I guess I will have my hands full with calls to various corporate headquarters this coming week, including Verizon Wireless; Fry's Food and Drug Stores and Direct TV. Verizon will probably be a battle since I have had few dealings with them and will take some time to figure out what it takes to get to the "right" person.  Fry's  corporate probably has my name flagged by this point, though I haven't contacted them in quite a long time, today was enough.

The newest general manager of the store I frequent? I just talked to her on the phone.  So this is the situation.  I bought a package of "fresh" chicken thighs yesterday.  I decided to look at the expiration date not 20 minutes ago and saw that the package had a due date of - TODAY!!  So, this general manager gets on the phone and I inform her of the situation and ask why her store is selling meat that is due to expire after the next day.  Meat- I don't care which kind you buy - is extremely expensive these days.

Instead of apologizing, she asks me what time I bought it!  "That doesn't make ANY difference, whatsoever, Nancy".  "OHHH yes it DOES" came the stark reply.  I quickly put 2 and 2 together.  If I came at a certain hour before they change the date on the meat,then apparently they would have either taken it off the shelf or probably put a manger's special stamp on it and put a reduced price on it..  I by-passed the entire realm of asking stupid questions and came right to the point: So, Nancy, are you telling me that it's okay to be selling meat that expires in 2 days?  The only way that happens is if it's a manager special and the price is marked down.

She shut up after that. She neither offered an apology or any condolences, whatsoever.  I informed her that since she was taking this stance against me, I would be calling corporate tomorrow and telling them what she told me and that would be that.  I have done the food shopping for a lot of years now: with chicken, it better have at least 3 days before the "sell-by" date comes and goes.  And unlike beef or pork, when that sell-by date comes and goes? That stuff will have a BAD smell to it the next day.

I'm not interested in rotten chicken, but more, I'm definitely not going to tolerate a mouthy general manager. I asked her a simple question, she got the attitude.  Enough.  I know Kroger's doesn't tolerate such s*** and I will be making sure that I get my point across. This woman has acted that way since she took over the general manager's position there, she has the customer service attributes of a wasp. I haven't taken up the fight because I was tired of it - though, usually do get freebies out of it - not worth the pain.

Direct TV is a minor problem - but they know how to turn something minor into a major ordeal, so jury out there.

I was at Fry's today, bought 2 packages of ribs.  Slow cooked them 3 hours on the grill.  One of those melt-in-your-mouth adventures. I spend enough money at Fry's, service rendered should rise to the occasion.

Church was nice today. Hadn't been the last 2 services.  Got the ribbing from several people, but it was all in good taste.  Actually, at least half the members of that church were absent today - beginning of summer, time to get out of town.  I wonder how pastors deal with that?  This is the time of year where people are clamoring to get out of town at any and every opportunity.

I'm pretty much looking at at least 5 days off in July.  Maybe an entire week.  Not sure yet.  When I say 5 days I am always including 2 weekend days. If it's an entire week off, then we're talking 9 days total with 2 weekends.

I am still pondering another trip to San Diego with Caleb after he is done with his 2 month stint in the mountains.   I dunno.  Not looking exactly promising now, but, who knows.  $250 for us to get on the boat: $175 in fuel round trip unless gas prices might come down  

Saturday 6/2/2012

Edit: I am not finishing this post, got distracted yesterday and just didn't have time, just posting it in whatever form it is.

Umm, so, these leaf eating wasps or whatever they are are destroying a certain kind of my pond plants and attempting to do in my Taro.  I had enough.  Got some insect killer and started spraying the leaves of the plants that are out of the ponds.

Lo and behold, however, I stood there and watched a Dragonfly going after one of these leafeaters.  Sight to behold.  The leafeater was flying it's brains out, attempting to get away from the thing, the Dragonfly was like a laser guided missile: honed in and not letting up.  I dunno how that ended, they both disappeared.  Dragonflies or not, they are not doing the job in keeping these bastards from eating up my plants and I am now on the warpath.

I saturated the entire swath of plants that are hanging over the side of one of the ponds-  that stuff isn't going to get in the water and kill my fish.  The portion of this very dense and large plant IN the water, I sprayed lightly on top.  These little darlings came spouting out and - I just hope my fish are not adversely affected.  I was spraying roach killer, the only thing I had available.

Verizon Wireless.  Starting to piss me off.  Send me emails after watching 2 movies and a couple of Star Trek episodes while at mom's property saying that I am at or over my month's usage allotment.  In other words, a total ripoff.  I was told if you use a "lot" of streaming video, go for more expensive package.  Yeah.  So, 6 hours or less of movies and "normal" usage - which isn't that much lemme tell ya - should cost me more than the $50 per month charge. I pay $45 per month for unlimited at home use.

I will have them stop the service and will try another company now that I have my "feet wet". Which simply means I have a much greater understanding of this situation and their dealings and - I will play my game on them, since they want to play their games on me.  I am a VERY persistent person when it comes to shams from very large corporations.  Oh, back to the original thing?  I will not be paying them anything for disconnection fees.  They can have their device back.  I will try another company.  Perhaps one that works in the 5th largest city in the United States.  Yep, they sent me a replacement device which  - has to be turned off and restarted frequently for it to work.

So, the question is posed whether we want to ponder about and deliberate it or not: should the government start stepping in and attempt to start forcing upon we-the-people things that will, allegedly, reduce the amount of obesity in our nation?

I dunno.  If you believe the statistics, in the next 20 years there are going to be a LOT of obese people walking around this nation.  If people can't find it within themselves to get up and start exercising and put down the cokes, the fat and calorie laden dishes and the sugar-filled desserts, perhaps it's time to try something new.  The idea of a "fat tax" has been floated.  The idea of paying people to lose weight as well - which I think is a ridiculous and dumb idea, who is going to foot the tab?  Yeah, that's what I thought.

And it's allllll too easy to stop at a McDonald's; Burger King; Wendy's etc. to get a quick bite to eat if you are in a hurry and don't have time. I pretty much force myself to stay away from such establishments excepting McDonald's to get a nice cup of coffee on occasion. I love Big Macs which is all the better reason to stay away from that place.  I envision myself at 300 pounds and don't like that particular thought.  I am at 199 pounds right now.  Anytime I break the 200 barrier I go hog-wild crazy and do whatever to get the weight back down again.

Whatever.  There has to be some response to this situation.  It's only going to cost all of us even more money in health care coverage costs and all that is associated with being extremely overweight or obese.  I'm not sure that it's the government's job to step into such a theater and if not, then what?  Leave it go?  The fast food companies and the soft drink and energy drink companies are making far too much money to suddenly decide that they aren't going to sell the fat and sugar laden foods they are selling and go on the vegan road.  The only way that will ever happen is if America wakes up out of it's slumber.

Just an interesting topic, at least to me.

ben

I was in a good mood all day today at work.  In fact, I have been in a pretty darn nice state of mind since starting this mountain business.  But financial constraints will put a halt to the mountain activities unless, of course, I want to put the fuel portion of it on the Chevron gas card.  But I am not going up there this weekend, I have concluded to around 99% positive at this point.

Tenants definitely need to pay me this week.  Well, one has committed to paying it on Monday - an entire month's worth, that will help immensely.

This is the trouble this country is in.  An MSNBC host is "uncomfortable" with calling fallen soldiers heroes.  Asshole.  The guy's lucky someone doesn't deck him.  What an idiot, making such a stupid, calloused, unbelievable statement on a national forum such as the one he hosts.  How many more like this freak?  Is he uncomfortable also that the entire world isn't under a Hitler regime right now?  Does someone have to bring war to our land for these morons to understand what this world would be like right now if we hadn't taken it to them?  Yes, it pisses me off.  STUPID people.  It reminds me of the shit that went on with the Iranian crap that went on in the 70's and those that live here, in the US, going around saying how bad this country is.   Those people in Pittsburgh where I was a little boy at the time? I'll never forget.  They got their asses kicked upside and down.  They went around spouting off to the wrong folks and those folks that love our country didn't have a problem sending them to the ground and subsequently to the hospital.

A nation of pansies and wimps, that's what we are becoming.

But our nation's military? Oh, I have the highest respect for anyone that has served or anyone that is serving.    You signed on the dotted line and whether you went to war or not, you were fully cognizant that that possibility existed and that you might end up making the ultimate sacrifice. Regardless, you sacrificed your life for whatever time you were in.  You might have loved the entire experience, even better, but it's still a sacrifice.

I just read that junk and about blew a fuse.  Coming back down to Earth now.  I could find nothing on MSNBC about this guy's statement, which may or may not be there, if it is it's certainly not at the top of the list.  Or the middle of it.

Okay.

Local news. RARELY ever watch it, but it was on when I turned the TV on, which I don't do a lot of anyway - just feel like watching a movie.  So, here's this older gent in a neighborhood maybe 7 miles away from me lamenting about his neighbor who recently was forced out of his house and left a bunch of - cats - behind. Yup, he called the ejected person an animal hoarded.  Oh, how I can ever-so-loving identify with that.  Found fresh cat poop in my front yard - again.  Cat hoarders living on 2 properties behind me and another that is in cahoots with them living 2 properties over from me.

I have some things to get done before sundown, later.

I am getting precariously close to the "broke" stage.  Send out mortgage, car insurance payment and keep electricity running?  Fortunately, Friday is payday and tenant money will be coming in soon enough.
I will be considering upping the rent for Mark and Lynnette as well.  She is making money at this point and I gave them a reduced rate because of their situation.  But, if their situation is improving, I need more money out of that room.  2 people with all that entails living in that room would normally get me $150 more per month than what I am charging them.

Electricity, folks, it's all about the electric bills.  And water, for that matter. The heat forces me to have to water much more frequently or I can kiss many of my plants goodbye.

I am also awaiting the lien release for that trailer. As soon as I get it, I'm putting it up for sale.  Selling it would give me a cushion to bounce off of and not have to worry about any potential "disasters" that might arise.  It's that or another 401k loan, which I REALLY do not want to do.

Oops, it's time for work : )

G'day.

ben

Politics.  I have given it little attention in recent weeks because I am already sick of it - and the election is still quite a ways off.  I always love when the liberal media gives a Hollywood actor room in the news with whatever statement they are making about politics.  As if their opinion means a hill of beans.  The latest is Bruce Willis calling Romney "an embarrassment".  What about the Obama administration taking to task Romney on his company for buying out companies, as the ads claim and then loading them up with debt and taking whatever capital out of them.  I don't really care to be honest, I wouldn't vote for Obama if you paid me to, and that's a fact.  As far as I'm concerned, that guy is wrecking America and Lord only knows what kind of agenda he has en-queue if he gets re-elected.  He will not have a third term to worry about making people happy, I would guess his Socialist agenda - or perhaps the creation of his Kingdom more like it - will be rolled out in full furor soon after his re-election if that does, indeed, occur.

Which I hope it does not, but brace yourselves.

Anyway, I won't be going up north this coming weekend, I don't think so anyway, but I will have to make a trip up there the next weekend/Monday after that to take Caleb up to Heber. So I am half considering stopping by the trailer and get some stuff done on it, work on it for a few hours and then leave.  I was shown the water tank yesterday - mom had a huge tank installed up there after using a much smaller one for years.  That big tank is full at 1,200 gallons of water and the small tank is on a trailer which is used to bring water up whenever it is needed.  She won't do it, though, she really can't be hauling trailers around, it's enough that she's driving a vehicle without anything attached to it.

Oh, throw out there the only real reason I won't be going up there this weekend is the price of fuel.  if it was in the 2 dollar range, I could probably go up there whenever I wanted to.  But nearer the 4 dollar range, totally different story.  It isn't a long trip, about 230 miles round trip.  But, that's about 11 gallons of fuel or so, haven't really come up with a precise amount.  That puts a trip up there and back, in fuel alone, at around $45.  Not exactly cheap, though that is the only real cost incurred.  I would have to eat wherever I am at, so that's not a real added cost.  I suppose a little bit of electricity should be factored in.

Well, back to the workday grind.  Plenty to do this morning if I recall correctly in looking at it on Friday.  A good thing, I don't much care to start a new work week with nothing to do.

G'day.

ben

So, I'm driving home from up North.  I see off in the distance a pickup truck with a trailer on it. It has this giant - machine - you could call it a dune buggy Frankenstein style, the thing is huge.  I pass the vehicle by while in Payson, but I pull into a fuel stop to get a cup of coffee for the trip back.

I get out of there, get the dogs positioned - if I don't do that, Duke will take up the entire rear bench and force Prince to have to sit at a very uncomfortable position the entire way back (Sophie takes the passenger front seat and stands up the ENTIRE trip back, panting and looking at me funny) - and off we go.  I don't much care for driving anymore, so I tend to try to get trips done - quickly.  That pretty much means I am passing everything and not getting passed by anyone.  Or, if someone does happen to pass me, I let them get ahead about an 1/8th mile and then speed up to match their speed.  The reason for doing that should be obvious.

Well, no-one caught up to me today - I would rather follow someone else to be honest but I am not going to take my sweet old time getting home regardless.  So, a bit later, here's that pickup and that trailer with that thing on it.  I'm saying to myself, that looks like the thing my brother has when he goes off-road doing not just 4-wheeling, but rock-climbing with it.  And when I say rocks, I don't mean little things, I mean giant boulders that people have these machines they build that can crawl over them.  Well, we're going up a 7% grade and I am going WAY faster than that truck.  About the time I am maybe 100 feet behind it, I see a hand stick out the windows and fingers moving like they are walking.  I gave it no thought at first. But it continued with a waving motion thrown in.  It suddenly dawned on me that that IS my brother's machine and it IS my brother.

I look up just in time to see him sticking his head out the window with a HUGE smile on his face as I go blasting by him, I waved heartily and that was that.  I hardly EVER see him on a planned visit, what happenstance to actually find him out on the highway somewhere, not having any foreknowledge that he was out there.  I made the 115 mile (I think that's what it is) trip back in 1 hour and 45 minutes.  That may not sound like much, but remember there is 7 miles of that on a dirt road going 25 to 30 miles per hour plus going through Payson with a speed limit of 35 miles per hour.

Well I have quite the list of things I want to get done before going back up again.  I doubt I will be going next weekend, on the 11th I am driving Caleb up to Heber to the Salvation Army camp.  I probably will not stop by the trailer on the way up or back.  Or if I do, only to spend a few hours and try to fix a few things.  I am still attempting to decide when to take  maybe 3 days off.  I was going to do it when Caleb goes up to Heber - drop him off up there and just come back to the trailer - but I would have to have the dogs with me .  Further, I would have to waste an entire weekend with time that I could be up at the trailer - he won't want to go spending several days up there.  So, I am not planning an extended stay up there when I have to take him to Heber.  That's just going to be a day trip and without any dogs with us.

On a bit of a sour note, was the incident up there yesterday.  Mother is a black and white person.  You say you're going to do something, then  damnit, you better do it exactly as you say you are. Oh, she lives her life that way, this isn't a hypocritical thing on her part.  So, I got her a Dish Network receiver off of Craigslist.

Little did I know the hell that would ensue.  She spent a week on the phone trying to understand why, exactly, they would not activate that thing and get it going.  She got completely differing stories from people working at the same company, but it ended with them saying they would send someone - yes, I mean sending them up in the middle of the forest out in the middle of nowhere near the Mogollon Rim.  They would get it working and that was that.

Dude shows up yesterday - late.  Sun was going down type of late. He was sent from the Phoenix area.  He got in there and understood what was going on and then declared he could not activate it.  Mother blew a fuse.  Literally.  He started to explain to her why he couldn't do it - the unit belonged to someone else and they would have to call in and deactivate it - she didn't want to hear ANY of it.  She was VERY rude, unfortunately, to this guy and gave him a brush off the likes I haven't seen in years.  He walked off the property, cussing and I was standing there temporarily speechless.

Umm, I haven't seen my mother acting that bad - ever.  I have seen her get into it when I was a kid, but it wasn't anything to this degree.  The dude came back, on the phone and I was intent on playing deference. That guy cannot do anything that isn't authorized, that's all there is to it.  She was taking up the fight with the entirely wrong person.  But, in her eyes (and I totally understand this), that guy IS Dish Network and he was now feeding her the same line of BS that had been fed to her at the beginning of this ordeal and that was too much for her to deal with.

She told him off and went outside of her trailer and sat down on a lounge chair, threw up her hands and told her she didn't want to hear another word from him, either fix it or leave.  Wow!!!

I escorted the guy out of that area and away to a place where we could talk without her hearing.  I apologized, frankly, for her behavior but also stated I could understand her position, just that it wasn't really appropriate for her to be taking off after service personnel.  We talked for a while and shook hands and he left.

But here's where Dish Network totally sucks.  I didn't know this until yesterday.  If you buy a receiver from someone - like off of Craigslist such as I did - and they have an active account and do not deactivate that unit, Dish Network won't reactivate in someone else's name. But that isn't the worst part: if the prior owner of that is in arrears with Dish Network, Dish Network will NOT activate that receiver until YOU, the person that is NOT responsible for that bill, pays the bill in full!!

Now excuse my French, but that is a load of BULL****.  I have NEVER had that problem with Direct TV!!! They don't CARE where you got the receiver.  It's the CARD they care about.  The card makes the thing work or not.  No card, no access to the satellite.  Well, I don't like Dish Network anyway, just one more reason to really not like it.   The receiver I bought?  The customer is in good standing but HE has to call in and authorize the unit to be put in someone else's name.

Gag.  My mother had Direct TV and I still don't understand why she switched.

Whatever.  Here's another weird thing.  I had no idea that she had had a full septic system installed for a cabin or whatever she was going to have built or placed on the property - deal went south and I am not going to go into all of THAT. So, I am in her yard - it's a fenced-in area. There are sticks of sewer pipe sticking out of the ground with adapters and plugs on the top of it.  We SELL this stuff, I know what this is: sewer clean-outs.

WHAT is THIS for?  I ask her.  The full explanation about the cabin.  Oh, well why don't you have it connected to the trailer?!!!  She isn't even USING the thing.  She has to go to an outhouse to use the toilet.
Well, she says, I may get into getting that done this summer.

Okay.  Enough. You don't pay thousands of dollars to have a septic system installed and then, after a deal goes south, you don't use it with the application you already have.  That doesn't make any sense at all. It would take a 20 foot stick of sewer pipe and some fittings and adapters and that would be the end of her using an outhouse. I do hope mother isn't going senile on me, but from her actions yesterday and seeing that unused system in the ground, ummm, I dunno.  And let's just say here that the deal that went south - I'm not so sure about  her story at this point.  I wonder what actually happened.

But, I love my mom and I think maybe she needs help with these things.  She may not WANT the help, but I think I may insist and see what happens.

Well I'm home anyway.  The dogs? Crashed out.  Totally crashed out.  I mean, laying on the floor snoring crashed out.  These trips take it out of them.  I was informed that I can give them Benedryl for motion sickness- ie: the car trip.  But, I haven't researched that yet and I ain't giving them nothing to them, especially Duke, until I am sure that it's safe to do so.  I think Sophie would totally benefit from that as well. She just stands there, in the front seat, the entire trip, she won't - or can't - lay down. Crazy dogs.

This entry? Waxes long.

ben

5/28/2012 Monday - Memorial Day

I wonder if the newer generations coming up even know the meaning of Memorial Day or the great sacrifices that so many of our nation's military made in wars past in order to for us to keep the abounding freedoms that we still enjoy to this very day?

How easily do we give up those freedoms in the name of "security" and "what do you have to hide"?

Rhetorical questions.  The All-Knowing Government has their answers to those questions.

I am still up in the mountains, been here since Saturday morning.  So, quite a nice time away from polluted air and people in my face seemingly 24 hours a day.  I slept better last night than I can remember sleeping in the past year.  I didn't even want to get out of bed this morning, I could have slept another couple of hours.  Dogs, however, have their own schedule and to not meet that schedule within some reasonable time frame means...............a certain liquid or a certain mass left on your living room floor.

Fortunately, my mom has a  large fenced in area around her trailer so I just take the dogs over there and they can roam around for a while while I clean up house, make bed and all that sort of stuff without them in my face.  I do need one of those fences around here, but, money constraints right now will have that put off for some time to come.  Only if I can sell the other trailer, then I will spend the couple hundred it's going to cost to get a good fence up around this thing so I can just let the dogs out at will.

My Direct TV I could not get going yet again.  So, I am taking the whole mess back down to the valley and I am going to get it working down there.  If I bring it up here again and I still can't get it to work, foregone conclusion that I will have to have Direct TV come up here and install it for me. But I think my satellite dish was damaged and I think that's why I couldn't get it to work.  I have 3 more dishes to play with, lol.

There is no doubt that sitting up here and watching a good movie at night before bed is something I want to be able to do.

It is so ever-loving-nice to have a place to come to in such a beautiful setting and get away from people.  I don't hate my tenants, but I have very little privacy at my house.  That's just the way it is, I have gotten used to it over the last years of renting out rooms but..............and better, I haven't received a single phone call from any of them saying that "something" is afoul at the house.

It's almost 7:00am, I am going to be leaving within the hour.  It's been wonderful being up here, but I have plenty to do at the house and I pretty much take care of the plants.  I could ask Mark to help me out with it, but I would rather do it myself and make sure that all is well in plantdom.  I did ask him to feed my fish, but even if that were neglected a few days, the fish would easily survive that.

I may write more later, right now I am getting ready to leave.

ben

I alllllmost left this evening for the mountains.
But, I am too tired to drive that far today.  I woke up in the middle of the night and it took hours to get back to sleep.  Then, the alarm clock went off this morning and I was sleeping heavily.  I never really woke up, apparently, because I was yawning at work all day long.  My manager was as well.

I had to force myself to stop at Fry's and get the food needed for the next 2 days up there.  Not that much really.  I made spaghetti last night and there are plenty of leftovers.  A couple of steaks to share with mother and a couple of the diet style frozen dinners plus some lunch meat.  I have enough dog food up there in that trailer in a plastic container to last them for several trips up there, at least.

Anyway, came home and crashed out for an hour and a half.  Not really helpful to take a nap that long, but I couldn't wake myself up to get back out of bed.  Finally did, obviously or I wouldn't be sitting in my kitchen writing this entry, lol.  I'm ready to go, anyway.  Just have to pack the cooler in the morning, load up the dogs and away we go.  Oh, I had to spend a good hour out there watering plants as well.  Should be good for the 2 day lapse they will get in getting watered.

Strong wind blowing today and the temps have finally come down as the forecasters promised.  For once, they got it right.  Tomorrow's high is only going to be 87 degrees, and that's in Phoenix. Well, the low tomorrow night where my mom's property is is slated to be in the low 40's!! wow!!  I guess I better take a jacket and another blanket up there!