Thursday

Today was my kind of day - at work that is.
Driving all over the place, delivering this, picking up that - driving the semi.
Of course, not all is rosy out there. The number of idiots driving on the roads in the Phoenix area undoubtedly surpasses the number of sane people behind the wheel. I couldn't tell you how many times I was cut off - extremely cut off - by morons that just HAD to get around the truck - slam on their brakes and then make a right hand turn directly in front of me........or making sudden lane changes in traffic without warning and stuffing their vehicle DIRECTLY in front of the truck.

If those people had any clue how dangerous that is - maybe they wouldn't do it. I would love to see states force people to go through driver training which includes videos and pictures of what happens to vehicles when they cut off trucks ..........and it doesn't turn out too well. I've seen the videos and the pics: trucks that have run clean over the car; trucks whose front axles are buried in the back seat of the car; cars that have been turned literally into a pancake. They don't live through those sorts of things.

Indeed. Tomorrow is Friday and I fully expect rental payments from 2 tenants. Mary already paid hers. Mary also planted the flowers she bought yesterday and they are nice. I offered to pay her back for them - to preclude any future junk - and when that was rejected, I offered to pay half. It's a donation. All well and fine - as long as it doesn't become an issue somewhere down the road. Everyone here is on the bi-weekly payment plan.

I expect problems, however, from one particular tenant who has allegedly been sent home early from work - like every day this week. Today? He's home and offered no explanation. Not that I need one - until it's time to pay the rent, which would be tomorrow. I have become somewhat calloused in the arena of paying rent and paying it on-time - especially considering I collect security deposits from everyone. Don't pay your rent? Homeless shelter is in downtown Phoenix. I don't mean to sound cruel, but I have had enough with people playing games with rental payments.

However, this guy has yet to miss a beat. However again - even if he covers the rent, he will have little left over, I am imagining, to eat with. There is much information I am leaving out here - but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what's going to start unfolding......and what's already been happening. It's one of the reasons I have 3 tenants in here - when one starts having "financial issues" - I don't have to go into a panic and start wondering how I am going to pay bills. Or get behind on the mortgage. Or whatever.

On another note, my dad sent me yet another $100.00. He sent me an email and told me he would send me money on a regular basis (no, I didn't ask for it, but I certainly won't be turning it down) to help me through this economic crisis. I'm guessing now that I will be receiving a $100.00 check from him every month, since it was a month ago that I received the first one. He has a pension and some other thing that gives him money every month and assuming social security. Again - I'm very happy both my parents are well-off enough that I don't have to worry about them in that aspect.

Now? Daily routine - clean up dog crap. I watered plants yesterday but I am going to go out there and water certain plants again. Oh, and the other arguments put in my brain concerning my dad's money: 1. Transfer it to my ING savings account. 2. More Palomino Gold granite. I don't have enough coverage. 3. Dump it onto the power card reader.

I'll be thinking about that for a while before I make a decision - but not a long while. Like - today and possibly into tomorrow. Too many things need done around here.

As for now, I'm signing off of this one and bidding you a good evening.
ben

Dear Self...........

..........do you remember the trellises you bought weeks ago now and are sitting out there, waiting for you to install?
Dear Brain:
Oh, yes, I remember that now!
Self: Well, when are you going to GET to DOING that project?
Brain: Ummm, I had totally forgotten about it.
Self: List of things to do this weekend: Trellis installation.
Brain: Well you don't have to be PUSHY about!

Yes - it just totally eluded me - that project I bought the parts for and did nothing with.
I'll be working on that this weekend.
I have other things on the backburner: Have done nothing with this list of names from last weekend - however - I didn't expect to do anything until this weekend.
Anyway - have a great day!
ben

Wednesday

Don't ask me why, cause' I really don't know - I slept terribly last night.
I was so out of it today, I'm still surprised I made it through work. Especially considering there wasn't much of anything going on. I HATE when I can't sleep.
I came home and passed out for 40 minutes and then forced myself to get up so I wouldn't just sleep for hours and then - have the same problem again tonight.

There isn't much "news" here. Well, there is a problem with a certain tenant that I have written about on here before - and it isn't Mary - who appears to be behaving quite nicely for the time being. A particular person who isn't making enough money to support his "habits" and still eat and such - is therefore - taking other people's food - and such.

Smoking and drinking are vices. These are not things that a person should expect other people to support for them. Well, I'm just not feeling very energetic right now - as I haven't in 2 or 3 days now - so I'll rest it for a later date. Though - the situation is coming to a head.

I suppose, now that I think about it, there are a lot of things going on - but I have absolutely no energy to write about it. I forced myself to do freeweights this afternoon regardless of how I felt - and that pretty much cashed me of energy. I don't really look like I've been working out all that much as far as visual confirmation is concerned - but I have been easing into the freeweights. Eventually the grown muscle will increase the metabolism will burn calories will reduce fat. I have tried dieting - but I have always known that dieting alone doesn't really work that well. You must couple it with exercise, and more specifically - weight training/resistance training is the best - though I totally prefer freeweights over resistance machines any day.

If you look at people that diet and do cardio exercises but don't do any weight/resistance training - well - the comparison to someone that is dieting; weight training and doing cardio workouts is palpable. Not dissing cardio - it's very good for you - but in terms of dumping fat - it's only a piece of the pie.

Anyway, I'm still slowly getting back on track concerning exercise.
As for this day? Done.
G'nite.
ben

Can any computer genius please tell me something about these wireless networks?!...
I have a router sending out the signal to 2 computers in my house. My computer is directly wired - doesn't use the router signal being "sent through the air" to get internet.
The question is, is someone else on one of the computers in my house able to see what I am doing on my computer? This question has been bothering me for some time now, just wondering what the reality of it is. I pay bills and such online and really do not want someone else in here getting access to bank account numbers.

Vet takes down flag that is flying UNDER a mexican flag



The video speaks for itself.
A nice day today at work. There was nothing yesterday in the truck routing system for deliveries this morning, but when I got to work, well, totally different story. Long story short- I was all over the place. Phoenix; Valley Farms and Florence. Took most of the day to accomplish. Today is end of month - we're going to get out whatever we can.

Folks, if someone calls you tomorrow and tells you you won a million dollars, or that your car has just been stolen, or whatever - remember - it's April Fool's Day! Lol, I always play tricks on numerous people and usually am quite successful at getting them all riled up - APRIL FOOL'S!!!!

Just thought I'd throw that in there - many people forget about that particular day and then end up on the receiving end of a joke. Knowledge in advance? You could take THEM for a ride and dream up your own counter-offensive. For example, someone calls and tells you your car has just been stolen. "It's okay, I have the car booby-trapped with a bomb. It will detonate shortly and they will not even have the chance to wish that they hadn't fooled with MY car". Something mundane like that.

Anyway, something that has been milling around my head for months now - getting those Danes neutered. I finally found a place that isn't freakin' out of this world for the price: $150 per dog. They have a set price for dogs up to 70 pounds and then a buck per pound after that. The cheapest I found before this? Almost $300 per dog. Just because they are so large. Definitely thinking of how to come up with that money and get Duke done first. Duke has some temperamental issues that I think neutering would take care of.

So - now - I have to come up with a date for a meeting for a potential Neighborhood Association for those individuals that were interested to come over, have a little BBQ, see if we can come to some kind of agreement on forming a board of directors and at least get the thing rolled out.

I'm just going through the list of things here - not gonna take too long on this entry, either.

In fact, I'm pretty much done here.
I have some things I need to get done outside.
ben

Monday

Amazingly, I woke up feeling pretty good this morning. Just reaffirmed to me that having a party like that on a Saturday is a far better idea than doing it on a Sunday.
I called Target today attempting to get them to "fix" the problem that was created by the defective product they sold me. I bought that grill, what - in November? That thing is only 4 months old! Maybe 5, I don't really remember.

Yes, I fixed the problem by buying a new regulator valve for it, but who would expect to have to replace something like that so soon after buying a grill like that? That thing should last next to forever. Target was unyielding. I called corporate - they couldn't have cared less how much trouble their attitude towards helping me with my problem caused in not just selling me a valve - or even giving me one - off a floor model.

I'm not done with that, yet, but I have no desire to follow through with that today. Amana probably has some kind of manufacturer's warranty on it which I will try next. I just couldn't believe Target's apathetic attitude towards a situation that they could have easily fixed without all the attitudinal problems.

Anyway, I was pretty much busy at work all day - driving to Casa Grande, back to the yard, then to northwest Phoenix; then to our main branch near downtown Phoenix and then back to the yard again.

I also decided to give away some of the leftover food. I figured since people donated money for this affair, the only right thing to do is to give it to people that need it. Doesn't take long around these parts to find hungry people.

Anyway, I don't have writer's block, but I'm kinda worn-out and I'm going to go take a kick-back in my bedroom.
C'yall later.
ben

Sunday

About 45 minutes before the party started, I went out to fire up the grill and start cooking chicken. Grill won't start. I had it going earlier full tilt - what the heck? Finally, one little line of flame coming out of one of three burners. Tried to turn on the other two - nothing.

It was obviously the regulator valve - I tapped it. Tapped it again, and again, and again. I'm starting to get very nervous. I run down to Target where I got the grill - they don't sell the regulators separately but they have several of the same model on the floor with the valve. I ask a manager if they would sell me the one off the grill - they can always order another one for it. Nope. Can I speak to the store manager? Store manager comes out - geek looking dude - explains that those models are all for sale.

Great, I said, I don't need a whole new BBQ, I just need the regulator valve with the hose assembly. I further explained 100 people were showing up to my place in less than 30 minutes for a big party, pleeeeeeaaaaassssseeeeee help me. Nope. Wouldn't budge. Informed me to go to Lowe's or Home Depot. I don't have time for that, I need a fix right now! I was not happy with this individual and let him know about it. We rob parts off of things at our place frequently for our customers and just order replacement parts for whatever we took the part off of.

I'm walking out of that store a rather unhappy individual - Home Depot and Lowe's are 6 and 7 miles away consecutively - and would have to go through a lot of traffic and lights to get there. I remembered there's an Ace Hardware in the same strip mall the Target is at and hoped beyond hope that they sell those valves. Sure enough - they had a whole selection of them, and yes, one of them the same as the one on my grill.

Racing back to the house - there is already 20 people there by the time I get there - plus 3 different news medias, lol. A bunch of people showed up from the Craiglist ad and even more people showed up from the flyers I had sent out around my neighborhood. A guy showed up and played some excellent music on electric guitar with amplifiers and all that sort of stuff - he played continuously for 3 hours, only taking a 15 minute break. Very cool. People brought all kinds of great food as well. A tremendous outpouring and a lot of people came.

Anyway, after grilling for a while, I went ahead and started talking with everyone. Got names and addresses of those that came that were interested in getting something going in terms of a neighborhood association - about 15 of them. Quite a lot of interest, it turns out - and a lot of talk about the "other" thing that has been going on, the Neighborhood Watch thing. The guy that runs that thing - which is pretty much non-existent now - is a total control freak. Whatever. Anyway, I informed everyone I would send out a letter to everyone for a day to come over to my place, have a little git-together, and discuss forming the Association - whose name is already supplied by the name of the community we are in - and see what kinds of ideas and desires come up. Many agreed with me about trying to get some landscaping done on properties that have nothing but dirt and weeds.

I still have a lot of meat left-over - going to freeze the beef but I'm cooking up the rest of the chicken later today on the grill. Nothing like BBQ'ed chicken! I figured I over-bought on the meat department, but also figured I would have a well stocked freezer full of stuff for future reference. In all, I think I received about $240 in donations towards the party, plus a lot of food was brought over here. The party was a blast. 2 news medias left without even taking interviews - a "breaking story" they told someone which turned out to be a buy holding someone hostage for ransom but then gave up and - basically turned out to be a dud story, lol. The remaining reporter was there for hours - taking video and yes, they did a story, but on a different network than the first story.

Whatever the case, the party started at 3:00 pm and ended after 8:00. I figured it to be the perfect starting time and a good ending time - I am not a late-night person. There was a group of about 15 people that hung out after everyone else left - the partiers, lol - who stayed for several hours after the festivities had died down.

Will I do it again? Not sure. I think my focus now is going to be on the Association that I would like to see get going around here. Thinking parties for the immediate community on an on-going basis - depending on turnout - is just what the doctor ordered. The blog for that party is still getting numerous hits, so I will probably write up my version of a story for the event on there. Eventually, I will set up a website for the Association - with a lot of help that is, no web-designer here - and let the Craigslist party thing go into fading history.........though I would love to host a Thanksgiving dinner later on this year - provided I'm still employed and still have tenants, the house and all of that - as I have done on a limited basis in the past.

Enough. It was a great party : )
ben

Saturday

Woke up this morning and started right in on stuff that I didn't finish yesterday. Still more to go - but - fortunately - I have several hours before the party starts. I kinda got a little unsettled that I might not have enough propane in the tank for all of this cooking, so I'm headed out in a bit to get it filled all the way up.
Another trip to Fry's - forgot to get several bags of chips and probably a few more sodas too.
Ice run.
Still have 40 or 50 more hamburger patties to make.
Probably waited a little long to start that pork roast. It was MUCH bigger than I thought - the thing takes up the entire slow cooker. Started that at 6:00 am - so by the time the party starts, it's 9 hours worth of cooking, shouldn't take near that long to cook through and be in the "fall apart" stage, especially on high - but - the last couple of roasts I did in there were not near as big as this monster. Hope it's done by party-time is all I can say about that. It only takes maybe 10 or 15 minutes worth of prep to pull the pork apart, get the fat off of it, dump a bottle or more of some of my favorite BBQ sauce into it - and it's ready to go.
3 heads of cabbage worth of coleslaw, lol. That took an hour in itself. Mary made up 40 or more patties last night with her "special" ingredients - which are Russian dressing/honey BBQ sauce and Teriyaki sauce. The rest of the burgers are just going to be plain ole' burgers for those that don't want all the stuff in there.

Pretty much, besides a trip to the store and the propane place and doing some cutting and patty forming - it's ready. Oh, and another person donated more money to the cause! What an amazing thing this is turning out to be.

Ummm, anyway, the race began this morning and I really don't have time to linger here - hope you all have a great Saturday and a wonderful weekend!
ben

Friday

This whole party thing is turning into something that has gone to proportions I never even thought of.
Number 1, I had not thought that the news media would be even one iota interested in something like this. Number 2, that they would actually run the story, and number 3 - this story is being run locally all over the nation! That's just plain CRAZY! I'm serious - I'm getting emails from people all over the place about seeing me the news from everywhere!

What's next, Oprah?
Whatever the case, I have enough meat now to feed a small army - just in case a small army's worth of people show up. Literally, I could feed at least 150 people with the brats; hamburger meat; pork and chicken I have been acquiring at sale prices, of course, from various supermarkets.

Today is going to be crazy as well. I have a HUGE thing of coleslaw to make, going to make up 75 hamburger patties in advance; cook the pork and make the pulled pork BBQ; and whatever else - such as more cleaning and such outside. Mary has been a tremendous help in the last few days in that arena in helping with the east side of the house and basically doing things that I - simply won't have time for. I have just about everything I need, I am hoping others will bring what they said they will bring to shore it up. Well, even if no-one brought anything, guaranteed the gut will be full for whoever is going to eat.

The neighborhood association thing is what I need to focus on as well.

Anyway, I will (well, I don't really know) write later - I have to go get Caleb and Michael at Caleb's mom's house, stop at Costco again cause I didn't get enough hamburger buns and stop at Safeway as well for another couple of things worth of chicken.

Wish me luck!
ben

Thursday

Ummm.......I'm kind of curious as to the blog I started for the free dinner party as to how all these people from all OVER the place are finding that blog? It isn't just the Phoenix area anymore, the feedjit I put on that blog is showing people viewing it from coast to coast and even Canada! It was a local news story and I doubt it is going to get any further than that - I just don't get it.

Sometimes the internet confounds me as to how things happen through it.

Well, anyway, both Safeway and Bashas are having sales on fresh chicken breast - bone in. Safeway at 99 cents a pound, Bashas at 77 cents per pound. I went to both. I think Safeway meat to be better quality - the Bashas stuff was "previously" frozen, it said on the label - but in actuality, it was still quite frozen and taking it's time thawing.

I'm taking a break from the relentless pace I have been inflicting upon myself. Tomorrow is going to be a marathon of making hamburger patties; cooking a picnic roast, going to yet more stores and getting semi-ready for the party. Since the party doesn't actually start until 3:00 pm, I will have a good portion of the day Saturday to finalize prep for the party. Oh, and I am making more homemade coleslaw - that is quite the endeavor in itself!

Ummm, that's just a short break. I am going back outside in a few minutes to attempt to finish the east side of my house pulling out the constant barrage of weeds that grow coming from my "neighbor's" yard.

Gotta cut this off - too much to do.
ben

News

Ineresting.
I went to Costco and met up with the reporter and his camera-man. They were VERY nice individuals - I was impressed. Very well dressed, professional - and young. 20 somethings. Which was even more impressive- no diss on 20 somethings, but the current casting of that age out there today? Ummm - I won't comment.

All they wanted to do was follow me around the store and get video shots. It was a little awkward having a cameraman running in front of me, behind me all around - getting all kinds of shots. I mean - people were looking at me, I'm sure thinking: 'who's THIS guy?' I really didn't buy that much, either. I only went there for the hot dog and hamburger buns - they have great deals on that stuff. I also ended up buying a 32-pack of cans of Coke and a 24 pack of cans of Arizona Green Tea and a 15 pack of brats. What's a BBQ without brats? Not kids brats, either! Umm, yes, there are going to be plenty of kids at the party - no diss on them, either.

It became obvious that the news media - at least this one - is seeking out good stories. There's so much negativity going on right now. What do you want to report? AIG and the bonuses? A 3 plus trillion dollar budget? Maybe the millions of jobless people? The millions more losing their homes? Then there's the status-quo stuff that is always happening: Murders, rape, incest, sick stuff. They came back to my house, took some footage, asked me some questions, news at 10:00. Literally.

What do I want to accomplish? No agendas, at least not at first. Then I thought: gee, what if people watched that and thought to themselves: I can do that, too! Heck, might start a trend! People inviting total strangers to their house from their immediate communities to have some kind of "happening" together. Agenda: just have a good time, meet new people, talk about stuff going on, but let's not mope, please.

I didn't get to Bashas - but I will be going tomorrow and Friday and stocking up on that chicken. BBQ'ed chicken is quite wonderful, especially when smothered in good BBQ sauce.

I'm done.

Have a great evening!
ben

Wednesday

I surprised myself at just how much time I spent just cleaning the kitchen and dining area last night. The newer tenant was being sociable - so we talked for a couple of hours. She's a pretty cool lady I will have to say just from the few conversations that we've had so far. It's always nice when something that you have no clue whether it's going to work out or not - does.

So - apparently there is yet another new blogging site that numerous JS'ers are migrating to. I haven't even given it consideration. I went over there and it looks nice enough - but I just got settled in here! I guess if enough of the old-timers go over there, I'll end up there too, but for now - I'm here. I might just start up a blog with one of my favorites user names just to be able to have it.

In other "news", I am going to meet the news in about 20 minutes from now. BTW, I've had some money donated for this party and with the people that are bringing stuff with them, I will be out very little. Which is good - I didn't want this thing to set me too far back. I AM going to go to Basha's, however, and buy as much 77 cent per pound chicken breast as they will let me walk out of there with. Some of it will go to the party - some of it will be getting to hang out in my freezer for future reference. Interestingly enough, I just found out yesterday that there is a Basha's only 3 or 4 miles from my house. I had thought the nearest one was clear over on the other side of Tempe - the reason I don't go there, even for good sales. It's out of the way.

That's bone-in chicken breast, yes, but for that kind of money - stock up! lol. About 30 pounds of that stuff would be nice - though it's likely they have a limit. I could go back tomorrow and get more if I need it. I wish I had an upright freezer at this point - my freezer is always jammed full of stuff and I always am wanting to buy sale stuff and try to pack even more in there.

I'm not sure about the news - I tend to freeze up in front of cameras like that. I have been in front of cameras numerous times throughout my life - just try to relax I guess, it's only a party, after all. Not only that, I really don't know HOW they found out about it. It's not like it was an grandiose thing - it was just a simple ad. I don't know if someone alerted them to it - I mean, why else would they be going through the free ads on Craigslist?

Dunno, but - I guess today's interview is actually going on the news - today! lol. I thought they were just going to do a piece for future reference after the party is over, but if I heard the guy right, that's not the intention at all.

No big deal. Mostly, I just like meeting new people and - having a good time while doing it, of course.

Well, gotta git.

C'yall later!
ben

Tuesday

Mediocre day at work, in terms of amount of things to do. A couple of deliveries, some pickups and pulling an order to take to a new jobsite in Casa Grande. In fact, they are finally building a WalMart down there. Rumors from numerous indivduals that live down there that I have spoken to over the years have indicated the town council simply did not want a WalMart in Casa Grande. I can think of a few reasons why a small town wouldn't want such a thing - but - apparently WalMart has finally won out and is building a new store. One assumes a complete store the size of the moon................

I am meeting up with the news media tomorrow at Costco. They wanted to do a small blurp on the stuff I am buying and even a showing of some of the things I have already acquired for this party. At the moment, I have enough ground beef to make 120 hamburgers, a big enough pork picnic roast to end up with enough to make at least 20 to 30 pulled pork BBQ sandwiches, some chips and other odds and ends. I continue to get emails from people wanting to come. Friday after work will be spent making hamburger patties, cutting up onions, cooking that pork roast - probably put that thing in the slow cooker before I go to work on low and then turn it on high when I get home if it isn't done yet.

Presently, I am cleaning my refrigerator and doing a spring-cleaning version of cleaning in my kitchen. Basically just wanted to take a break from the work I have already done today after work - which includes pulling a lot of grass and weeds from the east side of the house. I am SO very tired of that continuous crap having to be done over there, simply because my next-door-neighbor is your basic SLOB and has no desire to take care of his property - AT ALL. I have much to do out there before this party - even though I mostly will not be having anyone out there, I still want it looking nice.

So, this is really a very short break as I have a couple more hours of work I want to accomplish before quitting for the day. Basically - finish this kitchen.....

LONG interval. I have scrubbed the kitchen up and down, talked with the new tenant for hours, and I'm done.
ben

Monday

Busy enough day at work to keep me occupied without having to dread the "what am I going to invent to do now" syndrome.
Tomorrow has some deliveries - maybe take up half the morning - after that I don't know.
What really "stank" was last night. Apparently, a 50 pound bag of dog food I got from Fry's is somehow bad. THREE dogs puking all over the place. Freakin' threw their @$$es right out of the house and - well I cleaned it up best I could and then did the carpet cleaner today when I got home - which got all of it up.

I'm getting psyched about the party. News15 called yet again today. The guy is reading the ads/blog I put up. I was very hesitant about it - the guy sounds nice enough and he says that personally, he thinks it's a great thing. I got over it - why not? A lady that came to the last party - that I asked her opinion about the news coming - said she thought it would be good to get this kind of thing out in the open. I've been on the news numerous times throughout my life -mostly on missionary types of things - never really had any "bad" experiences with the news media on a personal level.

But sometimes they go "digging". Usually that's on the political side of things, though, trying to dig up whatever junk they can about any given candidate.

So, I'll just come right out and say what I did in my teens, as I have said it on my blogs before. I am certainly NOT proud of what I did, but I didn't hurt or kill or rape anyone - not making light of my crime, but I paid the penalty to society, which was to repay for the damages done and went on probation for 6 months. I stole a video game from a place I was working at. It was a stupid, dumb, idiotic thing to do, yes it was. Mostly, my teenaged life was a waste. I could go into it - but it would take a book and I just don't feel like it right now. And anyway, it's unimportant - to me anyway. It's ancient history that I NEVER did over. When I stood before that judge - struck a plea agreement - he sat there looking at my stupid self, stroking his beard. When he said: "I'm tempted", I about pee'd my pants. The instant revelation came to me: plea bargains are NON-binding on judges, they can do whatever they want in that courtroom, including sending you to prison.

I was terrified. Now? I want to go back and thank that judge. It was a turning point in my life. If there's one thing I do not want to have happen, it's to lose my freedom. A few years after that, I gave my life to the Lord (Jesus Christ, that is) and life has never been the same. I went on the mission field only 8 months after becoming a Christian - and saw some incredibly remarkable, amazing things.

But, the truth is now told. Not that I haven't told it before - over and over - especially to emloyers. Some employers want to know all of your criminal background, others want to go back X amount of years. Mine was 27 years ago.

Whatever. I trust this to be a good experience and expect it will come out that way. I have to tell you folks that some of the emails I am continuing to get from people are enough to make you start crying. People losing beautiful, nice homes, losing both jobs in a family structure, being forced to live on food stamps and move in with whomever in their family lines will let them in. I received one today that really did start a stream of tears.

Ummm - well, I'm going to change the subject. I came home from work today and finished the landscaping rock project. I estimate I need another 3 tons or so of granite rock to give full coverage. I have about a 2 inch covering - I want at least 3 if not 4 inches. Plus there is still a small area with no coverage. Then there's the east side of the house - not going there right now. I would need about 4 tons over there for good coverage - but it's probably going to be different colored rock. Other projects take precedence. So does paying bills. And anyway, I am going to install a wandering pathway through there first, before dumping any gravel on there.

The weather here has reverted back to unbelievably beautiful. The way it should be at this time of the year. It's very cool in my house right now - windows and sliding glass door open - and the breeze is blowing. Sun is just starting to go down and the birds are still singing! Crazy nice!

Take care, everyone!
ben

The Whole Package

My money spent on things outdoor is put on hold at this point. At least until I get paid again, anyway. The rock and the grass, plus the trellises and accompanying hardware? Enough. I bought the final rolls of grass I think I will need - the rock spreading is going quite nicely, thank you.
That project will be done today sometime. I have to knock down some dirt to level out the surface in order to plant the remaining grass rolls.
I'm undecided whether I will have the energy/time to start on the trellises - though admittedly it's nothing more than digging two, 2 to 3 foot deep holes; attaching 2 2X3 beams together with hardware - twice; inserting said beams into ground - possible cement, though I would rather just beat them in the rest of the way with a sledge hammer; attach the trellises and it's basically done.

That's actually a lot more than it sounds. Ummm, well whatever. I have the basic Sunday chores to do around here as well, which is why I'm quaffing on the trellis project. I have a lot of weeds to pull on the east side of the house - but - I think I will wait until the poison takes full effect, hopefully getting down to the roots. So - this week after work will be busy as well, trying to get the place nicely finished for the upcoming party.

How many will actually show? Who knows. I'm expecting a minimum of 50 people, anyway, including my immediate neighborhood. I already have 18 pounds of ground beef; 1 huge picnic roast and some steaks, leaving nothing but chips, burger buns, and other basics left to go. Oh, and a few packages of brats. That's 56 hamburgers worth, enough pulled pork BBQ to feed another 15 people, and then whatever on top of that. I have received a few gifts - which has paid for much of the meat, but not all of it. I bought more today while I was out because Fry's sale on it is quite good at $1.88 per pound for 93% lean ground beef. It comes on sale here and there - but not that frequently, to the point I will buy even more and freeze it for future use/food storage. I think you can keep it in the freezer for 3 months before you actually better start thinking about using it. It never stays anywhere NEAR that long in my freezer.

Anyway, I have a lot of work to do and I best git to gettin' to it.
Happy Sunday!
ben

BAR S

The other day, I grabbed a couple packs of hot dogs at Fry's. I paid no mind to it - excepting the price, of course. Ummm, so I'm going through my fridge today - I wasn't and don't normally eat hot dogs - I love em' but they are full of cholesterol - and thought something looked strange about the package. I picked it up - unbelievable. They are now selling 8-packs of hot dogs. Not the 10-packs that have been around forever, a day and a half. Oh, and guess what, the price didn't go down, either.

Well, they've been doing the 12 oz packages of bacon for a while now - caught that one right off the bat - but this one took me by surprise. The boys eat multitudinals of hot dogs over here.

I spent the entire day on the back yard. Literally. The yard had some prep work that had to be done before even spreading the rock all over the place. Digging down some mounds and such so that the rock would appear level instead of having little humps here and there. Carrying the stuff by shovelfuls all over the place, then reverting to filling up buckets and carrying it that way. I have a little to go. I could use another - couple of tons anyway - to give more coverage, but it's good for now.

Tomorrow - gotta find the rest of the sod I need and then finish the remainder of the rocks.

Also want to get started on the trellises.

I've been busting @$$ all day long and - it felt good, actually. Don't know how that translates into Monday morning because I expect the pace to continue tomorrow. I have a party coming up and I want it mostly finished.

Speaking of that, the boys delivered about 125 flyers all over the neighborhood today. Yup, for the party. I've already got most of the meat at this point - 30 pounds of hamburger meat, some steaks I acquired not too long ago and the rest is only some brats and hot dogs with the bread. The rest is being supplied by various individuals and such.

I simply decided that there must be some tangible purpose for this party, and since I have wanted to start a Neighborhood Association for a long, long time now, this is the "Golden Opportunity". The boys said it was well received by anyone they actually encountered along the way, too.

Whatever. I'm burnt, toast and fried.

Heading to the bedroom.
'Nite.
ben

Moving Right Along...........

Went outside and started tackling the outsisde stuff early. First - to spray poison all along the fenceline - while trying not to get the stuff on my plants. Then everywhere else that I could get the poison at without compromising the plants.

Then, picking up stuff from projects and chucking it, removing a wire out of the chain link and getting the leftover stuff disattached to it. Spray more poison on the other side of the dog free zone, shovel up undesirable stuff on the ground where the rock will be spread, and then eyeballing my next project: putting up the 2 trellises.

Smell of poison in the air- I'm keeping the dogs inside for a while. Poison was my last resort - pulling weeds forever isn't exactly a fun "project" - it's never-ending and - just couldn't handle it anymore. Take my chances with just enough poison to hopefully kill off the weeds and no more.

The poison is basically in response to the fact that it is quite obvious the next door neighbors are not going to pull those weeds back there. The ONLY thing I could do is spray a partition between property lines.
Well, I could just go over there and ask if I could spray his property too, but - we don't get along so well and for various reasons that is a very long story that started several years ago that I most certainly do not want to go into right now.

Hmmmm. I gouged the side of my arm and didn't realize it. A huge chunk of cement out there - at least 150 pounds worth - that I finally decided to see if I could lift into the garbage can without breaking my back. To lift a chunk of something that large and that heavy - that high - meant having to use my forearms - not just my hands. Oh well - the chunk is now in the bottom of the trash can - good riddance to it.

I put the remains of the fire hydrant out front for bulk trash pickup - someone came along and took it for themselves. I presume for the scrap value of it - a couple hundred pounds worth right there.

My used car dealer neighbor is already leaving for the summer: a judge has ordered back up to Michigan. If he doesn't go, he'll land back in prison for another - year or 6 months, don't really know. He has been working on that old RV trailer I gave him a while back at a feverish pace for several months now. I will say he has done a fine job on it. I will also say that I have my doubts. He has a Porsche Boxster along with a Harley Davidson parked inside of it. Behind that, yet another trailer hooked to that trailer and another Porsche on top of THAT trailer. This train all being pulled by a 3/4 ton Ford pickup with a diesel engine. My doubts are about the pulling capability of that pickup truck in pulling the weight of 2 trailers, 2 cars and a Harley Davidson, and also the reliability of such a long setup cranking down the road.

Whatever the case, the trailer is not in my name anymore - it's all on him if something goes wrong. It is almost 8 o'clock - the 2 hour window they gave for arriving with the rock begins. It's VERY nice outside right now - in the high 60's I think, nice and cool. I am going to go out there and start digging holes, I think, for the trellis beams. Just 2 holes about 3 feet deep should do it. If only the temps could stay like this the year round..............

All I can say right now is that I am floating - getting by. The third tenant makes it possible to be able to say that with confidence - as long as I'm employed. With some of the money I am getting in a little over a week from now - I will be putting it in savings. Hoping at least $150 worth can get dumped into the savings account, the rest goes to - bills of course.

Ken has now decided he isn't going anywhere - plus he got promoted at his job and now has 5 working days back. They dropped a day per week off and that - I'm sure - is hurting him badly. Yet - he pays the rent religiously. It's like the first thing he does.

Mary has gotten much better at paying the rent as well. I have not spoken about Mary and all that happened because - there are too many holes in the story to make the other tenant believable. In fact - the other tenants' actions were egregious enough in itself. If you dont' like a person, fine - but - it just got too carried away. She was drunk the night a lot of that stuff happened and - I caught her in a big lie that she had been telling me since BEFORE the day she had moved in, cancelling her credibility factor and making her statements suspicious at best.

The newest tenant? Certainly no issues with her - I've asked her if she had any issues with any of us or anything going on around here - no is her reply. Well, I can't read minds, so I hope that's the truth of the matter. I have no idea how long she'll stay - but - considering her demeanor and low-key attitude - I would love it for her to stick around for quite awhile. Her dog is not an issue, either - he spends his days in her room when she's at work. A pretty nicely trained dog. No obsessive barking, nothing really.

I will be honest here and state that I will probably keeping 3 tenants in here for as long as it takes to get out of the hole and back ahead. That will stay that way until I get caught up on the mortgage. To do that - would either mean trying to save up enough to make 2 mortgage payments in one month - or - just keep paying it the way I am and by the end of summer, it will be down to around 20 days late. I am going to try to save up enough money - actually - but if I get that far ahead, I will not want to part with it - the saved-up money that is - and would probably opt for keeping it for an emergency.

The thought crossed my mind that I really don't have enough saved up in case of emergency. A refrigerator tanks, the dishwashers goes bye-bye - stuff like that. Fortunately, the AC has a full 5-year warranty on it - covering the expensive stuff - though I think the service charge is additional. I'm fortunate that I have enough knowledge of plumbing and electrical issues that if something developed - clogged pipes for example - I could fix that myself and spare the excessive charge of a plumber or elecrician coming out here.

I have gone on long enough with this one, and besides, I'm hungry.

Have a great Saturday!
ben

It's Nightime................

...........and there's something I really wanted to accomplish tonight. I got it done, too.
I really don't know about - whether I should post it on WWW - so I won't. I didn't murder anyone and I'm not so broke that I had to go rob a bank, if you must know. nothing so granduer. It wasn't sexual and it had nothing to do with anyone in my house.

I'll leave it at that.

As for today - just about cashed. I poisenend all the weed areas where I pulled weeds this week - hoping they don't grow back cause rock is about to go over top of that dirt. I would put plastic on the ground, but I'm afraid that dog pee not having anywhere to go but the plastic surface eventually wouldn't smell too good. I'll deal with weeds over THAT any day.

Well, anyway, Fry's has ground beef on sale - the 93 percent lean stuff - at $1.88 per pound. That's extremely cheap for those that don't know. I also found a giant pork roast for a great price - it will be cooked for 6 or 7 hours in a slow cooker, the fat will be pulled off of it and it will be pulled apart with forks - and that's the walaah - pulled pork BBQ. The make-it or break-it with such stuff is the BBQ sauce you are using. I have found some stuff that is sold in the grocery store that is just fantastic. A bottle and a half of that? Dannnnnnng!

I wrote my dad a nice long letter - a week ago. He hasn't responded. This is where my brothers get some of their anger - his non-responsiveness. He has done that as long as I have been an adult. I have been able to brush it off - must be something more important going on - my brothers have never been able to get past that and other things. Okay, maybe there ISN'T something more-important going on - the only thing I have learned from it is what NOT to do with MY son.

My life with my son has been the total opposite of what my dad did with us boys. I'm mostly always around, my dad was never around. Thing as such. I figure down the road, my son will dislike me for something I did on a recurrent basis that he hated/disliked/whatever. I just do. Parents are never perfect. We screw up with our children - one way or another - a fact of life we cannot bypass.

We try to - but when the kids grow up - if you didn't find out about it before then - they will tell you where you failed them.

Just for a small example - I was REALLY looking forward to a family reunion in Sierra Vista, Arizona, at my dad's place. The previous reunions are always on the east coast. I can't GET to the east coast in my current financial dilemna. I have priorities - vacations are on the bottom of that list. But - easily could have made the festivities 190 miles south of me.

could something change before the intended date of the reunion? Sure - but I haven't even been INVITED to this deal. I sometimes get some emails that - my dad leaves me out of, but my uncle in Florida occasionally lets me back in on - that goes back and forth between them. Yes, you have to wonder why my dad leaves me out of those emails. He does it on purpose, too - found that out quite by accident as I don't GET those emails. Excepting for my uncle. I haven't seen him since I was 16 - I have very rare, occasional emails with him when he decides he wants to engage in conversation.

I have no clue - I would call the whole bunch of them extremly arrogant and stuck-up individuals - but - I don't know all the details as I am never privy to them. Neither are my brothers. Which makes them very mad. I shrug my shoulders - I am the youngest kid in the clan. I was basically forgotten when I was a little kid growing up. My parents gave the attention to my oldest and middle brother, I was along for the ride. My mother has asked for forgiveness of this many, many times. It took quite a long time to learn things in life that most people learn much younger than I - simply because I had no clue.

No, I didn't ride my mother about this, I didn't even bring up the subject. I have found that as my mother grows older - and closer to whatever date her death will occur - she finds that she needs to unload. She's gone through quite a list of things - I wonder if there's more.

I'm lamenting - or reminscing - or somewhere in between. The thoughts entered my mind earlier today - out of the blue - and I haven't been able to shake it. My regrets about the past have nothing to do with my parents - unless you want to point the finger of non-involvement at them - and that it certainly was. I was a drunk by the age of 14, an addict by the age of 15 and a thief, burglar, and a lot of other things by the age of 15 as well. I made the choices - my parents could have stopped me.

If I had it to do over again? I would have never touched the first 2 Budweiser 24 ounce beers that were given me my brother and his friends. I held out a long time. My oldest brother was smoking reefer in the back yard every day with his friends. Both of them pushed me for years to give in. My parents? Knew what was going on, did nothing about it.

This is the age of victimization - I was totally victimized, right? Right. Sure, whatever you say. I made my choices. I was pressured - but not forced. I could blame my parents all day long - and there are times when I want to. I was not encouraged to get into sports - most parents do that in some form or another. I did that by myself - I was totally atheletic and was a great wrestler and marathon runner.

Sometimes I just hate my life. What has become of it? I look back upon my adult life - and then I realize - I've actually done alot of good. You could call this my version of a mid-life crisis, I suppose, as I have not had one that I can think of. Instead, I went through a black-hole divorce that caused me to shut down. I STILL wonder if I have woken up from that, yet.

You ask why I'm writing all of this. Just what's going through my head right now. Tomorrow, I'll wake up and realize rocks are coming and I'll forget about all of this - for a time anyway. We all have our little skeletons - little things that have haunted us our entire lifetimes. I don't care who you are, what your stature in society is - great or small - you have them. I have them. We ALL have them. HOW you deal with them is what determines whether you are going to make it or - break it.

As for me - I'm going to go to bed. I'm finding this thought process tonight to not be - productive for lack of better term. I'm not going to drag myself down by my past. My past is a smelting pot of hellish s***, there's no doubting that - people don't even believe the half of my stories about things I did, just because I am not that way now. You know what? There are times when I am tempted to respond to certain situations the same way as when I was a teenager. That would be to destroy things - houses, cars, people. I would love to hear from one single person in the universe that can honestly say that whatever they learned or did when they were growing up - still doesn't affect them today. Maybe you don't act it out, surely not - but those thoughts at least occasionally course through your head.

G'nite.
ben

Friday

......at lasssssssssst.
I'm psyched about tomorrow morning's delivery of 5 tons of decorative granite (rocks, lol). I'll have the rock dumped on the driveway just next to where it's going to go - I have to go buy weed killer and spray the areas where all of those weeds were.
Speaking of weeds, the next door neighbors cut their's down - but only out front. There are almost 6 foot tall weeds in their back yard - where their little tykes play. I don't understand that kind of "living". I do understand that if the City isn't going to force them to cut that crap down in the back and side yard, I will be calling the fire department and ask for inspection for fire hazard - they have all kinds of flammable JUNK back there.
Freaks.

I was paid today by one of the tenants not 5 minutes after I walked through the door. That was a good thing. I then get paid on Friday by work, then Tuesday by another tenant and Wednesday by yet the other tenant.

Anyway, it's supposed to cool down considerably on Sunday. It heated up here again - running the AC again - etc etc . If it gets too warm tomorrow, I may not even start shovelling rocks until Sunday when the high will be in the high 70's.

I have fully 7 dogs over here right now - including the new tenant's dog - though she leaves him in her bedroom all day long while she's at work. They are all passed out on the floor - Lord only knows WHAT they have been doing all day long. What I know for a fact is that they did not breach the fence - I was worried about that because Roscoe - one of the visiting doggies - loves to find ways through that fence to get to the property fence to bark at the neighbor's dog.

Ahhh, I'm done. I'm tired - drove all over creation today.
C'ya later.
ben

Dentist Revisited

Left here, went to the rock place, ordered 5 tons of - I think it's Palomino Gold. Nice looking stuff, enough to cover 750 square feet, which should (hopefully) cover all the way up to the dog-free fence in the back. Left there, got Caleb, go to the dentist's office 20 minutes early - on purpose. I knew they would want me to fill out yet another series of endless forms for me, just like I did yesterday for Caleb.

They call Caleb in a few minutes before the appointed time. I turned my paperwork in before the appointment time as well. Tick - tock. They clean Caleb's teeth - still haven't called me in for my appointment. Now, remember, Caleb has one dentist, I was assigned to another one in the office so I could be seen at the same time Caleb was getting his teeth cleaned. They call me in and tell me Caleb had Gingitivis - which doesn't surprise me, he doesn't clean his teeth very well.

They want me to buy a $20 bottle of rinse - whatever. Back out to the waiting area, into the area you wait to get signed out. The lady behind the desk asks if I want to wait on Caleb's paperwork until after my visit is done. No, no thanks, said to her, let's take care of it now and cancel my appointment.

They made us wait fully 25 minutes past the appointment time yesterday, I was not about to do that again today. I simply said I think it very rude to set an appointment and then expect people to wait FAR beyond the appointment time, please give me my paperwork back as I am going to destroy it and I will simply find another dentist somewhere else.

A whole group of them, including the lady that was dealing with me behind the desk, disappeared, but I could hear them talking. They were attempting to mitigate the situation - but there was no mitigation. They had overbooked and it was going to be a while before they could get me in. NO WAY was I going to wait even another 15 minutes longer. I left Caleb's paperwork there - it's close to the ex's place and she can take him the next time - which will be for wisdom tooth extraction.

Ummmm, long interval.

Nuff said.
ben