Tuesday

In terms of deliveries, very slow day at work.
I kept myself busy by shuffling C-900 water pipe around. It has been sitting there a while and is starting to burn. The AZ sun will burn pipe quickly. Covering it up doesn't help much, either, heat accumulates even worse. The only thing I can do to try and save it is to keep turning it around - let it get tan all over instead of black on one side. I had a few pickups to do as well.



That's Prince. He lays like this all the time - or in even stranger positions. I posted that particular picture to the Arizona's Top Pet contest just a few minutes ago. Duke is also in the contest, but I think this pic of Prince might have a better chance. I'm in it for the money, no doubting it at all. Why not? The only thing lost if I don't win is a few minutes taking some photos, uploading them to my computer and then uploading them to the radio station's site for everyone to see. Voting starts next month, of course I will be posting the link to vote and hope everyone will go and vote for Prince or Duke!! Lol. The winner of the competition gets $1,500.

They think tomorrow will get up to 108. I hope they're wrong. They weren't wrong today, though - at 106 it didn't feel too terribly bad.

Anyway, I have numerous things I need to get done outside - what else is new - and before I start whithering away and don't feel like doing anything, I'm going to hop to it.
ben

Blogs

I'm having trouble, for whatever reason I really can't quite pinpoint, warming up to KCL. It's not the people - I really just can't pinpoint it. I really feel like THIS is my home, to be honest. I've stated it several times: I'm sick of moving around blog to blog, just find one and stay with it. If people come, great, if they don't, the purpose of the daily journal stands. Maybe with time I'll start to getting a feel for KCL and start feeling like it's a home?

I was out working in the rather hot sun this afternoon digging yet more holes. These plants either need to get planted or I need to get rid of them. Leaving them in plastic pots indefinitely isn't doing anything. I have 3 or 4 more plants left to go and it's done. It will cost no more in water to water them in the ground than it has been watering them in the pots - I just had to dig so many holes in that rock-filled soil, I got tired of it and stopped. Not anymore - I had 3 boys out there digging holes today. The funny part about it is - none of them are MY kid! lol. He's up in the mountains with his grandmother.

I'm also filling up the empty pots with rocks and carrying them out front. Figure pretty soon I will have most of the bare surfaces covered. The situation in front of the front wall next to the sidewalk has me a little perplexed. Mary wanted to get pavers and fill that area up with those after finding out that plants simply do not grow, for whatever reason, in that patch of soil. So, I bought the pavers from a friend of the next door neighbor. They told me they would be sand-colored, instead, they are an ugly reddish color. Mary started on that project and then I picked up on it - but - I do not like the look of it.

What I had wondered is why we just didn't do the same thing there that we did with the whole front yard - just haul rocks from the back to the front and have the same theme there? Perhaps put some lawn style ornaments in there to spruce it up and it's done? Well, I discontinued that project. I was going to buy more sand to put in there for the pavers, but I do not believe I will like the end result. No, I think I will sell those pavers on Craigslist and just start hauling rocks out there as well. Okay, the drawback is that I will have to start digging in the dirt to unearth more of the rocks, though there are still quite a few laying around that can be picked up and get a very good start on that project - but only after I finish the front yard first.

Ummmm - well anyway. Just a particular person around here helping himself to various people's things --......---
G'nite!
ben

Monday/Morning

Caleb left early this morning, even earlier than I get out of bed.
Where was he going?
With my mother up to her property for the week.
I was all for it - she needs some help up there and undoubtedly, she will put him to work. I do hope, however, if it gets carried away, that she gives him a little something for the effort. I know she has fencing to repair and a lot of cleanup since last year's pine needles and weeds and whatever have popped up.

As for what the boys do while I'm working away all over the place around my house - whatever I tell them to. Really. Michael used to get pissy about it, but now he just does whatever I ask him to. Caleb never says a word. I have them cleaning up the dog dung frequently at this point. I also get them vacuuming the entire house, taking out the trash, just various "mundane"/daily chores like that.

However, I gave Caleb a break this weekend because I know his grandma's gonna make him slave away up there - again I think it's a good thing. Michael has not been around this entire weekend. He left before I got home on Friday and came back last night after I went to bed. The "extreme" motivator in getting them to do anything is a simple threat: buh-bye to the Playstation III. I haven't actually had to DO that yet, though I have pulled the plug on my computer several times.

I have 5 plants left to plant that I acquired from the auction last year. I have 2 more holes started and filled them again this morning with water. By the time I get home from work today, they should be good to dig the rest of the way out. However, digging holes in 106 degree temp doesn't exactly sound alluring.

And with that decree - high temps - comes high electric usage and I am fretting this one big-time. Financial things aren't exactly rosy right now and facing $400 plus per month electric bills is hardly a thing I am looking forward to. The lady tenant is drying all of her laundry on the clotheslines - as am I - Ken waits until today - Monday mornings usually - when I am gone at work - to do his laundry and dry it in the dryer. The newest addition I have no clue - yet. I'll be checking video surveillance to see what he does. He's a pretty good guy - and clean too - but hanging clothes on a laundry line is not on some people's list of priorities to do.

All fine and well, but if I find they are doing laundry in the middle of the day during the hottest part of the day, the dryer is going to mysteriously stop working during the week. Actually, it ISN'T all fine and well, but I can't force anyone to do anything. Only getting rid of them and getting new tenants that will comply will take care of that problem. Won't be doing that, either.

Well, I'm at work and the work day is about to begin - have a great day!
ben

Sunday/Father's Day

Well, I've spent more time working around here today than not- which was not really on the agenda. Considering it's Father's Day, I figured to laze around watching movies.
So, yes, I've watched one movie and am into the second one, but - I've pulled out a tree; dug 2 more holes for plants; finished another hole and planted another plant; watered everything; done several loads of laundry; almost finished cleaning my room and my bathroom plus vacuumed the living room and hallway. Oh, and I didn't cheat: all laundry has been hung outside to dry, and considering the temps out there, it hasn't taken long for anything to turn as hot as it might if you turn the dryer off before the cool-down cycle.

I haven't decided whether I'm done for the day or not - but I definitely have to at least take down the last load of laundry on the lines and finish cleaning my room.

So, it's been this father's day to do the same things around here and more that I normally do on any given weekend.

I'm not complaining. Well, cep't removing that tree. It was the pine tree I got from Karen's place. It didn't survive and only when the whole tree started turning brown did I believe it was totally dead, beyond resuscitation. The needles on it were stuff and stuck into my skin/pants and skin/shirt and skin/also leaving small fragments in my flesh. No, that wasn't very much fun at all.

My problem is simple: When I get up to get something done, I get that done and then "remember" something else that has been put on hold that I would like to move along or finish, so I go work on that.

Well that's it. 4th of July weekend looms - what - 2 weeks away? It's not set in stone yet, but we are definitely wanting to meet - the lady and I, that is.

I sent her a photo of myself today.

ben

Saturday

I was sitting here dreaming of going to that nursery that is going out of business to get a few more plants - but - pretty much out of the question. Well, I dunno, maybe a couple at the $5 price wouldn't kill the budget - but what budget is there?
I've done the numbers over and over. Really? I'm still floating. I'm not going to say everything is hunky dory, but with 3 tenants and if my job holds out and they don't cut any more hours - I will survive this. Lots of if's there.

At this point, when a tenant leaves, they leave in their wake this precious element called "time". The time it takes to get a new tenant to take their place is the time that I am not getting that income for the empty room. I would have never thought that I would have to resort to having to have 3 tenants in here. I figured 2 at most. Well, at least - pretty much anyway - most everyone either keeps to themselves or are nice enough people that it doesn't really matter. Of course, I have also even thought about FOUR tenants - but I think that's just out of the question. Take that back - nothing is out of the question if it's the difference between saving the home from foreclosure or not.

Anyway, my next plan is to simply call the mortgage company - and keep calling them, as I do when I have a problem with some service with any company and hope I eventually get the right set of ears listening. I have also entertained the idea of simply applying for my own loan mod. I have been acquiring this data from all of these companies I have been talking to - it sounds to me as if all they are doing is compiling a complete bundle of information about you, your finances, what has happened to your finances, a letter from the homeowner about the hardship - and offering it to the mortgage company.

My doubts about these modification companies is that, though they guarantee you your money back - is the question of whether you actually WILL get your money back if they fail. I don't trust any of them. It isn't going to hurt me to put together my own package. If it fails, it fails - it only cost me time, not 2 grand like all these places want. Besides, mortgage rates are going back up - I could probably still see at least a point and a half or more reduction in the interest rate.

Well, whatever. I'm behind on the mortgage, yes, but not foreclosure amount of time behind is all I can say about that.

I noticed this morning that these Sissoo trees put out pods. Assuming those pods have seeds in them, I will take some of them and see if I can start growing some from seed. I'm expecting that tomorrow, I will basically be taking the day off for Father's day and eating a large, thick juicy steak - of which every single grocery store around here has a huge sale on. Though - Safeway I found has the best deal and I am going to visit them in a little while to get some of that deal. Oh, and don't forget the baked potato and sour cream with that! And a vegetable - and whatever else!

Have a great Saturday!
ben

Friday/Weekend

A detective from the Phoenix Police Department calls me today. Concerning Mary taking my Direct TV receiver box and accompanying remote. I cannot, of course, actually prove that she took it as I did not see her walking out with it.

The detective took her email address and said he was going to send her an email about it. I simply stated I wanted the box and the remote back, if she would do that, I would drop the charges. As it stands, I sent her 5 emails about it, none of which she replied to, so - I don't have a problem WITH pressing charges if they could actually find the thing in her possession - I gave them the serial number of the unit. Unlikely to ever happen - but - if the police can't get it back, I'm definitely including it in the lawsuit.

It has been totally overcast all day long - a wonderful welcome to the weekend. I don't think it got past 95 today, though it was at least somewhat humid. It has been the least warmest June since - I think the news said 1918. I have only spent $164.19 at this moment on electricity this month. Last June, I spent over $400. I am getting a break on the electric usage, which is quite good for me right now. The highs are expected to go back to normals this time of year by this week's end, I'm hoping for a continued reprieve - the forecasters have been wrong several times now about the expected highs this month. It won't last forever, I understand - but - dang it's nice outside right now!

I'm watching with great interest the situation with North Korea as it unfolds. Of particular interest is the Navy warship that is apparently going to follow and even hound the N Korean ship that is suspected of possibly having "contraband" on board. Of even further interest is whether N Korea is going to - somehow - start a war with the U.S. Impossible for them to bring it to our soil, I guess they would have to attack our military that's in the DMZ. My thought is that they are trying to provoke and attack and hope that China backs them. I wouldn't totally say unlikely - but I find it highly doubtful.

Mother wants Caleb to go up to her property from Monday to Thursday. I don't have a problem with it - I'm sure she'll put him to work, hopefully she'll give him something for his time as there are several things she wants done up there - I don't know if the ex will have same-said problem or not, since it's during her time to have him. However, I have let her have him during my time to him on countless occasions - I have always said yes just to keep the peace if nothing else.

Because of the temperate weather today, the soil around my plants was still moist when I got home today. No need to water any of it excepting that of which is still in plastic pots - already done.

There isn't much else. Some projects are on hold for lack of finances to finish them. I will be going out into the desert near my house this weekend and see if I can spot enough large rocks to do what I would like to do on the east side of my house: build a walkway with them. Meaning I would have to find rocks with at least one flat surface on them. Look, everybody around these parts has walkways made out of the same pavers or flagstone. The look is tired out. The rocks would be free - though getting them over here would certainly be arduous work. I think I wouldn't mind that much. The area I want to look in is only 2 blocks from my house, and certainly, it would be a drawn out thing, not something I would look to get done in a weekend. Well, wish me luck on that one, I think it a good idea and will look good - IF - sufficient rocks of what I want are out there. Free is good, too!

Oh, well anyway, I would dig out holes to fit the size of each rock - flat surface facing up of course. It would be a natural walkway whose allure would be far greater than that of what I have seen around the Phoenix area so far. I am trying to come up with something different than what everyone else has. I believe the only thing illegal to remove from the desert is Saguaro cactus. I was just thinking - what if someone saw me loading rocks into the trunk of my car. Around here? Wouldn't surprise me if someone called the police. Yes, officer, I'm "stealing" rocks. Lol. The reason the project would take quite a long time is simply for the fact that this walkway would go the entire length of my house on the east side and around the south side of the house to connect with the cement walkway at the back of my house. Looking at about 95 feet. Now, it doesn't need to be terribly wide, the whole idea is the look of it. After that, I'm still trying to come up with something unique to put down on the the rest of the bare ground besides landscaping granite.

I think the answer to that is the ground covering plants.

Anyway - Father's day is Sunday, I'm treating myself to a Ribeye steak. Basha's has a 20 ounce steak on sale for $7.99 each. That will be the jist of Sunday. Tomorrow I have more posts to cement into the ground for my trellis project, of which I had put on hold because I have been digging holes for more plants.

Of course, when I consider all the work being done around here - I often also consider whether it's going to be a waste of time: will I actually be able to KEEP this place? Hmmm, well, I'm $26 away from paying off my 401k loan - another loan will be available for the purpose of keeping my house and not losing it to foreclosure. No, I am not receiving foreclosure warnings - but - my financial situation has seriously deteriorated over the course of this year.

Well, enough of that and this post.
A big thank you to Westy for putting up the template for my blog - she originally made this for the JS blog I had. Thought I'd never see this again!
Have a great evening!
ben

Thursday

So, Michael comes back - yesterday. He left the day before stating "I'm going home". What made it unusual was the fact that he had a backpack stuffed with clothes. He had made no mention to me of his departure - at least some kind of verbage about his departure, how long he's going to be gone etc etc etc would be - respectful if nothing else.

It was obvious by his tones and his backpack he intended on being away for awhile. Perhaps the root cause of that decision was that I banned him from the computer for an entire month - we are only 4 days into this banning.

So - he comes walking through the door last night. Umm, well, for those that may not know - since I'm starting here fresh - Michael is a kid that has been living with me for about 5 years now - very, VERY long story involved. My son brought him home one day and he basically never left. I'm looking at him - what's up - thought you were going to be gone awhile?

He starts in on the fact that it's "so hard to sleep there" - people walking in and out all night long, making all kinds of noise. I assume, as everywhere else, he does not have his own bed there, but, more likely, sleeping in the living room. I started bringing up the past. I would like for him to take a moment to realize how well I have treated him here, considering the fact he's not my own kid, I don't have anything to do with his bloodlines and only took him in because of the unbelievable living situations that were going on at his house at the time. Of course, regardless - the computer ban is still on.

Anyway. Work was not exactly slow today, but it definitely wasn't full of things to do, either. I look at it in terms of gross profit, and today, GP wasn't enough to pay a day's worth of hourly labor, much less actually get into the net profit range.

And so it is. It's already late - lots going on around here and I just find myself getting dragged into the middle of it frequently. Nothing terribly bad or serious, but I always have to play the mitigator's role if it comes to that. Friday's a comin' and I am ready for another weekend of working around the house. I still have several things I need and want to get done.

Another short entry -----

have a great evening!

ben

Wednesday/WASTE

A total waste of man-hours/truck-hours spent.
On what, you say?
I worked late yesterday in getting pipe from a manufacturer after driving around doing everything else. I was an hour and a half over on time.
Today, I took that pipe out to the contractor.
I then went back to the yard and reloaded the truck, strapped it down, did the paperwork. Truck was running, I was about to leave.
The boss pulls the cord.
The contractor doesn't want ANY of the material, including the pipe I delivered!

Ever since new housing construction went to Hades, this kind of thing happens. And yes, this is a new housing site being built - but it's on the rez. Meaning that it's probably paid for by the tribal government and probably, the people getting that housing don't actually PAY anything for it.

And, it's the tribe that is causing this chaos.

Whatever. I got off work early today. That because of yesterday's late stay. Like, I was home at 1:20 pm. Well, the homeless guys that were here a while back for din-din wanted to come over again. They disappeared off the scope - long story I find out and not worth going into here - so I said sure, I have plenty of chicken.

They showed up an hour and a half later than the time they said they were going to show, but they were definitely hungry. I bought bone-in chicken breast at Basha's the other day at 88 cents per pound.

It's 4 hours later. Literally - since I started this entry. I am still busy attempting to get things done outside. The numbers of plants in plastic pots is dwindling as I have determined to get them all planted.

But - it's bedtime. I had lots more I wanted to delve into - too late.

Have a great evening/day/whenever you read this!
ben

Tuesday

Moving on.......
on down the road, that is.
Drove 227 almost all city miles today in the semi. Trust me, that is a lot of miles for that kind of driving and that adds up to be cutting off in traffic a LOT of times!
I worked an hour and a half "overtime", but because corporate has mandated that there is to be 7 hours only, I will be let off early before this pay period is over. Since it's not true overtime, that means this could carry into next week. I would rather get off early on Friday : )

There has been a slight reprieve in the temp forecast for the rest of this week. Thursday's high has changed from 107, to 102 to now 104. Tomorrow is only going to hit 100. It is just amazing in that it past the middle of the month now - and this is historically the hottest month of the year in these parts.

Anyway, I am going to cut this one way short. I am very tired - 9 hours of non-stop running around and loading and unloading the truck and I have several things I want to get down outside in terms of my plants goes before the sun goes down. Plus, it is overcast outside right now - perfect for working.

C'yall later.
ben

Monday/KCL/Women

A rather cruel day if I do say so myself. I worked too hard this weekend outside around the house and I paid for it today. I was tired, cranky and just wanted the work day to get over with.
Plus there were snafu's with a particular salesman and his inside salesman - those 2 are always creating problems.
Tomorrow looks to be a little better concerning work as I will be driving out to far east Queen Creek to deliver 40 foot lengths of HDPE pipe - thick, hard plastic pipe used for high pressure water delivery - and then to Casa Grande, then to the Indian Reservation and if there's time, a entire load of large diameter water pipe to deliver Wednesday.

I'm tired - but I am going back outside in a little while to pick up where I left off yesterday. I have several plants in the ground that I just put in this weekend and they must be watered daily for a while to keep them alive and growing. Plus, I am going to finish within the next week or so in planting the rest of the plants I acquired at that auction last year.

I am going to post this entry on 2 sites - so this next part really has nothing to do with Blogspot. My other site that I just started is at benb.keepconnectedlive.com. There is no use going over there if you are reading this entry cause' it ain't gonna be no different.
I will reiterate what I said on the comments section of yesterday's entry (at KCL) - I do NOT hate the site! I just do NOT like having to try and learn an entire blogging host's site all over again. I have already learned a dozen of them anyway and this one looks a lot different than any of the rest of them.

Which does NOT make it a bad place - it's just ME, me innate desire to NOT have to go through all of that yet again. I have no idea what happened with Diane and apparently the administrators of KCL - it sounds like it got rather ugly. Such is the nature of the beast - all blogging sites get that kind of junk going on at points in time with no rhyme or reason. Certainly I remember JS having more than it's share of people getting ugly with each other. I mostly tried to avoid all of that stuff, but I did end up in the middle of some of it (to be honest about it).
So I'm here (at KCL to delineate) - I'll give it a shot. But at least for now I'll be posting the same posts to both my Blogspot site and KCL.

As for the women portion - we are planning our first in-person meeting on the weekend of the 4th of July. I have not seen this lady yet, but we have talked at great length via email; IM's and phone conversations. We have hit it off really well.

I spoke with mom yesterday - she went up north to her property, entered her travel trailer only to find the dead bodies of mice and the stench of it permeated throughout. She couldn't take it - I imagine she cleaned all of that up but then she came back to the valley. She mentioned that she has tried all kinds of venues to get rid of them. I offered that if she would get a cat, that would deal with the problem handily.

We have feral cats at work and they have elminiated the rodent population. They are now working on the huge consortium of pigeons - a bird I love to hate. I offered that I could catch a feral cat at my house and she could take it up there and see what happens. She was afraid it would just leave. So beit - she hates cats as much as I do. I did not suggest to her that it be an indoor cat, I suggested just take the thing up there, let it out of it's cage and see what happens.

She commented that her neighbor up there had tried the same thing - it ended up leaving his property and moving to a property near a stream down the hill. Cats are highly adaptable creatures that can survive in just about any setting. I don't have any other suggestions for her other than getting some kind of housing up there that won't allow rodents to be able to get into the place. So, she's plenty bummed - she loves her property up there and loves to spend time at it.

I've 90% talked myself into getting another 401k loan after I pay it off - which will be tomorrow, I'm sending the $52 check in the mail. I have lost too much income to tenants - starting late last year - and up through the point that I had to have Mary removed from my home. For those that don't know - sorry - long story. Well, the short of it is she was smoking meth IN my house, I got an order of protection, a scuffle occured late one night, the police came, she's gone. I could get caught up on my mortgage and also have money left over.

I haven't fully talked myself into it by any means, but - I'm getting closer to it.
As for now? I'm going to take a short nap and then go outside and get at it.

Have a great day!
ben
PS - concerning the KCL site - WHAT other bens are there? I don't remember seeing anyone with that name on JS?!!!

The New JS

I am copying and pasting a post I made to whatever that place is called - KCL. I have not decided yet. I have become so nicely comfortable with THIS place, but - Westy offered to put up my old template from JS. Very tempting.

Anyway, on with the show.

My complaints with this site.

I HATE the green headers, good Lord. Might as well put a row of frogs up there, it's totally ugly.

It's totally foreign. So I'm a blog illiterate, I make no claims of computer literacy. Therefore, I am the perfect person to identify for blogging complaints in terms of use. It takes me a while to figure out where everything is and how to use it. I'm pretty comfortable with Blogspot - and here we go - an apparent ex-JS favorite site pops up.

Okay, you can tell me it's been here a while, nice. So has Swine Flu and I don't see anyone clamoring to acquire that - or the kid that died of Bubonic Plague recently.

I am not equating this blog host with anything negative, I've just been thrust around from site to site after JS disappeared and I have had enough. The ONLY reason I would consider moving here is because of all the ex JS'ers that are here, if that weren't true, I wouldn't even know of this site.

So I'm whining. It's no pity party. It just takes so long to figure out a new site, how to navigate it and get comfortable with it..........

I'm done.

For today, anyway.

I have spent the entire weekend working outside and I have loved every minute of it. So much so that the weekend disappeared far to quickly. And I loved it so much that I have decided to try another Craigslist startup: property maintenance.

I'm good at it. I love it. It isn't a chore for me. I could take on a house or 2 and make some extra income. As I have stated numerous times before, I am always looking for ways to increase my income, especially after feeling the effects of fully 2 hour reductions in less than 6 months.

Speaking of extra income, one of my clients recommended me to one of his relatives. I'm referring to dog-watching. This person called me today. They want to bring their dog over and have a pet meeting. I'm all for it. ANYTHING to make some extra money right now.

In fact, I'm all over this property maintenance stuff, I am posting an ad tonight and see where it might go.

I'm done for the weekend - and I am posting this post on 2 sites. One will figure out the other. If that makes sense, welcome to the looney bin!

G'nite and have a great week!

ben

Sunday

I heard something last night that just made me shake my head.
Michael's brother, Anthony. I mean, how is this kid going to survive in the real world? Is he going to live with his mother forever?
Last night, I'm sitting there listening to the boys talk about Anthony's life as it stands right now. He stays in the house all day long, smoking pot and getting drunk.
That's it. He apparently has sniffed out a girl a couple of townhouses down that he is allegedly hitting on. He paces around the house, back and forth, back and forth.

I won't go into all of how I feel about that entire situation over there again, as I have done it too many times and it isn't worth wasting my time. One thing that got me yesterday, though was when Michael and JD went to JD's house to play basketball. JD is being raised by an 82 year old grandmother. Michael is Mexican, JD is black. When they got back, Michael was all up in a huff. JD's grandmother had come out of the house and told JD to "keep that Mexican boy off of my property". She's racist!! I couldn't believe my ears - but JD wouldn't make up such a story. They then started in on Michael's grandmother. I hadn't heard this little gem before, either: she hates both white people and black people.

I'm not voluntarily exposed to racist people, so I don't encounter such very often. I always attempt to see things through the eyes of the Lord. Not that I am God, just trying to take His perspective on things, if that is, indeed, at all possible for a human speck of dust to do. The Bible says we are all created in His image and likeness. Racism is not a part of my equation. There are certain religions that I most certainly hate, but - not entire people groups.

My excitement for today is continued work in deweeding and degrassing on the east side of the house. I transplanted one of the plants I wanted to move yesterday and in a little bit, I'm going to move another plant from the back of the house to the front - hole already dug. I have also decided to go ahead and plant some shrubs next to the rear fence on the east side of the house that has nothing. I still have several plants from that auction. I had no idea that those plants could basically live in those pots indefinitely. Only when they get too big and the roots start getting all bunched up - then you can either plant them or put them in even bigger pots.

High today 96 - but the dew point and humidity are up enough to make it feel uncomfortable even at that low of a temp, so I'm going to try to get this stuff done before noon.

I don't know how everyone is doing, so I am definitely going to make the rounds today to various blogs. Later on - after all the sweat and heavy work is over. Trust me, digging in that dirt is hard work. It ain't soil that just comes out and walaah, you have a hole. It's rocks and hard dirt that only come out after a LOT of energy is thrust into it. Which is why I sorta put on hold, some time ago, planting the final plants from that nursery auction. I just got tired of it.

That coupled with the weeds and grass that are constant chore on the east side of the house. It's great exercise, I'll say that much.

Have a great day.
ben

Saturday

Went to bed early enough last night that I woke up just before 6:00 am.
I decided that I could not afford to pass up an offer that would only set me back a few dollars, so I went and got a few of those Sassoo trees.
But - it isn't just Sassoo trees, it's an entire nursery going out of business. I don't really need anything else in terms of plants and stuff for my yard excepting some vines to grow on the trellises - they were sold out of those. Which is okay, I have a vine already growing at one end of it and shortly after putting up 2 of the trellises I had purchases a small - but different kind - of vine to put near the center of them and I am going to transplant another vine which is out of place where it's at and put it next to the trellises as well.

I pointed out a row of desert trees they had - people have told me they are weeds, I firmly disagreed after seeing them being used in landscaping designs in various places around Phoenix. Sure enough, they are definitely a desert tree. They grow like weeds - yes. The tall one on my side yard was maybe 3 feet tall last year, it's now almost 8 feet tall. The man explained that they put out seeds like crazy and that's why I have about 8 more of them growing near it. I intend on transplanting the small ones just before they get too big to transplant - otherwise - I am going to have a stand of trees that are all together like a giant shrub. I think several of them out front near the house and the side walls would look excellent. Providing they survive the transplant, of course.

The man touted the virtues of Miracle Grow - something I have heard about all my life but have only used a few times. He said on the Sassoos, I could use the stuff weekly and those trees would also start growing like weeds. He further explained that if I keep trimming the Sassoos, they would grow out a nice, wide canopy about 30 to 40 feet wide when they mature. Or, you can do nothing and they will grow as tall as 60 feet but only be about 10 feet wide. I was thinking of what a situation like that would look like - the tall but narrow tree style - if I had enough of them to plant in a row. 60 foot tall trees would shade the house completely during the hot summer months, and these trees look nice. But - a 40 foot tall tree with a nice canopy would look nice, too. Better decide quickly - I want to get them in the ground today or tomorrow.

I was asking him about a cacti I have in my front yard. He provided some amazing information about it - actually them - I have 2 of them out there. They are narrow cacti right now, but - as they grow, the get up to 18 feet tall and TEN FEET wide! Whoa, Nelly, good information. Where that those 2 are planted now is NOT a good place for a plant that is going to get THAT fat. In fact, I don't WANT a plant that wide. He said just don't water them too much and they will grow slowly but still look good. Well of course - isn't that the nature of cactus? They don't need a lot of water and really don't want a lot, either.

So, I have some work to do in planting those trees and transplanting numerous other already planted plants.

Long interlude. I have one of the trees planted and a couple more holes started. The ground is so incredibly hard and rocky around here, it takes starting a hole and then watering it and doing such until you can get a tree and some mulch in there. I also was looking at an array of plants on the east side of my house - one of them is starting to show signs of underwatering. I decided I better trench around all of those plants and create a situation where you can fill the whole thing with water and be assured that the ground is getting saturated well into it. That project is now half done.

I also started digging a hole to transplant the vine and have decided to take out a plant that is out of place by the trellises and put it in the front where there are several of them that are doing quite nicely out there.

The only drawback to all of this work is that the sun is shining brightly and I can feel the "tanning" effect on my face. Must get some sunblock. I had my shirt off for a while - but in that kind of sun, 30 minutes is too long if you are a very white person underneath the clothing like I am. In fact, I can feel the warmth on my back as I am sitting here - I left it exposed too long as it is. No big deal - not long enough to get a burn that causes you pain for a week - been there done that.

My break is over and I'm headed back outside. It feels good to work in the yard.
ben

Friday - Late

What a day.
When I found out about the pipe situation this morning, it set in gear a non-stop cascade of things going on that had me busting @$$ all day long.
The situation is that one of our salesmen placed and order with a pipe company 2 and a half weeks ago. He found out yesterday that the pipe company was "sitting" on the order, had not done anything about getting the pipe onto a truck and sent here from Texas.
So, we ordered enough pipe for the contractor to be able to work tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow, starting at 4:00am, they are working a long shift. These aren't the greatest times to be having to pay workers OT, so they must be on a tight schedule to get the job done.
I'm at the pipe manufacturer's place in west Phoenix. When I arrived, I found out the pipe lengths were 14 footers instead of the normal 20 footers, which set the whole thing up into the air. I had the truck set up to put on 20 footers - I already had pallets and other pipe on there. We're talking 2,480 feet of pipe to go on the truck.

Well, anyway, I had a forklift operator re-position everything on the truck and then they brought out the pipe to put on. JUST before they were going to start putting the pipe bundles on the truck, the salesman called. He started bitching at me about how he had been promised that the pipe was going to be on the jobsite by 9:00am - it was noon time when he called - and giving me hard time. I cut him off - this guy is always giving people a hard time and I just won't listen to it. I informed him that there was NO possible way that pipe could have EVER been to the jobsite considering everything that had to be done and that I had not made that particular promise to him, go talk to whoever made that promise and give THAT person a hard time, cause' I would have told you no earlier than noon and probably later.

He tells me the crew is going home in half an hour. Not even possible. They were going to be installing the pipe early tomorrow morning. I offered to get up early Saturday morning and take it out there. This calmed him down considerably. He hung up and called management to see if they would allow me to work on a Saturday. No problem. Anyway, the problem was blown WAY out of proportion and I was on the receiving end of all of it.

The contractor ultimately decided to wait until I got there. I had other materials on my truck that they needed by 4:00 am so it could be installed by 5:00 am so that some specialist coming out would be able to do his work with it. Well, I was happy to have that taken off of me, but I would have gladly taken that entire truckload out tomorrow morning - anything to keep me looking good at work, even if it meant getting out of bed at 2:30 am to be at a jobsite by 4:00 am.

I finally broke down and got a haircut today. I couldn't hold out any longer. My hair was almost down to my eyelashes. WAY too long. I'm just doing whatever to keep expenses down as low as possible. I hate having long hair - it gets too hot in the summer time. My hair is very thick and when it gets long, it's like having a fur cap on.

Ummm, that's it for now. I'm tired. I went overhours and I did not get a break - and I was moving all day long. It actually felt good to have a good, solid day's worth of work, but it always takes it out of me.

C'ya later.
ben

Friday

Settling into a "new" routine - the new tenant is up at 2:00 am and is at work at the airport at 3:00 am. I have asked about the noise levels - he's quiet as a mouse. This guy is, from what I can tell, your basic, ideal tenant. Has enough money he doesn't have to mooch, keeps quiet, talks normally, etc etc etc.

I just got to work - have not signed in yet. A pleasant surprise awaited me this morning when I found several deliveries had been dumped into our truck routing system after I left yesterday. I do call this pleasant because this will keep me busy for at least most of the morning.

Another continuing pleasant surprise is the weather. The temps are not showing to go over 100 for at least another week. Actually, for being this far into June, that is shocking. Shockingly good, yes, but - truly amazing.

Ummm, and there is a truck driver here already wanting me to unload his truck. I'm usually firm but polite - we don't open until 6:30am - that's 15 minutes from now, I'm not on the clock, be out there then, thanks. I do not, however, say the same to a customer showing up early. Telling a customer they will have to wait 15, 30 whatever minutes is pretty much the same as telling your boss to bug off - it's not a good idea.

Well kick the day into ultra high gear - a pipe manufacturer as "f*****" us as a manager that just stopped by put it - literally - and I will be running around quite a bit today trying to get all of this done.

Gonna hafta cut this one short, get on the clock and get to workin'.
Have a great day!
ben

Thursday..........

..........already?!!
A slow day today at work in terms of deliveries. Only one place. I spent much of the day doing much-needed cleanup work around the warehouse and the yard. We have our bi-annual inventory in - 2 weeks I think - we're just getting everything ready. I do precounts on crates and pallets of stuff that are on high shelfs - and label them with a count so they don't have to pull it down. The CEO of our company is coming to town next month - don't know that he'll actually show up to our branch, but I would definitely like to meet him in person. I had an email exchange with him when my house burned down - he and his family are responsible for getting the company's Family Fund started. It's a fund that employees can apply for if they are in some serious financial distress. I can imagine right now they may be getting inundated with requests.

Anyway, that fund gave me 5k when my house burned down. It was a lifesaver. I had sent the CEO a thank you note - at that time, the fund had JUST started and I wanted him to know how much it was appreciated and how helpful it was in a serious moment of need.

DirectTV came through - they did send the new box and the newest tenant now has Satellite in his bedroom. Thank you, for once at least, Direct TV!!

Fry's - amazing. A vice-president of some department had called me - last week was it? I told him my concerns with the recurrent theme of not having enough of certain products, well, in fact, not having ANY of a certain - sale-priced product. We had a rather lengthy discussion. He asked me how he could make it right? I flat told the man I did NOT want freebies, because I have already received a freebie in the form of a $50 gift card from another gentleman from his company. That was the end of the conversation. I forgot about it - I'm not going to dwell on that stuff, I just like to let Fry's know about what's going on when it happens. This guy sent me a $25 gift card to Fry's, too! There isn't anyway I will quit shopping at Fry's and I have never threatened to do so, but - I have definitely been going to other stores that are giving Fry's some serious competition as well. Today, though, Fry's had lean ground beef - 2-pound chubs - for $1.99 per chub! That's an AWESOME price! I wondered if maybe they didn't have it mislabelled?

The City of Phoenix actually sent me a bill for having Mary served with the Order of Protection! The night I had her served, I wasn't even the one that made the initial call, I just used the visit already in-progress to have it served. I am going to contest this one. But - whatever - it's just another thing I can add to the lawsuit if it comes to that. I haven't heard of them charging for such a service, though, and certainly they didn't tell me about any such charge when they were serving it. Definitely going to make a phone call and look into that.

I was very tempted when I was looking through Craigslist and saw Sassoo trees being sold for $5 per tree. That is an AMAZING deal. Yet another nursery going out of business. Those trees grow to be HUGE. And they are nice-looking too. I'm going to resist, I think, but darn, that's a great price. Yeah, I still look. I look to see if perhaps another nursery is going out of business. Hey, it's my version of window-shopping.

I am going to go for a visit in the next couple of weeks - probably anyway - to meet this lady friend I have been talking with online for some time now. I decided to take Fin's advice and make the first visit a day-trip in some public setting. We are talking about hiking with her dogs versus spending money on a restaurant trip or whatever. She knows my financial situation, I thought I better just put that out there in case it turns her off. She's very well off herself, making excellent money - but some ladies are inclined to find a "rich" guy. That definitely would not be me. I wrote her yesterday about the possibility, she wrote back and said definitely.

Well, that's it for me. I have been avidly reading the news about N Korea; Iran's upcoming election; waiting to hear Israel's response to Obama's speech (which I didn't and won't bother to listen to); the pic of Obama's feet up on his desk while speaking to - was it the PM of Israel? and their offense taken; and much more keenly, the Air France Airbus jet that went down in the sea. I do hope they find the black boxes. This kind of thing fascinates me to no end. I'm sure the families of those that are lost probably don't see it that way - but - this kind of thing happens and I do feel badly for everyone. There are amazing stories about some of the things that occured, the latest is a woman that missed her flight - which would have ended up in her death, only to be killed in a head-on collision. I immediately thought of the movie: "Final Destination". If you have watched any of those movies, you know what I'm talking about. Not that there is any actual reality to such a thing (the premise of the movie, that is), but it's just what came to mind. Oh, and the now official mandate that the Swine flu has been classified as a pandemic. This world is definitely in turmoil.

Well, and then there's the "May ONLY lost 651,000 jobs". What? Is this supposed to be a SMALL number? The media, whatta crock. The numbers went down a little, so that's great news. Yeah, well be on the receiving end of one of those pink slips and you aren't going to care a diddle about that. That is a LOT of jobs to lose in one nation in one month's time.

I'm gonna shut up now.
Have a great evening!
ben

Wednesday

So, Caleb went out looking for a job today. He went to 5 different places around where his mother lives. At the Alberston's grocery store, he filled out an application on their computer kiosk and then left. He called me right after he left, I told him to go back in, find a manager, and tell that person you just applied through the computer, if you need any help I am available and I would really appreciate consideration for whatever position.

He did just that, too. That manager wasn't sure whether they needed help or not, but - to just fill out an app and not at least approach a manager may be a waste of time. I was proud of him going around to all those places and cracking the whip. I encouraged him not to get discouraged if nothing comes through right away - times are tough and a lot of people are looking for jobs. But he's got good references and the JR ROTC to list as something he's doing with both school and extra-curricular activities, can't hurt to write that in there somewhere. In fact, I think it will help immensely if there does happen to be job openings anywhere.

Well, anyway, today wasn't much. I had no deliveries but did make a trip downtown to take some material from our branch to the main branch and vice-versa. It was abysimally slow. As yesterday, there wasn't a whole lot of anything going on. The warehouse manager was washing his pickup truck for the 2cd time this week.

The general manager was cruising around, talked to him for a little bit. Actually, he was questioning me on the transition since we have gone from 4 workers at our store to 2. It's gone quite well, actually, considering there simply was not enough work to warrant 4 workers. With just 2 of us, the amount of work we are getting is enough to keep us busy - for whether driving or doing things around the store or warehouse.

Look - it's a 7 hour work day plus half hour break. Unless there is absolutely nothing going on, it goes by like a breeze. I have been busy driving lately, so even on a slow day, I can find things to do.

I have been pursuing looking into getting a passenger endorsement on my CDL and attempting to get part time work driving a tour bus - maybe for a casino on the weekends or something. I can't do Greyhound because they want full time drivers and they most certainly do not pay enough for me to want to quit my company and go work for them - not to mention the fact there are no other opportunities to do anything else there but - drive. I have not seen a part-time trucking job available since the economy went into chaos. Some companies are hiring full-time drivers, yes, but not part-time.

The transplanted tree is not doing well. I suspect that the guys that dug it up just cut out a lot of the root system, though I definitely saw a small root ball underneath it. If enough of the roots would have survived, I think I would have seen it coming back to life by now. But, just in case, I'll water it for another week. If it's just plain dead by then, it's coming out of the ground. It sucks because that is a great place to have a tree, and certainly, I do not have money to be buying trees right now. Oh well.

Which reminds me, I still need to get someone to give me a written quote on fixing the walls in Mary's rooms she was in, I am not going to - not - sue her. Not after she attempted to get me into trouble by claiming that I had shoved her. If she had not done that, I might be tempted to let it go.

Anyway, hope you all are having a luxurious day - the weather is still semi-nice here - better than very-bad - and I'll take it for as long as it lasts.
ben

Tuesday

I haven't yet heard anything from the new renter - I told him I was holding his check until today. Tomorrow, I am depositing it unless I hear something different from him. I assume he's moving in, just haven't received a phone call from him yet. Of course - if he didn't move in - another person responded to the $475 per month ad that is interested, lol.

I get a call from a Loan Mod place today. Tell you right now, the guy trying to sell me on his firm's version of it sounded like a used car salesman - at best. He tells me to check the BBB concerning his company. I said yes, I will also be reading every word on whatever you are faxing over to me - I wanted to see what kind of fine print is on the paperwork. I told him I would read everything over - but that I was at work. So, I leave work, get home, this yodel calls me again. Wants me to send in the Authorization Form which authorizes them to work on my behalf. Yeah, right, I'll just do that right now, let me get in my car and go back to work.

This guy thought I had time to look up his business under the BBB, read all of the paperwork, fill OUT all the paperwork and get it sent back to him in less than an hour's time? If I ever felt a scam coming on, this is definitely it. Instead of reading all this stuff, I'm going to tear it into pieces and when he calls me tomorrow, I will - be very blunt with him.

Meanwhile, DirectTV saga continues on. Last night, I apparently missed the call from the lady that was going to call me back. She left a message. I went to the bathroom for a minute and she called while I was taking care of business.

So, not a person to like to wait, and having ample experience with these large companies that don't give a damn about it customers and put it's policies on the Throne as some kind of god that oversees everything their portion of life's existence occupies, I called them back.

My experience with these companies? Persistence can eventually pay off. If you are willing to go through the eternity of press 1, press 2, press the red button - go from one menu to another to another, and then have a computer dictating you terms and telling you things that you learned in grade school, then finally getting through to a live person, who asks you the same questions over that the computer asked you - which I find quite annoying - and then talk to that person, who tells you no, the company will not do that, and then ask for their supervisor, they tell you the same thing and then evnetually hang up on you - and do that enough times - you will eventually get through to the "right" person. The right person has no more authority than the rest of the supervisors you talked to, it's just that your story rings a bell with that person and walaah.

I've done it many, many times. Last night, I called DirectTV a total of 8 times. Some of the people were downright rude - and I was being very polite with everyone, even if I was being quite firm in my stance. The last man? Told him the story - the receiver had been stolen, I have the police report number, on and on and on.
Told him I had already spoken with someone else - gave him her name - which did nothing for him since there are so many incoming call centers - and then he started speaking.

A breath of fresh air. Did he HAVE to give me a new receiver for free? Undoubtedly not. They weren't responsible for the box being stolen, why should they be? He looks at my record. So, you've been a Direct TV customer for a year and a half? No, I tell him, I've had 2 accounts with DirectTV, the one before my house burned down and the current one, I've actually been a customer for almost NINE years.

That was the end of that. Okay, Mr. BB, you got it. 2 to 5 business days to receive it, sent FedEX ground. $70 plus shipping/handling for free. Was it worth the unbelievable amount of time I spent getting the deal? Darn straight. In my financial situaition, everything counts, EVERYTHING. Heck, I still haven't got my hair cut (conerning spending money) - it's so long it's getting quite annoying in itself.

But, I had not time for that today. The newest tenant just showed up with a U-Haul. He gave Michael $20 to help him move in - Caleb left for home - I'm not going to tell him he left half an hour too early to make an easy $20 - the guy has some stuff, but it isn't that much stuff.

Swwwwwwweet. This latest round of trying to get a tenant in here certainly put me to the test. I wasn't about to give up, but I was getting a little - uncertain to say the least.

Up - down - up - down - that's life.

Work was nice today- it's been actually very nice weather with overcast skies for what, a week now. Certainly not June type of weather. After running around all over downtown, I drove out to the Lost Dutchman State Park for another delivery. Nice drive. Got the truck stuck back in there little hole they call a construction site - not stuck literally - just that it's a very tight squeeze - but this time noticed that they had removed enough of the gravel piles so that my truck could fit through the gate at the end of the road. Last time, I had to back up - I don't know, several football fields worth, to get out of there. I think I side it was 300 feet last time - it's much further than that. I also noted that they don't like semi trucks going into their park - but - that's the price to pay when you have construction going on.

We were busy enough - downtown? People milling around, wishing there was something to do. A whole crew of them, standing around, looking for something to do.

Long interlude. People flowing in and out of here, lots of conversation - and made myself sliced potatoes with onions fried; 2 eggs runny; a slab of cube steak, medium rare. I mostly like steak rare - but cube steak is better eaten a bit more cooked, I think.

So, with that, I'm outta here.
G'nite.
ben

Monday

Took a trip in the semi out to Florence today - a nice little drive - delivered some concrete meter boxes - well, delivered a LOT of concrete meter boxes - and then came back to the yard. There were no more deliveries. I ended up going through locations in the warehouse to make sure that each item we sell is in the place that the computer says it is. We are doing our semi-annual inventory soon, we always go through locations to make sure they're correct, and we usually also do a pre-inventory count to see if the actual numbers on the shelf are the same as the what the computer says we have.

DirectTV - after QUITE a lot of talking back and forth - I was not giving up unless they hung up on me - actually has agreed to replace the receiver for free. That's the one Mary took and that I have filed a police report about. They are allegedly calling back tonight - it was getting far too late last night, after ten o'clock which is well past my bedtime - to get the serial number of the unit that was stolen. I asked them to give me the serial numbers of all the boxes so I could eliminate the 3 remaining ones and therefore come up with the box that is missing. I need this to give to the police.

Anyway, quite a lot of persistence - while still being polite - got me something out of that. I am all about saving money wherever I can right now - always I am really, but even more-so now - and certainly having to replace something that was stolen from me is not something I really wanted to have to do out of my own pocket. I give no kudos to DirectTV until I actually HAVE the receiver in my possession.

A name from the past surfaced last night - Anthony. Seems he is still getting drunk and still starting trouble. He starts fights with everyone and then has father steps in - who is a hothead himself - and I can only imagine the outcome of that. They are out-of-work and I am sure the situation over there must be quite "pleasant". Michael is spending all of his time over here at this point - apparently the end-of-school is also the end of the restrictions.

I strongly suggested yesterday to both Caleb and JD - Caleb's friend - that they get up off of their lazy @$$es and start looking for a job. Sure, jobs are not easy to find, but I notice that the grocery stores are still hiring teenagers for bagboys and such. The point is to at least TRY to find something. They both had their excuses - which I basically ripped apart at the seams and fed to the garbage disposal - and told them both to get out there and start filling out applications. Both had this idea that parents/grandmothers were going to go find a job for them. WHY on earth would they want to do that? I mean, if you happen to know someone that needs someone - great - but I would far rather see them put their toes into the water and start feeling this stuff out for themselves. It's a whole new realm, no doubt, and maybe a little scary, but it's past time for both of them to start getting a taste of reality.

Ummm, new renter moves in tomorrow. I have nothing more than to print out a rental contract and find the keys from Mary, the rest is done. I'm going to have to think about building a regular closet in there - but for right now - the guy is happy enough to get the room and doesn't care about a closet - his words, not mine. I already have a check from him - I'm not cashing it until he actually moves in.

Nothing much else. Have some beef that I am going to form into hamburger patties and go outside and do some grillin'.

How are you doing? Hope everyone is well.
ben

Relief

FINALLY - I have rented out the room.
The guy that came earlier today - it's almost 4:00pm - and I clearly stated to him - and everyone else - first come, first served. I have check in hand. He isn't moving in until Tuesday, so I prorated this month for the rent payment - have check in hand.

Short and sweet, the man hopefully not a lunatic and seems normal enough. He is moving because his current roommate is moving and he can't swing the entire rent by himself. He works at the airport - which is like less than 5 miles from here to the entrance, much shorter directlyl to the edge of the airstrip - fenced of course - if you wanna watch em take off up close.

He will not, however, be a long-term renter. I doubt it, anyway. He is expecting an inheritance to come through - he has siblings that are fighting it in court, so it may drag on for who knows how long - but he claims to expect 500k as his share if/when the court hands it out. Whatever, I have temporary reprieve - all I needed for now.

I'm through. This has been very trying, to say the least. Just because it took so long to get someone in here. And honestly - I have no clue how long ANY of the current renters are going to stay. But - deal with the next one when it happens.