A Few Hours

Break time.

I went to Denny's and sat at the counter - usually get better service at a counter than at a booth in that particular location.  Very nice looking and sweet young lady was my server.  She made several corrections during my visit which made it particularly nice, not to mention repeatedly visiting me to make sure everything was good and drinks were filled.

Corrections being taking the hash browns back before even serving them to me - I said nothing about them and would have eaten them the way they were, but I had asked for extra crisp and they were not.  Took a cup of coffee she had just poured, looked at it and said no, this isn't good, dumped it out and actually went to the server station in the middle of the place to get a fresh cup for me!  I didn't ask for any of it and I was in a very good mood, I would have just taken whatever and been happy with it. 

I got service you would expect at a much finer restaurant with much higher prices and yes, I tipped accordingly.  It had been so long since I had down sit down service that I gave a 200% tip.  Lol.  Make that about 230% tip, but who's counting.  Made up for all the time I had not done sit-down service, but more importantly, that I recognized the quality and level of service that she was giving and that I very much appreciated it and beyond that?  I worked in restaurants in my teenaged years and there are a lot of very STINGY people out there that either do not tip at all or give very minimal percentage tip that is not on par with industry standards of at least a 15% gratuity if you have received good service.

Waiters and waitresses, as most people know but many don't seem to care anyway, get the bulk of their income from tips, not hourly wages.  

I then headed to Auto Zone. Car needs new brake pads and I decided I would either install them myself or have someone come over and give them $25 or $30 to do it for me.  Versus taking it into a shop and having them attempt to tell you that you need $800 to $1,000 or more worth of work.  I never take my car into any shop to have brake work done, it's pretty much a ripoff and I am not buying it.  Well, the gift cards I had not only paid for the brakes, but also the floor jack and also some other stuff I needed.  Well, there you go, the money spent on the tip at Denny's was made up for by the gift cards at Auto Zone.  

I then headed to Home Depot, which was the intent of my departure from home earlier anyway.  Marigolds, Tulips and other flowers, got a flat's worth of them and brought them home.  Out front, I noticed that the recent rain had given rise to - a lot of weeds.  So, instead of getting on the trailer roof, I got down and dirty and started pulling weeds.  After 45 minutes of that, well, I had to plant those flowers.  All 3 pots out there are now filled with beautiful, extremely fragrant flowers of all kinds of colors - purple; red; yellow; orange and there it is.  Instant beauty both visually and orfactoral.  I have plenty left to do out there in pulling the small weeds - much easier to get them up and out when they first show up than commit a procrastinational offense and then, you are going to have a time getting them out WITH the roots.

Next.  MAYBE up on the roof before going back to the weeds.  In fact, I need to get my vacuum out and use it on the front - leaves everywhere detracting from the beauty of my front yard, which I do consider to be looking very fine at this point if I do say so myself.  Plus, one of the Sissoo's needs an entire limb cut down - it is a 2 limb tree growing out of the ground.  If you leave it that way, eventually it's going to come back to bite you.  This is still a small tree so it should be okay doing that without anything but the tree being able to focus on it's one limb growing instead of attempting to grow 2 of them.

Dogs have my room smelling - like dogs so a very intense cleaning started on that as well, including cleaning the carpet later on.

Well, it's a beautiful day outside and I just realized that - uhhhhh - probably better to get going on that roof before it gets burning hot, ie: waiting until May or something to finish it.  Not the greatest idea, so, I am going to get up there and do that small vent and maybe start on the other thing up there that I want to do before calling it roof quits for the day.  Then, back to weeds and also cleaning out one of the pond filters for the second time this week.  It is getting clogged up quickly because of the tree debris coming down into it.  Soon, that will all be cleaned out of there and I will be able to revert back to once a month cleanings.

Have a great day : )

ben

Saturday 3/24/2012

Another Marathon work day yesterday.  About 1:00 pm, I'm sitting at the main branch, calling the salesman on the account that is working on the new Intel plant.  "I'm down here, right now, is there anything ELSE that we are doing today?". He calls all the supervisors out there and they tell him, no, they are good, don't need anything.

So, I take the load I have on the truck to, where else, the Intel plant and figure the day is over after that.  2:00 pm.  Salesman calls, I'm still sitting on the site waiting for yet another contractor that we are also delivering goods to out there.  The call is telling me that I am going to have to run all over west Phoenix, pick up all kinds of stuff, go back to the yard, pick up more stuff and then deliver it - today, being yesterday.

Balk. It will be at least 5:00 pm, if not later, I reply, and they will have gone home by then.  The plan changes, just get the stuff we have at our yard he will go to 2 of the places, the 3rd vendor - which is way over in west Phoenix, we can do on Monday, according to the supervisor on-site that the salesman talked to.

Pass 30  minutes.  Another call.  The supervisor's manager changed that.  Nope, we need that part today to install tomorrow morning.  So, after finally getting out of that place at 3:10 pm, I knew I was in for a horrid time in traffic.  Friday afternoon, everyone wants to get home.  Indeed. I didn't get home yesterday until 7:00 pm.  9 hours of overtime for this week.  Undoubtedly will get more OT next week.  I was so tired, driving home was a chore.  I got in here and collapsed on the chair.  It wasn't 12 hours of driving, it was 12 hours of loading and unloading, move this, shift that plus I hadn't eaten enough food for that much of a work load/day.

So, here it is, 9:00am Saturday morning and I have had enough work for one week.  Too bad I still need to get up on the roof of that trailer and do more work up there.  Debating whether I really want to exert the energy to do any of that today or not.  I could do the small vent in relatively short order, I do believe, as long as the grinder doesn't blow up in my face.

But, I also want to get some flowers that Home Depot has for my front planters.  I have 3, nice looking planters out there that have much of nothing in them at the moment. A few flats of flowers would fix that nicely.

Maybe I'll head that way and stop at Waffle House or Denny's.  I haven't eaten in quite a long time now, about 17 hours and then, it was only 2 very small sandwiches.  9 hours before that was a salad and 15 hours before that was dinner.  The point? I'm hungry!

Later.

ben

Friday 3/23/2012

Another work week just about past.  I have been going into that Intel plant every day, several times a day.  It's been going on this way for quite a while now and frankly, I am getting sick of it.  I haven't been on  a "long" run in a long time now and I need a bit of diversity here to mix things up.   Instead, I am going to be going back to that plant at least twice again today.  It's the new fab buildings they are putting up and the company we are servicing requires a lot of material, all the time.

The guards know me by name now.  Not just my first name, either.  When I walk up to give them my paperwork, it's "How's it going, mr. Ben B?" - full name though of which, of course, I will never post here.  Of course, there haven't BEEN any mountain or other runs in our service area - but there have been plenty in the main branch's area.  

I'm really trying to wait until summer before taking any serious time off, but I am feeling in need of a good, 9 days straight off which would include 4 weekend days.  I want to do that up in the mountains, at my mother's property, in my trailer that hopefully will be up there by then.  Mark has been working on stripping the carpet in the areas that it must be taken out, which is the bathroom.  The stuff is stuck to the floor and apparently has been quite the paint to remove.  

My paycheck - which was direct deposited at midnight - was about $300 higher than normal simply because of all of this overtime.  Too bad I don't get ALL of the overtime money, then it would have been closer to $600 over.  Thank the government for taking a good chunk of change out of that OT.  At least the weekend is here, I am just plain tired and just want to rest.  

Well, anyway, I am going to force myself to get up on that trailer again this weekend and get that small vent done and then the rest?  Dunno.  My manager told me he was going to bring in his grinder to let me borrow it, but, as usual, he hasn't brought it in and has probably totally forgotten about it.  I didn't ask him to borrow it anyway, I didn't even know he had one, I was just asking him if he knew a decent brand that won't burn up so I can go buy one.  I am not going to ask him about it, just blow it off and find one if this other piece of junk burns up, which I am sure it will because I am just going to run the thing until the motor dies on it and then it's going to go into the trash can.  Next?

I don't know why tenants think I am in a talkative mood in the mornings, especially this early, but sometimes it happens.  I don't want to talk, I just want to sit here and do my thing on the computer for the few minutes that I have with it and then get up and go to work.  I'm a bit grumpy this morning - tired is the cause, woke up several times last night - and I would rather go back to bed right now than haul my @$$ off to work, but I have no choice in the matter and so, in 10 minutes, it's off to work I go to spend another day in the Intel plant or running around all over the place picking stuff up to go.........where else............into the Intel plant.  I probably shouldn't complain about it, but it gets monotonous.  Same place, 2 or 3 times a day, every day.  Plus other sites thrown in to make sure that the schedule is pressured because everyone wants their product right now.  

I think I'll stop this entry now.  I keep writing like that and I'll get depressed or something!

G'day.

ben

Thursday 3/22/2012

I decided to give up on that junk grinder and go buy a decent one to finish this job.  My manager said no, I'll bring one in tomorrow, it's a good one.
Cool.  Didn't want to spend the money anyway.
I have identified numerous areas on the roof that need to be brought down to the metal and recoated.  Much of it will be easy enough, not a thick coating, but I don't want to get up there, use this piece of junk I have for 3 minutes and then have to wait 20 to 30 minutes for the motor to cool off.
That is hardly a motivator to even start on it, much less get the job done.

I do hope he brings it, I want to get that junk done before it starts getting warm or even hot.

As it stands, finding the rest of what I need for it is going to have to wait until next month when more tenant money comes in, cause' I'm getting too low on funds and I don't tend to spend money on anything but basics when things start getting tight.

The tenant that was in the hospital came back - his surgery was a success and the arm is healing.

There isn't really much new going on around here besides the crap yesterday. I came home from work to hear Mark telling me that the kids - 18 and 19 year olds - next door were talking about how I had just thrown a rock at them over the fence.  Meanwhile, apparently the are shooting pellet pistols at each other in their back yard.  Number 1, I didn't throw rocks at kids, I don't throw rocks at anyone.  Number 2, I don't really like the idea of pellet guns being shot off next door to me.

Turns out?  350 man threw the rock at them.  What a dumbass.

Whatever. Time to leave for work.

ben

Tuesday 3/20/2012 The Accident On I-10

I was cruising in the semi going back to the yard from our main branch.
Main branch is in downtown Phoenix, our yard is in Chandler.
I was on I-10, just about to hit the Salt River bridge - at the time of day
it was - a bit past 4:00pm, I always pull back. The bridge seems to be the starting point of a huge slowdown that turns into stop and go traffic.

There is a sea of traffic in front of me, I'm just trying to keep a good distance between me and whatever is in front of me. There is a box truck up ahead, 2 lanes over.  I'm not watching it in particular, it's just there.  It is a large, 6 wheel truck that has a box on it that is as tall as a semi trailer and about - 30 foot long truck anyway.  I am always watching as far ahead as possible, looking for brake lights - and I saw a bunch of them going on all at once.

The next thing I know, this box truck is slamming on it's brakes, slides sideways and then rams head first into the center median wall.  The truck was probably going about 70mph.  It head dead center of where a 40 or so foot tall light pole was planted in the middle of that cement median wall.  The impact of the truck was so great, the entire cab of the truck flew off of the truck and OVER the median wall, into traffic coming from the other direction.  It landed in the HOV lane and THEN, the light pole came down ON TOP of the cab!

It was surreal.  I saw smoke coming from the engine, which was the ONLY thing left on the front portion of that truck, I immediately pulled over in the center emergency lane, just ahead of the now over-turned truck, got my fire extinguisher and ran up to the truck, looking at the cab of that truck on the other side of the wall, wondering if anyone was alive.  Well, there was no fire so I didn't use the extinguisher.  All kinds of people had already stopped on the other side of the wall including a police officer in an unmarked car who was sitting there talking to one occupants of the cab.  So, at least they weren't dead.

Well, I did see a hand on the driver's side of the cab and a leg and neither were moving, it was the person on the other side of the cab that was talking - I have no clue what the injuries were on it.  If you look at the pic, you can see the overturned truck and just beyond it you can see my semi parked on the shoulder.

Well, crazy stuff.  I didn't stick around too long because I didn't witness what happened.  I only see the truck crash, not what CAUSED the truck to crash.  However, the dude I was talking with had the whole story down pat.  A car was following another car too closely.  The car being followed had to hit his brakes hard and the dude in the car behind didn't react in time, smashed into another car beside him, started sliding sideways and in front of the truck, which slammed on it's brakes.  The rest I saw with my own eyes.

However, while I'm talking with the guy, we are looking at the engine on this truck which turned from smoldering to a full fledged fire and hence my fire extinguisher came into use - one of those smothering, chemical types of extinguishers that put that fire out.  The fire department hadn't arrived and after 10 minutes of standing there still hadn't arrived.  Which I thought strange.  

The rest is history.  The entire freeway was shut down which basically threw the entire valley into a traveling nightmare.  Once you shut down a major interstate, all bets are off. Everyone is flooding surface streets trying to get past it.  It is 9:00 pm right now, 5 hours later and the residual effect of that accident and shutting down the entire freeway is STILL wreaking havoc out there.

But, I went to church anyway.  Took some side streets and avoided most of the bad traffic and got there and back.  But, it IS 9:00 pm and that's half an hour past my bedtime!

G'nite.

ben

Do you remember:
 Life before the microwave oven?
Without remote controls?
Before cellphones?
Pagers?
Internet?
Satellite or cable TV?
Color TV?
Cars with carburetors?
800 incoming call centers?
Muzak?
An endless list.
Seriously.  You could sit around and think about this stuff and keep coming up with more and more - if you are old enough, of course, lol.

When microwave ovens came out, I wanted nothing to do with them.  I was terrified of the idea of eating something that had been "nuked" - a term that didn't even exist at the time they came out  but clearly defines my fear at the time that they may, somehow, be irradiating or otherwise poisoning my food somehow.  I refused to use them for years, but eventually caved in.

I also had the same fear when cell phones came out.  What are THOSE things putting out?  Right up to your ear, right next to your brain.  It seems, however, that that fear is not completely unfounded.  I don't talk on phones much anymore and I don't miss it.  I used to talk up to 6,000 minutes per month, no more.  Most of my phone activity is at work while on-duty and they are usually short conversations to clarify from me to someone else or someone else to me what's going on.

I remember the first time I used a remote control.  Functions were extremely limited but my gosh, everyone absolutely fell in love with those thing, as did I, right from the start.

When push button phones came out, I also resisted.  I liked watching the rotary dial going around for each number.  I don't recall everyone being in such a hurry back in those days.  I had rotary phones for years and years after push button phones came out.  I don't think my Magic Jack would be able to deal with a rotary phone.

I'm still in awe of a credit card sized mobile broadband router that I can carry in my pocket and puts out a signal that will definitely get you around the internet.  Coming through the air.  All this stuff coming through the air still intrigues me.  Or carrying around a computer that can do most anything my desktop computer can do.

Where is this all headed?  I don't really care, to be honest.  I don't have a smartphone and have no intention on getting one any time soon.  I don't care about all the latest stuff.  Some things I would like to have, but can live without, such as a flat screen TV.  Don't have a single one in my house, though I did buy one on Black Friday for my travel trailer.  I only bought one of those because of limited space in a travel trailer and a flat screen seemed the best option.  It's 19 inches and that's enough.

I like fuel injection versus carburetors simply for the fact you get better fuel mileage out of it.  They run better and there aren't any jets and other minutia in fuel injection to go haywire.  Fuel injection hardy ever has the same types of problems of carburetors.

I like a lot of the stuff that has come out in the last 20, 30 years, some of it I could care less.  Some of it can go by the wayside.

I think some of the reason we look at the old days as better is simply because we were able to fix most of it. We could understand it without having to hook a computer up to it to find out what's wrong with it. We called it simpler times, but, in reality, whatever time period you are living in, it all has it's set of problems to deal you.  Yet, you can find peace in any setting.  I'm starting to come full circle, mostly because I have been seeking it for quite a while now.  No, not that I wish we would go back to the "old days", that will never happen.  But, that I can find peace in my inner man regardless of what is going on around me.  I find no peace, to be completely honest, in the constant roll-outs of the Obama administration.  I find peace that God is in control, always has been, always will be.


Whatever happens in this world, God is not shocked.  He is not taken by surprise.  Some thing didn't happen that took Him unawares.  No, He sees all of it.  He knows all of it, in advance.  My peace is found in Him, nothing else.  But, sometimes? It's nice to take a trip down memory lane.

ben

Monday 3/19/2012

Apparently, people in some parts of the U.S. are already paying 6 dollars per gallon for fuel.  Diesel fuel is inching up towards the$5 mark around these parts.  Another 4 years of Obama?  Yeah, no thanks.

If one were to believe the radar map over Arizona, then one would logically conclude that a good portion of the northern part of the state is being snowed on right now.  And that the Phoenix area still has some rain coming down.  Having a travel trailer up north, in the mountains, might have some potential for a nice snow getaway - but in the winter, you have to put antifreeze in the pipes to keep them from bursting, meaning that little getaway would not have running water.  Hmmm, but it would have heat, either propane sourced or electrical source.  I have 2 propane heaters in the thing - a furnace and a radiator type of thing and then the AC unit also has heat.  Wherever they had this thing before, it must have gotten cold there!

It will be interesting to see if anyone is working today. Contractors, that is.  When the sites get too muddy or wet, they shut them down.  It appears to still be raining in the East Valley, which is where 2 of the sites are that I have deliveries to take to this morning.   The dogs should also be happy when I kick them out for the day - a daily event that is only usurped if someone brings them in - with the condition that they are watched while they are in here.  

Well, time to be off to work.

G'day.

ben

I went into the 5th wheel trailer a bit ago to check again.  It rained a bit again, just looking for leaks.  I had all the dogs come in, too.  Duke - 150 pound Great Dane - can leap up and over the stairs and right into the trailer.  Sophie, the new doggy, easily passes right by the stairs on her way through the air.

Prince?  Tried and tried, but he wouldn't try to jump.  So I picked him up and put him in there.  The axles on the trailer are inverted - meaning the trailer sets way up off the ground.  They do that when people intend on taking a trailer into terrain that can't handle "low rider" stuff in bottoming out.  The stairs are not compatible for dogs, a much larger set with smaller increments would work.  Regardless, I had all 3 of them in there. Kinda of a small space for as much dog was in there, but we'll figure it out.

I sat there with the intrigue of going up to the mountains as much as possible and a solemness that Coco won't be there.  I know, sounds crazy, but I talk to my dogs.  Always have.  I told her a bunch of times that we would be going to the mountains this summer.  A promise that will only be kept by taking her ashes up there.  She has been to that property several times in the past, she absolutely loved it.  But, I told my other dogs the same thing.  They had no understand of what I meant.  They will start to understand it "Wanna go to the mountains?" as I say that and then we head out.  They'll get the idea that it's time to get in the car and go for a 2 plus hour drive up to a place that is MUCH different than the place they "live at".  A place where I don't have to keep them on leashes and that they can run free.  I don't have to worry that animal control is going to come along and pick them up, or that they are going to encounter other dogs or humans.  Well, there are other dogs and humans up there, but no that many and almost never do you encounter them while on walks in the woods.

I also sat there and wondered if life was going to throw me any other curve balls before then.  Then pretty much being the end of May when my mother will be going up there and I will arrange to have the thing hauled up there.

If I were to live my life in the fear of what might happen, I would never do anything or get much of anything done.  So, I put it out of my mind.  Most bridges are only meant to be crossed if and when you get to them.

It finally started raining again.  Heavy winds are blowing so the rain is coming in sideways against the sliding glass door.  Between a light and moderate rainfall.  I had hoped for this hours ago.  It would be cool if  it started pouring rain and I could hear the sound of it.  Instead, it's too light to even hear it hitting the glass or the roof.

I'll actually be glad to eventually get both of those trailers out of here. It will open up the west side of the house and will also let the trees over there start to get full sun again.

Well that's it. I am still pondering and pouring over the message at church this morning.  There is much to ponder.  I feel the winds of change coming, but I don't know what it is.

ben

Sunday 3/18/2012

So last night.  I'm sitting out here, enjoying the evening, an hour before it's time to go to bed.  Caleb comes walking out of his bedroom and hands me his phone: "someone wants to talk to you".  Okay, I answer the phone: hello?

You and Caleb are hanging out tonight?, comes a young sounding voice over the phone.  "Yes, I replied, he's my best bud".  Who is this, was my question and looking at Caleb.  My name is so and so, was just trying to find out if Caleb was hanging with you tonight.  Okay, well have a nice evening.  

He gets done with the phone call and I, obviously, am asking him WHAT, exactly, that was all about.  He had been asked by several of his friends to be a designated driver, knowing that Caleb neither drinks nor does drugs.  They wanted him to drive them to a party out in the desert where they would be doing both drugs and alcohol.  He had given his friends the excuse that he was home, hanging out with his dad.  Well, he was home, we hang out here and there, so there.  He didn't WANT to be their designated driver, he didn't want anything to do with it and so I commend him for finding a way out of it.  Though, if it were me, I would have just flat out told them: No thanks, don't want to go to the desert and be subjected to a bunch of drugged up people for an entire night and really, I don't really appreciate using me as your driver simply because I choose not to do the same kinds of things you are doing.

But that's me.  I was glad to be of help to him to get out of that situation, regardless of the fact that I had no clue what was going on while I was on the phone with his friend.

Rain. Finally.  It rained last night, for how long I have no idea, but everything was wet this morning.   It was supposed to basically rain all day long, but it's been sporadic and not that heavy.  I'll take it over nothing, thank you.  I checked the trailer on the roof vents.  One of them leaked badly every time it rained.  No a drop of water to be seen anywhere today : )  Which makes it ready to put new carpet in that area.  Also makes it ready to put the new mattress in there - the new mattress that I don't have, lol.

I am still wishing that it would just start pouring rain and go on for at least a couple of hours.  Just now looking at the radar, there is still plenty of chance to get a nice deluge of water from the sky yet to come and still some daylight hours left to enjoy it.  Hoping.

Church.  I went.  It went on for 2-1/2 hours but I was totally into it today.  Well, excepting at the end.  I wanted to get out of there and get to Walmart and get that over with - out of dog food and needed a new pair of steel toed boots for work.  I wore the current pair down to holes in the soles.

The rest of today?  Ummm, nothing much planned.  The trailer roof is wet or I would probably get up there and start on that other, small roof vent.  It's a vent for the sewer, basically.  All sewer systems in homes or trailers have vents in them.  You might have some problems with the stuff actually going down instead of up and out if you didn't have vents on them : )  Anyway, this particular vent is broken, the cap is missing and yes,  water can and probably is getting in through there.  Oh well.

Bought some nice, over-priced pork chops at Walmart and just devoured a couple.  Meat is pretty much over-priced everywhere now.  Inflation.  High inflation.  This is what some of the doom and gloomers  have been predicting would happen in 2012 for  about a year now.  The rest of their predictions I TRULY hope do not come to pass, but if it does, coming soon and in 2012.

The Obama administration and spending.  It's a farce.  Obama wants power over everything, this is his goal, it's obvious and it's determined, calculated and very probable if he gets another 4 years.  He wants to control everything and apparently he thinks he has the right to do so.  Socialism, coming to a city near you.  Maybe it's already here in some forms.

Well, I am not going to ruin my afternoon dwelling on that s***, not worth it.  How much of my taxes, though, is reasonable to give to all the different forms of government?  Well, it's FAR beyond anything I would consider reasonable already.

Anyway, despite the fact that radar shows different shades of green covering the city - meaning rain - I have sunshine.  I love sunshine, don't get me wrong, but I want the rain, darnit!

ben

Saturday 3/17/2012

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!  Another excuse for people to go swimming in green beer and get extremely drunk.  I might have a couple, but won't be going anywhere near that far with it.  I am part Irish, BTW.

I got up at about the time I had planned on this morning, maybe just a wee bit earlier.  Got on the net and did my usual things and then.........headed out doors.  Lots of tree trimming needing to be done, some plants too, got a good jump on it.  But, with the threat of up to two inches of rain being dumped allegedly starting tonight and going all day tomorrow?  I had to get that vent installed.

Yes, I considered just covering it up, but it was time to get the misery over with.  I really am not a fan of standing, sitting, kneeling there - take several positions to keep comfortable - putting in 30 screws.  But it's done.  Still needs some caulking around the edges and then coat it with the special, white coating.  But the hardest part is done.  I still have one, much smaller vent to go - 6 screws on that one, but I didn't remove it yet.  So, that will stay like that until after the rain.  There is also another area where there is a huge conglomeration of that elastomeric coating is, it's all going to have to be brought back down to the metal, thoroughly cleaned and then see what I need to do about it.

So, 2 more drudgerious (made up word, have been using it for decades) things left to go on it and then I can finally say it's done.  Will be doing that soon as I do not want to be up there in the heat, at all.

Absolutely gorgeous day today.  I was going to water plants, but if it really rains like they say it is going to tomorrow, it would be a waste of water.  If it were to ever rain around here with any consistency, I would definitely build a system to collect the water into barrels and re-use that water to water my plants.  Whatever the case, I am hoping it will rain as they say it will and the ground gets really saturated.  I need to put some lodge poles in the ground to stablize some trees.  Much easier to do when the ground is wet.

While I was up on the trailer roof, I saw the hummingbird.  She definitely has a nest in there somewhere.  Their nests are so small, they are next to invisible.  The size of a small leaf.  To find it means at least finding the right tree and then trying to find a needle in a haystack scenario.  Not impossible, but you can easily glance over it even if you know where it is, much less attempting to locate it for the first time.  It was - well it was fun and strange at the same time - last year watching the little birdies grow.  Unfortunately, the nest was too small for both of them.  One of them died and ended up smashed at the bottom of the nest while the other when grew and grew.  He/she hung out around here for a long time after it got to the flying stage.  Not sure if it's still around or not, there are so many hummingbirds I can't really tell.

Long break.
Motivation running out.  I have been pruning trees for quite a while now.  It's the time of year to get them pruned and growing in the direction you want them to, which is up, not sideways.  The trees beside my house tend to want to start growing sideways instead of going up.

Anyway, that's it.

Have a great Saturday/St. Patrick's Day!

ben

Friday 3/16/2012

Friday at work did not end as planned.  But, I had a 50-50 shot at it anyway.  Get off at noon.  The earliest I can leave work under "normal" circumstances is noon, even if I am on overtime.  

I started the day off this morning at the full allotted hours for the pay period, meaning all day today is overtime.  Around 11:45 am, I get calls.  More than one yes.  About the same thing:  a huge order being put into the system to be pulled today, loaded and delivered today.  I figured 4:00pm before the day would be over - I was close, it was 4:40pm before I clocked out.  10 and a half hours of overtime and yes, I"ll take it. 

According to the forecasts - and I have looked at a lot of them - there is, depending on which site you look at - an 80-90% chance of rain on Sunday.  That usually means it's definitely going to rain.  I haven't seen real rain in about 6 months.  It if REALLY does rain like that all day long, I will be in heaven.  I will leave the east side door open and listen to the water pouring off the roof, into one of the ponds that is close enough to the house that the water pours into it.  

I won't be driving anywhere, if at all possible. People around here do not know how to drive in the rain.  In fact, most people around here don't know how to drive at all, whether clear, blue skies or watered down streets.  When it really rains here, the accident list goes WAY up.  I won't want to go anywhere, anyway, I will want to sit here and listen, watch and feel it all day long.  I truly HOPE it happens.

Which means, however, that that gaping hole I put in the trailer roof last weekend by means of removing a vent will have to be done tomorrow.  I planned on doing it anyway, but now a fire has been lit on my feet and it is going to be done.  I will be greatly hoping that the other vent I already installed will hold tight against the water - though I still have to put a bead  around the edges and cover it with elasomesoteric coating - all will be done tomorrow.  I have everything I need to finish it, just have to do it.

But, I am staying up late - for me anyway, at least 10:00 pm.  I have no need to get up early in the morning and I don't WANT to get up early.  I have been getting up early forever.  I will get up around 7 or 8 in the morning and that is an extremely late rise for me : )  I want to sleep in and then get up, take a long, hot shower, eat some breakfast with coffee and then, get on the internet, take my sweet old time and THEN, I will get up on the roof of that trailer and finish that vent thing.  Which doesn't mean that roof is finished, but it is getting there.  

Okay, I will have to get out of bed earlier than that to let the dogs out of the room so they can go outside and do their business, lol.

Well it's bedtime.

Nite'.

ben

"The First Amendment to the Constitution prohibits the government from infringing upon the freedom of speech, the freedom of association and the freedom to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Speech is language and other forms of expression; and association and petition connote physical presence in reasonable proximity to those of like mind and to government officials, so as to make your opinions known to them.

The Declaration of Independence recognizes all three freedoms as stemming from our humanity. So, what happens if you can speak freely, but the government officials at whom your speech is aimed refuse to hear you? And what happens if your right to associate and to petition the government is confined to areas where those of like mind and the government are not present? This is coming to a street corner near you.

Certain rights, like thought and privacy and travel, can be exercised on their own. You don’t need the government to cooperate with you; you just need to be left alone. Other rights, like those intended to influence the political process, require that the government not resist your exercise of them. 

Remember the old one-liner from Philosophy 101: If a tree falls in a forest and no one is there, does it make any noise? Here’s the contemporary version of that: If you can criticize the government, but it refuses to hear you, does your exercise of the freedom of speech have any value?

When the Framers of the Constitution wrote the First Amendment, they lived in a society in which anyone could walk up to George Washington or John Adams or Thomas Jefferson on a public street and say directly to them whatever one wished. They never dreamed of a regal-like force of armed agents keeping public officials away from the public, as we have today. And they never imagined that it could be a felony for anyone to congregate in public within earshot or eyesight of certain government officials. And yet, today in America, it is.

Last week, President Obama signed into law the Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act of 2011. This law permits Secret Service agents to designate any place they wish as a place where free speech, association and petition of the government are prohibited. And it permits the Secret Service to make these determinations based on the content of speech.

Thus, federal agents whose work is to protect public officials and their friends may prohibit the speech and the gatherings of folks who disagree with those officials or permit the speech and the gatherings of those who would praise them, even though the First Amendment condemns content-based speech discrimination by the government. 

The new law also provides that anyone who gathers in a “restricted” area may be prosecuted. And because the statute does not require the government to prove intent, a person accidentally in a restricted area can be charged and prosecuted, as well.

Permitting people to express publicly their opinions to the president only at a time and in a place and manner such that he cannot hear them violates the First Amendment because it guarantees the right to useful speech; and unheard political speech is politically useless. The same may be said of the rights to associate and to petition. If peaceful public assembly and public expression of political demands on the government can be restricted to places where government officials cannot be confronted, then those rights, too, have been neutered.

Political speech is in the highest category of protected speech. This is not about drowning out the president in the Oval Office. This is about letting him know what we think of his work when he leaves the White House. This is speech intended to influence the political process.

This abominable legislation enjoyed overwhelming support from both political parties in Congress because the establishment loves power, fears dissent and hates inconvenience, and it doesn’t give a damn about the Constitution. It passed the Senate by unanimous consent, and only three members of the House voted against it. And the president signed it in secret. It is more typical of contemporary China than America. It is more George III than George Washington.

The whole purpose of the First Amendment is to assure open, wide, robust, uninhibited political debate, debate that can be seen and heard by those it seeks to challenge and influence, whether it is convenient for them or not. Anything short of that turns the First Amendment into a mirage."

Another Woman, Another Car

Well here we go.  I'm driving the semi on I-10, approaching the Salt River bridge - though no river anymore, we just call it the Salt River bottom.  A lady in a tin can car in front me going 65mph, the speed limit.  I'm following behind, moderate traffic.  An Arizona Highway Patrol cruiser comes up in front of us, just past the 27th Avenue on-ramp.  There is a Highway Patrol yard on 27th avenue and that is where they get on if going eastbound.

Well, suddenly, this lady slows down to 55mph.  I had no where to go, too much traffic to safely change lanes and anyway, I knew what was coming ahead: I was in the best lane for moving along and for getting off where I need to get off at, even if 5 miles away.  We get on the bridge - I can see well ahead, brake lights, a whole sea of them.  This lady is now 150 feet or more behind the nearest car in front of her.  She was maybe 30 feet before.  I'm getting annoyed, keep up with traffic.  But I gave up on the attempt to get over in the next lane, traffic too heavy and I didn't NEED to get over besides this person going to slow.

We're down to stop and go traffic.  The cop is staying either behind us or beside us 2 lanes over.  I finally got it: this lady has some sort of legal issue, that cop is seeing what she is doing - erratic driving  - and what is going to happen next.  Well, for quite a while, nothing.  Yet, the cop didn't attempt to move on like they always do if there's no prospects.  He's still just there in a sea of cars, moving very slowly.  Yes, he could have gotten into the HOV lane and taken off, so I knew SOMETHING had to be up.

Well, 10 minutes of this and finally the cop moves ahead in traffic and is beside a semi, out of the view of the lady in the car though totally in my view.  He hits his brakes.  Slows down to let the semi pass.  Gets into the lane next to me.  He's ahead of me in the next lane over.  I already knew what was going to happen, I slowed  down and let him in.  Lights flashing, behind that lady and I can tell that lady is freaking out.

I dunno what happened there today, but it was a few moments of - umm - drama? - just attempting to feel out what the cop was doing and how non-nonchalantly he was doing it, as if he wasn't paying that car or it's driver any attention at all, yet undoubtedly inputting the license plate info and the owner info into his computer's database and finding out what's going on.

People make themselves obvious.  I could see it when the cop was in FRONT of us and hadn't even seen this woman's driving behavior. If she had driven normally, that cop probably would never have spotted her in that kind of heavy, heavy traffic.

So, a few minutes ago, I am on my facebook page.  A FB friend posted a site with dog pics, so I clicked on it.  All kinds of lovable, furry critters in all kinds of different poses, then I get to this photo, here: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=305442369508815&set=a.120132051373182.37467.119712771415110&type=1&theater
A picture of a man crying after being reunited with his beloved dog after his house was destroyed.  The dog's name? Coco.

Thursday 3/15/2012

I guessed, when this first came out, that Obamacare would cost at least 3 to 4 times what they are saying it is going to cost.  So, if it's going to cost 1 trillion, it's actually going to be closer to 4.  Well, guess what.  We are now half way there.  That's right, folks, the price tag has now doubled to 2 trillion dollars, but I can guarantee you it isn't over yet.  It's the government.  If there is one thing the Obama has done that all effort should be made to get rid of, it's Obamacare.

We can't afford it.  I have gone through periods of my life when I didn't have health care coverage, it sucked but I didn't go around all over the place, crying on the news about how I can't afford "my contraceptives" and all this other BS that is being espoused all over the place.

Yeah, and next: a flag with Obama's picture on it - stars removed.  How sick is that?  Seriously, I don't care WHAT party a president is from, that person's picture or anything else for that matter should never be placed on an American Flag.  PLEASE.

4 more years of Obama? And just think, all restraints will be off if he gets another 4 years.  He won't be trying to appeal to anyone because his tenure will be over after 4 more years and not worried about another election - anyone want to talk about Socialism?  I didn't think so.

I don't like Romney, but if he wins the nomination, I'll vote for him ANY day of the week over Obama.

Thanks.

Whatever.  I'm off to work.

G'day.

ben

The Woman In The Car - OH, Make That The Women In 2 Cars

First incident today.  I'm driving in the "slow" lane on a surface street in heavy traffic. Not moderate traffic, not light traffic, heavy traffic.  Truck has a partial load on it, very light, maybe 5,000 pounds worth.  Trucks don't even hardly feel that kind of weight.  I'm behind the car in front of me, not lagging behind is what I am saying.  There is a turning lane on my right.  It is obviously a turning lane and the lane obviously ends - at a block wall.

This woman in a compact car decides she is going to pass me in that lane, which is not a passing lane but more importantly, she doesn't have enough time/room to MAKE that pass. I would have had to STOP the truck entirely to let her in since by the time we were almost at that block wall, she was only at the side of my trailer.  At first I didn't know if she was turning in that turning lane or if she was playing these stupid games that everyone does around semi trucks. Well, I wasn't going to slam on my brakes for someone else's stupidity, I figured to let her do that in her own car since she was speeding - probably going 65 to 70 in a 45 zone and also attempting to pass in a turning lane.  Yup, she slams on her brakes and JUST stops short of that wall.  Amazingly, there was a motorcycle behind her that apparently also figured to pass me who was also stranded.

Now, stuff happens in traffic all day long and I was definitely driving, all day long.  But some of it is amazingly ridiculous and stupid stuff.  Like the guy stuck behind me today on the freeway on-ramp. Apparently, I was going to slow for him so he decided to pass me on the emergency lane on the right side of me.  What I am doing is going through the gears and if the truck is heavy, it takes a while to get up to speed.

Then, there was the second lady.  I am turning on a green arrow.  I was accelerating.  This woman apparently thinks I am going to slow and starts honking her horn at me!  She gets by me and flips me off.  I have done or said NOTHING to this woman, no gestures, no middle fingers, nothing.  Then, a black car following her has a finger come out of their window as well.  This is the joy of driving in a metropolis.  A daily event, though it doesn't happen so much in my car since I can keep up with every one and also - because I am cut off so frequently in the truck, so often, I don't LET people cut me off while in the car.

I can't tell you how many times on the freeway today a car comes speeding up beside me, cuts directly in front of me and then slams on the brakes to avoid - hitting the car that is in front of me that is now in front of them.  Morons.

Sooo, last night at the church group.  A lady starts sobbing as she starts talking about her doggy and how the doc has told her the dog doesn't have much time.  She knows it is going away.  That started it all over for me.  I didn't say anything but inwardly I was churning.  The dude that runs the thing looks at me and says how I had just gotten a new doggy - I replied yes, but I just put down my beloved doggy and looked at the lady and empathetically said: It's not a lot of fun, I know.  Well, anyway, he prayed for both of us which turned the faucet on yet again.  I haven't gone to get her ashes yet - and in no hurry to be honest.  I guess I better get them before something happens to them, but at the same time, I'm not sure how I will be able to handle that.

Enough of that.  I had a very long day at work, 10 hours non-stop and I don't even want to go there.  So I won't. Sophie is now learning about commands, especially the one that says "come" and she - decides to ignore me.  I don't know how anyone else trains their doggies, when a dog ignores me and actually starts walking off, I get out of my chair, grab the dog by the collar and yes, we go and we do what I told that dog to do in the first place.  I don't tolerate disobedient dogs, not that I beat the crap out of them, but I do take action to correct it and quickly. I am taking it a bit easy with her, though, I am guessing by the way she reacts that she has been subjected to some abuse in the past.  She's a sweet, gentle and loving dog, though and I don't think it's going to take too terribly long to get her adjusted to my way of doing things.

Still, it takes quite a while for a dog to be around you before it really starts understanding you, how you want it to behave and what lines can be crossed and can't be crossed.  It's a big investment in time, really, to train a dog to the point that you don't really have to say much of anything to get them to do what you want them to do, they already KNOW what you want them to do before you say it. I like getting them to the hand gesture phase, where you simply point and they understand.  I can click my fingers at Prince and he will come, I point at the floor and he lays down.  Nothing complicated or outstanding, just an example.

Well, bedtime.

G'nite.

ben

Wednesday 3/14/2012

I was at the Phoenix LTL (less than truckload terminal, will not say which in case it gets Googled) terminal today, picking up a large delivery of material that for whatever reason, had not been delivered directly to us.  We got to talking about loading flatbeds versus loading vans since Conway doesn't have flatbed trailers, which led to this and that and then he started talking about his hernias and on and on.

I asked him - aren't you about ready to retire?  Not in mocking way, it was a sincere question as he is obviously well up there in years.  He replies that he is 72 years old, but then does the finger rubbing gesture - the one that denotes money and in this case, the lack of it.

72 years old and still operating a forklift because he doesn't have enough money to retire.

This is exactly what I am afraid of.  72 years old, operating a forklift in a warehouse and loading trucks because I don't have enough money to retire on.  How did we get ourselves into this position?  So many people at retirement age that have nothing near the amount of money stashed away that is necessary to enjoy at least a decent retirement without feeling like you are living in want.

Gave all 3 dogs flea baths yesterday and the treated all 3 for fleas, even though the Danes show no sign of it. Sophie didn't exactly like the cold water; Duke loves water and doesn't care how cold it is and Prince - well - he just stood there with a pathetic look on his face, lol.

I need another vacation.  I am trying to hold off until summer.  May warms up then June brings hell.  So maybe 2-1/2 months off. Gonna have to take another 3 day weekend before then, I do believe.

Also went to the small church group yesterday.  I like it a lot better than last week, but - there is always one or 2 people in such groups that feel they must dominate every conversation that comes up.  Their opinion, apparently, is equal to the value of gold and therefore must be heard.  One woman especially.  She couldn't and wouldn't stop talking.  Whenever someone had something to say about the discussion that would be put forth, this woman would chime right in and go on for 5  or even 10 minutes.  I got very tired of listening to it.  If they don't do something to stop it, I may opt out of that small group and go to a different one.  Way back when, when I was leading small groups, I remember a guy that would not shut up.  He would go on and on and on the entire time, leaving very little time for anyone else to say much of anything.  I ended up confronting him on it.  He claimed he didn't realize he was doing that.

Anyway, everyone has a viewpoint and an opinion about everything, including things Bible related.  I just don't get people who think they are somehow pre-eminent  and will never shut up.  They sidetrack entire conversations and go off into tangents that are usually extremely personal - and extremely boring - things that only relate to them and have nothing to do with the conversation that was originally floated.  That's great in your social circle, I guess, but not so great in a church group.  I am not going to say anything, yet.  I will see what happens next week.  Basically, the group leader just needs to take charge and do whatever he has to to limit one person from taking over everything that is brought up.

Well, whatever.  I hate to speak negatively about it, but it became rather annoying after an hour of it and I would doubt that I am the only one that feels that way.  The meeting was supposed to be over at 8:30 pm, which it was not, but the leader saw me looking at the clock and offered that anyone that needed to leave, could.  I got up, said I didn't mean to be rude but I have to get up at 4:30 am, I gotta leave.  They all gave their blessing on it.

Time to go to work, plenty to do today, too.

Later.

ben

Tuesday 3/13/2012

So it's like Tuesday the 13th. Which has no bearing on anything but it suddenly dawned on me this morning I have several payments to send out that need to be there shortly, so, okay.

The new doggy has fleas, I have figured out.  She will be getting a flea/tick shampoo later on today and then Hartz liquid put on her body and that will wipe them out.  I will have to get the stuff for my Danes as well, since fleas don't care what dog they are on.  They aren't scratching - yet - only a matter of time. Fortunately, fleas are a relatively easy thing to get rid of once you realize what the problem is.  Ticks are a different story - I HATE those things!  The pest control dude pretty much keeps a handle on the tick problem around here, though.

The basically get to my property from the unkempt properties next door.  Ants as well, though I would far rather have ants crawling on my property than ticks anyday.  Anyway, the people behind me have piles of dog poop laying around and that is nice stuff for ticks.  They love it.  The pest control dude soaks the back fence very nicely to deal with all of that and said he would spray over the fence, but he isn't legally allowed to do that.

Yes, and those people aren't legally allowed to have a bunch of dog feces laying perpetually all over the place, either.  I dunno, but all of these neighbors have turned on themselves in the last 2 months, I am no longer the focus of their - boredom I would call it, people who have nothing better to do than to try and make life miserable for others - so, I hear the news here and there but say nothing.   I rarely even see 350 man anymore, he's either bothering the neighbors on the other side of him or in his house, apparently.

Well whatever.  Gotta git to work.

G'day.

ben

Monday 3/12/2012

So I have a big, gaping hole in the roof on  my trailer.  Okay, I did it on purpose.  Just gotta get back up there and finish the job.  I don't have any plumber's putty which is why I didn't finish it - just so happens my company sells the stuff and getting it at cost means paying almost nothing for it.  You are supposed to coat the screws with it before you put them in the roof to hold the new vent in place.

Sophie - the new doggy - is adjusting well.  She wanted out once in the middle of the night - definitely got up to allow that to happen but there were no accidents on my bedroom floor when I got up this morning, very nice thing.  She started out laying on the bed I have for the dogs and ended up laying on the floor next to my bed.  She's a follower, no doubting about that.  Whatever I am doing, she is right there in the middle of it.

Weekends - they always disappear too quickly.

Afghanistan in the news yet again.  The dude that killed all those people has now started a vow of revenge amongst the Taliban.  Isn't that wonderful?  What the h*** are we doing over there?  What is the POINT of staying over there?  bin Laden is dead, we should have moved out as soon as that happened.  Goodbye and good riddance.  They wanna keep killing themselves, have at it, what good reason do we have to stay there and have our troops killed along with them?

I hope that doesn't stay a rhetorical question forever.

Regardless, almost time to leave for work.

G'day.

ben

Sunday 3/10/2012

Well I have been preoccupied all day long, so no entry til' now - just before going to bed.

I did not go to church this morning because I did drive 50 miles out to the middle of the desert to get a doggie.

I was led by a Ford pickup - extended cab, raised, diesel engine, 8 foot bed - down a nameless dirt road to another nameless dirt road.  Ummm, not really comfortable driving down that in a low rider car, but made it without a problem driving very slowly.  

In the middle of nothing was a house, a barn, stables and horses.  We're not talking shabby here, either.  Nice property. Greet the lady that is taller than I am, I'm 6 feet 2 inches: she is skinny and very amiable introduced herself and we shook hands.  A man walked out of the house and we were introduced as well.  

Okay, let's meet the dog.  Taken to an enclosed pasture with numerous dogs in it, though I recognized my dog from the get-go.  Much smaller than my Danes, probably around 40 to 50 pounds, absolutely gorgeous. Didn't take a brain surgeon to figure out which eye is dead - it was obvious and blanked out.  

Brought her home, yes I did.  She is laying on the floor, next to me.  Very cool dog, very sweet dog, very lovable dog and a very obedient dog that knows basic commands.  Oh, and very beautiful dog  as well.  I don't need 3, giant dogs.  She's a darling.  She is also very tired out from the living conditions - not bad living conditions but I am guessing not very good for sleeping.  I removed the bedspread on the doggy bed in my room today and put another one on it.  Yes, Coco had relieved herself on it and the mattress below, which has also been removed.  My Coco.  Well let's not get started on that.  But I soooo miss that dog.

I dunno what else.  I just wrote about Coco and put myself back into that funk again.  I try not to go there, but I can't help it when it comes.

G'nite.

ben

The Roof

Freaking trailer roof.
Endless job.
Took forever to get the old screws out of the roof to remove the vent. They get filled up with sealant and you have to push down hard on the tool to try and force enough sealant out of the slot to get the tool into it to turn the screw out of there.  24 screws.

Now?  The grinder I bought was admittedly a cheap piece of junk: brand new junk off of Harbor Freight shelves.  Problem?  It heats up in about 2 minutes to the point you have to shut if off, let it cool off for 20 or 30 minutes and then resume. It's half done at this point, using it to clean all the old sealant off of the metal down to the metal.

Trying to at least get it all cleaned up by the end of today and then maybe tomorrow put the new vent on it.

Another card came in the mail today, just a few minutes ago.  It was a card from my regular veterinarian.  They had been notified of Coco's demise.  They sent me a very nice card and everyone that works there signed it.  Actually, I had stopped using them some years ago for no more reason than the other place I normally go to is closer. But, the closer place is much more expensive - and getting a personal, hand written card from a vet? I'll be going there from now on.  The emergency clinic I took Coco to last Saturday called yesterday and left a message: her ashes are ready to be picked up.

Those will have to sit around her for a few months until I get the trailer up to my mom's property - that is the area where I want to spread them.  Not anywhere on the property she uses or walks around on, but on the unused portion of the property and on the Tonto National Forest floor - which is adjacent to her property.  I dunno.  I might make a trip up there just to do that.  I don't really want it sitting around here forever, but if I put it somewhere out of sight, it will be "out of mind".

It's a beautiful day out.  Perfect temperature.  I remind myself to get out there and enjoy it because soon? It's going to be very, very hot out there.

Long interlude.  Done for the day.

G'nite.

ben