Tuesday

My new manager brought in the washer and dryer set today. It looks great - albeit the fact the set is 10 years old. I did not install them, I just got them on the property and will be thinking about doing that tomorrow. Can't go wrong for the pair at $50 - can't unless, of course, the units fail in 2 weeks. Lol, I didn't ask but he wants me to use them for a month and if they are still working then, give him the $50.
Okay.

I can't count the number of times I was cut off in traffic today in the semi. I had a heavy load on so I was easing back on any speed factors. I'm in your way, so go ahead, fly around me, cut directly in front of my truck and then slam on your brakes to make that right turn that you just saved a billionth of a second in executing by executing your outrageous reaction.

I took that heavy load right into the Driver's License division place today - right into the CDL test track. No testing was going on. In fact, I have NEVER seen any testing going on there. I wanted to find out how long I have to renew my license and also to pick up a CDL manual to study for the test. I could pass the test without it, but - I'm just one of those people, study, study, study and then go in and do the test. I figure sometime next week. Get it out of the way before the end of month - JUST in case, I DON'T pass it.

However, the test isn't that hard and the questions are all basically answered through the manual. Too bad the State of Arizona, at least according to the lady behind the counter, is out of the manuals. When she said they didn't have any, I asked where the nearest location is that does have one. "There ARE no more manuals, we have them ordered but right now, the best you can do is print it off the internet".

I stood there in silence, looking at her. Huh? There are NO locations that have this manual anywhere? In my mind, I thought: Who is the genious that lets ALL of their stock of these rather necessary manuals to run out completely? As if she were reading my mind, she says: I've ordered more but for right now, you'll have to go through this, handing me a piece of paper with instructions on how to find the manual online.

I looked around the room. This room was for nothing but CDL stuff, no regular licensing in here. I saw the faces of future truck drivers and wondered if they had any clue what they were getting themselves into. I watched a guy getting exasperated because he had failed the written test. How do you fail the written test? It's 100 questions. If you study the manual and memorize most of it, you will pass the test.

I didn't feel bad for him - he either came unprepared or he doesn't have a clue. At his age, starting out on a "career" like this one (he looked to be in his 40's) and not even being able to pass the written portion of the test - which is definitely the easiest portion of the test - he probably doesn't belong on the road.

I finished the conversation with the lady behind the window - she was all for me taking the test today, no way I could do it. I was on my way to a jobsite, the only reason I picked today to stop was I really had NO idea when my license was going to suddenly expire (it was good until I turn age 65 on my birthday, now they changed the rule to have to have it renewed every 5 years) and needed the peace-of-mind of that particular date. Some serious backing skills were used just to get OUT of the place they have trucks park. I guess they don't expect drivers to pull in with loaded trucks on a fishing expedition.

The jobsite was a joke. These people make me wait a minimum of 1 hour to get unloaded. Today started to piss me off. The dude above dudes was waiting for my arrival - he needed a fitting. He took it an left. Another guy showed up for another fitting - he took 3 of those and left, but not before I asked him about getting the truck unloaded. He said he would take care of it.

Been there, done that, I've talked to 2 people about getting the truck unloaded now, let's wait and see. I don't see, actually. I close my eyes and go to sleep. I have no reason to sit there for 45 minutes doing nothing, I would rather just take a nap. I REALLY fell asleep - about 30 minutes worth, no-one had showed up. I get out of the truck, go to the office and the 3rd person I talk to about getting it unloaded - I'm now over an hour at this site - is surprised to see me still here.

Yes, well this isn't the first time he's seen me walking in after he's allegedly told someone to come unload the truck. He assures me that someone will come to unload the thing. The dude above dudes shows up - this is now 75 minutes later. He says we have to take the pipe to another location, that they really don't want to unload the pipe here.

Now, this is where I'm starting to get a bit peeved. He KNEW I would unstrap the load there, I told him that was what I was doing, now an hour and 15 minutes later he's telling me to put " a couple of straps on it we have to take it down the road a bit".

I informed the man that I will have to fully restrap the load - the pipe is too heavy and I can't drive it on the street like that. You wanna know what would happen if I got into an accident with understrapped load? Even if the accident weren't my fault? Even if the load didn't come off? BIG trouble. I told him he could come back in 20 minutes cause' that's how long it's going to take. He didn't say anything, I just started the strapping process. I'm not losing my career - or killing someone - because he's suddenly in a hurry.

We get out on the road - another of this company's foremen sees me - coming from the other direction on the street - pulls over and then pulls in front of me - totally cuts me off. Okay, dude, where ARE we going with all of this? I am REALLY starting to get annoyed with all of this now, but I'm keeping a lid on it. This guy that cuts me off? We get to a stop sign, he signals for me to stop. The signal is putting your hand out the window, clench your fist and open it and clench it again. WHY does he want me to stop in the middle of the street? There are 10 cars behind me.

He gets out, races to the barricades and starts removing them. I have not positioned the truck to turn into THAT mess. It's a right hand turn - there are barricades on every corner. I end up going into opposing traffic lanes, all 4 corners are stopped waiting - they have no clue what I'm doing. I'm heading northwest to make a turn going east. Lol. I swung the truck around the entire intersection and then heading back east to make the turn. I went slow - never know if one of those car drivers are going to think I'm doing something that I'm not.

This delivery seemed endless. The loader operater dropped an entire lift of pipe onto the ground. He also dropped a stick of ductile iron pipe. He was lucky the street had been torn up and it was now dirt - if it had been asphalt, most of that pipe would have been destroyed due to the hard surface and shattering effect.

FINALLY this delivery is over and I am making poste-haste for the yard. I have to get back, get into the pickup and drive home with the washer-dryer set. Off the clock, of course, but I'm already 3 hours over and only 2 days into the pay period. I would be 4 hours over if I had gotten my breaks yesterday and today. I suppose you could call my snooze at the contractor's yard a break, so I'll call it half an hour from yesterday - I was moving all day long.

My life really doesn't have a lot of changes. I have financial emergencies seemingly frequently. I get out, but not a lot. I've been thinking about a change for a while now. I dunno what, but life needs to take a new direction with new challenges.

Well, it's almost time to go to bed.

G'nite.
ben

Printer

It's literally been many months - close to half a year - since I've had a working printer. I have one sitting there - it won't print. The thing was knocked onto the floor thanks to dogs and it will not sync itself on the rail. I've looked on Craiglist I dunno how many times trying to find another one - this is old but works well enough, I though to find someone selling one so I could use my full in cartidges in it.

Only one find and the person advertised it too high - I could have bought a new printer for that money - and I told them so. They didn't care, too bad. I checked back several times - it wasn't sold.

Today I thought to do a search on all of this Cyber Monday junk and see if I could find a super deal. I went to a lot of websites before finding Office Max deal on an epson printer that is normally $149.99 selling for $69.99 with free shipping. Yes, I don't even have to go to the store. And yes, I bought it. I can't go without a printer, I have needed one on too many occasions. The printer I am getting is cool - it works through my wi-fi network, it's wireless and I won't have to worry about dogs pulling the wires on it - accidentally of course - and smashing it on the floor.

In fact, if I so opted - which I probably won't but just sayin' - this printer can be used by anyone in the house with a computer. Printers have come a long way, baby. I had no idea they were building them with wifi access, that's just weird, really.

I would have bought an extended warranty for at least a year - but there was none offered. It should be here before the week's end.

I have a new tenant - and this guy is a keeper if at all possible. Clean, quiet, normal. Works out - he has arms as big as my legs - getting to the point of motivating me to start working out again. He's paying weekly - I guess that's all he can afford. I'm going to sweeten the deal - I'm charging him $110 per week, I offered him $40 back at the end of the month if he stayed the entire month. I normally only charge $375 per month for that room - so I figure to offer him all the money down to $375 back if he stays - and pays of course - for the entire month. Meaning the 4th week he would pay all of $45.

He spent an hour cleaning that bedroom - moved the furniture, vacuuming, spray cleaner with paper towels, whatever he was doing in there he was cleaning like crazy. He brought my vacuum back out - the canister was FULL of dirt.

Ohhh that I could get more tenants like that. Well, really, one of my current tenants is here so infrequently, he really doesn't live here. The ex-Marine is leaving sooner or later - though he just paid up last month and ALL of this month. I'll take that and clean up some of his messes in the bathroom, which is basically his "major" fault.

I dunno, I am just happy that 3 rooms are rented and if one is emptied, I hope to be able to re-rent it quickly.

Anyway, a sigh of relief.

I am hopefully getting the washer and dryer set tomorrow. My manager - who is giving them to me for $50 - didn't bring them today because his help to get the machines into the vehicle didn't show up. I have loaded and removed washers and dryers in and out of pickups by myself. Pretty simple: Put a blanket on the bed; lay the machine down on it; slide it to the tailgate; slide it until it starts lowering; grab bottom of machine; slowly allow it to come down to the ground. No damage to truck, no damage to machine, walaah. Yes, I've done that with refrigerators as well. Not everyone, I guess, is as motivated about things like this as I am. I need the set, I will gladly unload them into my back yard by myself if no-one else is around and get the job done.

Well that's it. I got up at 4:00AM this morning, at work at 5, off work at 3 something, don't even remember. Have gotten nothing done around the house - don't care. When I'm this tired, I just do some basic cleaning around the house and that's it.

G'nite.
ben

If I Accomplished Nothing Else..........

..........this weekend, today's event would have been enough. The man showed up with his bags and rented the room sight unseen. He didn't care. Very nicely dressed dude - on some pretty hard luck and bad times. The room isn't even available yet - won't be until tomorrow morning. He didn't care about that, either. He's living in a hotel, paying bookoo bucks to stay there and wants out of it. Yes, he handed over the first week's rent and I gave him a receipt, and yes, that money is non-refundable. I put his bags in my bedroom closet, locked them up. He said he would be back tomorrow and that was the end of that.

Amazing. That was much easier than most of these rentals. A woman called 10 minutes ago asking about the room, I forgot to take the ad down (now accomplished). Weekly rentals are a bit unnerving - especially having 2 of them now, since they can pretty much leave at anytime. Not that they can do that legally - there is minimum notice given by the state of AZ - but I allow for short notice. I am trying to get people in here.

Even better is that this man is paying $110 per week - $440 per month. I normally get $375 per month for that room, but weekly renters will always pay more.

Anyway, that is a sigh of relief - at least temporarily - until the next person leaves, which would be the ex-Marine, no date as a move-out day yet.

I HAVE accomplished quite a lot around here this weekend, stopped in the middle of it to fix turkey dinner. I have to say that cooking a turkey is the easy part, it's the part about getting all of that meat off of it that takes time. I clean that bird down to the last smithering of meat. What is not good for humans goes to the dogs - meat anyway, the bones are already in the trash. Excellent dinner, btw, a nice way to end the weekend.

Busy day at work tomorrow. I have to be there at 5:00am, meaning getting up around 4:00am. I don't really like getting up that early, but duty calls and the product has to be on the jobsite for month-end final push to get whatever we can out the door and onto the books. It just means I will get off even earlier, like at noon I believe. There are 3 deliveries - 2 of them large and one small. The truck is almost done being loaded, and this was another "Technical Load", I like to call it, where you are racking your brains attempting to figure out how to get all of that stuff onto the truck, have a safe load and be able get it all of at respective delivery spots without having to take anything else off to get at it.

So, I'm almost at the point of giving myself a pass for the rest of the day - almost. I have more I want to get done outside so - I'm headed out there in a few minutes to git-er done. It's just that I know next weekend I will be next to useless. There is company part on Saturday and our family's Thanksgiving get-together on Sunday. I won't get anything done excepting maybe laundry so - just want to get some things done around here today.

So there it is. Plenty done in the last several days including visiting my dad on Thanksgiving for dinner, I think I'll put in another hour or 2 and call it done for the weekend.

ben

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just want to take a moment to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving and hope that you all will take a moment to reflect on the things you have in your life and give thanks to - whoever you give thanks to - I personally give thanks to the Lord God Almighty. And Jesus the Christ for hanging on a cross, shedding his blood and giving us all the opportunity to have eternal life. And, of course, the Holy Spirit, who is here with us, teaching us, comforting us and showing us the way.

I would go into it more, but I have limited time on this hotel computer - though no-one seems to be waiting to use it. I guess most people have laptops nowadays and the rooms have plug-ins for high-speed internet.

If I buy another computer, it will not be a laptop. It will be another desktop with a bit faster processor and a lot more ram and such.

Anyway, Caleb and I got here yesterday and visited everyone at my dad's house. They were, however, mostly drunk. Not my dad - he has a glass of wine here and there but drunkenness is not in the cards for him (thankfully). The 2 fathers of his wife's kids are a different story. They had been drinking for quite a while before we arrived and were yakking it up - and not letting other guests have much of anything to say.

I usually just back off in such situations, it's not worth trying to out talk someone who is quite inebriated and is enamored with the sound of their own voice - and that is exactly what I did. Instead, I spent time talking with dad and his wife and - it was freezing cold! They had a HUGE spread of food out there - of which I partook - but sparingly. I'm trying to get a handle on weight gain and make it go the opposite way. I give myself permission, however, to indulge today.

For that, I only had a bagel at their huge breakfast offering at this hotel. We are eating Thanksgiving dinner at noon-thirty - so that was enough for me. Caleb loves coming to these hotels with workout gyms and heated pools. It's sort of a mini-vacation excepting our stay here is limited to last night and we are checking out in about an hour and a half.

I haven't had any more inquiries about the room - but I only posted the ad once. Tomorrow one lady is supposed to visit and take a look. Another guy called from out of state - but I am going to re-run the ad.

That's about it, I think there are other people waiting to use this computer and I don't want to be a computer hog, so I am going to get offa here.
Hope you and yours have a wonderful day and a nice feast if you happen to celebrate the day.
ben

Dogs Revisited/Fry's Food Stores

The neighbors to the east of me have apparently banished their dogs to the east side of THEIR house - since I am on their west side, that means I don't have to listen to those dogs barking all night long!! Yayyyyyyy! I wonder how long that is going to last?
I had thought they might have gotten rid of them since I haven't been hearing anything from them at all - but I saw the puppy peeking out the gate on the other side of their house yesterday. The dog actually likes me, but there is no way for me to pet the dog or give it the attention it badly needs. Those 2 dogs are totally neglected in terms of any kind of affection.

The German Shepherds on the other side are also, apparently - and hopefully NOT temporarily - being kept indoors at night as well.

Well, I bought my turkey at Fry's Food Stores yesterday. I was picking through the pile, looking for the largest one they had. If you're going to cook a turkey, you might as well cook a BIG turkey for all of that kind of work. The biggest one in there was a 15 pounder - 5 pounds shy of what I would have liked to have gotten (good English, aye?). I know the cashier from mobile home park days, of which neither she nor I (that's a little better English, doncha think?) live anymore, I was commenting about the lack of any large turkeys.

I was NOT complaining, though I was considering buying 2 of them since the sale price is 37 cents per pound. I have room in my freezer and even if I don't, there is room in the freezer at work here (here, cause' that's where I'm at right now and about to go to work for the day). She called to the back, talked to someone on the phone and a few minutes later - kablaaam! It's the dude that started trouble with me many months ago. Every time I'm in that store, he gives me the stares and glares routine. I simply smile back at him - life is too short to waste precious, internal resources on stupid people.

The look of shock on his face when he saw who he was bringing the turkey to was priceless, I ever-so-wish I had had my camera with me to eternalize that moment (now were getting into the really-good English, lol). He actually wasn't going to give me the turkey! He dropped his hand down with the turkey in it and started to walk to the back, I stopped him, said I'll take that and thank you so much, have a great day. He did not give me the same amenities in return, he instead grumbled, got a scowl on his face, muttered something else unintellible (and I'm sure I wouldn't want to know, anyway) and walked off.

Nice, huh? I didn't get management this time, not worth wasting my time. This is one miserable person whose misery started LONG before I ever showed up, I want no part of it. I guess he doesn't have to interact with the public too terribly much, which is a good thing for him cause' if he did, I would assume that, inevitably, customer service issues would arise.

Well, it's 2 minutes before I have to log-in, so I'm outta here.
Have a great day!
ben

The Newest Tenant............

.....may already be leaving. Sucks. Good guy, easy to get along with. He came to Phoenix from NC specifically to go to ASU - Arizona State University. They are telling him he has to be here a year before he can get resident status - and get resident status rates. The difference? $3,000 and change per year for tuition for residents: over $19,000 per year for non-residents. OUCH!!! He's meeting with the Dean of whatever - admissions I guess - on Monday to see if he can somehow get a waiver.

If he can't, he says he's moving back to North Carolina and go to school there. He was telling me an amazing story of his first kill - off the coast of Somalia earlier. Yes, it was pirates, and the pirates were going to shoot off a rocket launcher it him and the boat he was in - he got the kill shot on that dude and that dude - is dead. I have no sympathy for those pirates and now they have made it much worse for themselves by killing that captain of the Maersk. You think the Chinese military is going to have any problem shooting first and asking questions later? I thought not.

Well, anyway, at least I will know soon whether he's leaving or not so I can get an ad up in time for month-end. It appears the ex-Marine is staying at least through December. The other guy I have no clue about. I would love for this guy to stay - he wants to do the work-for-reduced rent thing starting December and I have plenty for him to do. Whatever, I have resolved myself that this is just going to be an on-going thing: finding tenants. It's a transient world, it's a transient house apparently.

To another subject, Michael stopped in earlier to get the boys to go play football. When they returned, he dropped a bomb. Anthony wants to apologize and move back in. Lol. Lessee - broke my windows, threw rocks at me, made some of the most demoralizing statements I have ever heard - especially coming from a kid, doesn't work, doesn't go to school, smokes pot all day long, steals. That's a tough decision.

I'm trying to motivate myself to get outside and start doing some stuff. I met up with Sugarcane/Kelly of KCL today and it was a nice time out. She's a very cool person - we ate at a diner which has some fine food and great service. Good times. But I was stuffed and still am - which usually slows down the idea of going outside and doing anything. Or inside for that matter.

No, the lazy button has been pushed on me and there is nothing pressing. I rarely take a day off on the weekends, but today is apparently going to be one of those days. When I do take a day off, I usually regret not having had gone into a flurry of activity and getting things done, but I don't think that will happen this time. I have been going for a long time now - every day doing something around here beyond work. Waterings can wait up to 3 days at this point, so that can even be put on hold today as well.

The only real thing I want to accomplish this weekend is get some new tennis shoes for casual junk and probably a decent pair of pants for my trip for Thanksgiving with the folks. It's going to be held at a fancy restaurant and I want to be semi-dressed up for the event.

So, I have made up my mind- nothing today. Undoubtedly, that will change. I will end up starting to clean the place up and doing my weekend cleaning so that I can have tomorrow to work outside.

Oh well, it was a nice plan, anyway.

ben

Quest For New Washer/Dryer Set

My washing machine is going to take a dive any day now. It's making a noise so loud I have to shut the door on that room to keep it down and the thing is shaking the entire house, literally.

I was at Home Depot yesterday getting yet another doggie door - this is the 4th one I believe - on warranty. I have an arrangement I have set with myself now - all receipts go into the trunk of my car. I will not lose them there, they will not get sun-bleached in there and I can FIND what I am looking for in there. I take the doggie door back in it's original box - yes I keep boxes until I figure that a product is good and I won't need to be taking it back - with receipt, get my money back and then go get another one.
Well, I'm in there and conversing with the lady at the counter where I was returning the door about the service at Home Depot. An older lady chimes in that it's because they are working there - it was all good - but I was being serious. Every time I go in there I get a hello, how ya doin', stuff like that -whereas before, I would get glares, stares and jeers. We had a pleasant conversation that went well beyond the time of the refund - there was no-one else there to return anything so I wasn't holding up any line.

I leave and go back, find the exact same doggie door at the exact same price. The older lady happens to be walking by me at the back of the store while I'm walking past the washers and dryers, lusting after the front load deals. Those washers use less water, less electricity and are just plain beautiful. What I was astounded by was the price tag: $400 - down from $800. They are on sale. She stopped and we started talking again. She was trying to talk me into buying one - I was considering it, but not seriously. After that, a guy walks up and pleasantly tries to talk me into buying another one that's on sale for $300. It's smaller, but he says the only difference between the other one is that the smaller one goes up to Queen sized comforters and not King sized. I don't have a king sized bed and I don't want one. However and generally, I usually opt for the larger sizes because of tenants dumping huge loads into the machines.

I said thanks, can't really afford it and left. I considered asking my dad for a loan to get the washer only - my dryer is working perfectly, it's the washer that is nose-diving - but I opted against that. I don't want to abuse the priviledge simply because he is a giving man. I really tried to think of any way I could come up with that kind of money. In actuality, I HAVE the money to pay for it, I don't want to spend it. I have a small emergency fund going that I would like to keep intact. If/when the washer I have now stops working, then it's an emergency - but that doesn't equate to a $400 machine when I can find something like what I have now for $100 to $200. I'm just thinking these machines are better built and the reduced use of electricity and water would be a great plus.

So, anyway, today I went to Craigslist and started my normal lowballing. Offers up to half off of what the advertiser is asking. I usually get some interesting replies to my offers - today is no exception and no, I haven't had any takers yet. I am not at the emergency/desperation level yet, I can offer less money and see if someone is desperate. I did that with the set I have now - just patiently waited and I ended up with those machines for $100 for the pair. I have no been particularly happy with the washer - it can eat clothes and pull out threading - but as long as it works, I am content to not spend money on something else.

I can safely say that I have gotten my money's worth and 10 times that out of these machines. I'm not complaining - the amount of laundry being done for 4 separate parties in one house can be substantial. I am going to go around Google for awhile and see if there are any payment places that might take some money down and payments thereafter. I briefly considered Aaron Rents - but they will want 24 payments at who knows what per month - probably around $100 or even more - and end up paying 3 times or more as much as the machine is worth. I would rather dig into $200 of emergency funds and get it over with than pay $2,400 for an $800 machine.

That's my latest quest. Get a machine at an obscene price - or - dump $400 out for that front loader plus another $99 for a 4 year extended warranty. It wouldn't be worth it in my situation to buy a brand new machine, knowing the amount of use it's going to get, and not get an extended warranty on it. I figure this is one extended warranty that would be worth getting.

That's it.

C'ya later.

ben

Today

Amazing.

I'm talking with my manager this morning and he's telling me that when they cut jobs down to 24 people, then we can get our hours back.

???? We're now at 32 people - down over 40 - and they want it to go down 8 more? WHO are they going to get rid of and WHAT is the criteria going to be? I have no clue, but I have firmly decided that I better get my @$$ to the annual Christmas function whether I want to go or not.

I do not want to go. It's a 40 mile drive one way and then 40 miles back. Booze is usually flowing heavily and though it's usually a great time, I have no inclinations for such right now. I'm not the socialite I once was - by choice. I love talking with people, I can do parties, but I don't want to. I am not shy or intimidated or whatever - it's just where I'm at in life right now. I have always been referred to as the life of the party - the dude that can get people talking when it's all cold and silent. I have done it hundreds of times over - I hate a lifeless party and I want to see life in it.

I have not yet officially committed to going - and I will be going alone - but I feel if for nothing else that I best get there, make a good showing and have a good time. I will take a nice, fat cigar with me this time - the last Christmas parties had guys standing around smoking cigars and I had nothing. I was woefully deficient in such - I love to smoke a good cigar occasionally.

Oh, these are almost all great people, I have no problems with that. I think I'm in my version of a mid-life crisis. I don't want toys and huge houses and giant bankrolls (well Iwouldn't mind some things, I just am not in a mode 0f get them or die), I just want to hibernate in my cave. I have spent the last 32 years as a socialite - doing all kind of volunteerism and very outgoing - I'm not there right now. I believe it will come back to me, but a badly needed break - an extended one at that - is necessary right now. Burnt-out is actually a more accurate definer of my situation versus mid-life crisis, now that I think about it.

Life must take on a new direction - I have always done that. Do something until it is "conquerered" and move on. I have several ideas of such things - things I want to do and things I know I can succeed at. But - it's not time yet.

Work today. Okay, well, I go to a jobsite right next to the Superstition 60 freeway. I try to get into the site where they want product delivered - the turn from hell. I cannot possibly make a right turn into THAT situation, I would have had to take the semi into opposing lanes, cut off a lot of traffic and possibly create a "situation".

I determined the only way to get in there was to come from the other direction and make a left turn, giving me much more clearance on the turn and get into this very narrow drive that lead - from my view - nowhere. Yet, this is where the dude on the phone told me to go.

I go up the road, flip a Uey -come back and still have to tie up traffic making that turn as well. I get in there and see that it really DOES lead NOWHERE. A yard and then - a friggin' CANAL. I get out of the truck before I get myself so dug into this situation that it will take a half hour worth of backing up and pullups to get out of there, it was THAT bad - the worst place I have been in in a while, and that is saying something considering some of the stuff I have had to go into in recent times.

The man with the plan says yeah, go in there and then you can go out the back and onto a road that leads out of there. I am just not seeing it, but I haven't been in there. I'm always game for a challenge, though, so I just drive in there. It is such a small yard with vehicles everywhere, that I have to stop the truck and wait for all the equipment to move. Yes, they do see me coming and they do start hurrying to get their metal out of my way.

I'm in no hurry - and anyway - this particular contractor is HUGE business for us and right now, that means a lot. I get in there, get the pipe unloaded - and then do my usual walkaround.

I do an inspection of the truck and trailer every time I get out, I don't care if I'm only there 30 seconds, I will walk all the way around the truck to make sure the load is secure, the tires aren't flat - whatever. I've been in this business long enough to know things can happen without you knowing about it and you have to make visual inspections to identify any problems.

Well, this time, I did find something. I saw the mud flaps on my tractor on the ground. ???? I took a triple look at that until it registered that roger, Houston, we have a problem. Fortunately, I'm not in Apollo 13 headed for the moon, but still. The airbags were totally deflated and no, this tractor is not equipped with a dump valve. I'm a former truck mechanic, so I get on my back in my nice clothes, under the truck and start lookin' around.

Nothing visible. The levellor rod is intact. I tapped on the valve with a hammer to see if I could get it to release - I'm thinking right away a stuck valve. Nothing. I turn the truck off and evacuate the system - all of it - of pressurized air by opening the relief cocks on the air tanks - when that's done, turn the truck on and see if it will correct itself.

Nothing. Again and again. I finally give up on it - my ways aren't working. I contact the manufacturer to assess that my knowledge is still correct - driving a truck in that condition can damage the drive train. " We can't advise you on that". What a crock of BS. I just got off the phone with them after that. I call our fleet service contract - yes, you drive it, the drive axle is not on the plane it is intended and is at an angle going into the transmission that will TRASH the rear of that transmission, don't drive it.

Ironically, his service tech was at our main branch fixing a problem there, and yes, he would dispatch him to my location after he is done there.

So, resolving that and getting the truck out of the way and walking over to Starbuck's for a cup of joe - I wander back to the truck and look at this rear exit of theirs. Unbelievable. The chain link fenced yard ends and a canal starts with a narrow dirt "road" in between the 2 and I'm supposed to turn right out of that. Lol.

I decide to pull the truck out of that miserable thoroughfare - it is always quite amazing at what people that don't drive trucks think a truck can make it through. I already knew that to make it around that, the trailer axles would be going up over a giant heap of dirt - and I was not let down on that prospect.

Somewhere along this maneuver, the tractor woke up and decided that it needed it's airbags fully charged. Great. I have already been on the phone with half a doznen people concerning this situation because it was going to hold up a "we-need-it-right-now" delivery. Now I'm on the phone all over - it's good to go, at least for now: cancel the emergency roadside appointment; call the inside salesman; call my manager. I'm on the road and - not feeling good at all. I am losing entirely too much sleep and am at the point where I am going to be forced to start taking Ambien again - I cannot function like this.

Long day today, really. Got home and took a nap. Dogs were not happy - I could tell that my leaving them outside was not their first choice. Get over it, is all I can say about that and told them so, though I have serious doubts they actually understood me ; )

The vet's projection that their balls would grow to the size of grapefruits temporarily has yet to surface. There is some slight expansion, but they are almost flat. I really don't want to see them going through that, I believed the vet, but - I don't see it yet. I have no regrets in getting this procedure done, either. I had thoughts that - for some reason - I would regret it - but - what is there to regret? I thought about it - the family "name". No more Princes and no more Dukes. I'm good with that, there are plenty of Dane breeders out there making sure the supply line never goes empty. I am totally NOT into puppies, anyway.

As for here - I did not dig anymore holes as I had hoped I would today, instead, I just watered everything and devised a few plans.

And, I am very tired and am done with this entry.

G'nite.

Ben

Blogs

FYI, I have at least 8 different blogs on numerous different sites. I have a couple of blogs that are for me only. No-one knows where they're at and I haven't seen them on any Google searches. I don't write on those very often - sorty of puking blogs - get it out of the system and move on.

The one I switched to recently is the same one I was using after JS crashed and really didn't know where to go on Wordpress. I consider that a sort of anonymous blog - some people know where it is, but it's all people that I know from JS or online anyway, so no big deal there.

I doubt I will ever totally abandon blogging, but there are definitely times where the "I don't feel like writing so I won't" atmosphere sets in and I'm done with it for awhile.

We are getting closer and closer to Christmas, that atmosphere has not set in, rather, somewhat of a disgust at what certain, other bloggers were doing got me to going to other places to write my entries.
As I said, just an FYI.

The newest tenant is - broke pretty much. He is a bartender - just out of the military as well - had a heckuva time finding work. When he finally did find a gig, it's pretty much minimum wage. He's a good guy and he's out putting in the applications all over the place, at least he's trying. This particular person is going to do the "work for reduced rent" scenario.

I have PLENTY of work I can keep him busy at around my house, that's a fact. There are odd jobs I don't want to do, really, which hopefully he has basic skills such as painting walls and pulling grass - junk like that. His rent will be $200 with the work, $375 without it. Judging from his sounds of desperation, I will be getting the work out of him - my ad stated a minimum of 25 hours per month. You break that down into an hourly wage, and it ain't much, but I made it clear on my ad what I was offering and ain't forcin' no-one to do it.

In fact, I made it VERY clear about how it's going to work. He's got this month paid up so he doesn't want to start until next month. All well and fine, if he's serious about it, I am going to have him keep a log of hours worked and what was done. This is the only way to keep track of it. The situation with Mary was intolerable, yes, but at the same time, she did probably 50 hours of work per month and she was still paying $400 per month for the room.

I've got myself half talked into letting her go on the lawsuit - the work she did on the front of the house remains and it was worth a lot more than the rent I took off every month. The only stickling point with her about letting her off the hook was her attempt to get police to arrest me by claiming that I had shoved her.

I don't shove ladies - or in her case a woman, ladies don't use meth in my book, women might, but not the ladies - I don't hit them, pull their hair, spit on them, whatever. That's kind of been a life-long thing for me, I doubt that will EVER change. It's pretty much a simple enough thing to walk away from a person or hang up the phone when someone is being abusive than to get angry and start thinking about a fight or violence.

The question must pose oneself when challenged to a fight is, which is harder? To walk away or stand there and fight? I'll tell you right now, it's much harder to walk away, oh yes it is. Especially if a person is taunting you, maybe throwing in the C-word: Coward, yellow-belly, lemonade-bleeding wimp - all that wonderful stuff. I have walked away from people saying that stuff to me. I have no doubt that if those people would have laid a finger on me, the outcome would have been different, but they didn't, it was all talk, and in the end, they have to live with their childishness and I am able to cope that I walked away from a cocky, mouthy, moron and not get into it.

So, anyway, we'll see how the work-for-reduced-rent scenario goes. If he finds a better paying job, I doubt he'll want anything to do with that. In fact, if he finds the money he's trying to get - by getting into a place where bartenders are walking home with anywhere between $200-$400 per night, he'll undoubtedly end up getting his own place. I actually hope I can get at least one month out of him, though, I have some things I have put off simply because I have a plate full of projects right now.

Changing the subject, today is the first official day that the dogs are banished to the great outdoors when I'm away at work. I was watching video surveillance yesterday and that sealed it. They were in my living room, rough-housing. The Dane mix was up on my couch - a thing she KNOWS I hate her doing, standing there with this defiant look on her face. The Danes walked around their living room, smelled one of my indoor plants - and yes - they lifted their legs.

THAT is IT. When I saw that, that sealed their fate. They will never be allowed in the house while I'm gone again - not unless I can figure out a way to get all the smell out of there and get them to stop the activity. For now, they are dogs, they can handle it. I put a nice strip of carpeting out on the cement for them to lay on, that's the best I'm going to do. I'm imagining the only way I will be able to get the behavior to change is to get rid of the carpeting in that living room and go ahead and install the ceramic tile I want to put in there.

Money, of course, is stopping me from doing that. We figured it out - about $800 for the materials to get it done. Totally out of the question right now. I have a savings account where I'm putting a little here and there into it - nothing grand but it's there to eventually fund a project or 2 that I want to get done around there. Frankly, the economy's going to have to come back up and my hours are going to have to be reinstated before any serious projects are going to occur. The drip system is almost totally paid for, I just have to get the work done.

Well, the work day approacheth and thankfully, there IS something to do in there that should eat up the day - or most of it anyway.
ben

Temporary Reprieve

I am taking a sabbatical from posting either here or on KCL.
I am posting on another site that I opened up earlier this year.
My friends from Australia and New York and others are welcomed to inquire where if so desired.
My reasons - will not be explained here and that's that end of that.
This is only temporary - but I cannot give anyone a date of my "return".
I am still reading journals and logging in and all of that, just not posting on these sites.

Wednesday

A very long day preceded by a rather sleepless night. I kept having some pretty nightmarish types of dreams and kept waking up. I mean, some bad stuff. I dunno what's going on in my life right now besides all the normal chaos, but it isn't exactly pleasant to have those types of dreams coming at you every time you go back to sleep.

The new tenant - is hardly ever here. I am wondering if he is just using this as a temp place to find something else. I have no clue. He works afternoons to late night doing pizza delivery runs. I have a few leads on the empty room - I'm not sure I want to wait for this guy who says he's coming Friday to leave a deposit to move in the next Friday. He has a LOT of issues in his life with his wife he is separating from and 3 kids. I don't want to continue to hear he is putting this off indefinitely.

I had mind to get some things done outside today, but I decided against doing anything but some light house-cleaning. Though, if I get a hankering, I might go out and dig some holes and plant some trees.

Really, I'm pretty out of it, I think I will keep this one short.

Take care.
ben

Tuesday

Busy day at work. Got out of town around 6:00 am for some early deliveries, back at 9 am for another delivery, then back again for another delivery and yet again for yet another delivery. Sorta went that way today. In recent times, seems like we get a lot more business near the beginning of the month than near the end.

Tomorrow doesn't have too much - but neither did today and it ended up cranking all day long.

I passed through an accident scene on a 2-lane highway this morning - problem is, I didn't see what was on fire. LOTS of fire trucks and related equipment and personnel, but it was too dark to see what had happened. When I came back through that way, they had completely shut the highway down, making traffic go through the outskirts of a residential area of Sacaton in the reservation. I don't know who thought up the idea to track that much traffic through dirt roads in an area with kids - the roads were narrow and I had to take up the oncoming side to make the turns.

People weren't being so giving, so I just pulled up there and waited for them to back up. That or NEVER move. So these people are throwing up their hands and reluctantly backing up - I would have NEVER made that turn with the amount of traffic that was coming through there if I had just waited until it was clear to go. Dunno what to say, folks, trucks are big, large pieces of heavy equipment. They bring you food, clothing, parts to fix your car, materials to build and repair your houses. Do they get in your way? Of course they do, but not intentionally. We can't just maneuver around corners like in a car or pickup truck.

On the same kind of note, this morning on the same highway where I assume there was a death - they rarely shut down a highway like that unless someone died and they have to do an investigation. Oh, well anyway, a pickup truck comes barreling down a side road that stops at the highway I'm on. State Route 87 to be precise. I'm going 65 mph in a ....65mph zone. This guy drives right through the stop sing - probably going 25 mph through that thing, right out in front of me. I'm flashing my headlamps trying to get him to get out of the way, I just went into the oncoming lane since there was nothing coming to pass him.

This person decides to speed up and play games as I'm ahead of him and getting close to being able to pull back over. This is one of those deals where the person neither wants to let you pass NOR let you slow down to get back behind the person, the person who just cut you off BADLY in their vehicle. Now a vehicle IS coming from the opposite direction, I have my signal on, I just started coming over. I will not get into a head-on collision. I would far rather shove this guy's vehicle right off the road (assuming it's a guy) then kill an innocent person.

These are not games worth playing - I wasn't playing the game here, this guy was. I will never be able to figure out why people drive like that. Do they not realize they are risking their own lives? Maybe they just don't think it will happen - they can do anything they want to and that's the end of it. The accident where the dead person is - guessing anyway, haven't heard anything on the news yet - was the same kind of thing. Right at a side road that stops at the main highway. Undoubtedly, someone pulled out in front of an on-coming vehicle. There was thick, black smoke everywhere. It was eerie looking.

So, much further down the road- this driver stuck behind me and we pass through the accident zone - I have to slow down for a truck that is turning in front of me. After he turns, it takes my truck forever to get back up to speed, this guy comes zooming around me, flipping me off. The epitome and heighth of arrogance and aggressive driving.

Whatever. Just another day driving a truck in the Phoenix metro area. I fully expect this crap and I try to prepare for it before it happens. When my truck is heavily loaded, I go below the speed limit - like 5 to 10 miles per hour slower - I stay out of the way of faster traffic and try to keep a HUGE distance between my truck and whatever's in front of me. If something happens in my lane ahead of me and that truck is anything even close to 40 tons, there is hell to pay if I don't have enough distance to slow down, and trust me, a truck needs a LOT of distance to get stopped or slowed down enough.

Enough. I called the guy that committed to the room today - he said he still wanted to move in, but.....always a but in things with Craigslist ad respondants - he can't move in until next Friday instead of this Friday - but again - he'll come over this Friday and hand over $400. Okay, I said, thinking it's only 3 days away, might as well see if he's on the up and up. If not - well it's just such a game with people trying to get them to even show up when they say they are, and then if they do, getting them to actually just move in. I hate it, but I have no choice in the matter. Another whatever. It wears me out sometimes trying to get and keep people in here. You never know when a person is going to move out. It just happens - bam and they're gone.

I don't quite understand why money has to be SUCH an issue in life, but one thing I know: I'm totally not alone in that department. The ex-Marine is supposed to pay me Thursday and this new guy - no clue how long he's staying - but if is staying, handing over another $100 Friday or Saturday. It's float money, sort on the tilting towards sinking side. I'm getting a few extra hours at work on each paycheck, every little bit helps. Spending money on anything but food, electricity, bills or gasoline is pretty much cancelled at this point. It's the only way I can survive right now with only 2 tenants.

Anyway, enough. I am going to go to bed early again tonight - not sleeping terribly well at night but I tend to feel better in the morning when I go to sleep earlier, I still wake up but I get more sleep in.

G'nite.
ben

Sunday

The car-selling neighbor got a new dog. He's infatuated with German Shepherds. Shepherds like to bark. THis morning at 6:00am, that dog was on the hill in the back of my neighbor's house looking over both my fence and the neighbor behind me. It was barking incessantly. I went out there and told it to shut up - which it did until I went back inside and then it started all over again. Put my shoes on, went back out but by then, my neighbor had finally call the dog in. I was going to blast it with that noise making thing and if that didn't do it, spray it with cold water.

Meanwhile, I'm battling a losing war with my dogs peeing all over the living room when I'm gone. That's what Mimi's legacy will be her - her dog peeing everywhere and now my dogs peeing all over it. The dogs are now banished to the great outdoors when I leave for work - or anywhere else for that matter. I just spent another hour with my new carpet cleaning machine getting that stuff up and out of the carpet. None-too-happy about it, I brought each of the Danes over, stuck their nose in where one of them had freshly pissed while I went to the store this morning, snapped them both while their snouts were in the piss and now? They can spend this beautiful day outside. All of that is cleaned up and I bought some stuff from Walmart to allegedly get the smell out permanently so they won't continue to pee in those areas.

We'll see about that. I'm still going to just keep them outside during the day when at work. The doggy door is closable, it has a solid piece of plastic you can slide down into it that keeps them from coming or going out, whichever you're trying to accomplish.

My trip to Walmart was spurred by the need for a pair of steel-toed boots. I just dont have $120 right now to buy a good pair from Red Wing or Iron Age. Both of those companies have excellent, comfortable boots that last at least a year. I figure this Walmart stuff will last 3 months if I'm lucky, but I have no choice right now. I have to have steel-toed boots for work. I had no sour incidences today at Walmart and neither was I looking for any.

Now that I have all of that finished, I'm headed to the great outdoors myself to continue one with laying the drip system piping and getting the dirt back over top of it so I can do something else. I'm kinda wanting to get the jist of this project over with and leave me with only having to put the emitters on the small tubing and finish the manifolds. Fortunately, the water usage has decreased dramatically to the point I don't have to water everything every day. There are some things I am watering every day, yes, just to keep the amazing growth of them going - mainly the Sissoo trees - but much of everything else is getting less water.

The new tenant is - here - but is in his room and haven't seen him since yesterday afternoon. His friends came over while he wasn't here - I agreed to it only because he had to be out of the place they were at by sometime yesterday - and finished moving his stuff in. I talked at length with them since they wanted to visit with the Danes - I'm getting the feeling these guys - all of them - are gay. I'm neither a gay hater or basher, at the same time, I really don't think I want that kind of "activity" going on in my house. I'm not SURE they're gay, I'm just getting the feeling from the way they are talking - the guesstures, how they stand - a lot of tell-tale signs that alone mean nothing but when combined together with enough other signs - probably my guess is right. Another interesting story of renting rooms, if this is true, you'll probably be seeing some rather interesting reading material from me on here.

The temp tenant called today - from Texas - saying his house wasn't ready to move in yet, could he stay another night when he gets back today? He's flying back. He offered another $25 for the extra night, of which I immediately agreed to. I don't have the room rented - yet - any money I can get from it, even one night's worth, I'll take. I responded to everyone that called or emailed yesterday and the day before, this guy that moved in is the only one that actually showed up. I take it back, there is a guy that wants to come over today or tomorrow. Have to be tomorrow if they're looking to move right away, I can't rent out a room that has someone else's stuff in there. I had thought the temp tenant had taken all of his things out of the room and had only left his trailer, I was wrong. I went into his room - he has a room full of stuff in there. An amazing amount, really, I had no idea he had brought so much stuff into the house. Very organized individual, makes very good money, too. Those are the kinds of people you will never be able to keep as tenants - they are only using a place like mine to stay at until they find their own place.

So, the search continues and I am going to be writing another CL ad here in a few minutes. The stuff I bought from Walmart to eliminate urine smell from carpet has a very pleasant odor to it - it's filling the entire living room and kithcen. The dogs will not be coming in here until that is all dried up, as the directions say. Then, smell the area and see if you can detect any odor. Unfortunately, my nose isn't near as good as a dog's and I'm simply considering treating all areas twice.

Nothing else, really. I did almost all of my weekend cleaning yesterday since I was having potential renters over and - I don't really know if a clean house had any effect on this new renter or not - but I like to have a clean house regardless so it's time well spent.

Oh, I've found the culprit - one of the smoke detectors in my house goes off frequently - at night especially - when there's nothing smoking - nothing being cooked. It just goes off. I assume a defective detector and have bought a new one to replace it. There isn't anything that currently goes on around here that is more annoying than having a very loud, high-pitched/shrill noise going off in your bedroom.

Anyway, I better get to getting, I have plenty I want to get done today and the clock hasn't stopped ticking for me.
C'yall later.
ben

Friday

I'm not going to do 2 trips on a delivery if I don't have to.
For Monday, there is a large delivery with a lot of pipe. It isn't the weight of the load that was confounding me this afternoon - the total payload weight is only 36,000 pounds. My truck and trailer gross vehicle weight is 26,600 pounds, giving a total payload of 53,400 pounds (you could also call it net weight).

The point is that there are 2 different types of pipe that I had to load on the truck - that have different loading parameters and attempting to get that much pipe on a truck in that configuration? I loaded and unloaded pipe 3 times before I figured out how to get it all on there.

Further point is that I love a challenge, especially when loading trucks and attempting to figure out how to get all kinds of different product safely loaded onto one 48 foot long flatbed trailer and see a satisfactory result.

My problem is when it comes to loading a truck, I'm purely a perfectionist. The pipe has to be perfectely positioned and if it's off by an inch, I have to adjust it and get it facing the proportionate direction without any visible flaw. Many of my fellow drivers are far from that. But, this is a flatbed trailer, it is not a "dryvan" that has walls to hold everything in. Something falls over in a dryvan, it isn't going to end up all over the highway.

Something falls over on a flatbed, the highway becomes it's landfill. My mind always wanders about such things - what if there is a motorcyclist next to my truck and a 200 pound cast iron fitting falls off into his face? He's probably dead. Same thing with a car and that thing crashing through the windshield. I take my profession very seriously when it comes to safety. I have refused more loads than I care to admit for deference to safety.

I end up reloading the truck myself in a safe manner. It isn't an issue now, I load my own truck and I am very good at it. I am an expert in forklift operation, a thing that slipped my mind when I was looking for a part-time job some time ago. I haven't even pursued a job in a warehouse which entails mostly forklift operation. This would be an easy job and would bring in some much needed funds right now.

Back to perfectionist - I watch other people loading my truck because they are trying to help me and I can't stand it. There's only one other person in our company that I consider of the same level of expertise and trust. In fact, I was downtown and the subject came up. He stated that he loads trucks - whoever's truck - the same way he would load the truck for himself. I completely concur and do the same thing whenever the need arises. If it doesn't pass my muster, I don't care what other people think, it is not a good load. It MIGHT make it to it's intended destination, but it is NOT safe.

And, when other people are loading my truck - well, I nicely ask them to shift something to a different position or change this or that. I have definitely had a problem with that at my current company, I then politely state that I will go ahead and load the truck myself. This isn't LegoLand and you don't have the safety net of some sort of security that if your load falls off your truck, such as with a Tonka Toy being pushed over by a kid - that nothing will happen. People can die. People can lose limbs. People can be turned into vegetables. Generations of family can be altered. I have gone down the lines of thought concerning this stuff.

Switching gears, the weekend is here. I might say finally, but this week went by pretty fast. I was tickled to come home from work and find a hat - a fancy looking thing - sitting on my computer desk with the keys to the room of the older gentleman that - now-was - living here. He put an orange piece of paper on top of the hat with the following written in large, bold letters: Farmer Ben Hat.

LOL!! I hate to see him go. I hate to see any good tenants go. I understand why he had to go, but - it means attempting to find someone else to take his place. He graciously offered to leave the queen size bed with very nice wood frame and a lot of other stuff in there to make it another fully furnished room. I did NOT ask this man for anything, he just took me off to the side one day not long ago and said he would like to give me this furniture and that he is getting too old to move all of this stuff around.

I now have 2 empty rooms, sort of. The guy that flew back to Texas has his door locked - it's rented until Monday. His trailer is here, he is definitely coming back for that stuff. I GUARANTEE it. To abandon that stuff would mean abandoning 10k worth of off-road toys. I have several people in queue for either/or of the rooms. One is coming tomorrow - supposedly anyway.

Oh, well, that hat is pretty cool. I'll have to take a pic of it on my head - my skull is huge - I have a hard time finding hats that fit my head. This man was always calling me "Farmer Ben". Seriously!!

I'm tired. Long day. I had a couple of beers after work today after doing all that stuff on the semi with that pipe. So, I am going to end this entry. It is still cool here and I am looking forward to working outside in the dirt this weekend. I also hope to look forward to maybe having a deal with someone on a move-in.

G'nite.

ben

Friday

Otherwise known as make or break day for companies like mine. Get whatever product that can be delivered out and get the numbers on the books.
Only one delivery in our system, however - but there is allegedly about 50,000 pounds worth of pipe to pick up.

I have heard nothing back from the insurance company. Which isn't totally surprising, but I do want to get my car fixed - any day now would be good. I'm sure their final outcome is going to be a negative one towards me, and I'm just as sure that I will be spending a great deal of time "talking" with individuals from that company until I am, if nothing else, sure that I least made an attempt to correct the problem - which is having an at-fault accident on my record, as they have already stated they were going to publish it as.

The temporary tenant has found a very nice house on a lake in Glendale for $1,000 per month and is leaving. Actually, he's flying back home to be with one of his sons for his birthday and then they are going on a marathon to get everything and get over here. Good luck with that, is all I can say. His trailer is sitting in my yard - I am quite sure he won't be leaving it too terribly long considering the contents inside of it.

I have no other leads on tenants as of now. Not that I am giving up hope - well I do have the guy that came over, we shook hands, he wants to move in a week from now - I'll believe that when I see him with a vehicle full of personal belongings pulling up in my driveway and not a nano-second sooner. I am placing ads on CL separate from the month to month ads that simply state temporary housing at affordable rates - sort of a "come to my place and avoid paying high hotel bills" type of thing. I can even take credit cards through paypal - that's how this guy paid for his week's worth.

I'm looking forward to spending this weekend simply playing in the dirt installing that drip system. At least get the piping in and the emitters installed. Then I can cover all that trenching back up and get my dirt troughs built around each plant back into place. I have to buy a timer - I wish I would have done that a while back cause' I'm in a position now where I don't really want to spend money on anything. I must have 3 renters in the house before I feel comfortable, and since I am down to 1 at this point, certainly am not feeling very comfortable about it.

Tomorrow is the first so I am going to go post another ad in there right now - just in case of the "last minute shopper" - a person who needs a new place to live by the first and has procrastinated.

C'yall later.
ben

Michael

..........showed up some 45 minutes ago.
Haven't seen him in what, a month and a half?
I had all of these thoughts in that interim that he was gone forever, that I wouldn't have to deal with him coming back and so, I let my guard down, I guess.
He had a big, huge and very disarming smile on his face.

There is a passage of scripture in the Bible that says "love covers a multitude of sins". I just couldn't find it within me to do any of the things that I had thought of doing after he left - without notice - and just disappeared out of our lives. I guess that's what happens when someone lives with you for 5 years, especially if it's a kid - even if not related to you in any way, shape or form.

If Anthony ever showed up like that here, well, it would be a totally different story. Remember that I threw him out of here, he did not leave of his own accord. Not to mention the vandalism and the theft. I would call the police, actually.

Anyway, that's all I can really say about it. I did find out that Anthony spent 3 and a half days in Juvenile Detention and that he hated it. More information came out about JD's little brothers - the 3rd youngest brother in that family is headed towards Juvi as well, at least in Michael's opinion, because he is still smoking pot and they do monthly drug tests.

I can't offer a logical explanation for my lack of acting out what I had thought I would do if he ever returned, emotion sometimes supercedes logic - whether that's a good thing or not - well, I'm a human with a beating heart, not a robot with lubricated joints.

Well, anyway. A man showed up today wanting to rent the room. We talked for a long time - like a couple of hours actually. However, there was a catch to his deal. He gets paid 2 Fridays from now. Asked if I could hold the room. I spent 2 hours speaking to that kid not long ago who insisted he wanted the room and didn't show up on the intended date and no answer at phone number left.

This guy isn't a kid - somewhere in his 30's going through divorce. Actually, when he showed up I thought the police were here. He was in full-fledged security guard gear - but this gear of his makes him look very close to police officer status with the blue uniform and a badge that is pretty convincing and ALL of the gear police have on their belts. A pretty intimidating looking gun in his holster as well - a Glock 9 millimeter something or other. Not well versed in guns (me, that is). I'm not afraid of guns - unless in the wrong hands of course. I did not offer to hold it for him, but did say that the room currently occupied by the temp tenant "probably" would be out of here by the time he wants to move in, anyway. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the guy is out of here before his week's worth of paid rental is up. I have had thoughts of simply trying to make the room more like a hotel room for people coming and going, since I have had several of those in there now.

But that would mean a lot of people in and out of here and exposing myself to more risk, not sure I am really need that. It would simply be nice to get my hours back at work and not need 3 tenants. My search continues.

My 4th drug test today. The place wasn't so full so I didn't have to wait quite as long but I was there 45 minutes anyway. The nurse was especially talkative - probably me, I always get people talking. If I want to, anyway. In fact, the "test" was long over and this individual was yacking away. I found it amusing so I entertained it. I made a few simple comments that - are designed to get people talking once I find something that makes them tick - and that is usually all it takes. Kinda like the pilots over-shooting the airport by 150 miles, he realized he better get back to what he was supposed to be doing.

Oh, the insurance company. I'm going to have trouble with them, I am sure. If they want to put the blame for me on the accident, fine, I already figured that. I simply cannot prove what actually happened because I have absolutely no witnesses to it. I will not, however, tolerate a 20 something (my guess from the pitch of voice, the tone and other clues) talking down to me on the phone. She was god, I was a speck of dust, at least in her eyes. She continuously interrupted me on the phone and announced her superiority over me several times as being "The Adjuster" and I - nothing apparently. Someone forgot to tell her that I am THEIR CUSTOMER and I don't give a rat's @$$ about WHAT they think about their position and how they think they have an ace card over you.

They have NOTHING over you. If they are going to dump you as a customer, they were going to do it anyway, this does NOT give them the right to talk to you like you are a piece of trash. I eventually cut her off and demanded to speak to her manager. Several minutes later, the manager came on and I simply told it like it is. I asked this manager that if these phone conversations are recored, to please listen to that recording and hear how many times this person cuts me off in the middle of a sentence and proclaims her infallibility to me. The manager apologized as I wasn't letting this go. I was then transferred (voluntarily) to another person to take a taped recording of my version of the accident.

Interestingly, the woman who owns the vehicle that cut me off has not attempted to file a claim. I will end up getting the fault for this accident, 99% sure of it. There is nothing I can do about it. A rear-end collision is always your fault regardless of what happened unless you can PROVE what happened. I had thoughts earlier about all these cameras all over the freeway and wondered if maybe there is one there in that particular spot - but it may be too late for that. I doubt they keep tapes on any given spot forever and it has already been 5 days. I don't even know if there is a camera there, but I am going to find out tomorrow. Wish I had thought of it sooner.

That's it. Much more but I cannot write anymore today. I am writing too many entries, too long and I am trying to cut back a little to keep myself from burnout. I may not be successful at it and I may end up disappearing for whatever amount of time - I hope not cause' I really like keeping my journal updated for future reference.

Oh, and one of the main reasons I have not stopped posting here altogether and just post at the other place is simple: I have at least a reasonable assurance that this place is going to be around for a while. I have at least reasonable assurance that the entire site is backed up. I am not dissing the other blog's owners and their intentions, but I do not have the same assurances over there. There are other reasons, but - not worth going into.

G'nite.
ben

Blog Posting

There are times when I sort of phase out of blogging and end up taking several days off or even a few weeks of slowed entries. I am in the middle of one of those phases. It's not that I don't have anything to write about - there are ample subjects going on concurrently in my life at this particular moment in time that make for sufficient writing material.

I just start getting burned out on it and then I realize I better slow down for a little while or real burn-out will occur and I won't write ANYTHING for a long, long time. I am not going away, I have just slowed my entries on both blogs. No big deal. I have other things I am focusing my attention on as well.

Probably something to do with it are money worries - 1 tenant leaving in the next few days, the temporary tenant not staying long - he found a house and is discussing with the owners about renting it and bringing his entire family out here versus having 2 residences, one in Texas and one in Arizona. Judging from the vehicle he drives and the toys he brought with - probably 20 grand worth of dirt bikes in a large utility trailer - he is used to living a pretty decent lifestyle. 2 residences would definitely put a severe hamper on anyone's budget unless, of course, your budget is 6 or 7 figures. It was a stop gap letting the guy in - a weeks worth of rent is better than nothing. I have no idea whether he is only staying a week or maybe more?

I do - allegedly - have another guy coming today sometime this afternoon. He called on Sunday - I figured never to hear from him again even though he said he wanted to visit on Wednesday which is today - I just don't put a lot of faith in Craigslist people saying they are going to do things. Mostly, they don't do anything they say they will. Only when they actually, physically move-in after having had handed you however much money, then I believe it. Even a hand-shake and a verbal commitment is meaningless to these people.

Would it not be better to simply say I am going to keep looking around, I'll get back to you when I decide? That's non-committal. You are not committing to the place, you can just leave and I will know that you are not in the least bit interested in the place, continue searching for a renter, please. People that stand there and look you in the eye and say "Yes, I'll take the room, I'm moving in on such and such a day" and then never show up? Definitely get my goat.

It's cooled off considerably here. Allegedly the high today is somewhere in the 60's. I dunno about that, what I do know is I am going to be driving the truck all over the place today - Casa Grande/Coolidge/Florence/Queen Creek. Far east and south valley area. I was also correct last week about the alcohol test - a breathalyzer is NOT a complete drug test and corporate emailed the ops manager who emailed my manager to tell me that I have to go back in, spend another lovely hour with all those sick people in that cramped room, waiting to give a few ounces of my precious urine. Nice. So, technically, this will be my FOURTH drug test of the year. Nice. I continue to hear this story from people that believe that if they know you are clean, they will "use" you more often to get the test.

Dunno about that, but I do know the work day is almost here and I must get to getting to it.

See you around.
ben

Cellphones

I have always wondered, ever since these little devices came out, on the market and people started using them, if there aren't some potential harmful side effects to your brain from having them crammed up against your head for extended periods of time.

Now, I am reading an article about cellphones potentially causing brain tumors. I used to talk on the cellphone quite a lot when I was a Little League board member and was getting calls - dozens and dozens of them per day - about the league. Same was true with when I was the president of the homeowner's assocation. When I got out of those two extremely time-consuming commitments (don't regret my departure from either of them) I also got away from excessive cell-phone use.

This is a topic of interest to me - whether cellphones can harm you in some way - that has been riding around synpses in my brain for quite a long time now. I will be very interested to see what becomes of this research and what might be done about it - if anything. I mean, let's just say this research is black and white truth: the use of cellphones over an extended period of time - over 10 years I think it said - will cause brain tumors. How many people are using cellphones nowadays? Hundreds of millions? Over a billion? Dunno, but that's a LOT of health problems coming to surface if this eventually becomes a reality.

Another thing I have always wondered is the use of these radars to catch speeders. The east valley is littered with permanent versions of them now all over the place. We're being bombarded every day by all kinds of "things" that are invisible, we don't even know it, and yet - I definitely have some ill ease about what those little particles might be doing to our bodies and the functioning thereof. It would be nice if I could move to a log cabin up in the mountains, retire and get away from most of this stuff -but that simply isn't in the cards right now.

Well enough of the speculation. The day is wasting away - it's already 8 am and I have accomplished nothing - so I'm going to get off of this contraption called a computer that allows me to connect with people I have never met that live all over the world and get moving with it.

Have a great day!
ben

Hoover Steam Vac With Clean Surge

I'm going to give this carpent cleaning machine 2 big thumb's up/kudos/my endorsement. Oh, my endorsement isn't worth that much - but still.
THIS machine worked, the first one didn't. The brushes weren't turning and - a carpet cleaning machine is pretty much worthless without spinning/revolving brushes. I have no idea what was wrong with the first one.

Anyway, I did a very high traffic area of carpet where dogs and humans go through frequently. Pass after pass it was extracting dirt from the carpet. I just cleaned this carpet not that long ago, I was a bit amazed at how dirty it had gotten so quickly. As far as I'm concerned, this machine is as good or even better than the Rug Doctor and I will not be renting one of those machines again.

The guys are done with the trenching and I have started laying pipe. Not in a huge hurry, but wanted to get the pipe laid next to the trees because they exposed some roots in the dig - it's all done now, covered up and everything re-watered. I didn't install the emitters, it will be easy to expose the pipe and put a 1/4 pipe into the bigger pipe.

A woman came over a while ago with her kid. She said she was interested but wanted to check the school out that her son would have to go to in taking a bus from my house. I didn't really get from her that she was all that interested, so I have contacted everyone else that has contacted me about the rooms. Again, I don't hold rooms anymore unless a non-refundable deposit is given. There is a couple; a disabled vet and a lady with a small dog in queue - I have replied to all of them with the statement the room is available to be seen today - or this coming week - or whenever.

I never did take that nap I wanted to this morning. Things started happening and that lady called to come over to see the house. I wanted to get the place cleaned up a little and then I got busy burying the line outside plus putting that machine together and checking it out on some carpet. It is nothing like what I thought today was going to be. I only say all of this because I really want to take that nap now that the woman is gone, the machine is together, the workers have left and I don't have anything terribly pressing.

I've GOT to get some renters in here, that's all I know and I know that I don't have til' the second of never to get it done. I've got daily ads going in there is all I can say about it.

C'ya later.
ben

Saturday - Fry's Food Stores Piss Poor Customer Service

Well, sometimes I get to neglecting this blog and it's just the way it goes.
I figured to start labelling my blogs when I write about a company's bad service so people from all over the place can read about it : )

I wrote about this in the other blog, but I didn't title it this way and I want an entry that has it in the title.

So, I was at Fry's yesterday. That's Fry's Food Stores for the consumer. I didn't really buy that much stuff - wandering around the store, looking at all the police officers that were there because of a shoplifter who was tackled to the floor by three guys - BUSTED!!! The guy was already gone, the officers were taking statements from witnesses and from the people that were involved in detaining the dude, who was attempting to non-chalantly walk out of the store with a big bottle of Jim Beam (alcohol, whiskey I believe).

I get to the checkout and my purchases are rung up. One item comes up at $9.99 - when it should have run up at the sale price of $8.49. I noted this to the cashier, who said that was the correct price. Okay, I'll pay for it then, cause' if it IS the wrong price, then I'm going to invoke Fry's policy on scanning errors.

I go back to check the price and sure enough, there's a sale-price tag that gives the sale price below the normal price. I head for the customer service desk. The woman goes back there and looks at the tag, yup, you were right.

Back to the customer service desk, she gives me 50 cents back. ???? Scuse' me ma'am, I want the free item policy of Fry's - the product mis-scans I either get the item for free or I get $5 back/gift card if the price of the item is over $5. No, sir, this time doesn't count for the scanning error. Ohhh? Why not? No good answer, management please. Always, always, always have to get managment. Very rarely does it end up that I don't need management to get involved.

At Fry's, I have found that many of their associates do not know their own store's policies, especially concerning the scanning error policy. I have had associates arguing with me that I am incorrect and they are right - they in saying that there IS no such policy. Of course I am always proven right - I mean - it IS their policy!!

She calls for a manager and then I bring up to her that even without that freebie, you have given me back incorrect change. If the product normally sells for $9.99 and it is on sale for $8.49, that's $1.50 difference, not 50 cents. She as attempting to do the math in her head instead of letting the computer software do it for her - why I have no idea. I will say that it doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out the difference between $9.99 and $8.49. It's a buck fifty. So, she is going to make up the difference by giving me another buck back. Nope, ma'am, wrong again. There is more tax on $9.99 than there is on $8.49, I want the extra tax back, too.

I know, I can be cheap. Just me. If she would have done this through the register, it would have instantly given her the correct amount without all the nonsense in writing numbers down on paper and attempting to do math that she apparently is incapable of doing. She ends up giving me a total of a buck seventy-five, which was too much.

The manager finally shows up after all of this. She tells him about the scanning error and that "the policy only applies to items under $5". The man looks at me and tells me store policy - free if the item is under 5 bucks, a $5 gift card if it's over. Yup, I replied, I know that. He took a step back and then realized she hadn't given me anything. "You mean you didn't get a gift card yet?" No sir, I did not. It was that simple. He just told the woman to give me a $5 gift card and he left, and none too happy from the look on his face. He had to walk all the way from the back from whatever he was doing to deal with this - if this woman had known their store's own policy, management would never had to have been involved with this. He was also limping badly, I imagine this is the reason he was none-too-happy to walk all the way up there for - something very simple, really.

The woman didn't apologize for her snappy tudenoidal with me, but I got my freebies so I didn't care. She was a know-it-all out to prove that I was wrong, the only problem is that in the end, SHE was proven wrong and that's that. This is an endless situation with Fry's and their associates not knowing their own store's policies. I occasionally get an item scanned wrong, and yes when that happens, I do get my freebie and I don't feel bad about it - AT ALL. If they don't want to give that kind of freebie, then don't have the policy! Yet when you go to "invoke" it, they trudge through the process as if you're some kind of bad person because you want something that they are allegedly giving away freely whenever THEY make the error! lol

Probably one problem is that most people probably don't know about that policy and if you don't say something, it's just about GUARANTEED that they won't say anything. So, when some dude like me comes along and I insist on getting it, well, it doesn't always go over too well. In fact, most times it doesn't go over too well. That's the state of customer service to be found in many types of stores nowadays - people who want to give you attitude. People who don't give a damn about the customers. People who know everything and, of course - you the customer don't know ANYTHING.

Changing the subject (so if you came here from a Google search looking for the Fry's input, that is the end of it, the rest of this is just my personal junk - you are welcomed to read it but it has nothing to do with Fry's), I've been thinking about Christmas this year. I'm guessing it's going to be slim pickings. I'm thinking about buying Christmas presents now so that I have them and won't have to worry about it when Christmas actually gets here. My mother only wants a hummingbird feeder - I think she realizes the financial situation going on with lost hours and dealing with tenants coming and going - so that will not set me back too much even if I get a really nice one. Plus, I bought her a very nice present last year in the form of a digital camera and she LOVES that thing!

I figure to find one online here in the next couple of days and order one. I have no idea what Caleb wants - he usually doesn't ask for much. I would offer to pay for insurance for him to learn how to drive - but it's too expensive. I was quoted between $100 and $125 extra PER MONTH for him. I guessed before I called them yesterday that it would be at least $100 per month. That's out of my budget right now and anyway, I'm not exactly excited about him learning how to drive on Phoenix roads at his age. Drivers in these parts are just plain stupid with all the texting and talking on cellphones and reading magazines and all kinds of stuff while they are supposed to be driving their vehicles. I'm not exactly thrilled about the propsect of being in the passenger's seat while he is at the controls of the car.

I'll have to ask him what he has in mind for Christmas. I also want to buy my dad something - nothing fancy just something. Actually, maybe something for him and his wife - have to think about that one for a while. The rest of my family? You know, my 2 older brothers I never see? Lol. Not going to sweat that, get them something if we are all going to come together this year, if not, then I won't bother. My budget for gifts is basically going to be very low and I'm not looking to spend huge amounts of money on anything.

Well, I didn't get enough sleep last night and I'm tired. I'm going to go lay down for a while and laze around for a bit - these guys working out back should be done in an hour or so, they are cranking right along. I put up a Craigslist ad for someone to come over and dig a trench so I can get this drip watering system moving right along, 2 people showed up this morning, a guy and his dad. I simply informed him that the ad says ONE person and then I had to say it to him twice: ONE person is going to get paid for the hourly wage, NOT two. Only if they get it done faster than one person would have - which may or may not happen - will I give them the equivalent of whatever it would have taken for one person to do it.

Have a great day!
ben