Late start for the journey to Sierra Vista.
We paid for it, too.  2 accidents south of town out in the middle of nowhere on the Interstate.  Bumper to bumper traffic that went on for miles, when I got stuck in it I was thinking, gee, this isn't downtown Phoenix, what is going on here?  I get out the phone and dial 511.  2 separate accidents in 2 locations adding up to chaos on the Interstate.  I worked my way over to the far right lane, got off the freeway and took an alternate route.

I've been down the alternate route in the semi 50 times if not more.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that hardly any other traffic was moving down there as well - they were not giving detour routes on the news on the radio, they were simply saying 6 mile backup. Great.  The detour led us by a Subway and I was hungry so decided to stop and get a couple of sandwiches to go.  I walked up to the order line and a gentleman in front of me pulled out a stack of coupons and handed me one.  Another nice surprise, it was a couple for 2 subs for the price of one!  Nice folks they were - he and his wife - we got into a short conversation, I thanked him and we left with our score.

We finally got back to I-10 some 45 miles later on the alternate route and I made up for lost time.  I actually remembered how to get there - haven't been here in a couple of years now.

Walk up to the door and see my dad playing the piano and a young girl watching him.  He is a very accomplished pianist, actually. Upon walking in and after greeting him, I look around to see a man giving me a stare that I remembered from the last time we met.  I decided to greet him warmly regardless of his obvious attitude and blow him off, I wasn't there for him and neither was Caleb.

Caleb later asked, after we were alone, if that guy was the one I was referring to about the tude' from our previous visit.  Yes, indeed he is, I replied, why?  I hadn't brought the subject up to him, why give the man a moment's worth of time.  Kill him with kindness will be my motto, I suddenly decided after I saw the ego, arrogance and condescension.  If he wants to get into a discussion about whatever it is that he has issue with, I will certainly take him up on that.  Anyway, Caleb replied he saw what I was talking about.  You saw the way that guy looked at me?  Oh yeah, he replied, pretty hard not to take notice of it.

Well, we spent a good deal of time talking to dad and that is why we came down here, so no biggies.  Amazingly, that guy's wife is very nice, very gracious and very talkative to me. I don't get it.

Whatever, I am now in the hotel.  They have GREAT wi-fi here, not using the mobile broadband since wi-fi is included and is much faster than my hotspot device.

Well whatever, On a completely different note, I was at our company's main branch today, standing in the warehouse dealing with paperwork.  I hear this extremely upbeat greeting coming from down the way, it's the inside sales manager, the individual that will determine whether I get to switch to inside sales or not.  I greeted him with the same enthusiasm. He had brought his smoker with him and apparently was doing a smoked BBQ beef brisket for everyone.  I had further opportunity to speak with  him in the office, whether I get the position or not, we certainly seem to be clicking.

Walmart is just 2 miles down the road from here - if we can get over here in time to hit the 8:00pm sale.  If not, no biggies.

Well whatever, it's getting late.  We arrived late and it's now way past my bedtime - 11:00 pm, lol.

ben

So I wrote an email to the GM about my desire for the new position. I have to try.  Whether they think I am qualified or capable of performing the duties, I have no idea, but I am going to throw my bid for the job into the hat and see what happens.

He replies and says it's available for anyone to apply for the position.  Back and forth - I sent an email then stating a few things including trucks without air conditioning in the heat of the summer and how I would like to move to a different position in the company if at all possible.  Yeah, I spent a good deal of time in a hot truck this summer and I wasn't particularly happy about it.  My statement included a part about "since we apparently aren't doing upgrades in equipment at this point" - that truck is going on 7 years old.

Then I get the email from the inside sales manager. I send him something back, but he went on vacation, or at least he wasn't at work today, so didn't hear anything back from him.

However, the ops manager comes over to our branch just after I logged off (off the clock) and going home.  He sits down in the manager's office, and invites me to sit down as well, since "you're here".  Apparently, the GM mentioned my statement about "apparently not upgrading the equipment" to him.  We get into this discussion about what he actually said and what the options are.  Whatever, I wasn't trying to diss the ops manager, I was simply making a statement: I am not INto driving hot semi trucks around in the Arizona Sonoran Desert heat.  I don't care what UPS drivers do in those brown vans, the dudes in that company that are driving the semi's? They have AIR CONDITIONING.  Thanks for playing, now let's move on, shall we?  

I have no idea what the end of that story will be since my manager said he was going to get out all the information about how much we have spent on that truck in a full year's time and compare that to how much a truck payment will be.

Anyway, Wednesday morning. After work today - come home, get my stuff, take care of minutia around the house and take off for Sierra Vista with Caleb to go see his grandpa and step-grandmother.  I guess that's what you call her.  Dad wrote me an email yesterday asking about what time I would get there - no clue. Depends on what time I get off of work, unfortunately, which could be 2 or could be 4.  WHATEVER time I get off, I will still drive down there regardless.

But, today's workload looks pretty heavy with lots of running around to do and lots of pickups and deliveries.  So who knows.  I will attempt to get all of it done as fast as possible, but, in the end, the work has to be done and then I get to start my vacation.

Having said that, almost time to leave for work.

G'day.

ben

I was on the freeway going to work the other day.  It was still dark.  Some traffic, but no heavy.  A Highway Patrol cruiser gets onto the freeway from an on ramp.  I'm in a crowd of 10 or more vehicles spread out in 3 lanes.  He makes his " move" and gets directly behind my vehicle!

Admittedly my speedometer doesn't work - it's not high on the priority list of things to fix considering how much money they want to fix it - but I figured sticking at the same speed as everyone else around me should be good.  I have absolutely no idea what attracted that officer to get behind my car in the manner that he did.  Perhaps I was just being paranoid - I have a commercial driver's license and any kind of ticket is not something that's going to help my career out, doesn't matter if I'm driving my personal vehicle or a company's commercial vehicle, anything will count against my record.

Well, there was nothing wrong with the car, all the lights work and the registration is current along with current insurance.  So, I just waited for a while to see what was going to happen.  At some point, he finally got around from behind me and sped off.  I have no clue, but it made me really nervous.  Another month and a half - if I can just stay out of the way of commercial enforcement for another month and a half and not get any warnings or tickets, I will be given the Safe Driver Award again and it's now 2 weeks pay every time I get it.

The company is, however, not going to get us a new truck.  I dunno.  Trucks get older = more potential problems = potential warnings = trouble.

Well whatever.  Nothing I can do about it.  Whoever ordered the truck I am driving - delivered to us new almost 8 years ago - didn't apparently much care for "optional" things, things that I consider elemental to a truck and for it's driver.  The thing doesn't even have air horns.  It is missing most gauges - pyrometer; differential temp gauges; oil temp gauges; load application gauge: things I like to be able to see in a truck to make sure temps aren't heating up to critical levels.  It has idiot lights, instead, and of course, as most idiot lights go, they only come on AFTER a problem is already a done deal and nothing you can do about it.  It has a cheap, junk-plastic beverage holder that I quit using shortly after we got it - it dumps your drink onto the floor as soon as you hit a bump.  On and on.  I have put up with it for this long, but I am not really willing to continue to put up with a piece of junk forever.  We keep it maintained, but that's it.  No upgrades, nothing is ever approved except for repairs.  If I want something on it, I would have to pay for it myself.  The stereo in it is a cheap piece of junk with extremely tinny sound speakers.  You spend as much time in a truck as I spend in that one, you want at least a few things to be a bit better than cheap, tinsel-coated junk.

Well, off of that subject.  I can't do anything about Obama, but I pray that some of his agenda is stopped at the pass.  Obamacare is apparently a done deal, yet I am reading more and more news stories about companies planning on cutting back hours and now a couple of companies that are going to do flat-out layoffs.  And then restaurants that are declaring they are going to pass the expense onto the customers.

But the situation with Israel and Gaza is far more interesting and potentially even scary.  Well, if I were living in either land it would definitely be a bit scary, I would think, with the threat of bombs landing all around you at any time.  But what's interesting - wrong word - ummm - why can't I think of the right word here? lol - anyway is that what is it, Iran and Egypt being allies of Hamas? What kind of regional chaos could this escalate into?  And then the statements now coming from Iraq, of all places, backing Hamas/Gaza.  Yup, it is definitely something I am watching on a lot of different news fronts.

Caleb is still on his 7 day fast.  Monday he ends it.  I"m not worried - at all - it's a fast unto the Lord, not some thing used to lose weight.  I've done it a hundred times.  I'm more interested to find out what - if anything - he might see or hear in the spirit realm during or after going through it.

I took the dogs to Kiwanis Park early this morning.  It was cool out and we went on a brisk walk.  I tried to stay away from people but they went out of their way to stop me and ask questions about the dogs.  Duke was getting upset, too, lol.  He wanted to walk, darn-it, not stand around listening to "his" human talking.  Although I could have gone on much longer than we actually did - Prince's hip problem/bum leg/whatever you wanna call it started kicking in.  He was lightly dragging his foot and I didn't want to prolong that, so we went home.  There's not much I can do for him excepting taking him for "extended" walks as one vet suggests, though I won't go beyond what he can handle - and giving him the glucosamine pills.  He wasn't wincing in pain, though, he just couldn't keep that one hind leg from having his foot drag on the ground.  I won't be giving up on that dog until it becomes an issue to the point he can't get around or if he's in pain all the time.  I am not looking forward to having yet another dog being put down after having to have had put down 2 in the last 14 months or so.  It's not fun, Prince is a great dog and I hope I can get another year or two out of him if at all possible.  He's 8-1/2, which is into the end of the life expectancy of a Great Dane.  Yup, sucks, big dogs, shorter life span.

I'm done.  It's Saturday night, I don't really do much on weekend nights cause' - I almost always go to bed as early on these nights as I do on weeknights.  Thanksgiving week en-queue.  Meaning 4 days off.  Work through Wednesday and then take off after work with Caleb down to Sierra Vista where a hotel room is already reserved and paid for for us.  Yup, that's my dad : )  I'm trying to figure out how to enjoy being around a certain element of his wife's sons, one of which, well anyway.  I already went through this once and at Thanksgiving.  I'll just go with a good attitude and deal with it as it comes, I guess.  Or just ignore the man altogether if he really gets obnoxious.  I for some reason had the date confused in my mind about the church's Thanksgiving meal.  I thought they were doing it today, but it's actually tomorrow afternoon. So, church in the morning, come home and get some stuff done around the house and then church dinner with whosoever shows up (invites have been handed out to the community all over the place).

G'nite.

ben

One of our inside salesmen is quitting.  He is moving to the East Cost with his girlfriend (they have been together for a long time now) who has been offered a lucrative nursing job where her family lives.  He has decided to move there with her and hope to find employment there.

Well, there's an opportunity, well there is if they are open to just anyone asking about it, which I now have.  The GM sent out a note to everyone: if you are interested in doing inside sales, contact us and let's talk.  The sales manager came into our branch this morning and I was asking him questions about it, but never really got into a serious discussion about possibly being looked at for the position.

I was just toying with the idea. But after thinking about it all day, I just up and replied to the GM, yes, I'm interested. It isn't the easiest job in the world to learn, but I know something around half of it anyway.  Navigating around Trilogie is one key "issue".  I have been learning that system for some time now.

Here's the problem I have faced in other places I have worked in the past in attempting to switch to something else within a company or get promoted: Too valuable where you are at.  You have done the same job for years and you are good at it.  You don't have to have people watching over your shoulder or calling you every 5 minutes.  You develop good relationships with the contractors and you deal with problems immediately in calling salesmen and letting them know what's going on.  You have MORE interaction with the customer than ANYONE in the organization and you put on your best face everytime you see them regardless of how you might feel that day.

Now, why I would want to move to another position within the company.  Numerous reasons.  First off, I am getting to the point where I absolutely HATE summers here. It's TOO hot and it SUCKS. It's hot in the morning, it's hell in the afternoons.

Second, we worked our asses off, all 2 of us at the branch we work at and did 4 and a half million worth of sales.  We were told how no other branch in the entire country could pull of such a feat, etc etc etc.  Yet, when bonus time came? It most certainly did NOT reflect such efforts.

3rd: trucking.  It's getting pretty sucky to be a truck driver.  The regulations keep pouring in and drivers are simply not unified enough in the industry to make a stand and say no more to unbelievable regulations that cannot be found in any other industry to the degree we are subjected to them. This new point system they came out with at the end of 2010 is outrageous.  The Federal government doesn't CARE how many drivers will end up being put out of their career, eventually, however, the public WILL care.  That's because there is already a shortage of drivers and it's going to get FAR worse in coming years.  When that happens, look out, cause' American wants what it wants and gets it when it wants it.  If she can't, she throws a fit.  IT will take the news media to make an issue out of it, undoubtedly, but eventually it's going to occur.

Until then, however, I see a Highway Patrol vehicle? I'm getting all kinds of nervous.  If they pull me over and even if I just receive a minor warning about something, it goes against my company. That's right, it's points racked up against my employer and if an employer gets enough points from all of it's combined drivers, then "intervention" begins. So, companies put the onus back on the driver.

It's just getting to be too much.  And from the news reports? A lot of other "older" drivers are feeling the same way. The vast majority of truck drivers are older, not younger.

Anyway, trucking is not what it used to be and I am growing out of love with it.

4th, dealing with heavy city traffic all day long.

5th, I am just ready for something different.

6. I am not into driving older trucks.  They pose too much of a risk, IMO, in getting warnings, getting pulled over and inspected.  The truck I am driving is almost 8 years old  and I was informed this week that they are not going to upgrade, they want to keep expenses down and since that truck is now paid off, they aren't paying $3,500 per month payments on it.  Great, and it's a piece of s***.  I'm getting tired of driving it.  Just my personal preference.

But, who knows if they will want me for that position.  I may be making too much money per hour in my current position for them to want to have me in another position that is, from what I have heard anyway, lower paying.  Not going to take a pay cut, thanks. I have no clue, but I at least have to look into it.

Well, the weekend is here. I have slept pretty well all week - until last night.  I was having some pretty bad dreams and kept waking up. Weird.  48 years old and having nightmares. Is that normal?  I dunno, but I'm flat out tired.  REALLY tired.  Like, try to stay awake until at least 8 o'clock tired.

Whatever. I'm done.

ben

Strange Dreams

I have strange dreams sometimes.  When I wake up in the morning to the sound of the alarm clock, I am sometimes happy that I did, indeed, wake up and out of it.

This morning was one of those mornings.

The dream was - really strange. I don't remember the beginning of it, but I do remember that I was with my middle brother - a person of whom I have grown to greatly dislike.  We were going somewhere together, driving around here somewhere.  Suddenly, the whole scene changed and we were passing a sign that said :" You are now entering Mexico".  Out in the middle of nowhere desert, no port of entry but a small Mexican town was off in the distance.

The next thing I know, we are in a house.  It was ours, I knew from the way I was thinking, we had inherited it but from who, I don't know.  I had been there before, I could tell, my brother had not.  When we walked inside, the first thing he did was start to tear down some wall decorations and destroying them.

I started fighting with him saying NOOOOOO, don't DO that!  I walked out of there, him destroying the house and me in some state of mind I cannot describe.  Outside, I looked down on a city.  Elevated house.  I walked around a corner to a gazebo type thing on the property and was immediately accosted by 3 men that I have never seen before.  They threatened me with death for whatever reason.

They were there to kill me, I don't know if they knew about my brother.  I took all 3 of them on and the next thing I know, all 3 of them were lying on the floor.  At this point, the alarm clock went off and ended this horrid dream.

I always wonder when I have such ridiculous dreams if there is anything I can glean from it for real life, is there some reason that I had that dream and what can I get from it, learn from it, take away from it?  Nothing, in this case, at least at this point.  It did nothing to make me think the situation with my brother is ever going to change.  I have no clue what the 3 strangers were about.  They weren't there because I had ever done something to them, rather, they were there because they knew who I was and for whatever reason wanted to challenge me.

Well anyway.  Thursday almost over, Friday almost here and then after work tomorrow, the weekend starts.  Slow couple of days at work. Like, driving half the day and working around the store the other half.  Which was cool, I have been able to do a lot of clean up.  Place was looking rather - trashy - really.

Well whatever, I have to be off to bed.

G'nite.

benD

It's a week away from my departure to Sierra Vista, where my dad and his current wife resides. I love my dad, his wife is cool, too, but some of her family? I am having thoughts about how it is going to go if one of her sons starts his mouthing activity again.

I don't want to just sit there and listen to an arrogant, mouthy, crass individual go on and on and on all night long. Reminds me of my middle brother. I'm going to have to figure out how I am going to deal with this before it happens - but I have no doubts at all that it IS going to happen. Apparently, their whole family bows in awe whenever he speaks - or maybe they have gotten used to it.  I have found that my dad's wive's generally despise his sons and I don't doubt that attitude isn't conveyed to her family.  I think this is my dad's 6th wife now.  Do you wonder why my visits to my dad are extremely infrequent?

Nahh, not because of that. Other reasons I won't go into here.  I can deal with that dude. I am just trying to decide whether I want to deal with such an individual on the terms I would normally deal with such or give way to my dad and his wife and have a "nice" event.  I don't want to dwell on it further, I am going to visit my dad, that's it.  If I get accosted by her family as it occurred last time, well, we'll see.  I have sat idly by and given way ONLY because I did not want something to happen that would ruin the event. Yet, a mouthy person that is blasting off on everything under the sun, incessantly, without stop? I can't HANDLE that for hours on end. I don't WANT to have to handle it.  

Whatever.  I was looking for deals on turkeys - and couldn't find much.  47 cents a pound at Fresh'n'Easy if you buy $30 minimum. I have a $10 coupon with them.

I was delivering a large amount of materials to a jobsite this week, located right next to an elementary school. K-6 grades, I believe.  School was in session.  Kids in class.  The fenced-in area for the kid's bicycles was right there, across from where we were unloading.

There were all of 4 bicycles in there. Enough racks to hold at least 100 bikes, probably a lot more. I was in awe.  When I was a kid, the bike racks - a LOT of them - were always full.  Hundreds of bicycles.

What's the issue?  We wonder why kids are getting obese at an early age?  Moms bringing them to school, lines of cars waiting to drop them off and pick them up?

Whatever.  An obese generation? No, several generations of obesity going on now, being perpetuated on our kids in unhealthy eating habits and a lack of a lifestyle that includes lots of exercise.  When I was hanging from monkey bars and riding my bike for countless hours a day, playing basketball, football and running around all over the place as a kid, I didn't think of it as exercise.  Neither did my friends.

The age of technology may have some benefits, but the negative aspects, I believe, far outweigh them. Video games and kids playing them endlessly are only one aspect.  Texting, losing the personal touch of personal interaction.  We are so lost in technology, that life is passing us by and we don't even realize it.

Amazing.

I figured to get off work early yesterday, I figured wrong.  I was on the clock until 4:00 pm, 2 more hours of OT, a total of almost 20 hours of OT for this pay period.  Which, of course, leaves things lacking and in need of attention around the house whenever work weeks drag on forever.

But, regardless, I went and saw the Denzel Washington movie Flight this morning.  The beginning of the movie was cool, the rest of it kinda dragged.  I hadn't been to the movie theater in at least a year, so it was cool anyway.  I wouldn't recommend going to the theaters, though, to see it if you can wait until it comes out on video.

Today's high: 64.  They are calling it unseasonably cool.  They can call it whatever they want, I am LOVING it! The windows up, birds chirping, waterfalls in ponds making their noises, lovely.....gonna get out there in a bit and do some yard work.

Tenant behind on rent.  I tend to not let it go too long, this time though I let a month pass.  He usually is very good about paying, but it's the 10th and he still owes some from last month.  I hadn't heard anything from him about the rent, sooooo, yup, left him a notice. Not at eviction notice, though, he's been here for quite a while, I figured I would give him the benefit of a doubt.  The notice was simply to pay the rent or that he was going to next receive an eviction notice.

He went to the hospital last week, he finally told me a few minutes ago, and that's why he didn't pay this week (but no story about the weeks before that).  He gave me a payment plan, as long as he sticks to it, I'm good with it.

Other than that, Caleb received a job offer on Thursday so that's why I didn't take him up to the mountains yesterday after work.  I would have done it, even if too late, just would have made for a very long day, a lot of driving and probably get much of nothing done today.  Well, anyway.  I am getting 4 days off at Thanksgiving.  That should help a little, but since we are heading down to Sierra Vista to see my dad, I guess it won't be very restful for 2 of those days.  At least it's not too far off.

Actually, I"m tired anyway.  I put in a couple of 12 hours days and a couple of 11 hour days and one 10 hour day this work week.  Just not used to grinding that many hours in one week at work.  I was at 7 hours for 3 years and now I'm doing way more than that.

I am undecided what to do with the trailer.  I had a guy who said he wanted to buy it last week, came over and looked at it and everything - and then he disappeared.  I've had it up for sale on Craigslist for quite a while now.  I would love to be able to rent it out and get some more revenue in - but it's a roll of the dice regarding whether neighbors would turn it in - at this point don't know if they would even know about it.

Other things going on, not worth going into right now.

ben

Addition to earlier entry: I was just looking at the temps up in Payson for Saturday. The low is slated to be 26.  At my mother's property, it will be about 5 degrees cooler than that - higher elevation.  21 degrees.  Whether that's enough to burst pipes or not, I don't know, but I would definitely be worrying - greatly - about such temps if I hadn't already winterized the trailer.

Well, anyway, sigh relief that I got it done when I did.  Replacing water lines in travel trailers is no fun job,  a thing of which I can personally attest on other trailers I have owned that had busted lines in them when I bought them.

I am dead tired.  It's gonna be an early night for me.

ben

When one leaves for work in the dark and comes home from work in the dark, one knows that one has had a very long day.  I'm at 8 and a half hours of overtime for the pay period, tomorrow will bring it up to at least  16 and a half.

Caleb received a job offer today, so he will not be able to go up to the mountains tomorrow.  Which is fine by me, I am not sure I really want to drive all the way up there after the kind of work week I've had this week anyway.  Supposedly next weekend will be free for him.

My finger is definitely not broken. It hurts like - well it hurts.  It has red splotches and purple splotches and I forget frequently about it and boy do I pay for that forgetfulness.

Well whatever.  My plans for the weekend will now change.  I have lots of stuff left to go outside and I intend to spend at least several hours working on the property.  And who knows what else might come up : )

That's it.  No long entry here, too tired for that.

ben

So, as normal on an election day, I am off to work too early to get to the voting booth before going to work.  So, I'm thinking about this all day long while grinding away for 10-1/2 hours.  I did not want to work that long.  I am getting close to the point, in overtime for any pay period, that tax rate increases and then I get less money on a paycheck after crossing that threshold.  But, I will work however many hours I have to, that's just a part of the job.

When I finally got off work and got to the polling location, and waited - and waited - and waited - for a total of 2 people to stop arguing with the personnel (they had moved, had not re-registered, it was explained to them a dozen times but they wouldn't take no for an answer) (and yes, the lady said the same thing, over and over, clearly, succinctly and to the point, yet they still "do not understand), I finally get up there and they can't find my name in their book.

???  I AM a registered voter, I a confident of that point.  I have voted at that same location for years.  The lady takes me to a map and tells me to show her where I live.  I point to the map.  Oh, well you belong over at Nevitt School, not here.  Umm, ma'am, THIS has been my voting place for almost 8 years now.  Yes, she replies, but they changed things around about 6 months ago and yes, it has inconvenienced a lot of people, I am sorry.

I get to the school.  A very large number of cars in the parking lot, gag.  But I get inside and the wait not too long - but - no booths available to use.  A guy comes up and says I can use that "music stand with the chair in front of it" to do it if I like.  I like, don't care if anyone sees how I am voting, which no-one would have anyway.  Voted against all local petitions to increase taxes, voted against another local petition to keep a tax that is going to expire as a "permanent" tax increase - bunk to that idea, I pay enough taxes.  I voted for Flake, running for Senate - and other local issues.

That's my day.  Well, part of it, anyway, lol.

I drove the semi down to Casa Grande today and - found the job site - Frito Lay - but not the location to deliver the pipe.  Turns out it wasn't at the plant itself, but in a farm field behind the plant.  It was nice out this morning out there.  Temperature was cool, nothing at all like the normal trips to that town when it's 115 degrees and there's a lot of dust blowing and it's  really not that nice.

Tomorrow, finally, the election.  Get it over with already.

Unless something changes, I'm taking Caleb up to the property up north on Friday and leave him there through - probably Sunday morning.  I will take off from there and go up on top of the Rim.

Just wading through the days that have gone by.  My continued efforts out front of my house have started garnering some compliments.  It's getting there - but it is looking nice.

Sooo, I was out front working on the plants and trees, pulling grass and whatnot when the Mr. Goodcents delivery driver showed up.  Didn't take too terribly long.  I was on a roll and didn't want to stop to make lunch, so I ordered it delivered. Figured I would buy extra for a snack this evening and perhaps even enough to eat tomorrow.

I came back into the house, sat down with my dish of spaghetti and meatballs and got about halfway through it while on the net and at the time: check email and looking at the time I was supposed to be there, the church Harvest Festival that is.  Someone from the church had told me 3 o'clock, but the schedule said 2!  It was 14 minutes before 2 and I wasn't anywhere NEAR ready to go.

Ummm, I put the spaghetti in the fridge, changed, didn't show though I wanted to: itching all over my legs and arms from working in the dirt and stuff outside; got whatever needed to be done - done - in a quick hurry and got out of here.  Arrived at church at 2:07 to find that it was just the part to set everything up.  Oh, well okay.  It turns out taking a shower was going to be irrelevant.  I was the "operator" for the Hay Dive.  It's a small pool you fill with hay and hide balls in it.  Kids come and give you a ticket, you blindfold them and then they have to try and find a ball in the pool and then they get a prize.  But I made the older kids find all of the balls, or at least 4 of them, to "win".  It doesn't look hard, but when blindfolded? Much harder than it looks, especially since I was hiding them deep under the hay.

I, uhhh, have been around hay before, but not around a bale of it that has been broken up and getting my hands and arms into it.  The itching was far worse than anything I had experienced working out front.
But, it was fun being around little kids.  Hadn't been around that element of humanity  in quite a while.  I mean, yes, sort of near them at church, but I don't interact with them.  This was quite different.

Anyway, helped tear down, get rid of the hay and came home and yes, took a long shower.  The itching, thankfully, is completely gone but my legs?  Yikes!  I must have gotten a bit too close to the plants with thorns on them out front today, covered with scratches and even small, open wounds.  My fingers the same thing.  Lol.  Oh well.  For as much as I have done out front, there is still much to go.  Lots of trimming.

And that's my day.  Working out front and then 4-1/2 hours at church helping with the Festival.  I am burnt out.  12 hours work on Thursday and 11 hours on Friday.  Woke up this morning with an odd sense of feeling.  Like here but not really here.  It was 6:00 am, well past my wake up time, but I decided this wasn't a good way to wake up and turned over and went back to sleep for another hour.  Felt better after second wake up and decided to get up.

It must be an age thing.  The older you get, well things just change is all.  I'm not really complaining, just you notice over time small "things" that change that are related to aging.  Which really doesn't bother me as long as I can stay active and moving.

Well, I am totally bushed right now and it's time for beddy-bye lane.

Til' next time.

ben

They Told You So.........

Not to make light of a very serious situation, but long before Sandy actually hit ground and did all of it's destruction, authorities were all over the news outlets telling people to stock up on supplies/necessities including buying food that doesn't need to be cooked.  Now there is nothing on the shelves to buy, millions of people are still without power and - I am glad I am not in there position is all I can say.

One of the reasons I own camping equipment is in case something like that ever happens.  Propane fueled camp stove with plenty of bottles of propane and a white fuel driven camp stove - yes - with plenty of fuel for it as well.  And lots of canned food.  An underground storage tank with millions of gallons of water in it is only 2 blocks away.  But I digress.

Reading about people who can't even find batteries on the shelves is hard to take in.  Reading about people who are dumpster diving because they are hungry and don't have any food.  Freezing cold, homes with standing water and no electricity.

I'm sure the various levels of government are doing the best and as much as they can to get this situation back on track, but really, it's the power companies that have the biggest job ahead of them, so much so that there are workers from my state traveling over there to help get power back on.

Meanwhile, Obama was in Vegas doing an interview on the campaign trail.  I actually thought - and I am not Obama fan - that he was doing a good job of this situation with the east coast until he decided it's time to go back on the campaign trail.  It's only a few days left until the election, I have to wonder, for both sides, what more rallies are going to do to change anyone's mind, anyway?

Well, it's Friday and I'm off to work.

ben

Truck Driver Shortage

I predicted this some time ago - well it's been a couple of years anyway - and that prediction is coming to see the light of day.  The Federal Government has been increasing regulatory interference on truck drivers for decades.  But the enactment of CSA 2010 was a completely different ball field, a game that veteran drivers haven't seen before, much less participated in and MUCH less wanted ANYTHING to do with.

Truck drivers getting a warning instead of a ticket will, by the company they are driving for and because of the new regulations, be viewed as having received a ticket.  The reason being is that the more warnings or tickets that drivers receive under this new system, the more scrutiny the Feds will put on any given company.  If it gets to "intervention" phase, it could include an entire fleet being shut down by the Federal government.

So, trucking companies or companies that have their own fleets of trucks to deliver the goods they sell are now compelled to get rid of drivers that get tickets or warnings.  That's all nice and fine, but as the pool of drivers shrinks - much having to do with older drivers getting out of it after being in the profession for 2 or 3 or even 4 decades - now what?  The news stories have been the same for a couple of years now: trucking has little appeal to the younger generation.

Truck drivers are mostly despised as ignorant.  We are too stupid to find "real" employment, so we reverted to driving trucks to make a living. We are treated like dogs*** in traffic.  When you tell someone who asks you are a truck driver, \you far-more-often-than-not get a sneer, a look, conjecture that what you are doing with your life is a complete waste.

We truck drivers won't have to do a complete shutdown of trucks for a week or however long to make a point.  The time is coming or perhaps already here that you are going to start paying more at the grocery store and everywhere else because of shortage of truck drivers.  It will slowly get worse over time unless something is done about it.  99% chance that nothing will be done about it until it becomes a severe problem  - store shelves are empty and gas station holding tanks aren't being refilled.  I give it 5 more years, max, before this issue becomes a national debate.

I'm at Fry's (grocery store) getting some things.  Want to make a nice salad for dinner, they have boneless, skinless chicken on sale, figured to pick up several packs of it.  My phone rings.  I look down at it and think that I see my manager's name showing up. I answer it.  It definitely is not my manager.  It's Josie and she's still having a lot of problems in life.  She's the widow of my best friend that died last year.

She doesn't waste any time at all:  Can I rent your 5th wheel trailer?  Now THAT took me by surprise.  What's going on?  She starts crying and tells how her daughter is getting upset with her all the time and they aren't getting along and she needs to get out of there.  Now, mind you, this lady is around 70 years old and going through all of this.  She cleans her daughter's house; babysits her kids; cooks dinner, etc etc etc.

I have felt really bad ever since my friend died and watching her go through all of this nonsense with her family treating her like horse shit.  Not just her daughter, either, her son and his wife treated her FAR worse before she ended up at her daughter's.

I've got to give serious consideration to letting her into that trailer, even if there may end up being issues with the city - though that won't happen unless my neighbors find out she's in there and since I have cranked it up with them in the last several months after all the BS they have started with me, they don't look over my fence anymore.  She wasn't kidding, either, about moving over here.  She has been treated badly, disrespected by her own offspring to the point they won't even have her around.  I really do NOT get it.  I do get that it would be difficult to have your own mother living with you - yes indeed.

But I've got to tell you, if my mother ever gets to the point where she can't get around and can't live alone, my door will be open to her.  Or perhaps her door should be open to me, lol, her house is FAR nicer than mine!  Just 45 miles away from work, though.  Yikes. I would definitely set boundaries with  my mother if it ever came to that - space please, give me my space and you'll definitely get yours - and I'm sure there would be some conflict in the beginning, but I am also sure we would manage to work through the issues eventually and get on with what's left of life.

I don't know, but if my friend is in heaven and looking at all of this going on with his wife, I can't imagine.  I just can't imagine how it would feel to see all of that going on and not be able to help her in any way.  I feel very compelled to help her if she really wants to come over here.  I've known this lady since the early 90's.

She isn't broke, either.  She isn't rich, not saying that, but she get's a grand a month from my friend's disability through the military.  I don't know if she is also getting Social Security.  I would have to charge her enough to cover the extra eletricity, water and would have to install a Direct TV receiver in there plus pay - Mark I would hope - to empty out the holding tanks on a regular basis, but I wouldn't take advantage of her either.

Well, the conversation was cut short so, to-be-continued.

Meanwhile, the new receptionist at our work? Quit.  They can't keep anyone in that position. Low pay and a huge workload.  Lynnette is up for the job.  I forwarded her resume to my operations manager this morning, I hope he will give her some serious consideration.  She has ample experience in the type of work that they are looking for the position to fill. I haven't heard back whether he contacted her or not, but, it was at least worth a try.  Good benefits, no weekend work, 8 hours a day.

Well that's it.,

Still cranking here and there on the front yard.  Get it done.  Not in a huge hurry now, the worst of it is over. Still plenty to do for aesthetic's sake, but definitely looking better.

Umm, so done with this one.

ben

I had to call them out on it.
I have been through too much with church to have to live under something that is on the surface a thing that is going to be a hindering blockage.

I simply wrote the pastor a 2 sentence email: what is going on and why concerning his wife and the "looks" and all of this.

I didn't know what kind of response to expect, if any, just needed to get it off of me.  She called me on the phone, versus the pastor writing me an email back.

Surprise, indeed.  Going into a personal conversation like that on the world wide web? I don't think so.  But a lot of mis-communication was done away with and a lot of emotion for that matter.  This lady has a lot of weight in the church to carry, we'll just put it that way. From the sound of it, far too much and some kind of reprieve needs to intervene in her life to lighten the load.  I have already offered to help in the church, but not to her, I didn't even know she was the final authority over all of that stuff.

For me, it was a consortium of things that occurred over a 24 hour span.  The deal with her was simply that this has been going on for awhile.  When something like this occurs and 2 people can have an adult conversation about it and both people are willing and able to listen to each other, then you can have a good outcome and in this case, definitely, it was a good outcome.

Relief.  The mind can wander into a lot of different places in trying to conjecture what another person is thinking when they say or do something that is deemed well out of the parameters of what you might normally see them doing, especially when it is directed at you and even more-so when it goes on for a period of time.

Well anyway.  3 day weekend is over.  The come and go quickly.  No idea what is en-queue for work tomorrow since I haven't been there since Thursday and didn't get to see what was in the truck routing system on Friday - not that that bothers me, lol, I would rather take the time off.

ben

I came back early from the mountains.  That was because I was rather excited about the idea of helping the church out and being a part of the booth games that were going on last night at the park.  I had received an email asking for help to man one of the booths, I accepted the request.  I went out there last night. Thousands of people, mostly families with their kids in costumes.  Took 15 minutes to find a parking spot - which ended up being a quarter mile away.  The long walk there and saw must have been 70 or 80 tent booths set up - by the city - and occupied with representatives from all sorts of different venues.

The City required that only 501c3/non-profit organizations could participate. It was pretty easy to find the church set up - they had 5 booths in a row and they had lines formed in front of them.  They had games set up and winners of games got anything from candy to stuffed animals.  Pretty typical type of thing.  The pastor's son greeted me when I arrived and said that a change of shift had already occurred.  As it came to my realization that my help was not needed, I admittedly started to get a bit irritated.  They had contacted me via email for help 2 mornings ago and I had confirmed with them.  How hard would have it been to email me and tell me  that the slots had been filled up?  I was then "informed" that they needed help tearing everything down after 9:00 pm.

I didn't reply.  It's 7:00 pm and I'm going to hang around for 2 hours.........doing what?  I simply left.  There was nothing to do and I wasn't going to stand around looking dumb for 2 hours without anything to do waiting for it to be over and I wasn't about to drive back there after going home.  Call me selfish, call me whatever you will, but they should have had more respect for my time and emailed me or called me to let me know they wouldn't need my help instead of me going through all of that to find out.

I was asked at home by a tenant how it went and I let him know.  At least I wasn't the only one on the face of the planet that would have reacted the same way if put into a similar situation.  This morning I was debating whether to go to church or not.  I ended up going.  As soon as I walked in the front door, the pastor's wife saw me and cringed.  As if I were a walking dose of Bubonic Plague.  She has been doing this for a couple of months now.  I have NO idea what is up her crawl, I have not said anything unpleasant to her, we have not had any kind of argument or otherwise "bad" encounter, but it set me foul.  She actually pulled her hand back for a handshake.

I walked into the meeting room and the pastor's son came up to me after I had been sitting there awhile, looking at some of the people's reactions that were looking at me funny.  My leaving last night had this kind of effect?  I had waited until they were oblivious of my presence there last night before I  left, I didn't just walk away in the middle of a conversation.  I shook the pastor's son hand, but I was was getting pretty unwound in my mind with all this.  This time? I grabbed my things and walked out.

What's next? Dunno.  Let some time pass and let the abrasiveness of it all wear away a bit.  I am quite interested in finding out what the pastor's wife's beef is with me.  I've been NOTHING but nice to her, I simply have no clue.  I'm wondering about my future at this church. The church's annual Harvest Festival event is next weekend.  They will be wanting help, but I am sure mine won't be appreciated and won't be offered anyway.  If I'm asked, I will probably ask what the deal was with their last request for help.

I don't really handle being treated this way by the church too well, considering my past experiences.

Changing the subject, I have spent a lot of hours out front working on the landscaping issues.  I can say that there is a LOT left to go! Lol.  Trim this, cut that, pull this, plant that.  Just now getting the plants I bought a month go planted. That because there was a lot of clearing out and cutting that had to occur first before I could plant all 6 of them.  I can happily say they are all planted, I have no idea whether they will take considering colder weather is - allegedly - just around the corner.  I say that because it's near the end of October and it's hitting 90 degrees today!! What kind of fall is THAT? IS it officially fall yet?

Well, that's my "release" and I'm going back out there - I was out there earlier working but now I am going to get out the clippers and clip down some things that need some serious trimming.

G'day.

ben

She's Dead, Jim

That's how I look at a retirement "plan" that includes retiring at the age of 80.

80?

I was reading a news article about this, how tough it is for Americans to save and how more and more are upping their retirement age.  Well I don't even know if I'll be alive at the age of 80 and if I am, will I even be able to work at that age? Further, WHO is going to hire an 80 year old man?  I doubt my company will have me around that long if I happened to be there at the same place until retirement age.

I can tell you right  now, at the LATEST, I plan on retiring at the age of 68.  I would rather retire earlier than that, but who knows.  I do know that I recently upped the percentage taken out of my paychecks to 7%.  After the election, I will decide whether to up it to 9% or take a different route.  I do have automatic deduction taken out of my paycheck going into a savings account, but it's too easy to get a hold of it.  In fact, if I'm down too low on money?  Just transfer it to my checking account, online, with the push of a button and it's done.

Not exactly an effective savings plan, going to have to come up with something different.

Changing about statement:  after the New Year I will decide whether to up 401k or not.  I am waiting to see if these "experts" predictions are going to come true.  If they are, no sense in putting more money in there to have it disappear.

I dunno.  Seems to be that having a good retirement?  I would have to be in my 20's at the place I am at now, not my late 40's.

An interesting adventure to figure out how to pump the RV antifreeze through the water system's lines. This trailer isn't set up like that, I found out after going through the entire system and trying to actually find the water pump to see if it has a tube coming off of it to use as an intake to stick into the gallon jugs of antifreeze.

No.  Instead, it has lines dropping down underneath the trailer with caps on them.  When the water pump is turned on (or if there is a water hose connected to the system), those lines dropping down are pressurized.  That's cause they are tee'd off the lines going to the various faucets inside. You need simply remove the caps on those lines sticking down and walaah.  All water inside the lines drains out, from the faucets on down simply through gravity.

So, I removed the caps from all of them and am leaving them open until I leave to make sure it's nicely drained.  Did I mention that 2 of the caps broke clean off the lines and now I am going to have to replace them? Oh, no, I skipped that little diddy, but there it is. Dry rotted from exposure, I am assuming.

From the looks of it, the fittings simply stick inside the tubing and then you crimp a clamp over it to seal it.  So, a couple of fittings, clamps and I am sure a specialty crimping tool that probably costs $25.  Oh well.

I sent the Great Danes out this morning and Duke's mouth starting chattering incessantly from the cold.  It was, actually, quite humorous, though I am sure he didn't think so, lol.

Mother has projects for me, 2 of which I have completed, another of which I have to go look at.  The door on the tool shed is sticking.  I dunno if the door needs replaced or if I can just possible remove some of the wood off the side if it's not too bad.  However, the main reason I came up here for has been accomplished.

Well, anyway, I'm spending another night up here and then come back in the morning. I have lots to do  down there - at home that is - plus there is the outreach on Saturday.  Well, I actually may go back today cause' there is so much to do.  My point in coming up here has been accomplished and the only other reason I would stay another night is cause' I slept sooooo wonderfully well last night here, well, maybe it's a trend that would go on for 2 nights!

ben