Happy New Year, everyone!
I managed to stay up until around 1:15am last night.
An interested night, to say the least. Mary decided that she wanted to drag some firewood over to a party that was going on out in front of a house a few blocks away. She asked if I wanted to come with her. No. She basically had a mini-cow so I relented - but I've been there and done that, most likely everyone would be drunk and acting - drunk.
I was not off, in the slightest little bit, with that assessment, either. My sister-in-law had called - I find out she lives like 5 blocks away from Mary - we all headed to this party. I was having a few beers, yes, but I was determined that I was not going to go overboard with anything. We got there and I was offered shots of fine Vodka and numerous beers. I had a couple, but I then quit. There was a fire pit out front in the driveway and Mary shoved a log into it.
Then some woman - drunk and belligerent - started trouble. It was a no burn day in Maricopa county - they issue those when the pollution gets too high and they don't want people using their fireplaces - the woman started barking at Mary about how much smoke the wood she put on there was making. The rant went on and on and finally Mary dished some pork back to her, which made this woman really mad. Turns out she doesn't even live there. There was a simple solution to this problem, btw, something I learned when I was a kid.
Simply throw more kindling on the fire, get the fire really hot and get the wood burning well and the excessive smoke will dissipate. I wasn't getting into this argument, I wanted nothing to do with it, I didn't even want to go in the first place. Well, I was chatting with perfect strangers but finally had had enough. Let's go, Mary, now, thank you. We left and went to Susan's house - my sister-in-law and spent 45 minutes over there. Then back to Mary's house to blow off some fireworks with the kids, ring in the new year and that was the end of that. I crashed there for the night - no hangover for me but going to bed that late throws my internal clock system off so I'm tired today. I knew I would be. Mary wanted me to come back today and tomorrow - no thanks. I have stuff to do and I haven't seen anyone in the New Year at my house, including my son.
My ponds need some attention - not too much but still. I want to get up on that trailer and finish the other project I started up there now that the AC project is done and that thing is up and running. I don't know that I will do that today, probably tomorrow. Basic house cleaning duties, etc etc etc. Not to mention Coco was starting to get rather annoying over there - she wanted to go home this morning and that was that. She is all kinds of crashed out right now.
So, I am sorta kicking back right now, trying to get the motivation up to get some things done and I am sure I will at least get my bathroom and bedroom cleaned today and the pond pumps unclogged, but if I get nothing done other than that? I'm good with it.
We are officially in the year when the earth is going to end and life is we know it is going to disappear. At least that's what those that believe the Mayan calendar hubba bubba believe. I don't happen to believe that - at all. It is also allegedly the year that another recession or even depression is going to hit. I have no "belief" systems on those kinds of things, if it happens it happens. Nothing I can do about it. Certainly, it seems to me, our society is changing to reflect the financial circus that is going on all around us in terms of the way people are living.
Perhaps, in some sense, it isn't such a bad thing. Such as the news that a lot of people have shut off cable/satellite tv because they can't afford it. Cool, find something else to do like we did in the "old" days where we watched a bit of TV here and there, but certainly our lives didn't revolve around it. Perhaps the roots of where we came from might take hold. I have no faith in the politicians to do anything but spend more money. I don't really like any of the candidates that are likely to win the GOP nomination, I think they are all full of it.
Eventually, some degree of civil unrest will undoubtedly have to occur to change the course of America back to some semblance of what it once was. I have at least some degree of certainty that that is what the Occupy this and that people are up to. I only know that I have armed myself and if some civil chaos starts, my home is my castle and that's all I am going to protect - the castle and the people that live in it. I hope that doesn't happy, really. But, people are getting tired of this economic condition, especially the have-nots.
I am not going to make any New Year's resolutions this year. I have already resolved to do several things in my life which started last year and I am continuing on with. So, I guess I could say I resolve to continue on with what I had resolved to do and started to do some time ago. Church being the biggest one - getting back into the flow of it and getting past internal issues of the heart and mind. The trailer is another one, though not a huge priority, the thing is well underway with it being paid off, new wallpaper, AC fixed and in position to get more done on it. Other things that are my own, personal business that I won't go into on an internet site that is readable by anyone in the world.
So, I have no idea what 2012 is going to bring. But, good, bad or ugly, God is in control and my faith is in Him. There IS no-one else to turn to. That's the end of the story, for me anyway.
So, I am going to enjoy today, the first day of the year. It is a beautiful, gorgeous day outside, at least in Phoenix, AZ, the weather is perfect and though I am a bit tired, I am going to go out for a while and enjoy it. Probably come back in and take an hour's nap and then see what I might do with the rest of the day.
Happy New Year, again.
ben
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Saturday 12/331/2011 New Year's Eve Day
I have sat here basically lazing off all morning long. No desire to do anything since I am going to spend the entire day and night over at my friend's house - though that may change, not sure. I kinda like coming home to my bed at night.
Mary wants me to come over at 2:00. We were talking last night and I was talking about my son's and I's intended fishing trip this coming year - probably in June I am guessing will be a good time. She immediately asked if she could go with us. This girl is more of a Tomboy than anything, she always has been. If a guy can do it, she can too.
She has a friend who is totally into fishing and she wants us to go over there and visit with him this afternoon. I was like, gee, there is no rush, doesn't have to happen right away, but that's the way she is. The guy is an apparently walking computer brain when it comes to fishing, tackle, lures etc etc etc. I would like to get a bit better handle on this deep sea fishing scenario before I go over to San Diego again. It would be cool to get to know what kinds of lures work with what fish and also to learn how to properly tie the correct knot on the lure itself. I don't need to go out buying expensive rods and reels, that stuff can be rented since we don't do it that often.
Anyway, I said sure she can come, bring her kids, too. She said one would like to, the other would not. Well, whatever makes them happy, I can't pay any of their way anyway so she is going to have to deal with that on her own. I offered to pay the gas there and back; hotel and food, but not the boat fee and the tackle rental fees - she in turn offered her Suburban to take down there instead of my car. I have a large car, yes, but it doesn't have near as much room as a Suburban!
Ummm, anyway. Time to get ready to leave. Taking my laptop and mobile broadband with me. I think they have wifi over there, but doesn't matter when I can bring it with me, lol.
Later.
ben
Mary wants me to come over at 2:00. We were talking last night and I was talking about my son's and I's intended fishing trip this coming year - probably in June I am guessing will be a good time. She immediately asked if she could go with us. This girl is more of a Tomboy than anything, she always has been. If a guy can do it, she can too.
She has a friend who is totally into fishing and she wants us to go over there and visit with him this afternoon. I was like, gee, there is no rush, doesn't have to happen right away, but that's the way she is. The guy is an apparently walking computer brain when it comes to fishing, tackle, lures etc etc etc. I would like to get a bit better handle on this deep sea fishing scenario before I go over to San Diego again. It would be cool to get to know what kinds of lures work with what fish and also to learn how to properly tie the correct knot on the lure itself. I don't need to go out buying expensive rods and reels, that stuff can be rented since we don't do it that often.
Anyway, I said sure she can come, bring her kids, too. She said one would like to, the other would not. Well, whatever makes them happy, I can't pay any of their way anyway so she is going to have to deal with that on her own. I offered to pay the gas there and back; hotel and food, but not the boat fee and the tackle rental fees - she in turn offered her Suburban to take down there instead of my car. I have a large car, yes, but it doesn't have near as much room as a Suburban!
Ummm, anyway. Time to get ready to leave. Taking my laptop and mobile broadband with me. I think they have wifi over there, but doesn't matter when I can bring it with me, lol.
Later.
ben
Friday, December 30, 2011
Friday 12/30/2011 The 350 Man/Modelo Beer
350 man is starting trouble again. It's in his nature to do so, it's no surprise to me, not to mention he does absolutely nothing all day long, every day: what a miserable existence.
Regardless, this time it is not with me. If he even speaks one word to me, I will be calling the police and having his @$$ hauled off to jail. No, now it's Randy - who is my next door neighbor - and Randy is next door neighbors with 350 man. Randy is attempting to get his property ready to build a house. He had the property surveyed and found out 350 man is building his fence 2 feet into Randy's property.
I didn't hear it, WWW III that is, but Mark was talking with Randy and there apparently was a word war - which definitely does not surprise me - and then there was threats and now Randy also wants to get an Injunction Against Harassment against 350 man. Supposedly, 350 man's mother - who is paying for 350 man's complete, pathetic existence - is going to offer Randy $500 for the property and let it go at that.
If it were me? NO WAY. Not after all the trouble that dude started with me. I would take him to court and force him to tear down that fence that is only half built anyway and move it back to the property lines. Who wants to lose 2 feet times about 100 feet of property? Even if I the situation wasn't bad with him, I STILL would want my property back. So, apparently, Randy is also considering taking him to court to force 350 man to move that fence back 2 feet.
Lol. This is what this neighborhood is all about. I have ignored the whole lot of them ever since the court appearance for the Injunction. I want absolutely nothing to do with any of them. They can't fight with me anymore, so now they are "in-fighting" with themselves. It's a vicious circle that has gone the rounds many times over. 350 man apparently was complaining about my trailers. Yeah, well there is going to be a huge advantage to having those trailers parked where they are coming very soon: all that construction noise that is going to start on Randy's property? Those trailers are going to help tone it down a bit.
Regardless, the City of Phoenix informed me that those trailers are "perfectly acceptable", only that you can't have people living in them.
If it weren't such a time-consuming and possibly expensive proposition, I would go downtown and file for a variance on my property to allow such. In reality, Mark and Lynnette would probably move back into the trailer if they were allowed to. They liked living in that thing.
Anyway, that fact that those trailers irritated 350 man are enough to make we want to just keep them there. His property is pathetic. A new house with NO landscaping and has been sitting like that for 2-1/2 years or more now. Just bare dirt. No shrubbery, no trees, no grass, no landscaping rock, nothing, just plain dirt. THERE is something he could do with his time and exhaust quite a lot of it: go buy some plants and start digging holes. It's a lot of work, but he has nothing to do anyway.
If I were to ask 350 man why his property looks like skid row, he would answer because he has a medical condition and he can't do work like that. No, but he can go around threatening people and getting into violent word wars and running all over the place sticking his nose into other people's business. Somehow, I doubt the sincerity of his claims that he made in court that he has a "condition". Yes, he does have a condition: Complete And Utter Stupidity Syndrome or CAUSS for short. Hmmm, I just made that up but it looks pretty good! Hey, CAUSS! Yeah, you! Over there in the 350 pound flesh dress.
Maybe I shouldn't make fun of him, but he started way too much s*** with me.
Well, there it is, the latest neighborhood fun and I had nothing to do with any of it. I'm sure he can't stand the fact that he cannot talk to me, look at me, make his stupid gestures at me, all the ridiculous things that he does. Oh, the 30-something meth head has said absolutely nothing to me since that court date as well. He walks by, but now he is keeping his stupid mouth shut as well.
So, kinda nice actually. Let them fight amongst themselves all they way.
As for me? I have sat here all morning doing almost nothing. I am about to go outside, however, and see about putting the AC unit back together with the parts I bought. I put that off for weeks now because of the Christmas party and all that I did to get ready for that affair. Now that that is over, I have no more excuses excepting.......I am on vacation!
Meanwhile, all the tenants were out here last night and we were whooping it up - party style - having a grand old time. That's over and they are all gone now, lol. Well, Mark is here. Mark is almost always here. He goes to the store but mostly, he goes outside and putters around doing small projects (which certainly doesn't bother me at all since those projects almost always help me/my property).
Caleb saw Anthony and those other kids walking down our street yesterday. Caleb was cool with all of them but Anthony didn't speak a word to him. The fact that Anthony is anywhere near my house? Not comfortable with that at all.
Whatever. Another individual that I not only don't see and don't miss but have all but completely deleted out of my memory banks. Thankless ingrates, the whole lot of them.
Short break. Went up to the store to get some stuff, including Comet cleanser that is on sale for $1 per large can. Came back and lo and behold, who was standing out in front of my house? Anthony's grandfather. We used to get along pretty well, but now? I had no idea. No, no problems. He was cool and congenial. We talked a few minutes. He is the one that moved in the next street over, which factually corrects that story that the whole family had moved in over there. Not a long conversation, but I am not going to start a war where one is not needed, we parted ways amiably enough.
I called the mortgage company today and asked about refinancing the house since they never answered the email I sent through their system to them. They didn't know and connected me to their bank - MidFirst. They didn't know, either, but would have someone call me back. Yeah, sure. That's what they say every time, notwithstanding the fact that you never get a return phone call. I am going to keep bugging them until they at least give me an answer.
The 20-something was talking to me about what kinds of beers I like last night. He is Mexican and loves all kinds of Mexican beers. I said I have tried Corona, which I like, but the Dos Equis I don't like. He asked if I had tried Modelo. No, I have seen it all over the place but never tried it. That was it. 10 minutes ago, I go into my refrigerator and find a 6-pack of bottled Modelo sitting in there. As I have been saying, all current tenants are very cool people. Some have a few habits I don't much care for but I can live with - we all do something in our lives that undoubtedly annoys someone else. He was telling me last night about his girl pickups - he's a very handsome young man and pretty much gets whatever he wants in that market, lol.
Finally, Lynnette went to Walmart and bought a new coat. I didn't know until last week, I think it was, that she doesn't OWN a coat and has been going out to the bus stop on some days early, in 40 degree weather, without one. I gave them a Walmart gift card for Christmas - that is about the only place they shop for anything so I figured it would help them a bit. She bought a coat and he bought new shoes. I had no idea his shoes were so worn out there were holes in the bottom of them. They don't tell me their problems, I guess they're just happy to have a place to live.
G'day.
ben
Regardless, this time it is not with me. If he even speaks one word to me, I will be calling the police and having his @$$ hauled off to jail. No, now it's Randy - who is my next door neighbor - and Randy is next door neighbors with 350 man. Randy is attempting to get his property ready to build a house. He had the property surveyed and found out 350 man is building his fence 2 feet into Randy's property.
I didn't hear it, WWW III that is, but Mark was talking with Randy and there apparently was a word war - which definitely does not surprise me - and then there was threats and now Randy also wants to get an Injunction Against Harassment against 350 man. Supposedly, 350 man's mother - who is paying for 350 man's complete, pathetic existence - is going to offer Randy $500 for the property and let it go at that.
If it were me? NO WAY. Not after all the trouble that dude started with me. I would take him to court and force him to tear down that fence that is only half built anyway and move it back to the property lines. Who wants to lose 2 feet times about 100 feet of property? Even if I the situation wasn't bad with him, I STILL would want my property back. So, apparently, Randy is also considering taking him to court to force 350 man to move that fence back 2 feet.
Lol. This is what this neighborhood is all about. I have ignored the whole lot of them ever since the court appearance for the Injunction. I want absolutely nothing to do with any of them. They can't fight with me anymore, so now they are "in-fighting" with themselves. It's a vicious circle that has gone the rounds many times over. 350 man apparently was complaining about my trailers. Yeah, well there is going to be a huge advantage to having those trailers parked where they are coming very soon: all that construction noise that is going to start on Randy's property? Those trailers are going to help tone it down a bit.
Regardless, the City of Phoenix informed me that those trailers are "perfectly acceptable", only that you can't have people living in them.
If it weren't such a time-consuming and possibly expensive proposition, I would go downtown and file for a variance on my property to allow such. In reality, Mark and Lynnette would probably move back into the trailer if they were allowed to. They liked living in that thing.
Anyway, that fact that those trailers irritated 350 man are enough to make we want to just keep them there. His property is pathetic. A new house with NO landscaping and has been sitting like that for 2-1/2 years or more now. Just bare dirt. No shrubbery, no trees, no grass, no landscaping rock, nothing, just plain dirt. THERE is something he could do with his time and exhaust quite a lot of it: go buy some plants and start digging holes. It's a lot of work, but he has nothing to do anyway.
If I were to ask 350 man why his property looks like skid row, he would answer because he has a medical condition and he can't do work like that. No, but he can go around threatening people and getting into violent word wars and running all over the place sticking his nose into other people's business. Somehow, I doubt the sincerity of his claims that he made in court that he has a "condition". Yes, he does have a condition: Complete And Utter Stupidity Syndrome or CAUSS for short. Hmmm, I just made that up but it looks pretty good! Hey, CAUSS! Yeah, you! Over there in the 350 pound flesh dress.
Maybe I shouldn't make fun of him, but he started way too much s*** with me.
Well, there it is, the latest neighborhood fun and I had nothing to do with any of it. I'm sure he can't stand the fact that he cannot talk to me, look at me, make his stupid gestures at me, all the ridiculous things that he does. Oh, the 30-something meth head has said absolutely nothing to me since that court date as well. He walks by, but now he is keeping his stupid mouth shut as well.
So, kinda nice actually. Let them fight amongst themselves all they way.
As for me? I have sat here all morning doing almost nothing. I am about to go outside, however, and see about putting the AC unit back together with the parts I bought. I put that off for weeks now because of the Christmas party and all that I did to get ready for that affair. Now that that is over, I have no more excuses excepting.......I am on vacation!
Meanwhile, all the tenants were out here last night and we were whooping it up - party style - having a grand old time. That's over and they are all gone now, lol. Well, Mark is here. Mark is almost always here. He goes to the store but mostly, he goes outside and putters around doing small projects (which certainly doesn't bother me at all since those projects almost always help me/my property).
Caleb saw Anthony and those other kids walking down our street yesterday. Caleb was cool with all of them but Anthony didn't speak a word to him. The fact that Anthony is anywhere near my house? Not comfortable with that at all.
Whatever. Another individual that I not only don't see and don't miss but have all but completely deleted out of my memory banks. Thankless ingrates, the whole lot of them.
Short break. Went up to the store to get some stuff, including Comet cleanser that is on sale for $1 per large can. Came back and lo and behold, who was standing out in front of my house? Anthony's grandfather. We used to get along pretty well, but now? I had no idea. No, no problems. He was cool and congenial. We talked a few minutes. He is the one that moved in the next street over, which factually corrects that story that the whole family had moved in over there. Not a long conversation, but I am not going to start a war where one is not needed, we parted ways amiably enough.
I called the mortgage company today and asked about refinancing the house since they never answered the email I sent through their system to them. They didn't know and connected me to their bank - MidFirst. They didn't know, either, but would have someone call me back. Yeah, sure. That's what they say every time, notwithstanding the fact that you never get a return phone call. I am going to keep bugging them until they at least give me an answer.
The 20-something was talking to me about what kinds of beers I like last night. He is Mexican and loves all kinds of Mexican beers. I said I have tried Corona, which I like, but the Dos Equis I don't like. He asked if I had tried Modelo. No, I have seen it all over the place but never tried it. That was it. 10 minutes ago, I go into my refrigerator and find a 6-pack of bottled Modelo sitting in there. As I have been saying, all current tenants are very cool people. Some have a few habits I don't much care for but I can live with - we all do something in our lives that undoubtedly annoys someone else. He was telling me last night about his girl pickups - he's a very handsome young man and pretty much gets whatever he wants in that market, lol.
Finally, Lynnette went to Walmart and bought a new coat. I didn't know until last week, I think it was, that she doesn't OWN a coat and has been going out to the bus stop on some days early, in 40 degree weather, without one. I gave them a Walmart gift card for Christmas - that is about the only place they shop for anything so I figured it would help them a bit. She bought a coat and he bought new shoes. I had no idea his shoes were so worn out there were holes in the bottom of them. They don't tell me their problems, I guess they're just happy to have a place to live.
G'day.
ben
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Thursday 12/29/2011
I'll give Mary credit: she really DID clean up her house! The first time I went, it was - quite cluttered. She also made quite the delicious, roasted chicken meal last night. The only drawback about going over there, really, is that it is 25 miles from my house, one way. I don't really like driving that much in-town, but I have come to the conclusion that if I am going to start going up to the mountains with some frequency during the summer, I might as well expect the miles to rack up on my car.
My car is a 2004 model and it has all of 62,000 miles on it, tangible proof of my dislike for driving. I got the car with 28,000 on it.
I'm also contemplating using tax return money to put a ball hitch on the car and find a cheap trailer on Craigslist to haul things back and forth to the mountains with it. Well, not just that: stuff for the house either bringing to or getting rid of.
Whatever the case, today is allegedly the last day of work for me this week. They have apparently decided to just shut down our branch on the last day of the week if there is a holiday on the weekend. But, I am apparently forced to use vacation time to make up for it. Oh well. I like the idea of a 4 day weekend so I am not going to complain. I am going to ask if I can use personal hours for it since I have enough of those left to cover it and they don't carry over into the next year.
Well, gotta leave. Plenty to do in the truck routing system and plenty to do around the shop. Inventory coming up 3rd or 4th week of January and we are far from ready for it. In fact, my manager - who is currently vacationing in Chicago - wrote me an email before he left and decided that we are probably going to have to spend a few weekends getting it ready. However, I heard yesterday that they might send someone over to help us get the yard in shape. I don't know, but I never have enough time to get out there and do much of anything. I am too busy pulling orders, loading the truck and taking out the deliveries. That's what happens when you are trying to run a store with only 2 people.
Not that I'm complaining about that, either, but when we get behind, we need help or a lot more hours.
Later.
ben
My car is a 2004 model and it has all of 62,000 miles on it, tangible proof of my dislike for driving. I got the car with 28,000 on it.
I'm also contemplating using tax return money to put a ball hitch on the car and find a cheap trailer on Craigslist to haul things back and forth to the mountains with it. Well, not just that: stuff for the house either bringing to or getting rid of.
Whatever the case, today is allegedly the last day of work for me this week. They have apparently decided to just shut down our branch on the last day of the week if there is a holiday on the weekend. But, I am apparently forced to use vacation time to make up for it. Oh well. I like the idea of a 4 day weekend so I am not going to complain. I am going to ask if I can use personal hours for it since I have enough of those left to cover it and they don't carry over into the next year.
Well, gotta leave. Plenty to do in the truck routing system and plenty to do around the shop. Inventory coming up 3rd or 4th week of January and we are far from ready for it. In fact, my manager - who is currently vacationing in Chicago - wrote me an email before he left and decided that we are probably going to have to spend a few weekends getting it ready. However, I heard yesterday that they might send someone over to help us get the yard in shape. I don't know, but I never have enough time to get out there and do much of anything. I am too busy pulling orders, loading the truck and taking out the deliveries. That's what happens when you are trying to run a store with only 2 people.
Not that I'm complaining about that, either, but when we get behind, we need help or a lot more hours.
Later.
ben
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Wednesday 12/28/2011
This'll be a quick one, it's 20 minutes past my bedtime!
Didn't have time to write this morning, went to work, got off, came home took a nap and went out to my friend's house. She lives 25 miles away, gag. She made a great dinner, though and her kids are a riot so it was fun.
That was my day today and yes, I am a bit tired!
Time to go to bed.
G'nite.
ben
Didn't have time to write this morning, went to work, got off, came home took a nap and went out to my friend's house. She lives 25 miles away, gag. She made a great dinner, though and her kids are a riot so it was fun.
That was my day today and yes, I am a bit tired!
Time to go to bed.
G'nite.
ben
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Tuesday 12/27/2011
I'm in a bit of a mood after calling Quest, well now called Century-Link - whatever name the company goes by, the customer service completely and totally sucks grapefruit sized golf-balls - and this time not listening to them at all.
I'm not going to listen to some "customer service respresentative" in the Philippine Islands attempting to dictate to me how things are going to go. I am quite disgusted with this company and I am ready to move on. I'm going to have to ask Cox internet if I can still use the router/modem that I have with their service. It's a Motorola 3347, it's provided by Quest and I - have doubts it will work with Cox, with is the major drawback to switching and having to buy a new router.
Well whatever. I did not sleep well last night and I was tired all day at work. I got home and took a 75 minute nap and felt better. I found out today that our branch is going to be closed on Friday - all well and good but I am - long interlude, a phone call distracted me from writing this entry. I am going to bed early, I thought, instead, normal time.
It was the friend from the past. Now I have been invited to dinner tomorrow night. Lol. Yes, I am going, but it was with the caveat that I can't stay late, sorry, gotta get up early for work.
Well, you can read into that whatever you wish.
G'nite.
ben
I'm not going to listen to some "customer service respresentative" in the Philippine Islands attempting to dictate to me how things are going to go. I am quite disgusted with this company and I am ready to move on. I'm going to have to ask Cox internet if I can still use the router/modem that I have with their service. It's a Motorola 3347, it's provided by Quest and I - have doubts it will work with Cox, with is the major drawback to switching and having to buy a new router.
Well whatever. I did not sleep well last night and I was tired all day at work. I got home and took a 75 minute nap and felt better. I found out today that our branch is going to be closed on Friday - all well and good but I am - long interlude, a phone call distracted me from writing this entry. I am going to bed early, I thought, instead, normal time.
It was the friend from the past. Now I have been invited to dinner tomorrow night. Lol. Yes, I am going, but it was with the caveat that I can't stay late, sorry, gotta get up early for work.
Well, you can read into that whatever you wish.
G'nite.
ben
Monday, December 26, 2011
Monday 12/26/2011
So, yesterday, my friend from the past calls. She had called earlier in the week and asked if I would come over and show her how to use a new chainsaw she had purchased. I decided to go over, why not - though I knew what was in store: cutting up logs for firewood. I got over there and found out the husband - they are divorced - was there for Christmas to visit with the kids.
I mean , really? I was a bit reluctant at the point to stick around, who knows what might be going through a man's mind of his former wife with another dude showing up. Not that I was there to do anything like that. Well, he was amiable enough so I just let it ride. Sat around for awhile looking at all the old photos she - Mary that is - had, some from days I had totally forgotten about. Kids were playing Black Ops with the dad, though the boy was making all kinds of jokes and hilarity.
Well, the day wasn't getting any younger, so I grabbed the chainsaw and headed out back. Mary is on a very tight budget, she got the wood for free from somewhere and is doing whatever she can to keep her expenses down. In this case, it's having a fire going 24 hours a day in her house to keep it warm enough that she doesn't have to turn on the electric heat.
Well, I got that thing fired up and they came out - Mary forcing the teenager to come out even though he didn't want to have anything to do with it - I cut the logs and they started splitting them using a giant steel wedge with a sledge hammer. Lo and behold, about half way through this, an old friend calls Mary. He and Mary were a couple in our teen years, that guy used to be one of my best friends in that day and era.
Mary talks to him for a few minutes, John that is, and then hands the phone to me, not telling him who it is that he would be talking to. I started out the conversation such as it would be in old times. He had no clue at first. My voice is deeper and raspier than it was back then - don't ask cause' I don't know why, it just is - so he didn't recognize my voice. But, Mary threw in "it's WW", one of my old CB handles and he instantly picked up on it. We talked for about half and hour, but I ended the conversation because we weren't done with the wood and apparently no-one else wanted to use the chainsaw. Small saw, kept over-heating on the denser, heavier wood.
Got done with that and went inside. Had some pie, got into all kinds of conversations with everyone there about nothing in general, just having some fun and then finally left. I was invited back next weekend to watch a movie with them. So, a little Christmas Day fun.
No work today and the end of 6 days off, 4 of which were mostly work, work, work. Not that I mind, but I AM glad that there is another 3 day weekend coming up. We will have Monday off for New Year's celebration. I agreed to go back next weekend, btw, it was fun to spend some time with a family and not with just dogs and tenants all the time, lol.
I am doing much of nothing today. I already went out and hit up the after-Christmas stuff. I wanted a particular plant that always comes out at Christmas in the stores and is sold for $39.99 - a price I refuse to pay for a plant - and yes, they had them marked down to $9.99. I am not really going to add more plants to the property at this point excepting if I see something that I really want at a great price. I have enough plants going and they take enough water in the summertime. The City of Phoenix seems to think that the water supply to it's residents is a yearly money grab, raising the rate 5% 2 years in a row, I believe and I really want OUT of this city unless the new mayor is going to do something about it.
I also got another roast - I couldn't resist. A much smaller one. 2 months down the road, maybe 3 - whenever really - get it out of the freezer and cook it.
Done with spending money on Christmas and presents. Went a bit overboard, unfortunately. If I don't spend anything but normal bills, I will be able to bring it back up. I still have to spend some money on that trailer, but it doesn't have to happen right now. I am content with what I have and anyway, I have 3 tenants owing/paying in a week or so. Well, longer in the case of the "homeless" cause she doesn't get her first paycheck until after the first week of January.
Of course, tax return time is coming. I have 4 more days of truck driving to have made it through this entire year without getting any warnings. If I make it, I get the safe driver award which is a full week's paycheck. Meaning I am going to go out of my way to make sure I don't get caught up in any of the "hotspots" ADOT uses to set up portable scales and doing truck inspections. I am not afraid of the weight, it's the inspections that get me going. I just had a mechanic come and fix everything that truck needs fixing with, so if I do get pulled over, I would at least like to hope that there would be no violations found on the truck.
That's it. For now anyway. Mary just messaged me through Facebook, apparently she really wants me to come back over on Saturday. She also wants me to stay up with her and her kids for the ringing in of the New Year. I'm not sure where this is going, but I am not really looking at this point in time, if you know what I mean. I go back and forth with that. Sometimes I am searching, but then I go back to just not wanting to even get involved with anyone. That has to do with the divorce - the amount of hell I went through just never seems to dissipate in the intensity of just how bad it was. Like it happened yesterday.
Well, offa here. Go outside and enjoy some fresh air, sit next to the ponds and listen to the waterfalls, watch the fish, pet my doggies and - enjoy life, really : )
G'day. Hope you all had a great Christmas.
ben
I mean , really? I was a bit reluctant at the point to stick around, who knows what might be going through a man's mind of his former wife with another dude showing up. Not that I was there to do anything like that. Well, he was amiable enough so I just let it ride. Sat around for awhile looking at all the old photos she - Mary that is - had, some from days I had totally forgotten about. Kids were playing Black Ops with the dad, though the boy was making all kinds of jokes and hilarity.
Well, the day wasn't getting any younger, so I grabbed the chainsaw and headed out back. Mary is on a very tight budget, she got the wood for free from somewhere and is doing whatever she can to keep her expenses down. In this case, it's having a fire going 24 hours a day in her house to keep it warm enough that she doesn't have to turn on the electric heat.
Well, I got that thing fired up and they came out - Mary forcing the teenager to come out even though he didn't want to have anything to do with it - I cut the logs and they started splitting them using a giant steel wedge with a sledge hammer. Lo and behold, about half way through this, an old friend calls Mary. He and Mary were a couple in our teen years, that guy used to be one of my best friends in that day and era.
Mary talks to him for a few minutes, John that is, and then hands the phone to me, not telling him who it is that he would be talking to. I started out the conversation such as it would be in old times. He had no clue at first. My voice is deeper and raspier than it was back then - don't ask cause' I don't know why, it just is - so he didn't recognize my voice. But, Mary threw in "it's WW", one of my old CB handles and he instantly picked up on it. We talked for about half and hour, but I ended the conversation because we weren't done with the wood and apparently no-one else wanted to use the chainsaw. Small saw, kept over-heating on the denser, heavier wood.
Got done with that and went inside. Had some pie, got into all kinds of conversations with everyone there about nothing in general, just having some fun and then finally left. I was invited back next weekend to watch a movie with them. So, a little Christmas Day fun.
No work today and the end of 6 days off, 4 of which were mostly work, work, work. Not that I mind, but I AM glad that there is another 3 day weekend coming up. We will have Monday off for New Year's celebration. I agreed to go back next weekend, btw, it was fun to spend some time with a family and not with just dogs and tenants all the time, lol.
I am doing much of nothing today. I already went out and hit up the after-Christmas stuff. I wanted a particular plant that always comes out at Christmas in the stores and is sold for $39.99 - a price I refuse to pay for a plant - and yes, they had them marked down to $9.99. I am not really going to add more plants to the property at this point excepting if I see something that I really want at a great price. I have enough plants going and they take enough water in the summertime. The City of Phoenix seems to think that the water supply to it's residents is a yearly money grab, raising the rate 5% 2 years in a row, I believe and I really want OUT of this city unless the new mayor is going to do something about it.
I also got another roast - I couldn't resist. A much smaller one. 2 months down the road, maybe 3 - whenever really - get it out of the freezer and cook it.
Done with spending money on Christmas and presents. Went a bit overboard, unfortunately. If I don't spend anything but normal bills, I will be able to bring it back up. I still have to spend some money on that trailer, but it doesn't have to happen right now. I am content with what I have and anyway, I have 3 tenants owing/paying in a week or so. Well, longer in the case of the "homeless" cause she doesn't get her first paycheck until after the first week of January.
Of course, tax return time is coming. I have 4 more days of truck driving to have made it through this entire year without getting any warnings. If I make it, I get the safe driver award which is a full week's paycheck. Meaning I am going to go out of my way to make sure I don't get caught up in any of the "hotspots" ADOT uses to set up portable scales and doing truck inspections. I am not afraid of the weight, it's the inspections that get me going. I just had a mechanic come and fix everything that truck needs fixing with, so if I do get pulled over, I would at least like to hope that there would be no violations found on the truck.
That's it. For now anyway. Mary just messaged me through Facebook, apparently she really wants me to come back over on Saturday. She also wants me to stay up with her and her kids for the ringing in of the New Year. I'm not sure where this is going, but I am not really looking at this point in time, if you know what I mean. I go back and forth with that. Sometimes I am searching, but then I go back to just not wanting to even get involved with anyone. That has to do with the divorce - the amount of hell I went through just never seems to dissipate in the intensity of just how bad it was. Like it happened yesterday.
Well, offa here. Go outside and enjoy some fresh air, sit next to the ponds and listen to the waterfalls, watch the fish, pet my doggies and - enjoy life, really : )
G'day. Hope you all had a great Christmas.
ben
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Merry Christmas! Sunday 12/25/2011
Merry Christmas to everyone, everywhere, friends and strangers alike!
Whatta crazy couple of weeks it's been leading up to yesterday's party.
All of that work - I can now put some of that off for a while and get back
to working on that trailer. I put the money aside in a savings account to get
it moved up north whenever I can get it finished.
It was just nice to see that mother likes the trailer and that it has her stamp of approval.
I have enough food in my refrigerator to last for days. In fact, several more trays of
food appeared in my fridge since I went to bed last night - I am guessing Caleb
must have brought it home from work. Yes, he had to work yesterday but at
least he has Christmas Day off. A new page in his life will be opening up with the
start of school next month. He will be a very busy young man with all that he intends
on doing in going to school, going to the gym and working. I'm proud of my son, he
has a good work ethic though I guess he doesn't much care for the job he is currently
working.
All well and fine, I told him, but make sure you find another job first before you go quitting that
one. I covered car insurance for him last month, but I don't want to have to do that again. I
want him to pay for his own car insurance and that's that. I have enough expenses to have to cover
his as well. He has a free place to live. I may change that as well. If his work continues to give
him the hours he is getting, then I feel it fair at his age to pay at least a small amount of rent. I heard a bit more chatter yesterday with my family and Caleb talking about his trip to Florida. The reason? I had guessed it before they left on that trip: her family attempting to talk her into moving back. That's all well and fine, too, but don't be attempting to pressure my son into moving with her. Let him make his own decision without pressure from either side.
As for me and today? I am content to do nothing. I was talking to an old friend yesterday who lives not far away, she was talking about me coming over there to spend the day with her family. Dunno. I'm pretty
worn out at this point. I would rather just watch some Christmas movies, go hang out at my fish ponds and sit around doing a lot of nothing for a couple of days.
Oh! Bashas' still has Standing Rib Roast on sale! I started to regret not buying another, smaller one and have it freezer wrapped, put in the freezer and save it for some time in the future. You just can't go out and buy Standing Rib Roast at $3.75 every day of the week. In fact, most stores don't carry that cut at all excepting this time of year. I gotta say, the electronic thermometer? I should have bought one a long time ago. You can cook your large roasts to perfection with one of those things. You know the exact, internal temperature of it. You can cook it rare, medium rare, medium -- whatever you like. No guessing games. I cooked my roast to 142 degrees and it came out perfect. Medium rare, I should say. I like my meat rare, actually, but most people don't like meat as rare as I like it so I cooked it so that the edges of the meat were brown to about an inch in and then varying shades of pink and red in the middle.
I'm making myself hungry and I just happen to have 2, very large platters of that meat left : ) With all the fixins' : )
Time to go reheat dinner!
Merry Christmas!
ben
Whatta crazy couple of weeks it's been leading up to yesterday's party.
All of that work - I can now put some of that off for a while and get back
to working on that trailer. I put the money aside in a savings account to get
it moved up north whenever I can get it finished.
It was just nice to see that mother likes the trailer and that it has her stamp of approval.
I have enough food in my refrigerator to last for days. In fact, several more trays of
food appeared in my fridge since I went to bed last night - I am guessing Caleb
must have brought it home from work. Yes, he had to work yesterday but at
least he has Christmas Day off. A new page in his life will be opening up with the
start of school next month. He will be a very busy young man with all that he intends
on doing in going to school, going to the gym and working. I'm proud of my son, he
has a good work ethic though I guess he doesn't much care for the job he is currently
working.
All well and fine, I told him, but make sure you find another job first before you go quitting that
one. I covered car insurance for him last month, but I don't want to have to do that again. I
want him to pay for his own car insurance and that's that. I have enough expenses to have to cover
his as well. He has a free place to live. I may change that as well. If his work continues to give
him the hours he is getting, then I feel it fair at his age to pay at least a small amount of rent. I heard a bit more chatter yesterday with my family and Caleb talking about his trip to Florida. The reason? I had guessed it before they left on that trip: her family attempting to talk her into moving back. That's all well and fine, too, but don't be attempting to pressure my son into moving with her. Let him make his own decision without pressure from either side.
As for me and today? I am content to do nothing. I was talking to an old friend yesterday who lives not far away, she was talking about me coming over there to spend the day with her family. Dunno. I'm pretty
worn out at this point. I would rather just watch some Christmas movies, go hang out at my fish ponds and sit around doing a lot of nothing for a couple of days.
Oh! Bashas' still has Standing Rib Roast on sale! I started to regret not buying another, smaller one and have it freezer wrapped, put in the freezer and save it for some time in the future. You just can't go out and buy Standing Rib Roast at $3.75 every day of the week. In fact, most stores don't carry that cut at all excepting this time of year. I gotta say, the electronic thermometer? I should have bought one a long time ago. You can cook your large roasts to perfection with one of those things. You know the exact, internal temperature of it. You can cook it rare, medium rare, medium -- whatever you like. No guessing games. I cooked my roast to 142 degrees and it came out perfect. Medium rare, I should say. I like my meat rare, actually, but most people don't like meat as rare as I like it so I cooked it so that the edges of the meat were brown to about an inch in and then varying shades of pink and red in the middle.
I'm making myself hungry and I just happen to have 2, very large platters of that meat left : ) With all the fixins' : )
Time to go reheat dinner!
Merry Christmas!
ben
Saturday, December 24, 2011
It Is Over
..........but it was fun. More importantly, I consider it a success. I'm talking about the family Christmas party, at my house, today and I just sat down maybe half an hour ago after cranking in the kitchen most of the day.
I won't go into all of it, at least now, just because I am exhausted. The dogs are not happy with me either - I stuck them out on the east/pond side of the house and made them stay there all day. There were far too many people here to have giant dogs attempting to wander around, getting in everyone's facing and being an annoyance.
In fact, the whole thing started crazy. Just before guests were to arrive, Prince's infection opened right up. Blood/puss everywhere. That was the reason I put them all over there - the blood was all over the kitchen floor, the cement outside, everywhere. Of all times for that thing to open up...........well, I visited them several times today, but I made them stay over there much to Coco's chagrin. I made it up to them, though. Once everyone left, they were given a feast of Prime Rib fat, juices and even some meat. They stood there and ate and ate and ate until it was ALL gone. So much so, they are all crashed out right now, lol.
Prince's companions obviously spent some time licking out the wound and it is very clean and also no more ooze coming out of it, at least for now.
Mom loves my trailer. The one that is going up to her property. I didn't have time to go out there and visit with her when she went into it, so when she came in, she says: I am guessing that the trailer you want to put up on my property is the on in the back, yes? Yes, definitely. She thought the carpet was good enough and didn't really need replacing. I suppose I could get it professionally cleaned and see what happens, but I would rather replace it to be honest.
Who knows, that entire project was put off with this family Christmas party and now, I can put off all the other stuff and get back to work on the trailer.
Anyway, the best thing is that everyone behaved themselves. No political BS/bantering, no mouthiness, just enjoyed each other's company, ate fine food and exchanged Christmas gifts. I scored $75 worth of Home Depot gift cards, yes! Haven't even thought what I am going to do with it yet. My middle brother gave me a bag full of stuff, including $60 cash, lol. I don't mind cash, thank you. Mom gave me the knife set from Germany - very high quality cutlery and very expensive - and several other smaller gifts. I just got her the weather station she wanted.
My oldest brother showed me a 4-wheeler magazing -with his toy featured in it. Wow! Petersen's 4Wheel & Off-Road magazine. His Toyota thing and his mug are on a huge, almost page width and length pic. He then showed me another toy he apparently just got done building. I shook his hand when they were leaving and congratulated him.
This is the second time I have done Christmas and served a Prime Rib roast and a spiral ham. I was amazed at how much meat was consumed, but being a 15 pound roast, the Prime Rib leftovers were quite sufficient to send home with everyone. But the ham? Almost totally consumed. The glaze I made was a simple honey, concentrated orange juice and brown sugar mix. Delicious. My oldest brother's wife - well she wanted that ham bone last time so I offered it to her again. Makes a nice soup, I guess. She said no, whispering that she didn't want to take something my mom would want.
Well, I had already heard from mom. I was going to give the Prime Ribs - rib bones - to the dogs as my Christmas present to them. Not that dogs know what Christmas is, but who cares. She went into this detailed explanation of how I could put those ribs in a slow cooker, put whatever I have at hand in with it - and that was rather detailed as well - cook and have some delicious soup. I listened and said great! She's totally into that stuff - I love soup but I know how much she loves making soups during the winter - our version of it, so a bit later I went up to her and offered her the ribs. I left a lot of meat on them, too. She said no, I could make the soup. I said no, you can have those ribs and make a nice, hot, delicious soup out of it.
It didn't take much pushing. She accepted and happily took them home with her. I just called her - make sure she got home okay. She didn't want to spend the night but dark fall occurred shortly after she left. All's well, thankfully. Linda - my brother's wife - took home the huge ham bone plus a lot of meat.
All in all - definitely worth the effort. I am rejuvenated on my desire to get the trailer done, ready to go. Not that I am starting on it tomorrow - tomorrow is Christmas and I might visit some folks, not sure about that yet, but I don't plan on working on anything. In fact, I may just spend a quiet day enjoying the season. I suppose I could take a hungry family some great food : )
That's it. It ain't all, just that that's it for me for today. I am content, full, happy and tired.
Merry Christmas.
ben
I won't go into all of it, at least now, just because I am exhausted. The dogs are not happy with me either - I stuck them out on the east/pond side of the house and made them stay there all day. There were far too many people here to have giant dogs attempting to wander around, getting in everyone's facing and being an annoyance.
In fact, the whole thing started crazy. Just before guests were to arrive, Prince's infection opened right up. Blood/puss everywhere. That was the reason I put them all over there - the blood was all over the kitchen floor, the cement outside, everywhere. Of all times for that thing to open up...........well, I visited them several times today, but I made them stay over there much to Coco's chagrin. I made it up to them, though. Once everyone left, they were given a feast of Prime Rib fat, juices and even some meat. They stood there and ate and ate and ate until it was ALL gone. So much so, they are all crashed out right now, lol.
Prince's companions obviously spent some time licking out the wound and it is very clean and also no more ooze coming out of it, at least for now.
Mom loves my trailer. The one that is going up to her property. I didn't have time to go out there and visit with her when she went into it, so when she came in, she says: I am guessing that the trailer you want to put up on my property is the on in the back, yes? Yes, definitely. She thought the carpet was good enough and didn't really need replacing. I suppose I could get it professionally cleaned and see what happens, but I would rather replace it to be honest.
Who knows, that entire project was put off with this family Christmas party and now, I can put off all the other stuff and get back to work on the trailer.
Anyway, the best thing is that everyone behaved themselves. No political BS/bantering, no mouthiness, just enjoyed each other's company, ate fine food and exchanged Christmas gifts. I scored $75 worth of Home Depot gift cards, yes! Haven't even thought what I am going to do with it yet. My middle brother gave me a bag full of stuff, including $60 cash, lol. I don't mind cash, thank you. Mom gave me the knife set from Germany - very high quality cutlery and very expensive - and several other smaller gifts. I just got her the weather station she wanted.
My oldest brother showed me a 4-wheeler magazing -with his toy featured in it. Wow! Petersen's 4Wheel & Off-Road magazine. His Toyota thing and his mug are on a huge, almost page width and length pic. He then showed me another toy he apparently just got done building. I shook his hand when they were leaving and congratulated him.
This is the second time I have done Christmas and served a Prime Rib roast and a spiral ham. I was amazed at how much meat was consumed, but being a 15 pound roast, the Prime Rib leftovers were quite sufficient to send home with everyone. But the ham? Almost totally consumed. The glaze I made was a simple honey, concentrated orange juice and brown sugar mix. Delicious. My oldest brother's wife - well she wanted that ham bone last time so I offered it to her again. Makes a nice soup, I guess. She said no, whispering that she didn't want to take something my mom would want.
Well, I had already heard from mom. I was going to give the Prime Ribs - rib bones - to the dogs as my Christmas present to them. Not that dogs know what Christmas is, but who cares. She went into this detailed explanation of how I could put those ribs in a slow cooker, put whatever I have at hand in with it - and that was rather detailed as well - cook and have some delicious soup. I listened and said great! She's totally into that stuff - I love soup but I know how much she loves making soups during the winter - our version of it, so a bit later I went up to her and offered her the ribs. I left a lot of meat on them, too. She said no, I could make the soup. I said no, you can have those ribs and make a nice, hot, delicious soup out of it.
It didn't take much pushing. She accepted and happily took them home with her. I just called her - make sure she got home okay. She didn't want to spend the night but dark fall occurred shortly after she left. All's well, thankfully. Linda - my brother's wife - took home the huge ham bone plus a lot of meat.
All in all - definitely worth the effort. I am rejuvenated on my desire to get the trailer done, ready to go. Not that I am starting on it tomorrow - tomorrow is Christmas and I might visit some folks, not sure about that yet, but I don't plan on working on anything. In fact, I may just spend a quiet day enjoying the season. I suppose I could take a hungry family some great food : )
That's it. It ain't all, just that that's it for me for today. I am content, full, happy and tired.
Merry Christmas.
ben
Friday, December 23, 2011
When They Get Here........
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>that's when I'll be done.
But the house looks quite nice, if I do say so myself. A few more things, things I may just up and do tonight. Or not. Bathroom scrubbed. Looks nice enough, but a fresh paint job wouldn't hurt. No time for that now.
Cooking tomorrow. I have everything I need. There is going to be a lot more people showing up than this thing started out at. It's a good thing I bought a 15 pound roast, that's all I can say about that, plus an 8 pound ham.
I haven't found sites to cover the factor of a much larger roast, though. Hmmm. I have my meat thermometer, if nothing else, that sucker will tell me when it's internally done enough.
I think I have bored people to tears with my blog, not much readership anymore. Thinking about quitting.
ben
But the house looks quite nice, if I do say so myself. A few more things, things I may just up and do tonight. Or not. Bathroom scrubbed. Looks nice enough, but a fresh paint job wouldn't hurt. No time for that now.
Cooking tomorrow. I have everything I need. There is going to be a lot more people showing up than this thing started out at. It's a good thing I bought a 15 pound roast, that's all I can say about that, plus an 8 pound ham.
I haven't found sites to cover the factor of a much larger roast, though. Hmmm. I have my meat thermometer, if nothing else, that sucker will tell me when it's internally done enough.
I think I have bored people to tears with my blog, not much readership anymore. Thinking about quitting.
ben
Prince, the black Great Dane, has an infection just underneath his ear. I hadn't even noticed it before today because of the location of the infection. Prince has Gumbo the Elephant sized ears - they are huge. Okay, not the size of an elephant's ears, but the things are massive. I got to looking at this huge ball that is, undoubtedly, filled with puss and found the intruder. A bite hole. Undoubtedly, Prince and Duke got into it again and just as undoubtedly, Duke got his teeth in there. This isn't the first time this has happened to either of them.
I immediately started the antibiotic treatment and probably am going to take him outsize and squeeze as much of that junk out of there as will come out. Gross, yes, necessary - yes.
The kid showed up again today. I started doubting that he was coming at around 9:00am and got busy with other stuff, namely, shampooing the living room carpet and working on my bathroom. I told him I didn't really have time to work with him today, I just showed him what to do and he got busy. He hauled all the rest of that rock. There is no pile out there now. It has all been spread out in the areas I wanted it done.
I continued on with what I was doing after that. When he was done, having no ride to get home - his brother was somewhere doing whatever - I offered him a ride since I was going that way anyway. His mother approved the ride and I went over there. I didn't know they had a pond - but Elijah offered me to go take a look at it. Yuck. That pond is bright green. It is so green with algae that you can't see ANYTHING in there.
His mom came out and we had quite the lengthy discussion about ponds. She said she didn't have any idea how to get the green out of it after she brought the subject up. Yes, well I have the answer and gave it to her: a UV sterilizer. I also stated that that pond was sorely in need of plants. I have given away a large amount of them in the last couple of days, I didn't know they had a pond, number one and number 2 that they needed plants for it. I could have given all of them to them. Well, just so happens I have another Umbrella plant that needs to be trimmed down quite a lot, plus my Yerba Mensa has several runners I could clip off and give to them.
Off to |Anna's Linens after that, picked up a few - cheap - items to spruce up the house a bit. Then home to unload everything I had acquired from yesterday that I still hadn't unloaded. Then off to Walmart. I could not believe how much traffic was out there. The major surface streets were moving at a snail's pace. I ended up taking back roads to get to Walmart and saving myself at least 15 minutes of driving. After Walmart, Gamestop. After Gamestop, Fry's Food Stores. I have acquired everything I need to acquire for this family Christmas celebration excepting the chair for Caleb's computer desk. I am not going to sweat it - if I find one today, great, if not, then at least I got the desk for him and will work on getting the chair within the week.
I am not done with house yet, but I figure just a couple more hours worth of work and it IS done. The last 2 weeks has been an amazing journey in a house and yard transformation. The family will come and go, but the effort made will still be there. So, I am on the downside to all of this. I need to pull out the Standing Rib Roast and pat it down with spices. It's a 3 hour cook time, allegedly, at 325 degrees. The ham will be in there with it. Spiral sliced ham and I am making a honey glaze to put on it. Home made mashed potatoes; corn; Cobb salad and grilled Jalapeno Poppers are my input to this dinner. Everyone else is bringing the rest.
I also found out today that my middle brother is bringing his son and another guest. There are going to be a lot of people here tomorrow!
So, my break time is over. I am going outside to pick up the last remaining tools/items that we were using to get the yard in shape and put those away. Then come inside and finish my bathroom. Wrap presents, do some pre-cooking chores for tomorrow and it will be ready. It has taken awhile, but the "magic" of Christmas has arrived back on my doorstep.
Hmmm, I did forget something. 3 Christmas cards to put the gift cards I bought into them. Oh well, I will have time to run up to the store for that tomorrow morning. I am home for the day.
ben
I immediately started the antibiotic treatment and probably am going to take him outsize and squeeze as much of that junk out of there as will come out. Gross, yes, necessary - yes.
The kid showed up again today. I started doubting that he was coming at around 9:00am and got busy with other stuff, namely, shampooing the living room carpet and working on my bathroom. I told him I didn't really have time to work with him today, I just showed him what to do and he got busy. He hauled all the rest of that rock. There is no pile out there now. It has all been spread out in the areas I wanted it done.
I continued on with what I was doing after that. When he was done, having no ride to get home - his brother was somewhere doing whatever - I offered him a ride since I was going that way anyway. His mother approved the ride and I went over there. I didn't know they had a pond - but Elijah offered me to go take a look at it. Yuck. That pond is bright green. It is so green with algae that you can't see ANYTHING in there.
His mom came out and we had quite the lengthy discussion about ponds. She said she didn't have any idea how to get the green out of it after she brought the subject up. Yes, well I have the answer and gave it to her: a UV sterilizer. I also stated that that pond was sorely in need of plants. I have given away a large amount of them in the last couple of days, I didn't know they had a pond, number one and number 2 that they needed plants for it. I could have given all of them to them. Well, just so happens I have another Umbrella plant that needs to be trimmed down quite a lot, plus my Yerba Mensa has several runners I could clip off and give to them.
Off to |Anna's Linens after that, picked up a few - cheap - items to spruce up the house a bit. Then home to unload everything I had acquired from yesterday that I still hadn't unloaded. Then off to Walmart. I could not believe how much traffic was out there. The major surface streets were moving at a snail's pace. I ended up taking back roads to get to Walmart and saving myself at least 15 minutes of driving. After Walmart, Gamestop. After Gamestop, Fry's Food Stores. I have acquired everything I need to acquire for this family Christmas celebration excepting the chair for Caleb's computer desk. I am not going to sweat it - if I find one today, great, if not, then at least I got the desk for him and will work on getting the chair within the week.
I am not done with house yet, but I figure just a couple more hours worth of work and it IS done. The last 2 weeks has been an amazing journey in a house and yard transformation. The family will come and go, but the effort made will still be there. So, I am on the downside to all of this. I need to pull out the Standing Rib Roast and pat it down with spices. It's a 3 hour cook time, allegedly, at 325 degrees. The ham will be in there with it. Spiral sliced ham and I am making a honey glaze to put on it. Home made mashed potatoes; corn; Cobb salad and grilled Jalapeno Poppers are my input to this dinner. Everyone else is bringing the rest.
I also found out today that my middle brother is bringing his son and another guest. There are going to be a lot of people here tomorrow!
So, my break time is over. I am going outside to pick up the last remaining tools/items that we were using to get the yard in shape and put those away. Then come inside and finish my bathroom. Wrap presents, do some pre-cooking chores for tomorrow and it will be ready. It has taken awhile, but the "magic" of Christmas has arrived back on my doorstep.
Hmmm, I did forget something. 3 Christmas cards to put the gift cards I bought into them. Oh well, I will have time to run up to the store for that tomorrow morning. I am home for the day.
ben
Friday 12/23/2011 The Final Day
I got so much done yesterday that today? Won't be a breeze, either. I'm close. Still have to finish buying some things and there is still some work left to do. I got started on cleaning the carpet in the living room yesterday but got pulled completely off of that to work with that kid outside to get all of that done out there. Basically, when you're working with kids, you really have to work alongside them in a project that requires as much finagling as that ordeal yesterday was. Otherwise, you will not see the results you wanted and you only have yourself to blame.
Unfortunately, there is still much I want to get done out there and there is 30 minutes left of cleanup I need to get done out there today, but for the gathering tomorrow? More than good enough.
I'm going to have to writer later, things just sort of blew up in my face right now, gotta go into overdriver.
Later.
ben
Unfortunately, there is still much I want to get done out there and there is 30 minutes left of cleanup I need to get done out there today, but for the gathering tomorrow? More than good enough.
I'm going to have to writer later, things just sort of blew up in my face right now, gotta go into overdriver.
Later.
ben
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Thursday 12/22/2011
First day of winter.
I wrote an ad on Craigslist to get some help on the east side of my house - thought maybe someone could use earning a few bucks and I want to get it done.
The funny thing is the people that are "begging" for money on there that say they will do just about "anything" to raise some finances - you reply to THEM and they won't do ANYTHING. I got 2 whole replies on that ad. 1 from a person that doesn't speak English and another from a 14 year old kid.
Well, I opted for the kid. Sometimes they are hard workers - sometimes they aren't. I'm just not a big fan of people who live in the U.S. and don't bother to learn the language of the land which is why I did not opt for that other person. You would think Spanish is the language of the land around these parts. _____________________________________________________________
Scored. Got a worker, not some lazy @$$. Kid worked his butt off for 5-1/2 hours and then he wanted to go home. No problem and wasn't unhappy at all with paying him. He hauled a LOT of rock from one side of the house to the other while I was laying out the plastic and spreading the rock. Still a bit left to do, but he wants to come back tomorrow so I stopped with it. I don't really want to haul the rock anymore today, anyway, lol.
Took a nap.
Left. On the road. Christmas present bonanza. Gotta git -er done. I didn't want to be rushing around tomorrow trying to find stuff, do that today in case there are any problems. Got everything but the chair for Caleb. I did get his computer desk, though. I am not going to buy a new one and if I don't have it before Saturday, he isn't going to have a cow about it, I am waiting for "the deal". One guy wanted $95 for his used one - probably a $300 chair but I decided against it. $50 and no more.
This has been a LONG day. If I didn't have these days off work/vacation, I would be screwed. Well, this place wouldn't be anything like I want it to look, really. The hard work outside is beginning to pay off. It's starting to look really nice out there. I still have stuff to do in here, but Mark has been cranking away for days now. Cleaning the runner for the sliding glass door, scrubbing door framing and windows and all kinds of stuff.
I let one of those pond filters go WAY too long! I spent an hour or more cleaning it out this morning. There was so much fish waste in it, it was amazing. Makes nice plant fertilizer. But it's done and the other one was done yesterday so they are both pumping out high volumes of water. When they start to get clogged up, the water output goes down - and down - lol.
Well, I am off to finish the bathroom. Caleb waited until 3:00 pm to call me and tell me we need to go to the college today to make the payment. Nothing like waiting until the last minute. I was out and about, far from the college. I told him to go into my room, get my checkbook. So he did. But then I remembered that my dad sent him a letter that arrived today, I was hoping it was the check for school. Sure enough. So, I told Caleb to go cash the check if he could, but take my checkbook in case they wouldn't cash it.
So, he goes to the bank and deposits the check. Gag. Meaning, it won't show anything until after midnight. So he calls me up from the college and tells me the card had been declined. Lol. Yes, son, because you deposited the check, you didn't try to cash it. Oh well. I'm getting a lot of phone calls from him at this point. Finally, I get a call and they are now telling him the grant had already gone through, the money is available and the he doesn't have to pay ANYTHING. It's a Pell grant. It is paying for the entire school year plus his books.
But I made him do this alone. Yes, I got the phone calls, but I made him go in there and deal with this himself. He's 18, it's time to learn how to deal with life. This went on for a couple of hours, he called me after it was done. I asked him if it felt good that he was able to, basically, do this himself without either of his parents having to be there? Yes, indeed. So, he has dad's money if he needs it and he is getting a "refund" from the grant. Apparently they give you more money than you need to help pay personal expenses while going to school. Nice of them, I guess, but you know who is paying for all of that.
Later.
ben
I wrote an ad on Craigslist to get some help on the east side of my house - thought maybe someone could use earning a few bucks and I want to get it done.
The funny thing is the people that are "begging" for money on there that say they will do just about "anything" to raise some finances - you reply to THEM and they won't do ANYTHING. I got 2 whole replies on that ad. 1 from a person that doesn't speak English and another from a 14 year old kid.
Well, I opted for the kid. Sometimes they are hard workers - sometimes they aren't. I'm just not a big fan of people who live in the U.S. and don't bother to learn the language of the land which is why I did not opt for that other person. You would think Spanish is the language of the land around these parts. _____________________________________________________________
Scored. Got a worker, not some lazy @$$. Kid worked his butt off for 5-1/2 hours and then he wanted to go home. No problem and wasn't unhappy at all with paying him. He hauled a LOT of rock from one side of the house to the other while I was laying out the plastic and spreading the rock. Still a bit left to do, but he wants to come back tomorrow so I stopped with it. I don't really want to haul the rock anymore today, anyway, lol.
Took a nap.
Left. On the road. Christmas present bonanza. Gotta git -er done. I didn't want to be rushing around tomorrow trying to find stuff, do that today in case there are any problems. Got everything but the chair for Caleb. I did get his computer desk, though. I am not going to buy a new one and if I don't have it before Saturday, he isn't going to have a cow about it, I am waiting for "the deal". One guy wanted $95 for his used one - probably a $300 chair but I decided against it. $50 and no more.
This has been a LONG day. If I didn't have these days off work/vacation, I would be screwed. Well, this place wouldn't be anything like I want it to look, really. The hard work outside is beginning to pay off. It's starting to look really nice out there. I still have stuff to do in here, but Mark has been cranking away for days now. Cleaning the runner for the sliding glass door, scrubbing door framing and windows and all kinds of stuff.
I let one of those pond filters go WAY too long! I spent an hour or more cleaning it out this morning. There was so much fish waste in it, it was amazing. Makes nice plant fertilizer. But it's done and the other one was done yesterday so they are both pumping out high volumes of water. When they start to get clogged up, the water output goes down - and down - lol.
Well, I am off to finish the bathroom. Caleb waited until 3:00 pm to call me and tell me we need to go to the college today to make the payment. Nothing like waiting until the last minute. I was out and about, far from the college. I told him to go into my room, get my checkbook. So he did. But then I remembered that my dad sent him a letter that arrived today, I was hoping it was the check for school. Sure enough. So, I told Caleb to go cash the check if he could, but take my checkbook in case they wouldn't cash it.
So, he goes to the bank and deposits the check. Gag. Meaning, it won't show anything until after midnight. So he calls me up from the college and tells me the card had been declined. Lol. Yes, son, because you deposited the check, you didn't try to cash it. Oh well. I'm getting a lot of phone calls from him at this point. Finally, I get a call and they are now telling him the grant had already gone through, the money is available and the he doesn't have to pay ANYTHING. It's a Pell grant. It is paying for the entire school year plus his books.
But I made him do this alone. Yes, I got the phone calls, but I made him go in there and deal with this himself. He's 18, it's time to learn how to deal with life. This went on for a couple of hours, he called me after it was done. I asked him if it felt good that he was able to, basically, do this himself without either of his parents having to be there? Yes, indeed. So, he has dad's money if he needs it and he is getting a "refund" from the grant. Apparently they give you more money than you need to help pay personal expenses while going to school. Nice of them, I guess, but you know who is paying for all of that.
Later.
ben
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Wednesday 12/21/2011
First day of vacation and acting like it. Got up at 7:38 am. That's 3 hours beyond my normal start up time. I am sitting contemplating finishing the bedroom and bathroom - I didn't do anything on it last night.
Procrastination? Hardly. Just taking a breather, but in about 30 minutes I am going to go full out on it and get it all done today. Hopefully, lol. I have such a large list of things I want to get done, I'm not sure it will all get finished in time - but - I am not going to stress over it. By the time Saturday gets here, it will look good enough.
___________________________
2 solid hours of work got the bedroom 99% done. Tired of that (come back to it later to give the finishing touches), I went into the bathroom. Gonna scrub that entire room including the walls. But I'm going to start alternating between inside and out of the house so I don't get burned out on one thing. I am not really all that interested in doing all of this during what should be vacation time, but the end result will definitely be worth it.
______________________
The All-Day Entry. Took the shower doors off and outside where I thoroughly scrubbed them. Then scrubbed the entire shower stall itself. An hour's worth of work or more just for that. Tired of this stuff, I left. Went to Fresh 'N Easy for my spiral half ham. No, I went to Radio Shack first, but that store was closed down. Having no idea where the other locations are and not having my computer with me, I figured to try Fry's Electronics, but went to Fresh' N' Easy after that and then Walmart after that. Had to get a couple new air pumps for my ponds, the other ones quit working. Got a bunch of other stuff, too, and then headed to Fry's Electronics. They had both nice and junky computer desks there (Caleb's Christmas gift). Also found the weather stations that my mother wants. Didn't really like any of theirs, so I am definitely going to go to another Radio Shack location.
Then I started looking on line for a nice computer chair. I can get the desk at Fry's if it comes down to that, but the chair? No way am I spending $150 or more on a good chair when people are selling off their stuff on Craigslist because of the bad economy.
Found several, but I'm home for the day and will take up this task tomorrow.
Going outside now to start cleaning out the pond filters. They are covered with gunk and goo and I need to thoroughly clean both of them, a task I don't especially care for but it has to be done.
_________________________________________________
First day of winter starts tomorrow. I have gotten more accomplished today than I thought I would.
But I also - well I didn't really want to but I was looking around - come up with more things to do that need to be done regardless of whether family is coming or not.
___________________________________
End of the day. Treated the house to the new Planet of the Apes movie. I order it online, it shows on every receiver in the house. I wasn't really being that generous: I wanted to watch a new release and that one stuck out because I have watched all of the previous movies - a lot of times - and because I just wanted to watch a movie. Well, if I'm going to do it, I do it on the internet and that way everyone that wants to can watch it as well. If I call Direct TV, it was good for the receiver I was calling for in my house. At least,that's the way it was quite a while back - I don't call Direct TV until the issues pop up. I hate dealing with that company.
Lots done today, much to go. Still looking for Caleb's computer chair - I think I found one. It's a $400 chair, used, going for $95. The pic shows it in excellent condition. I am either going over there tomorrow or - I have found some cheaper ones that still look very comfortable. If you're going to sit in a chair for hours playing your internet games or soon: doing school homework, the chair should be, at least IMO, be comfortable. There is a set that states that being uncomfortable doing homework or in school for that matter helps to keep a person alert.
Whatever.
G'nite.
ben
Procrastination? Hardly. Just taking a breather, but in about 30 minutes I am going to go full out on it and get it all done today. Hopefully, lol. I have such a large list of things I want to get done, I'm not sure it will all get finished in time - but - I am not going to stress over it. By the time Saturday gets here, it will look good enough.
___________________________
2 solid hours of work got the bedroom 99% done. Tired of that (come back to it later to give the finishing touches), I went into the bathroom. Gonna scrub that entire room including the walls. But I'm going to start alternating between inside and out of the house so I don't get burned out on one thing. I am not really all that interested in doing all of this during what should be vacation time, but the end result will definitely be worth it.
______________________
The All-Day Entry. Took the shower doors off and outside where I thoroughly scrubbed them. Then scrubbed the entire shower stall itself. An hour's worth of work or more just for that. Tired of this stuff, I left. Went to Fresh 'N Easy for my spiral half ham. No, I went to Radio Shack first, but that store was closed down. Having no idea where the other locations are and not having my computer with me, I figured to try Fry's Electronics, but went to Fresh' N' Easy after that and then Walmart after that. Had to get a couple new air pumps for my ponds, the other ones quit working. Got a bunch of other stuff, too, and then headed to Fry's Electronics. They had both nice and junky computer desks there (Caleb's Christmas gift). Also found the weather stations that my mother wants. Didn't really like any of theirs, so I am definitely going to go to another Radio Shack location.
Then I started looking on line for a nice computer chair. I can get the desk at Fry's if it comes down to that, but the chair? No way am I spending $150 or more on a good chair when people are selling off their stuff on Craigslist because of the bad economy.
Found several, but I'm home for the day and will take up this task tomorrow.
Going outside now to start cleaning out the pond filters. They are covered with gunk and goo and I need to thoroughly clean both of them, a task I don't especially care for but it has to be done.
_________________________________________________
First day of winter starts tomorrow. I have gotten more accomplished today than I thought I would.
But I also - well I didn't really want to but I was looking around - come up with more things to do that need to be done regardless of whether family is coming or not.
___________________________________
End of the day. Treated the house to the new Planet of the Apes movie. I order it online, it shows on every receiver in the house. I wasn't really being that generous: I wanted to watch a new release and that one stuck out because I have watched all of the previous movies - a lot of times - and because I just wanted to watch a movie. Well, if I'm going to do it, I do it on the internet and that way everyone that wants to can watch it as well. If I call Direct TV, it was good for the receiver I was calling for in my house. At least,that's the way it was quite a while back - I don't call Direct TV until the issues pop up. I hate dealing with that company.
Lots done today, much to go. Still looking for Caleb's computer chair - I think I found one. It's a $400 chair, used, going for $95. The pic shows it in excellent condition. I am either going over there tomorrow or - I have found some cheaper ones that still look very comfortable. If you're going to sit in a chair for hours playing your internet games or soon: doing school homework, the chair should be, at least IMO, be comfortable. There is a set that states that being uncomfortable doing homework or in school for that matter helps to keep a person alert.
Whatever.
G'nite.
ben
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Tuesday 12/20/2011
I get off work yesterday and go to find a Christmas tree. I usually have one long before now during the Christmas season, but, things have been piling up.
Well, I went to Home Depot which is where I normally buy one and they were all out. They had a couple of them in the back of the Christmas Tree lot, but they apparently were not for sale. The counter guy calls his manager to see if they are getting anymore: "We are all done for the season".
Wow, okay. Down the street to Lowe's. They didn't have any either, and weren't getting anymore!
Christmas at Ben Kranks?!!! NO WAYYYYYY!
I sat in Lowe's parking lot and started thinking. WHO always sells Christmas trees, even up to the last moment. Whitfill's! That name finally entered my mind. It's mostly a tree farm, actually, and the main location just happens to be 2-1/2 miles away from my house. Which is good, cause' I didn't really want to have a tree strapped to the top of my car for too long of a distance.
Fired up the music and zoomed over there. Not only did they have trees left, they had a LOT of trees left. Including one that was at least 25 feet tall, an elegant and stunning looking tree - with a price tag of $400, lol. The lady working there was all kinds of cheery and definitely had the Christmas spirit. I hated to make it sound like I was being cheap, but I asked what the cheapest trees were. I was hoping to hear $20.
Yes, she says, the Douglas Firs are $19.95. That's my kind of price. I am only going to have the thing maybe until New Year's, spending a lot of money on something that is going to end up in a recycling bin in less than 2 weeks - well it just isn't in the budget. She took me to 3 scraggly looking trees which I summarily rejected. She continued walking around and found one that had no tag on it, but was one of the $19.95 trees, a beautiful specimen, perfect dimensions with an almost perfect "stick" on the top for the angel.
I started to grab it, but she said no, his lot guy would take care of all of that. And sure enough, he got the tree, cut off a small portion of the trunk at the bottom, got some twine, brought it to my car, loaded it and tied it down for me!
I got it home and Mark and Lynnette immediately started working on it. Okay. I just sat there and watched, lol.
I also got nothing done on finished the room and bathroom project yesterday. I got home late and I was too tired out to do anything with it. Putting it off may not be so advisable, but, oh well. I'll get with the program today after work since, after work today, I have 6 straight, full days off. I can stay up late and just sleep in in the morning. The luscious part of taking a lot of vacation days, for me anyway, is the ability to be able to sleep in past 4:30 am. Get up at 6 or even 7 if I want to. Some people think getting up at 6 is early, lol.
Well whatever. Enough to do in the routing system today to keep me busy all day at work. Love it.
G'day.
ben
Well, I went to Home Depot which is where I normally buy one and they were all out. They had a couple of them in the back of the Christmas Tree lot, but they apparently were not for sale. The counter guy calls his manager to see if they are getting anymore: "We are all done for the season".
Wow, okay. Down the street to Lowe's. They didn't have any either, and weren't getting anymore!
Christmas at Ben Kranks?!!! NO WAYYYYYY!
I sat in Lowe's parking lot and started thinking. WHO always sells Christmas trees, even up to the last moment. Whitfill's! That name finally entered my mind. It's mostly a tree farm, actually, and the main location just happens to be 2-1/2 miles away from my house. Which is good, cause' I didn't really want to have a tree strapped to the top of my car for too long of a distance.
Fired up the music and zoomed over there. Not only did they have trees left, they had a LOT of trees left. Including one that was at least 25 feet tall, an elegant and stunning looking tree - with a price tag of $400, lol. The lady working there was all kinds of cheery and definitely had the Christmas spirit. I hated to make it sound like I was being cheap, but I asked what the cheapest trees were. I was hoping to hear $20.
Yes, she says, the Douglas Firs are $19.95. That's my kind of price. I am only going to have the thing maybe until New Year's, spending a lot of money on something that is going to end up in a recycling bin in less than 2 weeks - well it just isn't in the budget. She took me to 3 scraggly looking trees which I summarily rejected. She continued walking around and found one that had no tag on it, but was one of the $19.95 trees, a beautiful specimen, perfect dimensions with an almost perfect "stick" on the top for the angel.
I started to grab it, but she said no, his lot guy would take care of all of that. And sure enough, he got the tree, cut off a small portion of the trunk at the bottom, got some twine, brought it to my car, loaded it and tied it down for me!
I got it home and Mark and Lynnette immediately started working on it. Okay. I just sat there and watched, lol.
I also got nothing done on finished the room and bathroom project yesterday. I got home late and I was too tired out to do anything with it. Putting it off may not be so advisable, but, oh well. I'll get with the program today after work since, after work today, I have 6 straight, full days off. I can stay up late and just sleep in in the morning. The luscious part of taking a lot of vacation days, for me anyway, is the ability to be able to sleep in past 4:30 am. Get up at 6 or even 7 if I want to. Some people think getting up at 6 is early, lol.
Well whatever. Enough to do in the routing system today to keep me busy all day at work. Love it.
G'day.
ben
Monday, December 19, 2011
Monday 12/18/2011
2 days of work - today and tomorrow - and then off for 6 days going back to work on Tuesday. The painting in my bedroom has definitely been much more of a job than I had first considered. I have one wall left to go - where my bed and night table is and it will be done excepting some trim around the doors. That needs a different hue of white - like as bright a white as you can possible get.
I have a couple more things to hang up in my bathroom and that will be done. Well, a good cleaning but that is an ongoing thing anyway.
It was, after is said and done, nice to get that discount on that Omaha package yesterday. This is going to be a very busy week. Last night I was driving myself to get more done and then finally, I just plopped down on my bed and said enough. Enough for one day, anyway. It has been a bit of a plus to get that kind of motivation to get something done that you have been putting off - the painting of my room that is - but at the same time, that's because I have been working outside and there is still plenty to do out there.
I am not going to fret over it. I have a lot of rock to haul over there from the other side of the house - over there being where I am working - but I have no intention of getting all of that done before everyone shows up on Christmas Eve Day. I DO intend on getting the areas around the ponds over there completed. I want that to look nice. It's probably around 3 or 4 hours worth of work to finish those 2 areas, I am guessing. I did pretty much get the front done. I mean, there is more to do out there but it is looking nice right now and if I don't do anything else out there this week besides a bit of cleanup work, I will be happy with it.
Well, anyway, I will crank out the rest of that room today, hopefully, after work, finish the bathroom today or tomorrow and have the rest of the week to laze around out there getting stuff done, yes, but not at a frantic pace (unless, of course, time starts to run out and I haven't got everything done, lol).
As for work today, plenty. I pulled an order on Friday that hopefully was checked by my manager (I asked him to, this particular account has been giving us problems in them calling us and telling us something is missing even though we triple checked the order and then had THEM check the entire order after taking it out there) and only needs to be wrapped up, loaded on the truck and hauled out there. Then back to the yard for 3 more orders going to another contractor.
It is rather interesting that there is this much work going on near Christmas time. Historically, at this job anyway, that isn't the case at all. The week leading up to Christmas is usually pretty much dead. No problem for me, I would far rather stay busy, just an observation.
Later.
ben
I have a couple more things to hang up in my bathroom and that will be done. Well, a good cleaning but that is an ongoing thing anyway.
It was, after is said and done, nice to get that discount on that Omaha package yesterday. This is going to be a very busy week. Last night I was driving myself to get more done and then finally, I just plopped down on my bed and said enough. Enough for one day, anyway. It has been a bit of a plus to get that kind of motivation to get something done that you have been putting off - the painting of my room that is - but at the same time, that's because I have been working outside and there is still plenty to do out there.
I am not going to fret over it. I have a lot of rock to haul over there from the other side of the house - over there being where I am working - but I have no intention of getting all of that done before everyone shows up on Christmas Eve Day. I DO intend on getting the areas around the ponds over there completed. I want that to look nice. It's probably around 3 or 4 hours worth of work to finish those 2 areas, I am guessing. I did pretty much get the front done. I mean, there is more to do out there but it is looking nice right now and if I don't do anything else out there this week besides a bit of cleanup work, I will be happy with it.
Well, anyway, I will crank out the rest of that room today, hopefully, after work, finish the bathroom today or tomorrow and have the rest of the week to laze around out there getting stuff done, yes, but not at a frantic pace (unless, of course, time starts to run out and I haven't got everything done, lol).
As for work today, plenty. I pulled an order on Friday that hopefully was checked by my manager (I asked him to, this particular account has been giving us problems in them calling us and telling us something is missing even though we triple checked the order and then had THEM check the entire order after taking it out there) and only needs to be wrapped up, loaded on the truck and hauled out there. Then back to the yard for 3 more orders going to another contractor.
It is rather interesting that there is this much work going on near Christmas time. Historically, at this job anyway, that isn't the case at all. The week leading up to Christmas is usually pretty much dead. No problem for me, I would far rather stay busy, just an observation.
Later.
ben
Sunday, December 18, 2011
It Ended Amiably - Omaha Steaks
My annual call to Omaha Steaks to order a package for my brother and sister-in-law did not start out well.
I certainly did NOT call them to get into some sort of altercation with them. The light went off in my head: get it ordered or they won't have it in time by Christmas.
So I called. Now, before I got into this, I have an account with them. My name and what I have ordered with them is on file.
So I ask the lady that gets on the phone what kind of deal she can do for me. Instead of asking me if I have an account or if I have ever ordered before - or ANYTHING a salesperson should be asking - she states that there are thousands of deals and that she cannot possibly go into all of them. Wow. "Well, then, please connect me to a supervisor and perhaps they can give me the information I am asking for". She hung up on me.
Anytime a customer service rep hangs up on me is the pre-cursor for trouble for that person and a deal for me. But, honestly, I did NOT start out that way. In the past, I ask them the same question and they go off into the most popular, current deals that they have.
I call back, of course. A different lady answers the phone. I explain that I was just hung up on by a person at her company and that I would like to speak to a supervisor. She laughed at me: YOU want to speak to a supervisor because someone hung up on you?!!! saying it increduously, as if it were normal for incoming sales call centers to hang up on customers that are pretty much determined to make an order and yes, pay for it then and there, on the phone, with a credit card.
Yes, I replied, I do, not saying anything to her about her stupid attitude.
Her manager gets on the phone. I discuss with this person about the hang-up on the first call. Well, he states, I will look into that. Yeah, that doesn't work with me, not the way he said it, but I figured to play this one out and see what happens. It's the inflections and tones that the way people say things that give it away for me.
When we get to the point of making an order, I decided not to. I was dissed not by one, but 2 customer service reps and I decided I needed to call headquarters tomorrow when they are open. He asks why and I tell him. He didn't know because I hadn't told him about the second person. He says he will review the call after we get off the phone. No, I stated, you review the call now and then get back to me, because I have been treated quite rudely for no good reason and I WILL be getting a discount on my order.
He was surprised. He then stated he would have to end the call with me to review that call. Okay, review the call and call me back, here's my number. He says fine, but if he doesn't get back to me............EXCUSE ME? WHY would you start telling me you aren't getting back to me after you just stated you WOULD? I give him my cell phone number and we hang up.
15 minutes later, he calls back. I will say that this is the first time ever that I have sat here and listened to a supervisor telling me the conversation he had with one of his employees. That is pretty much taboo, but I listened to him because - fascinating. The woman tried to finagle out of it. He stated that it is simply intolerable to laugh at a customer who wants to speak to a supervisor regardless of what you think about it. The person I had first talked to that hung up on me had gone home for the evening and that, apparently, is the reason she hung up on me!! ROFL!!
End of the story: Same deal I got last year for $30 less PLUS 18 hamburgers added for free and of course free shipping.
That's not a bad deal, at all! I thanked him quite well and wished him a Merry Christmas and - end of call.
ben
I certainly did NOT call them to get into some sort of altercation with them. The light went off in my head: get it ordered or they won't have it in time by Christmas.
So I called. Now, before I got into this, I have an account with them. My name and what I have ordered with them is on file.
So I ask the lady that gets on the phone what kind of deal she can do for me. Instead of asking me if I have an account or if I have ever ordered before - or ANYTHING a salesperson should be asking - she states that there are thousands of deals and that she cannot possibly go into all of them. Wow. "Well, then, please connect me to a supervisor and perhaps they can give me the information I am asking for". She hung up on me.
Anytime a customer service rep hangs up on me is the pre-cursor for trouble for that person and a deal for me. But, honestly, I did NOT start out that way. In the past, I ask them the same question and they go off into the most popular, current deals that they have.
I call back, of course. A different lady answers the phone. I explain that I was just hung up on by a person at her company and that I would like to speak to a supervisor. She laughed at me: YOU want to speak to a supervisor because someone hung up on you?!!! saying it increduously, as if it were normal for incoming sales call centers to hang up on customers that are pretty much determined to make an order and yes, pay for it then and there, on the phone, with a credit card.
Yes, I replied, I do, not saying anything to her about her stupid attitude.
Her manager gets on the phone. I discuss with this person about the hang-up on the first call. Well, he states, I will look into that. Yeah, that doesn't work with me, not the way he said it, but I figured to play this one out and see what happens. It's the inflections and tones that the way people say things that give it away for me.
When we get to the point of making an order, I decided not to. I was dissed not by one, but 2 customer service reps and I decided I needed to call headquarters tomorrow when they are open. He asks why and I tell him. He didn't know because I hadn't told him about the second person. He says he will review the call after we get off the phone. No, I stated, you review the call now and then get back to me, because I have been treated quite rudely for no good reason and I WILL be getting a discount on my order.
He was surprised. He then stated he would have to end the call with me to review that call. Okay, review the call and call me back, here's my number. He says fine, but if he doesn't get back to me............EXCUSE ME? WHY would you start telling me you aren't getting back to me after you just stated you WOULD? I give him my cell phone number and we hang up.
15 minutes later, he calls back. I will say that this is the first time ever that I have sat here and listened to a supervisor telling me the conversation he had with one of his employees. That is pretty much taboo, but I listened to him because - fascinating. The woman tried to finagle out of it. He stated that it is simply intolerable to laugh at a customer who wants to speak to a supervisor regardless of what you think about it. The person I had first talked to that hung up on me had gone home for the evening and that, apparently, is the reason she hung up on me!! ROFL!!
End of the story: Same deal I got last year for $30 less PLUS 18 hamburgers added for free and of course free shipping.
That's not a bad deal, at all! I thanked him quite well and wished him a Merry Christmas and - end of call.
ben
Sunday 12/18/2011
Got up this morning around 6:00am, had my coffee and then got busy with the painting. I'm about 2/3rd's done with it now. I would have it all done but I have to move furniture from the walls and so I was doing sections at a time so the entire room wasn't thrown into chaos, but alas, it is in total chaos anyway and I am going to spend the rest of today attempting to get it all done or most of it anyway and get it back together again. I am cleaning the carpet and cleaning underneath, behind furniture and everything, it isn't just a paint job, hence it is taking longer.
Anyway, got 2 walls almost done excepting for some of the trim work and then took a shower and headed off to church. A highly amusing Christmas program they put together and then a Christmas Brunch, they called it, afterward. More like a complete Thanksgiving dinner! Sat around talked with some folks for a while, though the next time I want to invade other people's table privacy and see about getting to know more people in the church.
I left there and headed straight for Home Depot: must get 2 more gallons of that paint that is on close-out before it's gone. Then headed to Bashas', the grocery store selling the Standing Rib Roast for $3.67 per pound. Well they didn't have a big enough roast out. Including me, there will be 11 people at this dinner (3 more added this morning, gotta call from my other sister-in-law who found out I am doing Christmas dinner and wants to come). "Do you have any bigger roasts?". The kid (I mean, if this boy were 18 years old I would be surprised) said he would check. They have the Large End rib in a bigger size, but I would have to pay more per pound for it. Better cut of meat, apparently. I decided a few extra bucks for a larger roast would be worth it. He came out with a 15 pounder. Plenty big enough for everyone considering I am also going to get a half ham.
Half ham coming from Fresh and Easy. The rest of everything coming from Fry's. Trying to keep the cost down - going to 3, possibly 4, different stores may sound like a time waster but it's definitely going to save money, so no biggies.
So, here and now. Just sort of sat here for a while attempting to let some of this food I ate at church digest a bit. But, fun-time is over, I need to get back to work on that bedroom and the bathroom.
Later.
ben
Anyway, got 2 walls almost done excepting for some of the trim work and then took a shower and headed off to church. A highly amusing Christmas program they put together and then a Christmas Brunch, they called it, afterward. More like a complete Thanksgiving dinner! Sat around talked with some folks for a while, though the next time I want to invade other people's table privacy and see about getting to know more people in the church.
I left there and headed straight for Home Depot: must get 2 more gallons of that paint that is on close-out before it's gone. Then headed to Bashas', the grocery store selling the Standing Rib Roast for $3.67 per pound. Well they didn't have a big enough roast out. Including me, there will be 11 people at this dinner (3 more added this morning, gotta call from my other sister-in-law who found out I am doing Christmas dinner and wants to come). "Do you have any bigger roasts?". The kid (I mean, if this boy were 18 years old I would be surprised) said he would check. They have the Large End rib in a bigger size, but I would have to pay more per pound for it. Better cut of meat, apparently. I decided a few extra bucks for a larger roast would be worth it. He came out with a 15 pounder. Plenty big enough for everyone considering I am also going to get a half ham.
Half ham coming from Fresh and Easy. The rest of everything coming from Fry's. Trying to keep the cost down - going to 3, possibly 4, different stores may sound like a time waster but it's definitely going to save money, so no biggies.
So, here and now. Just sort of sat here for a while attempting to let some of this food I ate at church digest a bit. But, fun-time is over, I need to get back to work on that bedroom and the bathroom.
Later.
ben
Saturday, December 17, 2011
There is nothing that spruces a room up quite like a fresh coat of paint on the walls.
In my bedroom, hadn't been done since the house was new. I'm not done yet, but I have the hardest part of it done. Still have to move some furniture, though. Home Depot was closing out Martha Stewart Living paint - which is usually pretty expensive, was half price. They were closing it out. I am going to have to go back today or tomorrow and get a couple more cans for future use. You don't find quality paint at that price - hardly ever.
I also bought some cheap, new mini blinds. I didn't really want to spend a lot of money on this project, just wanted to get that fresh, new feeling back to the room. I was surprised they sell mini-blinds for $5 each. They do, of course, have much more expensive and equisite looking versions, but this will have to do for now. Christmas is almost upon us and I haven't bought but one present so far. Now that I know that my family is coming, I am going to have to come up with something for everyone.
Caleb and my mother will be easy. Actually, now that I think of it, so will my brother and his wife. My middle brother - a bit more difficult. Caleb is easy because he told me specifically what he wants, and I best be getting about finding it. Mother also comes up with a specific list, but a hand sewn quilt should be arriving by Christmas time to give to her. My oldest brother, I just give the Omaha steak stuff every year.
In fact, I am just taking a short break here. I have a guy coming over to take some of the over grown pond plants. Just break off the overgrown parts, put into a trash bag, take home and replant. They look really nice and they grow like weeds. I try to give the stuff away versus throwing it in the trash, lots of people have ponds with no plants.
I am also attempting to give away the love seat that I have tried to sell, off and on, for the last 6 months. Just posted an ad. I need it out. It looks tacky in my living room. BTW, I am typing this on my new laptop, the keyboard is MUCH easier to use than keyboards I have encountered with other laptops. Or is this a notebook? Well whatever, there is no difference, really.
Back to work.
In my bedroom, hadn't been done since the house was new. I'm not done yet, but I have the hardest part of it done. Still have to move some furniture, though. Home Depot was closing out Martha Stewart Living paint - which is usually pretty expensive, was half price. They were closing it out. I am going to have to go back today or tomorrow and get a couple more cans for future use. You don't find quality paint at that price - hardly ever.
I also bought some cheap, new mini blinds. I didn't really want to spend a lot of money on this project, just wanted to get that fresh, new feeling back to the room. I was surprised they sell mini-blinds for $5 each. They do, of course, have much more expensive and equisite looking versions, but this will have to do for now. Christmas is almost upon us and I haven't bought but one present so far. Now that I know that my family is coming, I am going to have to come up with something for everyone.
Caleb and my mother will be easy. Actually, now that I think of it, so will my brother and his wife. My middle brother - a bit more difficult. Caleb is easy because he told me specifically what he wants, and I best be getting about finding it. Mother also comes up with a specific list, but a hand sewn quilt should be arriving by Christmas time to give to her. My oldest brother, I just give the Omaha steak stuff every year.
In fact, I am just taking a short break here. I have a guy coming over to take some of the over grown pond plants. Just break off the overgrown parts, put into a trash bag, take home and replant. They look really nice and they grow like weeds. I try to give the stuff away versus throwing it in the trash, lots of people have ponds with no plants.
I am also attempting to give away the love seat that I have tried to sell, off and on, for the last 6 months. Just posted an ad. I need it out. It looks tacky in my living room. BTW, I am typing this on my new laptop, the keyboard is MUCH easier to use than keyboards I have encountered with other laptops. Or is this a notebook? Well whatever, there is no difference, really.
Back to work.
12/17/2011
The Police.
I'm walking out the front of my house today to go put power on the card - I totally forgot and looked, there was 12 cents left on the reader, lol.
There is a cop standing out in front of my house with my hoarding next door neighbor who is pointing at the concrete in my driveway.
Curious as to what they are doing, I walk over to the officer who starts talking about the blood in my driveway.
So, one of my tenants takes the dogs for a walk yesterday. However it happened, one of them had a toenail ripped right off his paw. Yes, it bled and it bled well. Paws tend to do that. There was blood everywhere. So, someone called the cops. Instead of starting an altercation, I simply brought the dog out and showed him the ripped off paw nail. That dog is not feeling well and I have been giving him low dosages of aspirin to help with the pain a bit.
Whatever. I stayed up late last night. My son's hours are so totally different than mine that I hadn't seen him since left for Florida 17 days ago. He and JD - the kid that comes over to get on the internet at night - were babbling away and I joined in the conversation until - 1 AM. For me? That's like not going to bed at all. But we had a good conversation. I didn't go into some of the stuff - my ex wife is mad at me again because I disagree with how she is attempting to handle our son's education. This is the way it has been for 2 decades now, if I disagree with her about anything, even a minor issue, she goes off the deep end. She ALWAYS has to be right.
Well, I got up late this morning, another almost unheard of thing, at least for me. Funny thing? I slept 7 straight hours, something that almost never happens.
Regardless, I feel fine today and I am heading out. I have a lot of stuff I want to get done before Christmas - things that I have put off. Painting my bedroom and bathroom one of them. New blinds in there as well - the old ones have basically fallen apart and I want to replace them if I can find the right size. So, painting, replace blinds and extreme cleaning. Like moving the furniture and beds type of cleaning.
Nothing like a bit of motivation to get things done that you have put off, aye?
Got several stores to git to, better git to gittin'.
I'm walking out the front of my house today to go put power on the card - I totally forgot and looked, there was 12 cents left on the reader, lol.
There is a cop standing out in front of my house with my hoarding next door neighbor who is pointing at the concrete in my driveway.
Curious as to what they are doing, I walk over to the officer who starts talking about the blood in my driveway.
So, one of my tenants takes the dogs for a walk yesterday. However it happened, one of them had a toenail ripped right off his paw. Yes, it bled and it bled well. Paws tend to do that. There was blood everywhere. So, someone called the cops. Instead of starting an altercation, I simply brought the dog out and showed him the ripped off paw nail. That dog is not feeling well and I have been giving him low dosages of aspirin to help with the pain a bit.
Whatever. I stayed up late last night. My son's hours are so totally different than mine that I hadn't seen him since left for Florida 17 days ago. He and JD - the kid that comes over to get on the internet at night - were babbling away and I joined in the conversation until - 1 AM. For me? That's like not going to bed at all. But we had a good conversation. I didn't go into some of the stuff - my ex wife is mad at me again because I disagree with how she is attempting to handle our son's education. This is the way it has been for 2 decades now, if I disagree with her about anything, even a minor issue, she goes off the deep end. She ALWAYS has to be right.
Well, I got up late this morning, another almost unheard of thing, at least for me. Funny thing? I slept 7 straight hours, something that almost never happens.
Regardless, I feel fine today and I am heading out. I have a lot of stuff I want to get done before Christmas - things that I have put off. Painting my bedroom and bathroom one of them. New blinds in there as well - the old ones have basically fallen apart and I want to replace them if I can find the right size. So, painting, replace blinds and extreme cleaning. Like moving the furniture and beds type of cleaning.
Nothing like a bit of motivation to get things done that you have put off, aye?
Got several stores to git to, better git to gittin'.
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