It was a simple question.
I had contacted CenturyLink to ask them how I might be able to get a discount on my internet service. I can only get the 7mbps that I am currently getting, I cannot get faster in my neighborhood. I guess I don't really think it's worth $45 per month and have been weighing whether to dump the service altogether and get Cox Cable internet, which is, allegedly, MUCH faster.
So, I was using their online chat. I clearly stated my question. It was unambiguous. The lady? Either was acting like she didn't understand what I was asking or just didn't want to deal with someone that is an existing customer asking for a lower rate. Whatever the case, she dumped me onto a manager without my asking for one. He stated over and over: "You were asking about new customer, promotional rates and why you don't get them?"c Yes, I repeated but he wouldn't go any further than that with it and then, disconnected the chat.
This irritated me. If there are no discounts, just SAY so, it will help my decision making easier in regards to whether to switch or not. Switching won't be cheap. I will have to foot the bill for both a modem and a router. Yet, I suspect, my internet experience will be vastly superior in terms of download and upload times.
I then decided to call CL and got a Filipino incoming call center. I didn't have to ask multiple times about wanting to speak to a U.S. agent IN the US, they just switched me. Now, I have a lady on the phone who also - does not want to answer my question. I wasn't being rude or had any tones, I just wanted an answer. It took 3 phone calls to this company to finally get to a real manager. Not a supervisor, either.
I won't go into it, but that conversation did not go well. To the point that I informed him that I would be calling corporate headquarters tomorrow to ask them to review the conversation.
This morning, I call corporate. I won't go into the operator whose attitude stunk to high heaven. I asked for her name, she informed me that she didn't have to give it to me. Wow!! Whatever. She hung up on me, but I called back, this time I was going to attempt to use their prompt system to find someone to discuss the situation with. The first person I tried did not answer the phone. I called again, this time this same operator answered immediately. YOU again, I was going to use your automated system to get through to "someone". She put me into the system with the regular incoming calls going to an 800 call center. NOT. I called back, this time I asked for the CEO. He doesn't take phone calls and dumped me again. I called again, had found yet another person, the COO. I didn't even WANT to talk to this operator, I just wanted to try getting a hold of the person, or more likely, that person's personal secretary.
Operator answers again. Note that the first two times, the phone rang for about 12 times before I got an answer. I ask for the COO. Amazingly, I find myself on the line with a lady who works for that individual. I ask to speak to him. Who are you, what do you want. My name is Ben B, I want to talk to him about your company's "customer service" and a few other things. I can take a message, she replies. By all means, please do. When will he return my call (not actually expecting him to return my call, but perhaps it would be handed over to someone who would deal with it). She didn't know but she would get him the message.
A few hours later I get a phone call on my cell from "unknown" caller. I guessed it might be them, it was. It was some sort of "specialist" that deals with this kind of problem, she had been handed my request. We discuss at great length the manager in particular but I also brought up the operator. She stated she would review the call and would also look into some sort of discount for me - we eventually got to the why did I call in the first place - part - and I said great.
A few hours after that? What I got out of this lady was that that manager was going to receive "some coaching" and that she had already put an order in for me to receive the internet for 12 months at 50% off.
Done deal, thank you very much. That's about $250 over the span of a year. I am still not sure that I am actually going to stay with this company considering the lack of speed options, but while I am still with them, at least for the next 12 months if it goes on that long, I will have internet for a lot less than I am currently paying.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Let the rhetoric fly. Thank God Almighty this current Presidential campaign is almost over. Allegedly, Trump has some "big" information that he has going to allegedly release today that "may" change the election. I would just like to ask who, exactly, at this late point in the game, is still actually undecided? Are there actually people out there that are going to show up at the polls and finally will have to make their decision IN the polling booth? If there are, I can't believe there are that many of them.
I found quite amusing Chris Matthews statement that - just as the first election - basically - if you aren't an Obama supporter, you must be a racist. This kind of inflammatory statement and idea was projected around during the first Obama election. The idea that because Obama is black and I am white but didn't want to vote for Obama the first time around or this time around therefore, somehow, makes me a racist is - absurd at best. Just a bunch of ninnies making statements out of desperation considering the polls show a flat tie at this point between the 2 candidates. This election is a toss-up and everyone knows it, whether they are admitting it or not.
It will be interesting to see how many voters turn out this time around. I think this election may just have record numbers of voters showing up at the polls.
Whatever the case, today and tomorrow and work is done for the week. It's been really slow this week at work, which can make for a loooooong day when there isn't much to do. When I went home yesterday, there was only one thing to do for today in the truck routing system and that delivery is being put off until a part comes in via truck motor freight.
There is a small group get together tonight at someone's house somewhere in tempe for a potluck type of dinner. It mostly depends on how long I have to work and how I feel as to whether I will go or not. I have mostly put off the night meetings since I go to bed so early and get up so early for work. The small group I have been going to has swelled in size - greatly - to the point that it's really not longer a small group. Why so many people dumped the Monday and Wednesday night group, I have no idea. Once a group gets too big, it becomes unmanageable, IMO, at least in the context of what the group was originally designed to do: start building relationships.
Whatever the case, it's time to go to work!
G'day.
ben
I found quite amusing Chris Matthews statement that - just as the first election - basically - if you aren't an Obama supporter, you must be a racist. This kind of inflammatory statement and idea was projected around during the first Obama election. The idea that because Obama is black and I am white but didn't want to vote for Obama the first time around or this time around therefore, somehow, makes me a racist is - absurd at best. Just a bunch of ninnies making statements out of desperation considering the polls show a flat tie at this point between the 2 candidates. This election is a toss-up and everyone knows it, whether they are admitting it or not.
It will be interesting to see how many voters turn out this time around. I think this election may just have record numbers of voters showing up at the polls.
Whatever the case, today and tomorrow and work is done for the week. It's been really slow this week at work, which can make for a loooooong day when there isn't much to do. When I went home yesterday, there was only one thing to do for today in the truck routing system and that delivery is being put off until a part comes in via truck motor freight.
There is a small group get together tonight at someone's house somewhere in tempe for a potluck type of dinner. It mostly depends on how long I have to work and how I feel as to whether I will go or not. I have mostly put off the night meetings since I go to bed so early and get up so early for work. The small group I have been going to has swelled in size - greatly - to the point that it's really not longer a small group. Why so many people dumped the Monday and Wednesday night group, I have no idea. Once a group gets too big, it becomes unmanageable, IMO, at least in the context of what the group was originally designed to do: start building relationships.
Whatever the case, it's time to go to work!
G'day.
ben
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
I finally got word today - after asking yet again - about whether I can get Friday off. A go. I am planning on leaving Thursday after work and either leaving late Friday or more likely early Saturday.
Actually, I have no guarantee that I am going to get off early enough on Thursday to get up there in time to have enough time to deal with any mouse problems, though my mother informed me that there were no sign of them in there and that the mouse traps had not been sprung.
I would rather not, obviously, have to deal with mice and their droppings.
Junior is all over the place. He's feeding on Lantanna's; Honeysuckles and I believe it's called Rubella. Purple flowering plant. Junior is my name for the hummingbird that was born in one of my Sissoo trees earlier this year. His mother took a hike, he never left. Well, I mean he always comes back, multiple times a day, looking for nourishment. He drained out a feeder's full of fluid in a very short period of time. But my Honeysuckles have hundreds and hundreds of flowers on them, lots of nourishment there, but I just refilled the feeder to keep him happy.
I was having a crazy dream last night. It started - somewhere, lots of people around, not exactly sure where. Someone snagged my laptop with mobile router and gun and the entire dream was about finding this person and getting my stuff back. This dream went ALL over the place, including meeting a police officer who was engaged in killing a large number of people. He had an excuse for all the killings, of which I witnessed, him gunning them down. He continued to promise to help me find the thieves but declared that he had a much grittier calling to deal with the bad guys. He thought nothing of killing people, even if criminals, whether they were armed or unarmed and mostly unarmed.
This dream seemed like it went on all night long when I awakened out of it. We were driving all over the state trying to find this person, meanwhile I remember fretting about trying to replace the computer and the gun with limited finances. In the last few scenes of my "movie", I was with my wife? - not my ex either - and we had tracked the thief down to a run-down old house or hotel or whatever, I can't really say, and went in to find him. Well, the misses stayed outside in a vehicle that looked to be a moving van. Lol. I fished the man out and he ran to his car and took off. I ran to the van and I was about to take off when my missus said it was time for her to go work. ???!!!! What do you mean it's time to go to work? That's when I woke up, looked at the clock and yes, it was time to get up for work. It was a really strange dream, but I have been having those lately and I have no clue.
I mean, do you attempt to attach some meaning to such dreams and if you do, what, precisely, are you focusing in on?
Actually, I have no guarantee that I am going to get off early enough on Thursday to get up there in time to have enough time to deal with any mouse problems, though my mother informed me that there were no sign of them in there and that the mouse traps had not been sprung.
I would rather not, obviously, have to deal with mice and their droppings.
Junior is all over the place. He's feeding on Lantanna's; Honeysuckles and I believe it's called Rubella. Purple flowering plant. Junior is my name for the hummingbird that was born in one of my Sissoo trees earlier this year. His mother took a hike, he never left. Well, I mean he always comes back, multiple times a day, looking for nourishment. He drained out a feeder's full of fluid in a very short period of time. But my Honeysuckles have hundreds and hundreds of flowers on them, lots of nourishment there, but I just refilled the feeder to keep him happy.
I was having a crazy dream last night. It started - somewhere, lots of people around, not exactly sure where. Someone snagged my laptop with mobile router and gun and the entire dream was about finding this person and getting my stuff back. This dream went ALL over the place, including meeting a police officer who was engaged in killing a large number of people. He had an excuse for all the killings, of which I witnessed, him gunning them down. He continued to promise to help me find the thieves but declared that he had a much grittier calling to deal with the bad guys. He thought nothing of killing people, even if criminals, whether they were armed or unarmed and mostly unarmed.
This dream seemed like it went on all night long when I awakened out of it. We were driving all over the state trying to find this person, meanwhile I remember fretting about trying to replace the computer and the gun with limited finances. In the last few scenes of my "movie", I was with my wife? - not my ex either - and we had tracked the thief down to a run-down old house or hotel or whatever, I can't really say, and went in to find him. Well, the misses stayed outside in a vehicle that looked to be a moving van. Lol. I fished the man out and he ran to his car and took off. I ran to the van and I was about to take off when my missus said it was time for her to go work. ???!!!! What do you mean it's time to go to work? That's when I woke up, looked at the clock and yes, it was time to get up for work. It was a really strange dream, but I have been having those lately and I have no clue.
I mean, do you attempt to attach some meaning to such dreams and if you do, what, precisely, are you focusing in on?
Monday, October 22, 2012
While walking around my property today, inspecting my trees and plants (I do that regularly, like almost daily), I noticed a large number of Chinese Elms saplings growing in places where the nearest Chinese Elm is at least 50 feet away. I noticed another one of my plants also growing next to it. Next to that, a desert tree that I forget the name of but is not growing anywhere on my property. These are "good" plants, not weeds and I pointed them out to Mark in case he might be inclined to remove them.
No, let them grow. See if they flourish. If they get big enough, I will attempt to transplant them. If not, then Nature has taken it's course. I will blame this phenomenon on birds eating seeds off of a tree and "transplanting" those seeds elsewhere through a natural process known as defecation, lol.
Sophie's hind leg is getting better - much better. She is still limping but getting around much easier now. Sigh of relief. I was "informed" by someone yesterday that it is probably hip dysplacia. I had to inform this person that the dog had had an accident, had somehow twisted her entire hind end and it has nothing to do with an ailment that pretty much reserved for much larger dogs. Yes, it can and does occur in smaller dogs, but it doesn't just come out of the blue and cripple a dog in a matter of 60 seconds. You would not expect that a dog that has normal hip function suddenly, out of the blue, is crippled and cannot walk and has to be carried back into the house, especially a dog that is only 2-1/2 years old.
Well enough of that. The final, Presidential Debate en-queue in a couple of hours from now. I will, of course, watch the entire thing. I didn't much care for the Ryan/Biden debate, but the 2 Presidential debates thus far have been entertaining and I expect that the vitriolic mix of attitude, interruption and to some extent, lack of civility will occur to a greater degree than what we have seen thus far. As far as I'm concerned and have stated long before these debates occurred, these debates are going to determine who is going to be our next President.
I'm still, actually, waiting to hear confirmation of my day off this Friday. I NEED that day off. I don't just want it at this point. I want to get the trailer ready for winter and I want to be able to come home in time to participate in the outreach that will take place starting at 5:00 pm on Saturday. If I don't get Friday off, then winterizing my trailer will have to take precedence. Well, I guess I don't have to have it off, since the participation in Saturday's event isn't something I really have to do, but I would like to.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Beautiful day.
Decided to not spend it indoors.
I have had enough of indoors when I am at home - though the stifling heat is certainly a good enough excuse, at least for me.
Got out in the dirt and start digging, watering, getting dirty and muddy.
I feel good, too.
But that's not because of the weather, that's just that my spiritual life is slowly coming back to order, to the place where it is supposed to be and the direction it is supposed to be going on.
I do have regrets for the last years that I have wasted, but there is nothing that anyone can do to get back lost time, you can only resolve to use the time you have now and move forward in that mind frame.
I'll have my property nicely trimmed and looking up to snuff in the next week, as I don't have a problem going out there after work when the weather is so beautiful outside.
That's not to say that my property looks shabby, but it definitely needs the attention I like to give to it to make is "sparkle", I guess I could call it. And in this kind of weather, I like doing it.
Decided to not spend it indoors.
I have had enough of indoors when I am at home - though the stifling heat is certainly a good enough excuse, at least for me.
Got out in the dirt and start digging, watering, getting dirty and muddy.
I feel good, too.
But that's not because of the weather, that's just that my spiritual life is slowly coming back to order, to the place where it is supposed to be and the direction it is supposed to be going on.
I do have regrets for the last years that I have wasted, but there is nothing that anyone can do to get back lost time, you can only resolve to use the time you have now and move forward in that mind frame.
I'll have my property nicely trimmed and looking up to snuff in the next week, as I don't have a problem going out there after work when the weather is so beautiful outside.
That's not to say that my property looks shabby, but it definitely needs the attention I like to give to it to make is "sparkle", I guess I could call it. And in this kind of weather, I like doing it.
We may be in Sierra Vista on Black Friday, but they DO have a Walmart down there! I don't really "need" anything, but I want a much larger TV for that trailer up north. I saw a 32" flat screen on sale today for $232. Good price, but if that's a sign of what is to come, then I fully expect Black Friday to be an awesome opportunity to get the TV I want for that thing. I was thinking about that because I didn't want to miss out if there really IS a good deal to be had. Some consumer sites have already stated that electronics and specifically TV's are going to be the big time buys at any given Black Friday sale. Too bad Black Friday sales now seem to start at Midnight.
Prince, my black Great Dane, was brought up in church today during the sermon, lol. I took Prince specifically as a conversation starter, and that is something he does very well without even trying, heck, without even knowing about it. The pastor was talking about using "lures" of whatever to get opportunities to talk to people and that's where Prince was invoked.
My oldest brother winterized my mother's trailer this week. So, she is done for the season. She won't be back up there until some time late May. I will be going up here and there as time permits, even without running water. I already have several cases of bottled water up there - though I guess that stuff will freeze in a very cold trailer, I will have to bring up water on each trip.
Next Saturday brings a Halloween event at the same park we were at yesterday. The city of Tempe organizes it, apparently, and are allowing our church to set up - several -booths. 4 hour event. They are asking for as much help as possible. I am hoping for Friday off as I have asked so that I can go up on Thursday and stay through Saturday morning. The event doesn't start until 5:00 pm.
Well, I will just take things as it happens. If I get back in time, I will go and help out, if not, oh well. But, I have desired to get more involved with church and these opportunities are coming at a rapid pace now.
That's it. I came home from church, going a very long way about it going to the shop to get my phone that I had forgotten and left there and to Fry's to get fixin's for spaghetti. When I got home, I realized I had forgotten to buy the meatballs! What is spaghetti without meatballs? Still good, actually, but I didn't want to go to all the trouble and not have it the way I wanted it for a Sunday dinner.
G'day.
ben
Prince, my black Great Dane, was brought up in church today during the sermon, lol. I took Prince specifically as a conversation starter, and that is something he does very well without even trying, heck, without even knowing about it. The pastor was talking about using "lures" of whatever to get opportunities to talk to people and that's where Prince was invoked.
My oldest brother winterized my mother's trailer this week. So, she is done for the season. She won't be back up there until some time late May. I will be going up here and there as time permits, even without running water. I already have several cases of bottled water up there - though I guess that stuff will freeze in a very cold trailer, I will have to bring up water on each trip.
Next Saturday brings a Halloween event at the same park we were at yesterday. The city of Tempe organizes it, apparently, and are allowing our church to set up - several -booths. 4 hour event. They are asking for as much help as possible. I am hoping for Friday off as I have asked so that I can go up on Thursday and stay through Saturday morning. The event doesn't start until 5:00 pm.
Well, I will just take things as it happens. If I get back in time, I will go and help out, if not, oh well. But, I have desired to get more involved with church and these opportunities are coming at a rapid pace now.
That's it. I came home from church, going a very long way about it going to the shop to get my phone that I had forgotten and left there and to Fry's to get fixin's for spaghetti. When I got home, I realized I had forgotten to buy the meatballs! What is spaghetti without meatballs? Still good, actually, but I didn't want to go to all the trouble and not have it the way I wanted it for a Sunday dinner.
G'day.
ben
Saturday, October 20, 2012
The Park
Kiwanis Park, to be precise, located in Tempe, it's a full mile in depth from Baseline road to Guadalupe road. They intentionally the front part of the park that goes around the lake quite hilly. It's covered with nice grass and a lot of mature trees. It's a great park that I hadn't been to in ages.
Until this morning. I decided to take only one dog: Prince, the black Great Dane. Sophie, the Catahoula, did something serious to her hind end this morning - what I have no idea. I heard her howling in pain outside shortly after they went out early to do their thing. I went out to find this dog laying in the rocks, continuing to howl in pain and unable to stand up.
I could only guess that she must have lost her footing while running and twisted a leg and did perhaps some joint damage, tendon damage or muscle damage - or a combination of all three. I picked her up, brought her inside and laid her down on the carpet. She stopped the howling and just laid there, looking at me, trying to drag herself across the floor with her 2 front legs.
Do I now have to put another dog down? My first thought. I don't have the money to dump on that dog like I attempted to do with Coco when she was going down. If I had to spend any money? It would be to have her put down, not to fix her. I decided to simply leave her and hope that when I come back from the park with Prince, maybe I would see some kind of improvement after the initial pain wore off and she might be dealing with it.
At the park. Prince, of course, loved it. I got out of the car and hadn't been walking for 60 seconds when a couple of older ladies stopped me and we conversed about Prince and then about their dogs. I then continued to walk, looking for the church people. I got to a hill and was walking up it when some people alerted me to the fact that Prince was pooping while we were walking. Prince does that. Instead of stopping and stooping, he basically acts like a horse. Cleaned up that mess and then thought I heard my name called, but I didn't see anyone - trees and buildings in the way. I continued on and then clearly heard my name called and saw the Pastor's son running up after me.
So, I went back down the hill, turns out they had just shown up and were walking behind me. Prince, of course, attracted a lot of attention and we were able to get into some good conversations with people. I eventually decided that Prince should be exercised, so I took off with him. I ran as much as I could before getting winded and then did a fast walking gait and then running. Did that until I had had enough and Prince was panting heavily.
Back to the group. It was probably one of the best interactions I have had with church members since I have started going to that church. Some people that would never talk to me opened up quite a bit and got into some rather deep conversations, actually. Well, after 2 hours they said that was it, pack up the bags and leave. I went home, but not dreading what I might find with Sophie. She either is going to survive this or she isn't. I would rather she did, of course, but I am not near as attached to that dog - yet anyway - as I was to Coco or am to my Danes. I got home and she came hobbling up to me. Obviously not feeling too well, but she was moving on her own and that's a very good sign. It will, undoubtedly, take a long time for whatever happened back there to heal. Whatever it is, I am not taking her to the vet. I can't afford it. Summer pretty much left me broke and I am trying to get my financial reserves back up. I am not spending money on anything that I don't have to - bills, food, gas for the car, stuff like that.
So, I hold out hope that over time, it will heal and she'll be back to her normal self. A dog that cannot walk, however, is a dog that can't live. It can't go to the bathroom and that's enough right there. But she's getting around enough to convince me that if she will stay down and not move around too much, she can get past this. Which reminds me, I totally forgot: give her an ibuprofen to help with the pain. There we go, a little while from now and hopefully that will make her feel a little better.
That's it. That was the jist of my day. I am heading outside soon enough to do some more work out front. The temps are going to come down after today. Highs in the 80's instead of the 90's. Meaning my electric usage will go down even further.
Keep that in mind, though - that park is a really nice place to walk the dogs. I changed the dog walking modus from walking all 3 to either only walking 1 or 2 at a time. But not the 2 Danes at the same time. I have to keep Duke on a short leash and I can't have him going after other dogs. I don't know that he will do that, I am not going to find out.
I asked for coming Friday off. I need to get up to the property and get that trailer winterized. I am not getting off work early enough to leave on a Friday afternoon. I didn't get home until almost 5:00 pm yesterday, way too late to even think about it. I want to good, solid nights up there and that's what I am after. The day hasn't been approved yet, but I am hopeful. If it isn't, I will have no choice but to go up there next weekend regardless of what day I leave and get that little project done.
___________________________________________________
Plant inspection. Just got through with along with other junk out front. The Sissoo that just up and died - is dead. It's showing no signs of life and I have watered it well for the last 2 weeks. The other huge plant (8 feet tall) that I cut back significantly after it was dying is - up in the air. The weather is much better and I am spending much more time out there dealing with the things that I have put off because of summer heat.
Until this morning. I decided to take only one dog: Prince, the black Great Dane. Sophie, the Catahoula, did something serious to her hind end this morning - what I have no idea. I heard her howling in pain outside shortly after they went out early to do their thing. I went out to find this dog laying in the rocks, continuing to howl in pain and unable to stand up.
I could only guess that she must have lost her footing while running and twisted a leg and did perhaps some joint damage, tendon damage or muscle damage - or a combination of all three. I picked her up, brought her inside and laid her down on the carpet. She stopped the howling and just laid there, looking at me, trying to drag herself across the floor with her 2 front legs.
Do I now have to put another dog down? My first thought. I don't have the money to dump on that dog like I attempted to do with Coco when she was going down. If I had to spend any money? It would be to have her put down, not to fix her. I decided to simply leave her and hope that when I come back from the park with Prince, maybe I would see some kind of improvement after the initial pain wore off and she might be dealing with it.
At the park. Prince, of course, loved it. I got out of the car and hadn't been walking for 60 seconds when a couple of older ladies stopped me and we conversed about Prince and then about their dogs. I then continued to walk, looking for the church people. I got to a hill and was walking up it when some people alerted me to the fact that Prince was pooping while we were walking. Prince does that. Instead of stopping and stooping, he basically acts like a horse. Cleaned up that mess and then thought I heard my name called, but I didn't see anyone - trees and buildings in the way. I continued on and then clearly heard my name called and saw the Pastor's son running up after me.
So, I went back down the hill, turns out they had just shown up and were walking behind me. Prince, of course, attracted a lot of attention and we were able to get into some good conversations with people. I eventually decided that Prince should be exercised, so I took off with him. I ran as much as I could before getting winded and then did a fast walking gait and then running. Did that until I had had enough and Prince was panting heavily.
Back to the group. It was probably one of the best interactions I have had with church members since I have started going to that church. Some people that would never talk to me opened up quite a bit and got into some rather deep conversations, actually. Well, after 2 hours they said that was it, pack up the bags and leave. I went home, but not dreading what I might find with Sophie. She either is going to survive this or she isn't. I would rather she did, of course, but I am not near as attached to that dog - yet anyway - as I was to Coco or am to my Danes. I got home and she came hobbling up to me. Obviously not feeling too well, but she was moving on her own and that's a very good sign. It will, undoubtedly, take a long time for whatever happened back there to heal. Whatever it is, I am not taking her to the vet. I can't afford it. Summer pretty much left me broke and I am trying to get my financial reserves back up. I am not spending money on anything that I don't have to - bills, food, gas for the car, stuff like that.
So, I hold out hope that over time, it will heal and she'll be back to her normal self. A dog that cannot walk, however, is a dog that can't live. It can't go to the bathroom and that's enough right there. But she's getting around enough to convince me that if she will stay down and not move around too much, she can get past this. Which reminds me, I totally forgot: give her an ibuprofen to help with the pain. There we go, a little while from now and hopefully that will make her feel a little better.
That's it. That was the jist of my day. I am heading outside soon enough to do some more work out front. The temps are going to come down after today. Highs in the 80's instead of the 90's. Meaning my electric usage will go down even further.
Keep that in mind, though - that park is a really nice place to walk the dogs. I changed the dog walking modus from walking all 3 to either only walking 1 or 2 at a time. But not the 2 Danes at the same time. I have to keep Duke on a short leash and I can't have him going after other dogs. I don't know that he will do that, I am not going to find out.
I asked for coming Friday off. I need to get up to the property and get that trailer winterized. I am not getting off work early enough to leave on a Friday afternoon. I didn't get home until almost 5:00 pm yesterday, way too late to even think about it. I want to good, solid nights up there and that's what I am after. The day hasn't been approved yet, but I am hopeful. If it isn't, I will have no choice but to go up there next weekend regardless of what day I leave and get that little project done.
___________________________________________________
Plant inspection. Just got through with along with other junk out front. The Sissoo that just up and died - is dead. It's showing no signs of life and I have watered it well for the last 2 weeks. The other huge plant (8 feet tall) that I cut back significantly after it was dying is - up in the air. The weather is much better and I am spending much more time out there dealing with the things that I have put off because of summer heat.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Well, it should be interesting to read both sides of the story in the next coming days about who won last night's presidential debate. There is already a bunch of muck and mire all over the place. As expected, Crowly - the so-called moderator - took up Obama's defense at least a couple of times. I'm sure in the next several days there will be the almighty "POLL" that will come out and define who won and who lost and will be even more polls that will show who is winning the race. Though, the most recent Gallup poll was quite interesting, lol.
Today, as was yesterday and the day before, will be quite busy at work. Drive back to the jobsite in the middle of the desert and deliver those machines. Then drive clear to our main branch in downtown Phoenix. Back to the branch in Chandler and then out for more deliveries. That should eat up most of the day if not all of it.
Well, I was going to write more, but time to leave for work already. I was reading a lot of news blips on the debate, sorta got caught up in it.
G'day.
ben
Today, as was yesterday and the day before, will be quite busy at work. Drive back to the jobsite in the middle of the desert and deliver those machines. Then drive clear to our main branch in downtown Phoenix. Back to the branch in Chandler and then out for more deliveries. That should eat up most of the day if not all of it.
Well, I was going to write more, but time to leave for work already. I was reading a lot of news blips on the debate, sorta got caught up in it.
G'day.
ben
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
The work day starts off with what I already knew: take some material to a contractor at the Intel plant. But, then I am informed that I will have to make a trip to Tucson for a fusion machine and it's generator. These 2 machines will take up about 2'3rd's of the truck and by the time you get your chains on, you're limited on space.
The drive down there was interesting in the fact of seeing so many Highway Patrol vehicles sitting off the side of the road, yet not having anyone pulled over. I was followed by a Mini Cooper the entire trip down to Tucson. I have no idea what that was about. I really don't. It appeared out of the blue and mimicked my every move. At times it was right on my bumper, other times it backed off a bit. I did not cut that car off, I observe my mirrors quite frequently. I don't make lane changes until it is safe to do so and then, only after my signal light is on. Heck, I indicate I am changing a lane with my signal lights even if there isn't anyone behind or in front of me to see it. Just a habit.
After loading the machines and getting them chained down, I am looking for a place to eat. I decided that I would stop at a Dairy Queen at Picacho Peak. It has truck parking and well, probably not the greatest food for a dietary minded person, but oh well, give in and eat the good stuff. After that stop, I got off of I-10 westbound and got onto SR 87 north bound. It's a 2 lane highway with a speed limit of 65 mph until you get to a blip-the-road-town called Randolph, where it goes down to 50mph and then Coolidge - 35mph.
I am going the speed limit. There are MANY side roads that connect with this highway. I come up to another highway that ends at the highway I am on. It has a stop sign, I have open road with no speed limitations because of the road that ends. Why should it? If a car is coming, you don't just decide to pull out in front of it.
But that's exactly what happened. I'm going 65mph and this woman driving this little tin can car decides to pull away from the stop sign, cross the highway and make a left hand turn which puts her vehicle directly in front of me. I did not know if I would be able to slow the truck down in time to avoid a collision, but avoiding collisions is part of the life in day of a local truck driver.
Moving on - I don't want to experience those feelings again - I get to the jobsite which is out in the middle of the desert. The only thing around is a dilapidated old house. Whether anyone lives there is hard to tell, no vehicles. I get out of the truck and speak with the foreman, who thinks it's hilarious that I just came out there with a machine that he will need, but doesn't need today. His attitude sucked. From this morning until the time I had arrived, the situation had changed and the man stated that he could not take that machine off of the truck. Not because he didn't have equipment. Well I'm not going to go into it, between that guy and that woman in the car I will become extremely irritated.
I watched the debate tonight. Obama looked better than the last debate, but I definitely think that if you want to call one or the other a winner, Romney took it away.
But I won't go into that, as my bedtime is here.
ben
The drive down there was interesting in the fact of seeing so many Highway Patrol vehicles sitting off the side of the road, yet not having anyone pulled over. I was followed by a Mini Cooper the entire trip down to Tucson. I have no idea what that was about. I really don't. It appeared out of the blue and mimicked my every move. At times it was right on my bumper, other times it backed off a bit. I did not cut that car off, I observe my mirrors quite frequently. I don't make lane changes until it is safe to do so and then, only after my signal light is on. Heck, I indicate I am changing a lane with my signal lights even if there isn't anyone behind or in front of me to see it. Just a habit.
After loading the machines and getting them chained down, I am looking for a place to eat. I decided that I would stop at a Dairy Queen at Picacho Peak. It has truck parking and well, probably not the greatest food for a dietary minded person, but oh well, give in and eat the good stuff. After that stop, I got off of I-10 westbound and got onto SR 87 north bound. It's a 2 lane highway with a speed limit of 65 mph until you get to a blip-the-road-town called Randolph, where it goes down to 50mph and then Coolidge - 35mph.
I am going the speed limit. There are MANY side roads that connect with this highway. I come up to another highway that ends at the highway I am on. It has a stop sign, I have open road with no speed limitations because of the road that ends. Why should it? If a car is coming, you don't just decide to pull out in front of it.
But that's exactly what happened. I'm going 65mph and this woman driving this little tin can car decides to pull away from the stop sign, cross the highway and make a left hand turn which puts her vehicle directly in front of me. I did not know if I would be able to slow the truck down in time to avoid a collision, but avoiding collisions is part of the life in day of a local truck driver.
Moving on - I don't want to experience those feelings again - I get to the jobsite which is out in the middle of the desert. The only thing around is a dilapidated old house. Whether anyone lives there is hard to tell, no vehicles. I get out of the truck and speak with the foreman, who thinks it's hilarious that I just came out there with a machine that he will need, but doesn't need today. His attitude sucked. From this morning until the time I had arrived, the situation had changed and the man stated that he could not take that machine off of the truck. Not because he didn't have equipment. Well I'm not going to go into it, between that guy and that woman in the car I will become extremely irritated.
I watched the debate tonight. Obama looked better than the last debate, but I definitely think that if you want to call one or the other a winner, Romney took it away.
But I won't go into that, as my bedtime is here.
ben
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