn't remember getting flashed except a few times
a while back while driving the semi - on a green light going 5 mph BELOW
the speed limit through the intersection. The cameras were
malfunctioning and were flashing every vehicle going through there.
I open it up. A black car, at night, owned by a woman in Glendale
that has the same last name as me. Yeah, whatever. Again, I don't own
a foreign, small black car, I don't know this woman in Glendale and I
never go into Chandler at night. Yet, the pic of the man driving the car?
Strikingly close to me. I'm not going to reply to this thing at all. If I
get served, then I will go to the courthouse and deal with it.
Second thing in the mail. Well, not completely surprising, though I hadn't
really given it consideration. 350 man wants to appeal the lower court's
ruling against him for an injunction against harassment. He has filed with
the superior court to appeal it, but no date has been given for a court date.
That's because the notice came from the Justice Court that issued the Injunction,
which is only telling me what is going on.
The thing about an appeal? Oh I have done my research on this one, long ago.
They can't bring new evidence. They can't "retry" the case. The only argument
is about whether the facts that were presented were valid and whether the
judge erred in considering the facts that were presented. These kinds of appeals
are rarely over-turned, but I expect this time 350 man to show up with a lawyer.
All well and good, I won't be showing up with a lawyer, as I don't need one.
This time? He will have to prove his appeal, I don't really have to prove anything.
But I may have to pay to appear. In this case, if it isn't exorbitant, I will do so.
If it were a normal person, I wouldn't understand why this guy is going to this much
trouble. But this isn't a normal person. He has a felony record. If I call the police
and file a complaint that he has violated the order, well, that record will come into
play against him. The thing that he doesn't, can't or won't realize is that I will not
call the police unless he does something that crazily violates that order. Like cussing
me out or approaching me or anyone here - at all. In an appeal, witnesses are irrelevant.
They aren't heard. The judge only considers the evidence that was ALREADY brought
to the original hearing at Justice Court.
I've been through this process when I won a case against the mobile home park in 2003,
I think it was, and the park appealed it to the Superior Court. It's just their attorney against
me. Or 350 man against me if he chooses to attempt to do this himself, but I doubt that is
going to be the case. After my experiences with lawyers in court, I am at the point where
I have no fear of them. They can make all kinds of threats and statements and say that
all kinds of junk is going to happen - but in the end, only the court can and will make those
decisions.
I'm liking the peace I have now and don't want to lose it because this "man" might win in
appeals court, so, I will be doing my homework. Refreshing my memory, more like it.
I'm already digging into this. This will not happen overnight. Number one, he CANNOT get
a stay on a harassment order. So, the order is in effect until/if/when the judge makes a ruling.
Well, this is usually a long, drawn-out process. I find Superior Court appeals to be extremely
stimulating, to be honest, not scary or arduous. Though, going through all the information
necessary can definitely be time consuming.
Lots on my plate. But, the photo radar ticket can go blast. I don't have to do anything unless I
get served and then I need only show up in court.
__________________
Long interlude. Spoke with my mother - she goes on Thursdays early morning to the yard sales in her area to find the good deals, of which she scored quite a few. She has taken personal interest in attempting to secure items for my trailer once it finally gets up there - which doesn't matter, she won't be up there until next summer anyway.
I am thinking of getting up on the roof of that trailer and taking a stab at getting the leak fixed. Except - it may rain this weekend. I'm not going to be up there in the rain, thank you very much.
Also have read quite a bit of material on appeals already. Pretty easy to find all kinds of sites dedicated to it - both from the courts and from attorneys. The first thing that comes to mind in responding to 350 man's brief - whenever it is submitted - is that his reply to my filing for the injunction was that "I have NEVER (and he underlined the word never) had any contact with Mr B.". That was IT, that is ALL he stated in it. The judge, at hearing, tore that apart after asking him a series of questions, which, of course, totally undermine's 350 man's credibility.
No need to go into all of that now. This thing will wind itself out over time. I have been through an appeals process, as I said earlier, it's not an overnight thing, in fact, it's not even in a few weeks. It can take months and months to go through the full circuit of an appeals process.
With that, I bid you...........g'nite.
ben
First was a letter from the city of Chandler, AZ.
It was a photo enforcement ticket. Chandler
is loaded with photo radar setups at numerous
intersections, I know where all of them are. If
I were inclined to be excessively speeding, I
certainly wouldn't be doing so through an intersection that
has photo radar doing both speeding and red light infractions.
Further, I didn't remember getting flashed except a few times
a while back while driving the semi - on a green light going 5 mph BELOW
the speed limit through the intersection. The cameras were
malfunctioning and were flashing every vehicle going through there.
I open it up. A black car, at night, owned by a woman in Glendale
that has the same last name as me. Yeah, whatever. Again, I don't own
a foreign, small black car, I don't know this woman in Glendale and I
never go into Chandler at night. Yet, the pic of the man driving the car?
Strikingly close to me. I'm not going to reply to this thing at all. If I
get served, then I will go to the courthouse and deal with it.
Second thing in the mail. Well, not completely surprising, though I hadn't
really given it consideration. 350 man wants to appeal the lower court's
ruling against him for an injunction against harassment. He has filed with
the superior court to appeal it, but no date has been given for a court date.
That's because the notice came from the Justice Court that issued the Injunction,
which is only telling me what is going on.
The thing about an appeal? Oh I have done my research on this one, long ago.
They can't bring new evidence. They can't "retry" the case. The only argument
is about whether the facts that were presented were valid and whether the
judge erred in considering the facts that were presented. These kinds of appeals
are rarely over-turned, but I expect this time 350 man to show up with a lawyer.
All well and good, I won't be showing up with a lawyer, as I don't need one.
This time? He will have to prove his appeal, I don't really have to prove anything.
But I may have to pay to appear. In this case, if it isn't exorbitant, I will do so.
If it were a normal person, I wouldn't understand why this guy is going to this much
trouble. But this isn't a normal person. He has a felony record. If I call the police
and file a complaint that he has violated the order, well, that record will come into
play against him. The thing that he doesn't, can't or won't realize is that I will not
call the police unless he does something that crazily violates that order. Like cussing
me out or approaching me or anyone here - at all. In an appeal, witnesses are irrelevant.
They aren't heard. The judge only considers the evidence that was ALREADY brought
to the original hearing at Justice Court.
I've been through this process when I won a case against the mobile home park in 2003,
I think it was, and the park appealed it to the Superior Court. It's just their attorney against
me. Or 350 man against me if he chooses to attempt to do this himself, but I doubt that is
going to be the case. After my experiences with lawyers in court, I am at the point where
I have no fear of them. They can make all kinds of threats and statements and say that
all kinds of junk is going to happen - but in the end, only the court can and will make those
decisions.
I'm liking the peace I have now and don't want to lose it because this "man" might win in
appeals court, so, I will be doing my homework. Refreshing my memory, more like it.
I'm already digging into this. This will not happen overnight. Number one, he CANNOT get
a stay on a harassment order. So, the order is in effect until/if/when the judge makes a ruling.
Well, this is usually a long, drawn-out process. I find Superior Court appeals to be extremely
stimulating, to be honest, not scary or arduous. Though, going through all the information
necessary can definitely be time consuming.
Lots on my plate. But, the photo radar ticket can go blast. I don't have to do anything unless I
get served and then I need only show up in court.
__________________
Long interlude. Spoke with my mother - she goes on Thursdays early morning to the yard sales in her area to find the good deals, of which she scored quite a few. She has taken personal interest in attempting to secure items for my trailer once it finally gets up there - which doesn't matter, she won't be up there until next summer anyway.
I am thinking of getting up on the roof of that trailer and taking a stab at getting the leak fixed. Except - it may rain this weekend. I'm not going to be up there in the rain, thank you very much.
Also have read quite a bit of material on appeals already. Pretty easy to find all kinds of sites dedicated to it - both from the courts and from attorneys. The first thing that comes to mind in responding to 350 man's brief - whenever it is submitted - is that his reply to my filing for the injunction was that "I have NEVER (and he underlined the word never) had any contact with Mr B.". That was IT, that is ALL he stated in it. The judge, at hearing, tore that apart after asking him a series of questions, which, of course, totally undermine's 350 man's credibility.
No need to go into all of that now. This thing will wind itself out over time. I have been through an appeals process, as I said earlier, it's not an overnight thing, in fact, it's not even in a few weeks. It can take months and months to go through the full circuit of an appeals process.
With that, I bid you...........g'nite.
ben
Thursday 11/10/11
11/11/11/ approaches - like - tomorrow. I have given the day no more credibility or thought than any other day, but an amazing amount of people I have encountered have. So I ask them what makes it evil - or good? No one can answer that question, they've just "heard" about it. I did a little looking online - there is no evidence to base even a superstition on this set of numbers - but then again, this is the stuff superstitions are made of.
If anything, I would feel it a lucky number in terms of blackjack!
The guy I bought the trailer from calls yesterday. Good. I still owe him $400 on the thing, he's looking for his money, I agreed to pay him by the 17th of this month. I asked him about the AC that worked so great for him. Yup. Will, it isn't working now. Oh. The fan motor must be burned out. Oh, and by the way, you certified this thing as having no leaks, but it definitely has a leak. The point wasn't to b**** at him about false claims or claims made that he may not have known about, the point was to see if he would bring the remaining amount owed down any. Nope. Well, I had already figured to eat it anyway, but it didn't hurt to at least try.
I had to order more wallpaper for the trailer. Taking a lot more than it appeared it would.
Nothing on the neighbor front. The people behind me who were given the ticket have done nothing to even start cleaning up that property. I mean, on the property that has no house, there hasn't been a drop of motion towards doing anything. This kind of situation will escalate over time. People complain long enough, the city will eventually come and give them an ultimatum: clean it up or we will clean it up for you and then charge you for the clean up, place a lien against the property and eventually? The city will own the property which it will undoubtedly turn around and sell at auction or under the same guise they do with the tax liens that they attach to properties.
Randy isn't speaking to me after I asked him - nicely actually - to take responsibility for his cats coming over to my property and crapping. He instead went into a ridiculous, stupid and childish rant on if I am wanting him to shoot his cats and that since there are no leash laws for cats, it isn't his problem. No, but there IS a law in the books about someone else's animals coming onto other's property. I read it myself. That doesn't matter to him, perhaps not, but if I wanted to start catching these cats and then turning them into the pound and documenting that I caught these cats, it might be a different story. The person that came to take ownership of the cat would also be admitting that their feline was on my property.
But, I am not really prepared to go that far with it, well I am toying with the idea just because of the calloused replies and stupid attitudes I am getting about it. This adults are nothing but juveniles in adult bodies.
Regardless, the work day is here and I must be off to work. Plenty to do today.
G'day.
ben
If anything, I would feel it a lucky number in terms of blackjack!
The guy I bought the trailer from calls yesterday. Good. I still owe him $400 on the thing, he's looking for his money, I agreed to pay him by the 17th of this month. I asked him about the AC that worked so great for him. Yup. Will, it isn't working now. Oh. The fan motor must be burned out. Oh, and by the way, you certified this thing as having no leaks, but it definitely has a leak. The point wasn't to b**** at him about false claims or claims made that he may not have known about, the point was to see if he would bring the remaining amount owed down any. Nope. Well, I had already figured to eat it anyway, but it didn't hurt to at least try.
I had to order more wallpaper for the trailer. Taking a lot more than it appeared it would.
Nothing on the neighbor front. The people behind me who were given the ticket have done nothing to even start cleaning up that property. I mean, on the property that has no house, there hasn't been a drop of motion towards doing anything. This kind of situation will escalate over time. People complain long enough, the city will eventually come and give them an ultimatum: clean it up or we will clean it up for you and then charge you for the clean up, place a lien against the property and eventually? The city will own the property which it will undoubtedly turn around and sell at auction or under the same guise they do with the tax liens that they attach to properties.
Randy isn't speaking to me after I asked him - nicely actually - to take responsibility for his cats coming over to my property and crapping. He instead went into a ridiculous, stupid and childish rant on if I am wanting him to shoot his cats and that since there are no leash laws for cats, it isn't his problem. No, but there IS a law in the books about someone else's animals coming onto other's property. I read it myself. That doesn't matter to him, perhaps not, but if I wanted to start catching these cats and then turning them into the pound and documenting that I caught these cats, it might be a different story. The person that came to take ownership of the cat would also be admitting that their feline was on my property.
But, I am not really prepared to go that far with it, well I am toying with the idea just because of the calloused replies and stupid attitudes I am getting about it. This adults are nothing but juveniles in adult bodies.
Regardless, the work day is here and I must be off to work. Plenty to do today.
G'day.
ben
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Wednesday 11/9/2011
Before you know it, Christmas will be upon us. I am taking 3 days off on the week leading up to Christmas, that weekend and Monday a paid holiday which will give me 6 full days off in a row. My dad wanted me to come down for Thanksgiving, but I have been taking time off at Thanksgiving for several years running now and nothing off at Christmas. I'm much more interested some time off at Christmas this year.
I guess the idea of Christmas being here "so soon" is amazing just because summer seems to finally have ended.
I have not contacted the mortgage company again. I get tired of the bantering. They have their little game and I don't like playing it. It takes forever to get through to anyone if you are calling them - which is the ONLY way to get anything done as witnessed by my recent letter and getting a pure-nothing reply. They then ask you, every single time, a multitude of questions, the same questions. Then you have to talk to a know-nothing that won't let you through to anyone else until you discuss it with them - or they will hang up on you. You waste your time talking to them because they cannot answer your questions and they have ability to do anything about the situation, anyway. This just goes on and on. It takes me a while to get up the motivation to go through all of that to begin the process.
Meanwhile, my manager at work has a buddy that gets old laptops and re sells them after upgrading them. I'm going to wait and see what kind of deal, if any, I might be able to get on one of those before diving into the "buy a new one" situation. My manager has one that he paid $1,200 for a year and a half ago - but I don't have as much money as he wants for it available right now. Not that I have to have one right now, anyway.
The wall papering is coming right along, but we are almost out of wall paper. I was hopeful that 3 double-rolls would take care of it - it did not and I ordered 3 more double rolls which definitely should do the job.
Ummm, I am off to work early - emergency order that has to go out as early as possible today.
G'day.
ben
I guess the idea of Christmas being here "so soon" is amazing just because summer seems to finally have ended.
I have not contacted the mortgage company again. I get tired of the bantering. They have their little game and I don't like playing it. It takes forever to get through to anyone if you are calling them - which is the ONLY way to get anything done as witnessed by my recent letter and getting a pure-nothing reply. They then ask you, every single time, a multitude of questions, the same questions. Then you have to talk to a know-nothing that won't let you through to anyone else until you discuss it with them - or they will hang up on you. You waste your time talking to them because they cannot answer your questions and they have ability to do anything about the situation, anyway. This just goes on and on. It takes me a while to get up the motivation to go through all of that to begin the process.
Meanwhile, my manager at work has a buddy that gets old laptops and re sells them after upgrading them. I'm going to wait and see what kind of deal, if any, I might be able to get on one of those before diving into the "buy a new one" situation. My manager has one that he paid $1,200 for a year and a half ago - but I don't have as much money as he wants for it available right now. Not that I have to have one right now, anyway.
The wall papering is coming right along, but we are almost out of wall paper. I was hopeful that 3 double-rolls would take care of it - it did not and I ordered 3 more double rolls which definitely should do the job.
Ummm, I am off to work early - emergency order that has to go out as early as possible today.
G'day.
ben
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Tuesday 11/8/2011
So yet another woman has stepped forward claiming sexual harassment against Cain. Is there any truth to any of the allegations? I guess the real question is: what really happened versus what people are claiming happened. Whatever the case, I'm even more interested in what these allegations may do to his polling numbers.
It's gotten Phoenix' version of cold here. We went from summer temps one day to cold temps the next, that's pretty much the way it works around here. We aren't gradually introduced to the cooler temperatures, we are plunged smack dab into them. It's 46 degrees out right now at just before 6:00am. One of the kid tenants just left, came back in and left the door wide open. Even 30 feet away from that door, I felt the cold air almost instantly - and got up and shut the d*** thing. I don't normally have to run heat around here, the house has good insulation and since it warms up nicely during the day, it stays warm enough through the night. But, when it gets into the 30's, then the furnace comes on.
There isn't much more to yak about. Work was slow yesterday, hopefully there is something going on today, the job sites were shut down yesterday due to all the rain.
G'day.
ben
It's gotten Phoenix' version of cold here. We went from summer temps one day to cold temps the next, that's pretty much the way it works around here. We aren't gradually introduced to the cooler temperatures, we are plunged smack dab into them. It's 46 degrees out right now at just before 6:00am. One of the kid tenants just left, came back in and left the door wide open. Even 30 feet away from that door, I felt the cold air almost instantly - and got up and shut the d*** thing. I don't normally have to run heat around here, the house has good insulation and since it warms up nicely during the day, it stays warm enough through the night. But, when it gets into the 30's, then the furnace comes on.
There isn't much more to yak about. Work was slow yesterday, hopefully there is something going on today, the job sites were shut down yesterday due to all the rain.
G'day.
ben
Monday, November 7, 2011
11/7/2011
It's raining. From the looks of it, it has been raining much of the night. Well, I wish it would do this while I'm home, preferably during the daytime so I can set around and enjoy it instead of it coming in by stealth in the middle of the night. Looking at the radar, this storm is passing through a large swath of the state and the northern part of it? It's snowing in Flagstaff.
Which reminds me, I forgot to replace the windshield wiper blades on my car, ouch.
I have nothing much this morning. I was just reading some interesting information about Herman Cain's background. I haven't decided who I am going to vote for for the GOP candidate to face off Obama. Still looking at the information. Not sure about this situation with Cain and the alleged sexual harassment that he engaged in with - apparently several women. He has some great credentials other than that. The media certainly isn't letting him off the hook even if he is going around saying he won't answer any more questions about it. I don't like Mitt Romney so I won't be voting for him, Perry is looking less attractive, I'm still up in the air about Bachman, I like Ron Paul's take on things - for the most part but not 100%.
Good thing there is time, lol, to make a decision. Maybe I won't actually make a decision until I am in the voting booth! In every other presidential campaign, I have already decided by now who I am going to vote for, but that simply isn't the case this time. I'm not a one-issue person. I want to know the specifics a person is going to do about turning the economy around; I want to know what the candidate is going to do with Obamacare; I want to know how any given candidate is going to treat our ally Israel. And what are you going to do about the free ride the unions are getting? I really didn't know much about unions, to be honest, until the economy went sour and suddenly government officials are looking at ways to balance the budget and then started looking at unions and much of it having non-existent contributions for health care or pension plans, or very, very little contributions.
That got my attention.
Meanwhile, Randy, my next door neighbor who basically said he doesn't care what his cats do, they don't have leash laws for cats so they can do what they want - is still speaking with Lynnette and Mark. "Oh, we're just mad at Ben, not you guys". We being 3 properties full of both junk and animal hoarders and one more property of 350 man who apparently has never heard of the term: landscaping. Randy's property is far worse now than it has ever been with junk laying out over the ENTIRE property. And I do mean JUNK. Maybe I'll snap a few shots of all of this this week. Allegedly, he is going to get a permit and start building some sort of - if it's anything like the rest of what he does - ramshackle house. Fortunately, he won't get away with building whatever he wants to over there, Phoenix city codes and code compliance along with the inspectors that come out and demand that every portion of any given project be inspected before moving on - will stop him from building some kind of piece of garbage.
If he's really going out on the fringes, he will have to ask for a hearing to have zoning changed or a variance on his property. I will be at that hearing, if it comes down to that, as I am not about to live next to some piece of s*** pile of garbage "house" that does nothing but uglify the neighborhood and bring down already low property values even more. Meanwhile, I am considering applying for my own variance. Though, only slightly considering it. That would be to allow 1 trailer to be parked on my property as recognized living unit by the City. The problem I would have with that is that all these hoarders would show up just to spite me and probably if the council sees it as a potential problem, they aren't going to give it's stamp of approval.
Though, I could take pictures of the properties around mine and make a very valid argument that it will do NOTHING to further deteriorate the quality of the neighborhood since it's already at the bottom of the barrel.
Whatever the case, it's still raining and I am - off to work. If it's rained enough, the job sites will all be shut down and it will be a very boring day at work, indeed.
ben
Which reminds me, I forgot to replace the windshield wiper blades on my car, ouch.
I have nothing much this morning. I was just reading some interesting information about Herman Cain's background. I haven't decided who I am going to vote for for the GOP candidate to face off Obama. Still looking at the information. Not sure about this situation with Cain and the alleged sexual harassment that he engaged in with - apparently several women. He has some great credentials other than that. The media certainly isn't letting him off the hook even if he is going around saying he won't answer any more questions about it. I don't like Mitt Romney so I won't be voting for him, Perry is looking less attractive, I'm still up in the air about Bachman, I like Ron Paul's take on things - for the most part but not 100%.
Good thing there is time, lol, to make a decision. Maybe I won't actually make a decision until I am in the voting booth! In every other presidential campaign, I have already decided by now who I am going to vote for, but that simply isn't the case this time. I'm not a one-issue person. I want to know the specifics a person is going to do about turning the economy around; I want to know what the candidate is going to do with Obamacare; I want to know how any given candidate is going to treat our ally Israel. And what are you going to do about the free ride the unions are getting? I really didn't know much about unions, to be honest, until the economy went sour and suddenly government officials are looking at ways to balance the budget and then started looking at unions and much of it having non-existent contributions for health care or pension plans, or very, very little contributions.
That got my attention.
Meanwhile, Randy, my next door neighbor who basically said he doesn't care what his cats do, they don't have leash laws for cats so they can do what they want - is still speaking with Lynnette and Mark. "Oh, we're just mad at Ben, not you guys". We being 3 properties full of both junk and animal hoarders and one more property of 350 man who apparently has never heard of the term: landscaping. Randy's property is far worse now than it has ever been with junk laying out over the ENTIRE property. And I do mean JUNK. Maybe I'll snap a few shots of all of this this week. Allegedly, he is going to get a permit and start building some sort of - if it's anything like the rest of what he does - ramshackle house. Fortunately, he won't get away with building whatever he wants to over there, Phoenix city codes and code compliance along with the inspectors that come out and demand that every portion of any given project be inspected before moving on - will stop him from building some kind of piece of garbage.
If he's really going out on the fringes, he will have to ask for a hearing to have zoning changed or a variance on his property. I will be at that hearing, if it comes down to that, as I am not about to live next to some piece of s*** pile of garbage "house" that does nothing but uglify the neighborhood and bring down already low property values even more. Meanwhile, I am considering applying for my own variance. Though, only slightly considering it. That would be to allow 1 trailer to be parked on my property as recognized living unit by the City. The problem I would have with that is that all these hoarders would show up just to spite me and probably if the council sees it as a potential problem, they aren't going to give it's stamp of approval.
Though, I could take pictures of the properties around mine and make a very valid argument that it will do NOTHING to further deteriorate the quality of the neighborhood since it's already at the bottom of the barrel.
Whatever the case, it's still raining and I am - off to work. If it's rained enough, the job sites will all be shut down and it will be a very boring day at work, indeed.
ben
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Sunday 11/6/2011
Church starts in just over an hour. Lol, I haven't even begun to get ready for it yet. Actually, the pre-service prayer starts in a couple of minutes - I'm going to pass on that this morning as I went yesterday.
I had thoughts of getting up on the trailer and seeing what I could find in terms of where a leak or leaks might be, but I decided against that. If I found what is wrong, I might be tempted to by-pass church and go right to work on it. I have decided that I can probably fix whatever myself. Even if I have to put on new sheet metal, it will cost considerably less to do it myself than taking it to a shop. I just like the idea of a shop because it will come with a guarantee, the downside to a shop is the bill. Probably not cheap to have them doing it right - which means they will undoubtedly want to replace the metal versus slopping on roof tar or elastomeric roof coating.
Benefits run out for the unemployed. This news is all over the internet now. 99 weeks has passed for millions of Americans who can't find work and now? I have no clue. What do these people do to survive? Food stamps? HUD housing? Welfare? What does that tell us about the near future? Is it likely that the gloom prophets are correct, that 2012 will see a double-dip recession? How many of those people that are unemployed and have been unemployed for over 99 weeks used to have great jobs and spend lots of money? How many more are being added to the over-99-week roles every week? How far is this going to go before it comes to an end?
Just questions I have, I have no answers.
Another interlude - went to church.
Now? My son just called. The talk we were going to have last week was put off til' this week and now he wants to do it. It's his show, really, not mine. He wants to tell me some things but - don't really know where this is going. I just know that I am hungry and am going to go somewhere with good food and he can talk away and I will be all ears.
Yet another interlude. This is the "all-day-entry" going here. We went to Applebee's and I listened with great interest to his plans for the next 4 or 5 years - and beyond. He is totally focused, I'll give him that much. I won't say anything negative about his ideas. I fully support him. Because of that, I won't go into it - excepting to say it's all about the Lord and God's plan for his life. And lemme tell you, we are coming into the age of the prophetic and things are going to start rolling, especially with this younger generation. I will be praying for him and what he wants to do. Had a great meal at Applebee's, this didn't go on forever but it was as long as it needed to be.
I did finally climb up a ladder and tookalookit the roof of that trailer. That roof has already been replaced. It's a solid sheet of metal from front to back. The ONLY place it can be leaking is at the vents. So, I am going to take that stuff apart and treat it - nicely - with the correct material - and that should take care of the leaking problems.
My cat trap was broken the other day when I set out some bait/tuna fish in it. My plan was to catch a cat and keep it for a day. See what happens. Well, 3 rungs had been broken off of it, there was clearly a cat in that thing because the tuna was gone. I am suspicious. I couldn't find the broken rungs on the ground where the trap was at. That's 3 rungs, all broken off at once, with no trace of the rungs? I Jerry-rigged the thing. I used baling wire and I can guarantee that that is not going to just "break" after one use.
If it didn't break by normal use - that trap has only been used a few times now - well, I am going to do something else.
So, the roof was a relief to see that it can only be something that should be easily fixed - I hope anyway. The AC? Haven't looked at that yet.
Steelers v Ravens. Ummm, interesting game so far is all I can say about that. 2cd quarter, tie game.
Well, anyway, day is over, work week approaches, time to get ready for bed.
G'nite.
ben
I had thoughts of getting up on the trailer and seeing what I could find in terms of where a leak or leaks might be, but I decided against that. If I found what is wrong, I might be tempted to by-pass church and go right to work on it. I have decided that I can probably fix whatever myself. Even if I have to put on new sheet metal, it will cost considerably less to do it myself than taking it to a shop. I just like the idea of a shop because it will come with a guarantee, the downside to a shop is the bill. Probably not cheap to have them doing it right - which means they will undoubtedly want to replace the metal versus slopping on roof tar or elastomeric roof coating.
Benefits run out for the unemployed. This news is all over the internet now. 99 weeks has passed for millions of Americans who can't find work and now? I have no clue. What do these people do to survive? Food stamps? HUD housing? Welfare? What does that tell us about the near future? Is it likely that the gloom prophets are correct, that 2012 will see a double-dip recession? How many of those people that are unemployed and have been unemployed for over 99 weeks used to have great jobs and spend lots of money? How many more are being added to the over-99-week roles every week? How far is this going to go before it comes to an end?
Just questions I have, I have no answers.
Another interlude - went to church.
Now? My son just called. The talk we were going to have last week was put off til' this week and now he wants to do it. It's his show, really, not mine. He wants to tell me some things but - don't really know where this is going. I just know that I am hungry and am going to go somewhere with good food and he can talk away and I will be all ears.
Yet another interlude. This is the "all-day-entry" going here. We went to Applebee's and I listened with great interest to his plans for the next 4 or 5 years - and beyond. He is totally focused, I'll give him that much. I won't say anything negative about his ideas. I fully support him. Because of that, I won't go into it - excepting to say it's all about the Lord and God's plan for his life. And lemme tell you, we are coming into the age of the prophetic and things are going to start rolling, especially with this younger generation. I will be praying for him and what he wants to do. Had a great meal at Applebee's, this didn't go on forever but it was as long as it needed to be.
I did finally climb up a ladder and tookalookit the roof of that trailer. That roof has already been replaced. It's a solid sheet of metal from front to back. The ONLY place it can be leaking is at the vents. So, I am going to take that stuff apart and treat it - nicely - with the correct material - and that should take care of the leaking problems.
My cat trap was broken the other day when I set out some bait/tuna fish in it. My plan was to catch a cat and keep it for a day. See what happens. Well, 3 rungs had been broken off of it, there was clearly a cat in that thing because the tuna was gone. I am suspicious. I couldn't find the broken rungs on the ground where the trap was at. That's 3 rungs, all broken off at once, with no trace of the rungs? I Jerry-rigged the thing. I used baling wire and I can guarantee that that is not going to just "break" after one use.
If it didn't break by normal use - that trap has only been used a few times now - well, I am going to do something else.
So, the roof was a relief to see that it can only be something that should be easily fixed - I hope anyway. The AC? Haven't looked at that yet.
Steelers v Ravens. Ummm, interesting game so far is all I can say about that. 2cd quarter, tie game.
Well, anyway, day is over, work week approaches, time to get ready for bed.
G'nite.
ben
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Leak
So, there is a leak in the roof on this trailer. Well, not totally unsurprising, but certainly a pain to have to deal with. I am considering using the Camper's World service to fix it. They have a rubberized coating they put on for $300. I assume - but would ask if I decide to go that route - that it's guaranteed to stop leaks. I dunno. I am guessing this move of this trailer is going to be put off much further than I wanted it to be. Which is okay, I will get this stuff done before I even think about moving it up there.
I'm guessing I'll be waiting for tax time and a return to finish up whatever needs finishing next year and be done with it, get it moved up there and be ready for a bit of summer relaxation in the cool, mountain pines/air. Is it going to be worth it? I guess I'll find out. One thing's for sure, it rains up there much more than it does down here. I cannot even think about having a leaking roof up there, just isn't going to cut it.
Well, a visit to the roof of the trailer is certainly in order. Not today, however. I have junk to get done and then in 2 hours, I have to be back at church to do the "Duck Pond" thing. Prayer this morning was good, but I still feel completely out of place. Not sure, if ever, that feeling is going to go away?
__________________________________________
Like, a 5 hour interlude, lol. I did the 2 hour Duck Pond stint. It was actually quite fun cause' there were a bunch of little kiddies and even some of the adults love that game! I left, though, they are still going at it now but are going to be shutting it down soon. Today is, at least for me, really the first day that it has actually felt like Fall. It's been cool all day long.
Lynnette was working away on the wallpaper. I took a look at the light fixture in the ceiling that had filled with water after last night's rain. No idea - perhaps tomorrow after church I'll get up on the roof of it and see if I can see where the damage is and what it is going to take to repair it.
News. Lots of it on the internet, that's for sure. Nothing new, really. A bunch of psycho's out there. Iran at the top of the "danger" news again. This that and the other thing. Again, nothing new.
So, I"ll call this one done.
I'm guessing I'll be waiting for tax time and a return to finish up whatever needs finishing next year and be done with it, get it moved up there and be ready for a bit of summer relaxation in the cool, mountain pines/air. Is it going to be worth it? I guess I'll find out. One thing's for sure, it rains up there much more than it does down here. I cannot even think about having a leaking roof up there, just isn't going to cut it.
Well, a visit to the roof of the trailer is certainly in order. Not today, however. I have junk to get done and then in 2 hours, I have to be back at church to do the "Duck Pond" thing. Prayer this morning was good, but I still feel completely out of place. Not sure, if ever, that feeling is going to go away?
__________________________________________
Like, a 5 hour interlude, lol. I did the 2 hour Duck Pond stint. It was actually quite fun cause' there were a bunch of little kiddies and even some of the adults love that game! I left, though, they are still going at it now but are going to be shutting it down soon. Today is, at least for me, really the first day that it has actually felt like Fall. It's been cool all day long.
Lynnette was working away on the wallpaper. I took a look at the light fixture in the ceiling that had filled with water after last night's rain. No idea - perhaps tomorrow after church I'll get up on the roof of it and see if I can see where the damage is and what it is going to take to repair it.
News. Lots of it on the internet, that's for sure. Nothing new, really. A bunch of psycho's out there. Iran at the top of the "danger" news again. This that and the other thing. Again, nothing new.
So, I"ll call this one done.
Saturday 11/5/2011
Yesterday, we tried to get the AC working on my "new" 5th wheel travel trailer. The fan won't come on. We took the panels off the unit and I spun the fan by hand - but - it still wouldn't do the trick. The compressor did come on, however, a very good thing indeed. There is a huge chasm of a difference in replacing a fan motor and replacing a burned out compressor in one these AC units.
Not sure if I can replace one myself or not, but I'm going to see about it. It's going to cost me $50 to have the thing hauled to the service center and $50 to have it hauled back, plus whatever it costs to repair it - I'm guessing to pay a repair facility to do it around 3 bills - so looking at $400 total to fix it that way versus attempting to see if I can remove the motor myself and replace it - I'm guessing around $100 for a new fan motor. The difference in price motivates me to at least get up on the top of the trailer, remove the cover and take a look. It can't be that hard, right? Lol.
I was thinking of getting a notebook or laptop - on payments instead of chucking down cash and being - broke. However, I am going to wait until Black Friday and see what kinds of deals might be had. Besides, I am completely lost on these things. I have learned a great deal about desk tops - but these portable computers are a bit out of my knowledge span excepting the ram and memory capabilities. If I'm going to get one, I want at least 4 gigs of Ram and at least a 500 gig harddrive, plus I want it expandable to 8 Gigs of ram. Other than that? I guess I'll have to do research and see what other people have to say about what is "must-have" and what things may annoy people about them.
I am supposed to go to a prayer walk this morning for the event this afternoon. I am sitting here, in my comfortable chair, not wanting to do anything. Gag. Plus I'm hungry. Umm, I'll go just because I need to get more involved with things at the church, though I am to spend 2 hours this afternoon operating a "Duck Pond", lol. From what I see online? It's just a bunch of ducks in a small pool of water that little kids pick up and find the number on the bottom. The number correlates to a prize. Okay, this is a really hard game, lol. I hope I can pass 2 hours without getting extremely bored.
Of course, it rained last night while I was sleeping. I couldn't do it while I was AWAKE, thank you very much. I don't know how long it rained but everything looks pretty well saturated out there - no watering any plants for at least 4 days! It's always nice when the temps come way down, the ground doesn't dry out so fast and watering plants can be put off in longer intervals.
Interesting. A friend saw my post on Facebook asking the difference between a notebook and a laptop and had her - 15 year old son, computer guru apparently - call me and explain all kinds of stuff about these things. Alrighty then. I was surprised to find out that you can get a Droid phone, download an app and use that phone as a router, basically, to supply internet service to your laptop. Didn't know that. Very interesting indeed. I have a Verizon phone from work - just a plain Jane thing - would like to take a drive up to my mom's property and see what kind of reception I get. The coverage map shows red over her property - but are those maps accurate? Have not been able to find that out.
Umm, well I am going to the prayer thing, drag myself out of this chair, to the shower, hurry up and get moving cause I only have half an hour before I have to be there.
Which is, actually, plenty of time : )
ben
Not sure if I can replace one myself or not, but I'm going to see about it. It's going to cost me $50 to have the thing hauled to the service center and $50 to have it hauled back, plus whatever it costs to repair it - I'm guessing to pay a repair facility to do it around 3 bills - so looking at $400 total to fix it that way versus attempting to see if I can remove the motor myself and replace it - I'm guessing around $100 for a new fan motor. The difference in price motivates me to at least get up on the top of the trailer, remove the cover and take a look. It can't be that hard, right? Lol.
I was thinking of getting a notebook or laptop - on payments instead of chucking down cash and being - broke. However, I am going to wait until Black Friday and see what kinds of deals might be had. Besides, I am completely lost on these things. I have learned a great deal about desk tops - but these portable computers are a bit out of my knowledge span excepting the ram and memory capabilities. If I'm going to get one, I want at least 4 gigs of Ram and at least a 500 gig harddrive, plus I want it expandable to 8 Gigs of ram. Other than that? I guess I'll have to do research and see what other people have to say about what is "must-have" and what things may annoy people about them.
I am supposed to go to a prayer walk this morning for the event this afternoon. I am sitting here, in my comfortable chair, not wanting to do anything. Gag. Plus I'm hungry. Umm, I'll go just because I need to get more involved with things at the church, though I am to spend 2 hours this afternoon operating a "Duck Pond", lol. From what I see online? It's just a bunch of ducks in a small pool of water that little kids pick up and find the number on the bottom. The number correlates to a prize. Okay, this is a really hard game, lol. I hope I can pass 2 hours without getting extremely bored.
Of course, it rained last night while I was sleeping. I couldn't do it while I was AWAKE, thank you very much. I don't know how long it rained but everything looks pretty well saturated out there - no watering any plants for at least 4 days! It's always nice when the temps come way down, the ground doesn't dry out so fast and watering plants can be put off in longer intervals.
Interesting. A friend saw my post on Facebook asking the difference between a notebook and a laptop and had her - 15 year old son, computer guru apparently - call me and explain all kinds of stuff about these things. Alrighty then. I was surprised to find out that you can get a Droid phone, download an app and use that phone as a router, basically, to supply internet service to your laptop. Didn't know that. Very interesting indeed. I have a Verizon phone from work - just a plain Jane thing - would like to take a drive up to my mom's property and see what kind of reception I get. The coverage map shows red over her property - but are those maps accurate? Have not been able to find that out.
Umm, well I am going to the prayer thing, drag myself out of this chair, to the shower, hurry up and get moving cause I only have half an hour before I have to be there.
Which is, actually, plenty of time : )
ben
Friday, November 4, 2011
Friday 11/4/2011
I got up early this morning for an early delivery at work. No time to write an entry. Long day, too, meaning I got to keep all that OT I had acquired this week. Not that I didn't bring it up to my manager - just because of company management's insistence to keep that kind of stuff down.
I'll just voice my opinion on this pilot that is getting 6 months in prison for flying a commercial airliner - drunk. GOOD. Do YOU want to get into an airplane and go jetting around the skies with a drunk pilot? How many people can be killed by a drunk pilot? Well, fortunately there was the captain of the plane that wasn't drunk and, apparently, turned this guy in. I am under the same exact restriction in blood alcohol content: no more than .04 percent while driving a commercial vehicle. Well I can assure you that I drive commercial vehicles with a 0.000000000000 ad infinitum alcohol blood content. Not that I never drink, but I certainly don't do it before or during driving a commercial vehicle.
Whatever the case, the weekend is here. Yayyyy. The sky is overcast and Accuweather has their definition of the conditions here: dreary. Yeah, well whoever wrote that certainly doesn't LIVE here. EVERYONE I have spoken with today - which is quite a large number of people - WANTS rain, loves overcast skies at least once in a while and can't wait for it to begin. I am assuming that this massive "green" cloud that is observed by looking at radar is moving this way from California? Or from the North? Well it's coming from somewhere and it's massive : )
My mother wants my response on what I want for Christmas. She gave me the Starter Knife Set and asked me if I wanted more of that kind this year? Yes, yes indeed. Messermeister cutlery. Check it out. I am eyeing a knife that costs $129.
Came home from work today. Wind blowing, temp at perfect levels. Beautiful outside. 350 man eyeballing me as I pulled into my driveway (completely forbidden with the restraining order, he is definitely NOT allowed to even LOOK at me) - I ignored it. Did my thing and got back out front. I have been working on it for a while now, it's starting to shape up. Getting there, but not done yet, of course. 350 man is out there, looking at me again. This guy just can't let it go. But I can, just looking at me? I don't care. I'm not going to report that. If he starts s*** with me or does this juvenile stare-down crap or other things he does? I will warn him.
I turned my back on him and then completely ignored both him and Randy the rest of the time I was out there - which was about 2 hours of laying plastic; large rocks and then hauling the landscaping rock out there in a wheelbarrow. I am creating pathways through the vegetation and it's looking really good. I have Mary's (ex-tenant) idea in mind and keeping some of that, but what I am doing out there is definitely transforming it to the next level.
My search. For what, you may ask. Lots of things. But my mother has taken up the flag and is running with it. She has gone so far with this situation, that I haven't done any of it yet. That is, finding things that will be needed for the trailer. She takes great pleasure in finding the bargains - wherever they are to be found, who am I to stop that train? My mother is starting to get well up there in years. I want to spend more time with her.
Umm, there is much more. But I am done with this one. I am going to bed soon, busy day tomorrow.
G'day.
ben
I'll just voice my opinion on this pilot that is getting 6 months in prison for flying a commercial airliner - drunk. GOOD. Do YOU want to get into an airplane and go jetting around the skies with a drunk pilot? How many people can be killed by a drunk pilot? Well, fortunately there was the captain of the plane that wasn't drunk and, apparently, turned this guy in. I am under the same exact restriction in blood alcohol content: no more than .04 percent while driving a commercial vehicle. Well I can assure you that I drive commercial vehicles with a 0.000000000000 ad infinitum alcohol blood content. Not that I never drink, but I certainly don't do it before or during driving a commercial vehicle.
Whatever the case, the weekend is here. Yayyyy. The sky is overcast and Accuweather has their definition of the conditions here: dreary. Yeah, well whoever wrote that certainly doesn't LIVE here. EVERYONE I have spoken with today - which is quite a large number of people - WANTS rain, loves overcast skies at least once in a while and can't wait for it to begin. I am assuming that this massive "green" cloud that is observed by looking at radar is moving this way from California? Or from the North? Well it's coming from somewhere and it's massive : )
My mother wants my response on what I want for Christmas. She gave me the Starter Knife Set and asked me if I wanted more of that kind this year? Yes, yes indeed. Messermeister cutlery. Check it out. I am eyeing a knife that costs $129.
Came home from work today. Wind blowing, temp at perfect levels. Beautiful outside. 350 man eyeballing me as I pulled into my driveway (completely forbidden with the restraining order, he is definitely NOT allowed to even LOOK at me) - I ignored it. Did my thing and got back out front. I have been working on it for a while now, it's starting to shape up. Getting there, but not done yet, of course. 350 man is out there, looking at me again. This guy just can't let it go. But I can, just looking at me? I don't care. I'm not going to report that. If he starts s*** with me or does this juvenile stare-down crap or other things he does? I will warn him.
I turned my back on him and then completely ignored both him and Randy the rest of the time I was out there - which was about 2 hours of laying plastic; large rocks and then hauling the landscaping rock out there in a wheelbarrow. I am creating pathways through the vegetation and it's looking really good. I have Mary's (ex-tenant) idea in mind and keeping some of that, but what I am doing out there is definitely transforming it to the next level.
My search. For what, you may ask. Lots of things. But my mother has taken up the flag and is running with it. She has gone so far with this situation, that I haven't done any of it yet. That is, finding things that will be needed for the trailer. She takes great pleasure in finding the bargains - wherever they are to be found, who am I to stop that train? My mother is starting to get well up there in years. I want to spend more time with her.
Umm, there is much more. But I am done with this one. I am going to bed soon, busy day tomorrow.
G'day.
ben
Thursday, November 3, 2011
More Neighbor Issues
So, the neighbor whose house burned down a while back and returned from Michigan recently? Well, I found fresh cat s*** on the front of my property. When he comes back, he brings his cats. They beeline it for my property. And s***, pee and destroy my vegetation.
He inserted himself when I was telling someone on the street who had asked what I was doing: Cleaning up someone else's cat's s***. He comes walking up to the front of his property, which is where this goes sour.
This is the guy that brings all the rusted cars from Michigan to resell here, though he didn't do it this time around. He lines the street with them. He is living in an RV on his property - obviously a no-no since the city told me I can't do that, either. He is pissing and crapping outside. That's right, he is going number 2, not on a toilet, but in the back of his property. He is also a hoarder. He "collects" things,the people that live like that are want to call it. He STILL has a LOT of junk out there.
I have put up with this guy and his junk for years because I don't want wars with my neighbors. But all 3 of these properties and these people are cat lovers and they don't CARE what their cats do off their property.
So, I started to discuss with him this cat situation. As normal for him, he takes responsibility for nothing. I have been hearing this from him for years concerning other situations - which I have nothing to do with - and interactions with other people. He is as pure as the driven snow, at least in his own eyes. He throws up his hands, what do you want me to do? Shoot my cats? No, I want you to take responsibility for them. "Well, there are no leash laws". In other words, who cares what my animals do on other people's property. I suggested they become indoor cats.
He has a comeback for everything: they live on 40 acres on his other Michigan property, you expect me to turn them into indoor cats? I came up with 350 man's idea of moth balls. He states they don't work. Then gets nasty with me and tells me to not start this s*** with him. Funny, I wasn't even talking to him, he inserted himself into my conversation with someone else.
So, he points at one of my tenant's cars, I don't know why that guy parked there, but he is partially in front of his property. Whoopee, I didn't say anything, though, even if it isn't
illegally parked. Not into arguing just for the sake of arguing, if you want to call the police, be my guest, though I didn't say that, either.
He walked away. I went back to my fence a little while later and asked him if he has a cat litter box. Yes, it's filled with dirt. I then mentioned the motion sensor activated device that turns on a sprinkler when an animal comes within it's range. That's your problem. Yes, but my problem becomes your problem, though I didn't specify how. Well, you guys can buy one for me and this problem is solved. He says again it isn't his problem, cats aren't required to be on leashes. No, they aren't but that doesn't mean they can come on my property.
I'm not getting a great "name" around here for this situation, but I am fed up with people that want to live like pigs and don't care what effect their actions or in this case, their animal's actions are having on other people, especially when it comes to me, on MY property. If a neighbor comes to me and says something I am doing or something someone living here is doing or my animals is causing them a problem, I'm not going to throw my hands up in the air, shrug my shoulders and say: "That's YOUR problem, not mine". I am not that kind of person. I will do whatever I can do try and resolve it with them. That's what good neighbors can and should do.
I rather believe in a normal neighborhood that most people would also think such - who wants a war with neighbors. This is not a normal neighborhood. Although I have heard the hate and disgust people have with HOA's for years and years and I am not necessarily wanting to live in a place that has one, there IS an advantage to having an entity that forces people to not only keep their property clean, but also have landscaping on it as allowed by the HOA's CCR's.
Whatever. I have been putting up with this stuff for years now, I am at the end of the line with it. The straw that broke the camel's back is turning in the trailer with Mark and Lynnette living in it. They shouldn't have done that - it was an act of spite because of the cat situation - and it only motivates me to start dealing with this rampant hoarding junk going on around here. The entire situation continues to fodder my interest in getting out of this neighborhood. Though, this situation is isolated to these 3 properties and the individuals that live on them. There are others in this community that despise the way these people live and say so freely.
Okee dokee. End of work week almost here. Church Harvest Festival thing on Saturday and yes, I fully intend on showing up to do the 2 hour volunteer thing. Which is crazy: the weather on Saturday? Slated to be a high of 68 degrees. That may actually deter people from coming out. I know, we are Phoenicians, cold is defined much differently here than what a person that is living in, say, Wisconsin, defines it as. But who knows, perhaps people will like the idea of wearing coats if necessary and having a good time in the sunshine without burning up.
My mother? Going all out now. That is, all out to find stuff at her kind of prices for my trailer. She got up early today - in her area, for whatever reason - Thursday is the day to have a garage/yard/carport sale. She gets to the places early and from what she wrote me? She was highly entertained by all of it. She found an old, steel, Coleman cooler. One of those heavy duty things they used to make - which I have no idea if they make anymore - in great condition for $5.
I went to "Camper's World" today - a huge store mostly set up for people with RV's and trailers - though there is some camping equipment in there - and found what I was looking for. A special adapter - for less than $5. A bunch of other stuff, too, lol - I got a couple of cheap items I needed but pretty much got out of there before getting tempted to spend some real money.
Time has expired. I have to be at work at work at 5:30 am and leave as soon as I get there.
So, g'nite.
ben
He inserted himself when I was telling someone on the street who had asked what I was doing: Cleaning up someone else's cat's s***. He comes walking up to the front of his property, which is where this goes sour.
This is the guy that brings all the rusted cars from Michigan to resell here, though he didn't do it this time around. He lines the street with them. He is living in an RV on his property - obviously a no-no since the city told me I can't do that, either. He is pissing and crapping outside. That's right, he is going number 2, not on a toilet, but in the back of his property. He is also a hoarder. He "collects" things,the people that live like that are want to call it. He STILL has a LOT of junk out there.
I have put up with this guy and his junk for years because I don't want wars with my neighbors. But all 3 of these properties and these people are cat lovers and they don't CARE what their cats do off their property.
So, I started to discuss with him this cat situation. As normal for him, he takes responsibility for nothing. I have been hearing this from him for years concerning other situations - which I have nothing to do with - and interactions with other people. He is as pure as the driven snow, at least in his own eyes. He throws up his hands, what do you want me to do? Shoot my cats? No, I want you to take responsibility for them. "Well, there are no leash laws". In other words, who cares what my animals do on other people's property. I suggested they become indoor cats.
He has a comeback for everything: they live on 40 acres on his other Michigan property, you expect me to turn them into indoor cats? I came up with 350 man's idea of moth balls. He states they don't work. Then gets nasty with me and tells me to not start this s*** with him. Funny, I wasn't even talking to him, he inserted himself into my conversation with someone else.
So, he points at one of my tenant's cars, I don't know why that guy parked there, but he is partially in front of his property. Whoopee, I didn't say anything, though, even if it isn't
illegally parked. Not into arguing just for the sake of arguing, if you want to call the police, be my guest, though I didn't say that, either.
He walked away. I went back to my fence a little while later and asked him if he has a cat litter box. Yes, it's filled with dirt. I then mentioned the motion sensor activated device that turns on a sprinkler when an animal comes within it's range. That's your problem. Yes, but my problem becomes your problem, though I didn't specify how. Well, you guys can buy one for me and this problem is solved. He says again it isn't his problem, cats aren't required to be on leashes. No, they aren't but that doesn't mean they can come on my property.
I'm not getting a great "name" around here for this situation, but I am fed up with people that want to live like pigs and don't care what effect their actions or in this case, their animal's actions are having on other people, especially when it comes to me, on MY property. If a neighbor comes to me and says something I am doing or something someone living here is doing or my animals is causing them a problem, I'm not going to throw my hands up in the air, shrug my shoulders and say: "That's YOUR problem, not mine". I am not that kind of person. I will do whatever I can do try and resolve it with them. That's what good neighbors can and should do.
I rather believe in a normal neighborhood that most people would also think such - who wants a war with neighbors. This is not a normal neighborhood. Although I have heard the hate and disgust people have with HOA's for years and years and I am not necessarily wanting to live in a place that has one, there IS an advantage to having an entity that forces people to not only keep their property clean, but also have landscaping on it as allowed by the HOA's CCR's.
Whatever. I have been putting up with this stuff for years now, I am at the end of the line with it. The straw that broke the camel's back is turning in the trailer with Mark and Lynnette living in it. They shouldn't have done that - it was an act of spite because of the cat situation - and it only motivates me to start dealing with this rampant hoarding junk going on around here. The entire situation continues to fodder my interest in getting out of this neighborhood. Though, this situation is isolated to these 3 properties and the individuals that live on them. There are others in this community that despise the way these people live and say so freely.
Okee dokee. End of work week almost here. Church Harvest Festival thing on Saturday and yes, I fully intend on showing up to do the 2 hour volunteer thing. Which is crazy: the weather on Saturday? Slated to be a high of 68 degrees. That may actually deter people from coming out. I know, we are Phoenicians, cold is defined much differently here than what a person that is living in, say, Wisconsin, defines it as. But who knows, perhaps people will like the idea of wearing coats if necessary and having a good time in the sunshine without burning up.
My mother? Going all out now. That is, all out to find stuff at her kind of prices for my trailer. She got up early today - in her area, for whatever reason - Thursday is the day to have a garage/yard/carport sale. She gets to the places early and from what she wrote me? She was highly entertained by all of it. She found an old, steel, Coleman cooler. One of those heavy duty things they used to make - which I have no idea if they make anymore - in great condition for $5.
I went to "Camper's World" today - a huge store mostly set up for people with RV's and trailers - though there is some camping equipment in there - and found what I was looking for. A special adapter - for less than $5. A bunch of other stuff, too, lol - I got a couple of cheap items I needed but pretty much got out of there before getting tempted to spend some real money.
Time has expired. I have to be at work at work at 5:30 am and leave as soon as I get there.
So, g'nite.
ben
Thursday 11/3/2011
Personally, I would hate to see the US Postal service go under. I like to see the mailman come and bring the weekly circulars, all the lovely bills, sometimes a letter or a postcard. I could, however, live without Saturday service, even though they are suggesting that should be a "last" option.
What kind of sick minds are they that would drop a shopping cart 4 stories onto a woman's head? And then, it turns out they are 2, 12 year old boys? And worse, that they were laughing about it after they were taken into custody? Maybe if they were thrown into an adult population incarceration facility filled with prisoners that have life sentences their laughter would go away. What kind of society are we becoming that produces children like this? It doesn't really speak well for us as a whole.
I'm tired from yesterday. Coming back in the semi on the Phoenix freeway system, there were fully 4, separate accidents and even more cars pulled over by ADOT Highway Patrol. Basically a 40 mile parking lot. And in those accidents, one wonders how many of them were caused by people texting and not paying a single bit's worth of attention to the much more important task at hand: drive your freaking vehicle and put the texting phone down. Well at least it's Thursday.
Here's a nice one: my Fingerhut account is close to being paid off. I had that up at around $600 at one point. I decided that getting that and a couple of other accounts paid down is the thing to do. The lower my balances, the better for my credit score. One of them is up near 700 which was, not too terribly long ago, at an all time low of around 500 because of the house modification and having to let my payments go for a couple of months.
Odd, isn't it? They won't help you unless you are behind on your payments. So you intentionally let your payments go - hey, I used the money for good purposes - then apply for the modification, get the modification and your past due stuff disappears. I got a reply back from my mortgage company about refinancing the loan.
They didn't even address the question. They said I don't qualify for a principal reduction since it is an FHA backed loan. Isn't that nice? I didn't ASK them about that, I asked them about refinancing the loan. Just like any big corporation, whoever "read" the letter at MidFirst Bank didn't read it at all. They just skim over it, if even that, and then give you an automated reply. I ALREADY got this SAME, exact reply months ago when I asked for a principal reduction. It irritates me to no end when you send an email or even send in a snail mail asking a specific, particular question and the answer you get doesn't even begin to address your concerns, at all. MidFirst is hardly the only company that does it, but this is a bit more important than an online game I am playing or much of anything else for that matter.
Whatever the case, my time is up, there is a LOT to do in the truck routing system today, I will be busy, that's for sure.
G'day.
ben
What kind of sick minds are they that would drop a shopping cart 4 stories onto a woman's head? And then, it turns out they are 2, 12 year old boys? And worse, that they were laughing about it after they were taken into custody? Maybe if they were thrown into an adult population incarceration facility filled with prisoners that have life sentences their laughter would go away. What kind of society are we becoming that produces children like this? It doesn't really speak well for us as a whole.
I'm tired from yesterday. Coming back in the semi on the Phoenix freeway system, there were fully 4, separate accidents and even more cars pulled over by ADOT Highway Patrol. Basically a 40 mile parking lot. And in those accidents, one wonders how many of them were caused by people texting and not paying a single bit's worth of attention to the much more important task at hand: drive your freaking vehicle and put the texting phone down. Well at least it's Thursday.
Here's a nice one: my Fingerhut account is close to being paid off. I had that up at around $600 at one point. I decided that getting that and a couple of other accounts paid down is the thing to do. The lower my balances, the better for my credit score. One of them is up near 700 which was, not too terribly long ago, at an all time low of around 500 because of the house modification and having to let my payments go for a couple of months.
Odd, isn't it? They won't help you unless you are behind on your payments. So you intentionally let your payments go - hey, I used the money for good purposes - then apply for the modification, get the modification and your past due stuff disappears. I got a reply back from my mortgage company about refinancing the loan.
They didn't even address the question. They said I don't qualify for a principal reduction since it is an FHA backed loan. Isn't that nice? I didn't ASK them about that, I asked them about refinancing the loan. Just like any big corporation, whoever "read" the letter at MidFirst Bank didn't read it at all. They just skim over it, if even that, and then give you an automated reply. I ALREADY got this SAME, exact reply months ago when I asked for a principal reduction. It irritates me to no end when you send an email or even send in a snail mail asking a specific, particular question and the answer you get doesn't even begin to address your concerns, at all. MidFirst is hardly the only company that does it, but this is a bit more important than an online game I am playing or much of anything else for that matter.
Whatever the case, my time is up, there is a LOT to do in the truck routing system today, I will be busy, that's for sure.
G'day.
ben
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Various Things
Long day at work.
10-1/2 non-stop hours of grind.
Not that I mind, I am 6 hours "over" and though I undoubtedly won't be able to keep all of it, it should be able to keep at least 5 by week's end. That just means they will let me go early either tomorrow or Friday. Or both. Or neither. Tomorrow has a full day of stuff in the truck routing system. Friday it will have to be.
Church tonight. I'm not going. Starts in 3 minutes. Starting church at 7:00 pm may work for most people, it simply doesn't work for me. Especially after the kind of work day I have had and the fact that 2 nights in a row, I haven't slept very well. I wish I COULD go, if they were to start it at 6:00 pm, I would be there. Obviously, I am not going to ask them to change the start time for one person.
RV parts store. Yes, well I was going to stop by there on the way home from work, but I had no idea I would be going home from work after 5:00 pm, that will have to wait until tomorrow - or whenever I can get to it.
Double check on Verizon coverage on mom's property. Nearest outage is about 3 miles away. Dunno. I have a Verizon phone from work, I don't remember even looking at it when I was up there last and we just switched to Verizon. Maybe take a drive up there and see - but really I will call them first and see what they have to say about it. Cricket's site claims they don't even offer service up there - but most assuredly, I was able to both use the phone and get on the phone's internet when I was up there last. Alltell's coverage sucks. At least from what I saw on their map. Lots of companies out there offering this stuff, not in a big hurry, don't need it tomorrow, take my time.
Is it any surprise that news reports are coming out that Israel wants to end Iran's ability to build nuclear weapons? If there is any surprise, it's how long it has taken for this kind of decision and information to come out. How long can Iran going around making the outrageous threats of annihilation and destruction it has made, repeatedly, over and over, before someone does something about it? However, I don't think Israel should be firing nuclear missiles at Iran. I don't think ANY nation should be firing nuclear tipped missiles at any other nation. That is the beginning of the end. If that's the end that God spoke about in the book of Revelations in the Bible, then so beit. The intelligence is allegedly out there: just destroy the plants that are capable of making or suspected of being capable of making nuclear grade plutonium.
Whatever. I'm tired and a bit cranky. Because I'm tired. Which can make me cranky. Lol.
Just staying up long enough to make me tired enough to stay asleep for awhile.
So I'm done with this for the day.
10-1/2 non-stop hours of grind.
Not that I mind, I am 6 hours "over" and though I undoubtedly won't be able to keep all of it, it should be able to keep at least 5 by week's end. That just means they will let me go early either tomorrow or Friday. Or both. Or neither. Tomorrow has a full day of stuff in the truck routing system. Friday it will have to be.
Church tonight. I'm not going. Starts in 3 minutes. Starting church at 7:00 pm may work for most people, it simply doesn't work for me. Especially after the kind of work day I have had and the fact that 2 nights in a row, I haven't slept very well. I wish I COULD go, if they were to start it at 6:00 pm, I would be there. Obviously, I am not going to ask them to change the start time for one person.
RV parts store. Yes, well I was going to stop by there on the way home from work, but I had no idea I would be going home from work after 5:00 pm, that will have to wait until tomorrow - or whenever I can get to it.
Double check on Verizon coverage on mom's property. Nearest outage is about 3 miles away. Dunno. I have a Verizon phone from work, I don't remember even looking at it when I was up there last and we just switched to Verizon. Maybe take a drive up there and see - but really I will call them first and see what they have to say about it. Cricket's site claims they don't even offer service up there - but most assuredly, I was able to both use the phone and get on the phone's internet when I was up there last. Alltell's coverage sucks. At least from what I saw on their map. Lots of companies out there offering this stuff, not in a big hurry, don't need it tomorrow, take my time.
Is it any surprise that news reports are coming out that Israel wants to end Iran's ability to build nuclear weapons? If there is any surprise, it's how long it has taken for this kind of decision and information to come out. How long can Iran going around making the outrageous threats of annihilation and destruction it has made, repeatedly, over and over, before someone does something about it? However, I don't think Israel should be firing nuclear missiles at Iran. I don't think ANY nation should be firing nuclear tipped missiles at any other nation. That is the beginning of the end. If that's the end that God spoke about in the book of Revelations in the Bible, then so beit. The intelligence is allegedly out there: just destroy the plants that are capable of making or suspected of being capable of making nuclear grade plutonium.
Whatever. I'm tired and a bit cranky. Because I'm tired. Which can make me cranky. Lol.
Just staying up long enough to make me tired enough to stay asleep for awhile.
So I'm done with this for the day.
Wednesday 11/2/2011
2 nights in a row now that I haven't slept particularly well. That, undoubtedly, will change tonight since 2 nights in a row mean the third night, usually anyway, I will pass out in bed and pretty much sleep through the night.
I came home from work yesterday and Lynnette was full-fledged into the wall papering project. She stated that it's going to take more wall paper than I got to finish it. Gag. I had hoped she would have started in the living room area, not the bedroom area. For whatever reason, she started in the bedroom area and, oh well.
Well we're in there, the "neighbor" from behind me was visiting my next door neighbor. He saw us in there and waved, lol. Same dude that was seen hanging over my fence, taking pics of the trailer and talking crap about the people living in it and me. People are very strange, is all I can say about that, very strange indeed.
The city also came out yesterday to Randy's - the neighbor whose house burned down right next to me - and who knows what they were saying to him. He was already informed he would have to remove everything off of that property. The property's been sitting with all that junk on it since - well it was last year actually - he has had plenty of time to do something with it. A lot of speculation going on as to who, actually, turned him in, it wasn't me but whoever did it did so anonymously.
Then there was the encounter with the mailman yesterday. He asked how things were going, I had thought he had been given the whole low-down about the situation, he had not. He will occasionally stop and talk to people on his route. After telling him all of it, he gave me a look and started telling his own story. Appears the hoarders behind me have a mother - or used tohave a mother - that is also on his route. He stated that after she died, these people were there, the SAME day, removing stuff from her house. He said he lost all respect for them after seeing that. He also said it was the first time he EVER had bad mouthed anyone on his route, but from his view? They deserved it.
The people across the street? Now hate this neighborhood. Mostly because of 350 man's incessant intrusions into their personal business. Probably also because of his continual calling to the City of Phoenix attempting to get the guy fired for bringing the work truck home on occasion to get lunch or whatever. They are looking to move out of this neighborhood. I am still going to try the refinance program they just rolled out. If I can get that through, I will stick it out here since my payment would drop at least $200 per month if not more.
I only heard back from my oldest brother once, though I wrote him another short note - yes it WAS short - about hopefully meeting up with him when the time comes and he can help determine where to put that trailer since he lived on that property for about 2 years and knows where mom will want the thing placed. Oh well, it was a nice 2 sentences I got from him, anyway.
As for internet service, well, I could probably get Hughes via satellite up there, though I don't know anyone that has ever used it and I have seen a couple people online complaining that it didn't work very well. I'm looking at Verizon's coverage map right now - even up there in the mountains - the exact location of my mother's property in fact - is covered in red meaning digital coverage. Is there map accurate?
I dunno, but the work bell rings soon, I must be outta here.
G'day.
ben
I came home from work yesterday and Lynnette was full-fledged into the wall papering project. She stated that it's going to take more wall paper than I got to finish it. Gag. I had hoped she would have started in the living room area, not the bedroom area. For whatever reason, she started in the bedroom area and, oh well.
Well we're in there, the "neighbor" from behind me was visiting my next door neighbor. He saw us in there and waved, lol. Same dude that was seen hanging over my fence, taking pics of the trailer and talking crap about the people living in it and me. People are very strange, is all I can say about that, very strange indeed.
The city also came out yesterday to Randy's - the neighbor whose house burned down right next to me - and who knows what they were saying to him. He was already informed he would have to remove everything off of that property. The property's been sitting with all that junk on it since - well it was last year actually - he has had plenty of time to do something with it. A lot of speculation going on as to who, actually, turned him in, it wasn't me but whoever did it did so anonymously.
Then there was the encounter with the mailman yesterday. He asked how things were going, I had thought he had been given the whole low-down about the situation, he had not. He will occasionally stop and talk to people on his route. After telling him all of it, he gave me a look and started telling his own story. Appears the hoarders behind me have a mother - or used tohave a mother - that is also on his route. He stated that after she died, these people were there, the SAME day, removing stuff from her house. He said he lost all respect for them after seeing that. He also said it was the first time he EVER had bad mouthed anyone on his route, but from his view? They deserved it.
The people across the street? Now hate this neighborhood. Mostly because of 350 man's incessant intrusions into their personal business. Probably also because of his continual calling to the City of Phoenix attempting to get the guy fired for bringing the work truck home on occasion to get lunch or whatever. They are looking to move out of this neighborhood. I am still going to try the refinance program they just rolled out. If I can get that through, I will stick it out here since my payment would drop at least $200 per month if not more.
I only heard back from my oldest brother once, though I wrote him another short note - yes it WAS short - about hopefully meeting up with him when the time comes and he can help determine where to put that trailer since he lived on that property for about 2 years and knows where mom will want the thing placed. Oh well, it was a nice 2 sentences I got from him, anyway.
As for internet service, well, I could probably get Hughes via satellite up there, though I don't know anyone that has ever used it and I have seen a couple people online complaining that it didn't work very well. I'm looking at Verizon's coverage map right now - even up there in the mountains - the exact location of my mother's property in fact - is covered in red meaning digital coverage. Is there map accurate?
I dunno, but the work bell rings soon, I must be outta here.
G'day.
ben
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Laptop Computer
I have never given serious thought to getting one. I have a nice desktop, I am thinking, what need have I for a laptop? I may have thought about it in passing, I guess, but nothing I have ever really said: gee, I must have one of those.
Remember that I grew up without computers, for the younger generation. Schools weren't filled with them, the internet didn't exist and cellphones were a figment of a Star Trek type of imagination. No, really: the internet has not always been around, trust me, it hasn't.
Today, while sitting in the semi for 2 hours waiting for a contractor to actually stop the other stuff he was doing and get to what he wanted me to do, which was move pipe from once location to another, I was writing up a list for the things I will need - and yes - want - for the trailer when I finally get it up north and have it up and functioning.
Internet access. I will want it. I mean, I will spend a lot of time hiking in the woods up there with the dogs, oh most definitely. I have ALWAYS loved the mountains and the allure of it. Umm, on a sidenote: I won't be going unarmed. Now I will be having a holstered 40 caliber SW40VE Sigma at my side. I have been challenged by numerous animals in the forest in the past, including a very large elk that was mad that I scared her partner off; a mountain lion that stalked me for well over an hour; javelina and coyotes to name a few. The idea of having something to defend yourself - even if you have no intention of using the firearm unless actually, physically, attacked, is quite appealing. Although,I'm not sure that gun would stop a mountain lion in it's tracks and definitely not a giant elk unless the bullet hit perfectly - like in the heart.
I stopped on that one, the laptop that is. Not the mountain hiking. I have always taken the risk of hiking even though I know there are all kinds of wild animals out there - usually they run off and don't bother you if you do happen upon them.
My thoughts? Why am I running around all over the place, sitting frequently for 30 minutes up to 2 hours and sometimes even longer, without a laptop and an aircard to access the internet? I mean, this idea of having a laptop in the mountains for internet access barely scratches the surface once I started thinking about it. I could be doing all kinds of stuff on the internet. There is absolutely nothing else I can do when sitting at a construction site waiting to get unloaded.
This gave validity to this idea of getting an aircard at around $50 to $60 per month and getting rid of this texting phone. I am not in love with texting, I have found out, and I never will be. I can deal with it, but it's not my first choice of communication. Talking on the phone is MUCH faster. Writing an email on a regular keyboard is a hundred times faster than trying to use my rather large fingers on these very small keys in typing out a message.
Yes, I will gladly give up the texting phone to get a laptop computer to have something to do while out on the road during lagtime. Indeed, yes yes yes.
Oh, just one caveat: Laptops aren't exactly cheap. Black Friday and beyond or even before that are all kinds of "Christmas deals" to be found. I just balk, btw, seeing huge, fake Christmas tree and ornaments/lights/etc. displays set up at - everywhere? In OCTOBER? YES, I KNOW it is November, but this stuff starting showing up LAST MONTH. Christmas is meaningless to so many people nowadays. Or conversely, it is a depressing time for families that have nothing and haven't figured out that - giving expensive gifts isn't the point. It is nice, yes, but if you don't have the money, it doesn't matter.
Whatever. Another goal now: get a laptop, preferably not a cheap piece of junk. Minimum memory is mandatory.
Remember that I grew up without computers, for the younger generation. Schools weren't filled with them, the internet didn't exist and cellphones were a figment of a Star Trek type of imagination. No, really: the internet has not always been around, trust me, it hasn't.
Today, while sitting in the semi for 2 hours waiting for a contractor to actually stop the other stuff he was doing and get to what he wanted me to do, which was move pipe from once location to another, I was writing up a list for the things I will need - and yes - want - for the trailer when I finally get it up north and have it up and functioning.
Internet access. I will want it. I mean, I will spend a lot of time hiking in the woods up there with the dogs, oh most definitely. I have ALWAYS loved the mountains and the allure of it. Umm, on a sidenote: I won't be going unarmed. Now I will be having a holstered 40 caliber SW40VE Sigma at my side. I have been challenged by numerous animals in the forest in the past, including a very large elk that was mad that I scared her partner off; a mountain lion that stalked me for well over an hour; javelina and coyotes to name a few. The idea of having something to defend yourself - even if you have no intention of using the firearm unless actually, physically, attacked, is quite appealing. Although,I'm not sure that gun would stop a mountain lion in it's tracks and definitely not a giant elk unless the bullet hit perfectly - like in the heart.
I stopped on that one, the laptop that is. Not the mountain hiking. I have always taken the risk of hiking even though I know there are all kinds of wild animals out there - usually they run off and don't bother you if you do happen upon them.
My thoughts? Why am I running around all over the place, sitting frequently for 30 minutes up to 2 hours and sometimes even longer, without a laptop and an aircard to access the internet? I mean, this idea of having a laptop in the mountains for internet access barely scratches the surface once I started thinking about it. I could be doing all kinds of stuff on the internet. There is absolutely nothing else I can do when sitting at a construction site waiting to get unloaded.
This gave validity to this idea of getting an aircard at around $50 to $60 per month and getting rid of this texting phone. I am not in love with texting, I have found out, and I never will be. I can deal with it, but it's not my first choice of communication. Talking on the phone is MUCH faster. Writing an email on a regular keyboard is a hundred times faster than trying to use my rather large fingers on these very small keys in typing out a message.
Yes, I will gladly give up the texting phone to get a laptop computer to have something to do while out on the road during lagtime. Indeed, yes yes yes.
Oh, just one caveat: Laptops aren't exactly cheap. Black Friday and beyond or even before that are all kinds of "Christmas deals" to be found. I just balk, btw, seeing huge, fake Christmas tree and ornaments/lights/etc. displays set up at - everywhere? In OCTOBER? YES, I KNOW it is November, but this stuff starting showing up LAST MONTH. Christmas is meaningless to so many people nowadays. Or conversely, it is a depressing time for families that have nothing and haven't figured out that - giving expensive gifts isn't the point. It is nice, yes, but if you don't have the money, it doesn't matter.
Whatever. Another goal now: get a laptop, preferably not a cheap piece of junk. Minimum memory is mandatory.
Tuesday 11/1/2011
So, Halloween came and went and I was none the wiser for it. Didn't sit out front with candy, left the lights out, when it comes to Halloween? I'm a baaaaaah humbug. I like Thanksgiving and I absolutely love Christmas - both of which are just around the corner.
So, the trailer is going to have it's transformation started today. Lynnette will be in there starting today on the wallpapering project. I need to look at carpet and decide what kind and color I want to replace the blue stuff with - though decidedly, it's not going to be blue carpet. Something that hides dirt a bit better - beige/brown, something like that.
I haven't gotten up on the roof yet to look at what needs to be done to stop whatever leakage might be going on around one of the roof vents. I will need numerous items for that thing since it's going to be up there semi-permanently. A small vacuum, a new microwave, a new bed mattress to name a few. Probably having a small assortment of tools won't hurt, either. Now that I have permission to put the thing up there before May - well I am going to get this thing done hopefully within the next 2 months and then put the thing up there early next year.
I had given thought about waiting until May - that's a long time from now. There is no running water up there but my mother has a 500 gallon water tank. There is definitely electricity, if there wasn't that, I would probably not have even started in on this project. Per the water situation, the trailer has a fresh water holding tank with it's own water pump in it. So, in reality, I will have running water, able to take showers, etc etc etc. We discussed this water situation - she doesn't use much, like 500 gallons lasting and entire summer?
I balked at that. I'm not going to waste it, but if I need it, I'm going to use it. If I have to pay a service to bring up 500 gallons of water, then so beit. I am going to get a satellite dish and I will be able to have Direct TV up there at no extra charge over what I am already paying. Not that I watch that much TV, I really don't, but since it's available, might as well hook it up. That only leaves the question of the internet and whether I really need it or not. I'm fairly well "addicted" to the internet at this point, not having it for days at a time probably isn't going to work too well.
So, formulation time over, well not completely, but I have pretty well laid out in my mind what I need to get done in this coming year for having a nice layout up there. Just the internet is left in want - if I am going to spend any amount of time up there, I will want it. If it's just here and there, I can do without.
As for Randy coming back, time will tell how that goes. He is using the green earth as his toilet over there. My neighbors behind me must really be hating me now that they have been issued a ticket. Well, they really messed things up over here in forcing this issue with the RV and having to find a place for Mark and Lynnette, a taste of their own medicine given back to them was in order.
Time for work!
G'day
ben
So, the trailer is going to have it's transformation started today. Lynnette will be in there starting today on the wallpapering project. I need to look at carpet and decide what kind and color I want to replace the blue stuff with - though decidedly, it's not going to be blue carpet. Something that hides dirt a bit better - beige/brown, something like that.
I haven't gotten up on the roof yet to look at what needs to be done to stop whatever leakage might be going on around one of the roof vents. I will need numerous items for that thing since it's going to be up there semi-permanently. A small vacuum, a new microwave, a new bed mattress to name a few. Probably having a small assortment of tools won't hurt, either. Now that I have permission to put the thing up there before May - well I am going to get this thing done hopefully within the next 2 months and then put the thing up there early next year.
I had given thought about waiting until May - that's a long time from now. There is no running water up there but my mother has a 500 gallon water tank. There is definitely electricity, if there wasn't that, I would probably not have even started in on this project. Per the water situation, the trailer has a fresh water holding tank with it's own water pump in it. So, in reality, I will have running water, able to take showers, etc etc etc. We discussed this water situation - she doesn't use much, like 500 gallons lasting and entire summer?
I balked at that. I'm not going to waste it, but if I need it, I'm going to use it. If I have to pay a service to bring up 500 gallons of water, then so beit. I am going to get a satellite dish and I will be able to have Direct TV up there at no extra charge over what I am already paying. Not that I watch that much TV, I really don't, but since it's available, might as well hook it up. That only leaves the question of the internet and whether I really need it or not. I'm fairly well "addicted" to the internet at this point, not having it for days at a time probably isn't going to work too well.
So, formulation time over, well not completely, but I have pretty well laid out in my mind what I need to get done in this coming year for having a nice layout up there. Just the internet is left in want - if I am going to spend any amount of time up there, I will want it. If it's just here and there, I can do without.
As for Randy coming back, time will tell how that goes. He is using the green earth as his toilet over there. My neighbors behind me must really be hating me now that they have been issued a ticket. Well, they really messed things up over here in forcing this issue with the RV and having to find a place for Mark and Lynnette, a taste of their own medicine given back to them was in order.
Time for work!
G'day
ben
Monday, October 31, 2011
NEWS ALERT!!! NEWS ALERT!!!!
I just got done checking the City's site.
This particular site allows you to view whatever's going on with a complaint against any particular property.
You don't have to be the person that filed the complaint, either. ALL you have to have is the address.
Well, I definitely am the culprit here. I filed the complaint, they were part and parcel of the parties involved involved in turning in my trailer situation with people living in it. That is, however, ALL they have against my property. I don't live like a pig, I don't have a hoarding situation, etc etc etc.
I make no apologies and I am not hiding anything. They started all this trouble, I will have my say in it. I have been waiting to see what the inspector will file on those 2 properties.
I entered the information on the property that has no house on it. This property has had complaints filed against it in the past - someone else's doings. However, I was VERY surprised to see the results. I figured I would see a "Notice of Violation Issued". No. "Ticket Issued".
This is a fine. This is a recurring violation. I knew it was a violation, I didn't know a ticket would be issued. They will have to go to court to fight it. The ONLY way to fight it is to have that property completely cleared of everything. They brought this war to me. I was minding my own business. I had no issues with these people excepting seeing these giant garage doors in the back of the property every time I walk out the door. I still didn't want to start anything with them. Bring a war to me, you will get one back at you. You will find me to be as person that looks into every crevice, nook and cranny. I will fish out whatever I can find and I will bring it. I will be calling the fire department after this for an inspection as well. If I have to, we'll see what happens.
Time for bed.
ben
This particular site allows you to view whatever's going on with a complaint against any particular property.
You don't have to be the person that filed the complaint, either. ALL you have to have is the address.
Well, I definitely am the culprit here. I filed the complaint, they were part and parcel of the parties involved involved in turning in my trailer situation with people living in it. That is, however, ALL they have against my property. I don't live like a pig, I don't have a hoarding situation, etc etc etc.
I make no apologies and I am not hiding anything. They started all this trouble, I will have my say in it. I have been waiting to see what the inspector will file on those 2 properties.
I entered the information on the property that has no house on it. This property has had complaints filed against it in the past - someone else's doings. However, I was VERY surprised to see the results. I figured I would see a "Notice of Violation Issued". No. "Ticket Issued".
This is a fine. This is a recurring violation. I knew it was a violation, I didn't know a ticket would be issued. They will have to go to court to fight it. The ONLY way to fight it is to have that property completely cleared of everything. They brought this war to me. I was minding my own business. I had no issues with these people excepting seeing these giant garage doors in the back of the property every time I walk out the door. I still didn't want to start anything with them. Bring a war to me, you will get one back at you. You will find me to be as person that looks into every crevice, nook and cranny. I will fish out whatever I can find and I will bring it. I will be calling the fire department after this for an inspection as well. If I have to, we'll see what happens.
Time for bed.
ben
The Excitement Continues
Quoting my own words that I wrote in my blog this morning: "Who knows what fun and excitement this week may hold!"
I no more wrote those words, published that entry, turned off the computer and walked out of the house only a few minutes later to find? My next door neighbor from Michigan, his pickup with his big, long trailer parked in front of his vacant lot, sleeping away in the pickup.
This is where the cat situation began, with this man. Well, actually, it started with Mario, a former tenant. I don't even know how the subject came up, but I said something to him about the cats and - not long after - he mentioned the subject to this neighbor. This included my intention to catch cats and relocate them.
Well, I didn't find out from Mario about this, I found out from neighbors who were "outraged" that I was doing such a thing - even though I had asked repeatedly that they take responsibility for their felines and do something about this situation. I am under NO obligation to "put up with" someone's else's creatures on my property. Once? Okay. Once in a while? I can deal with it. Every night, destroying plants, defecating and urinating everywhere? I don't think so.
Whatever, that is what started all of this, Mario telling this neighbor and this neighbor telling the whole world.
So here he is, I am looking at this truck, idling away - diesel engine - him sleeping inside of it. Exciting week? Here we go. I get home from work. I am outside throwing trash away into the outdoor receptacle, he is just on the other side of my fence (remember, he is my NEXT door neighbor, not 350 man on the other side of HIS property). I am looking at the trash can but he is that field of view and we eyeball each other. Hi Ben! The guy has never been nasty to me, even with all of this stuff, at least to my face. What he says behind my back is another situation entirely. Which really gets to me - be a man about it, if you have some s*** to say, say it to me and let's get it all aired out. If there is a solution - which I believe there is in the case of these cats, let's get with it.
Well, I get home from work. He has a "construction site" sign out front. His RV trailer? "Construction Office". Is it legal? Yes, if he has the permits for the trailer and the hookups to it. However, he was seen pissing on a tire out there earlier, there is no sewage, no electricity and that is certainly not a "legal" situation.
Passing by other news that is important, at least to me but has nothing to do with this situation, we exchange words after that eye contact. He tells me in his light and airy manner about the signs. Yes, indeed. Nothing about cats. 350 man is right there, I will have to review the terms of the thing, but there I remember the judge saying there would be X amount of space between us on the Harrassment order. I doubt 20 feet is in that equation, especially considering I was talking to Randy - my next door neighbor - from my property.
Randy started talking about the lady from the city giving him all kinds of trouble: you can't have ANYTHING on that property. Yup, I know that, though I didn't file the complaint, I flatly told him. I further told him, with 350 man standing there - though he turned away with a cat in his arms, he isn't going to push this that far in violating that order - again - that I did not file that complaint but I freely admitted to filing the complaints on the other properties. I have nothing to hide, they turned me in, letting me know that they were doing such. I also stated that it was probably done anonymously - yup, he said, it was. Well, I stated a third time: I did NOT turn it in. I was tempted to tell him his 350 man buddy probably did it - it wouldn't surprise me - but I refrained.
We haven't even gotten into the discussion I want to get into with Randy - he has brought his cats and the FIRST thing they will do is come to MY property and start shitting and pissing everywhere.
Well, I have things to get done, this one is over.
ben
I no more wrote those words, published that entry, turned off the computer and walked out of the house only a few minutes later to find? My next door neighbor from Michigan, his pickup with his big, long trailer parked in front of his vacant lot, sleeping away in the pickup.
This is where the cat situation began, with this man. Well, actually, it started with Mario, a former tenant. I don't even know how the subject came up, but I said something to him about the cats and - not long after - he mentioned the subject to this neighbor. This included my intention to catch cats and relocate them.
Well, I didn't find out from Mario about this, I found out from neighbors who were "outraged" that I was doing such a thing - even though I had asked repeatedly that they take responsibility for their felines and do something about this situation. I am under NO obligation to "put up with" someone's else's creatures on my property. Once? Okay. Once in a while? I can deal with it. Every night, destroying plants, defecating and urinating everywhere? I don't think so.
Whatever, that is what started all of this, Mario telling this neighbor and this neighbor telling the whole world.
So here he is, I am looking at this truck, idling away - diesel engine - him sleeping inside of it. Exciting week? Here we go. I get home from work. I am outside throwing trash away into the outdoor receptacle, he is just on the other side of my fence (remember, he is my NEXT door neighbor, not 350 man on the other side of HIS property). I am looking at the trash can but he is that field of view and we eyeball each other. Hi Ben! The guy has never been nasty to me, even with all of this stuff, at least to my face. What he says behind my back is another situation entirely. Which really gets to me - be a man about it, if you have some s*** to say, say it to me and let's get it all aired out. If there is a solution - which I believe there is in the case of these cats, let's get with it.
Well, I get home from work. He has a "construction site" sign out front. His RV trailer? "Construction Office". Is it legal? Yes, if he has the permits for the trailer and the hookups to it. However, he was seen pissing on a tire out there earlier, there is no sewage, no electricity and that is certainly not a "legal" situation.
Passing by other news that is important, at least to me but has nothing to do with this situation, we exchange words after that eye contact. He tells me in his light and airy manner about the signs. Yes, indeed. Nothing about cats. 350 man is right there, I will have to review the terms of the thing, but there I remember the judge saying there would be X amount of space between us on the Harrassment order. I doubt 20 feet is in that equation, especially considering I was talking to Randy - my next door neighbor - from my property.
Randy started talking about the lady from the city giving him all kinds of trouble: you can't have ANYTHING on that property. Yup, I know that, though I didn't file the complaint, I flatly told him. I further told him, with 350 man standing there - though he turned away with a cat in his arms, he isn't going to push this that far in violating that order - again - that I did not file that complaint but I freely admitted to filing the complaints on the other properties. I have nothing to hide, they turned me in, letting me know that they were doing such. I also stated that it was probably done anonymously - yup, he said, it was. Well, I stated a third time: I did NOT turn it in. I was tempted to tell him his 350 man buddy probably did it - it wouldn't surprise me - but I refrained.
We haven't even gotten into the discussion I want to get into with Randy - he has brought his cats and the FIRST thing they will do is come to MY property and start shitting and pissing everywhere.
Well, I have things to get done, this one is over.
ben
Monday 10/31/2011
I'm not a big fan of Halloween - in fact I am not a fan of it at all, so I take a pass on this "holiday" considering it's origins and the fact that it holds nothing for me at all besides to make a nation full of obese kids - even that much more obese by handing out gobs of candy and calorie laden junk.
More fun may be the church festival next weekend, though they are going to be handing out the calorie/sugar laden junk as well.
Whatever the case, I wrote 3 entries yesterday an am not particularly feeling like getting too much into depth of anything this morning.
So, I am off to the races. Who knows what fun and excitement this week may hold!
G'day.
ben
More fun may be the church festival next weekend, though they are going to be handing out the calorie/sugar laden junk as well.
Whatever the case, I wrote 3 entries yesterday an am not particularly feeling like getting too much into depth of anything this morning.
So, I am off to the races. Who knows what fun and excitement this week may hold!
G'day.
ben
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