Sunday 11/28/2010

There was a 1% chance of rain forecast yesterday for today.
ONE percent.  So what does it do this morning? Yup.  Rains.  A pleasant diversion, actually.

Well, anyway, I get that whole electrical setup done yesterday for find - that whoever wired the AC system wired it with incorrect colored wire and the neutral wire is actually a hot wire.  I was feeding the new panel off of that 100 amp lug.

So, this morning, I decided I was going to find out how possible it is to punch out a new hole at the bottom of the main circuit panel and attempt to feed a line through the hole, down through the wall and yes, through a small hole in the floor to get access to running a  line under the house and over to where the new panel is already set up.  This would provide the neutral line that is imperative for that kind of setup.

I didn't expect it to be easy, and it didn't let me down.  First off, I had to crawl under the house to get to it.  This is no small chore in itself, because there are many low-lying obstacles in the way.  Getting there, I realized I would need a knife to cut away the plastic that covers the entire bottom of the house.  Back out, got the knife and a flashlight, back under.  Prince following me under there each time. HOW that giant dog can squeeze himself under there?  Amazing sight.  Maybe I'll get a video of it and post it on YouTube.

Cut the plastic.  Out again, cordless drill with a wood bit on it.  Back under.  Drill several holes.  Bit not big enough.  Back out.  7/8ths bit.  Drill new hole.  Back out.  Start trying to fish a piece of Romex down through the top hole, the wall and find the bottom hole.

An hour of this.  I finally decide to try and find something rigid and straight to stick down through there.  But what?  No way am I stick the only thing that comes to mind in there:  a stick of rebar.  No, whatever it is, it's not going to be able to conduct electricity.   Small tree that died after I transplanted it last year.  That was the ticket. Cut it out, cut off the branches, perfect.  FIRST try and it goes straight down through the hole at the bottom and out.  WHY didn't the Romex do that?  Because, I was trying to feed it at the wrong angle.  Changed my angle, walaah.  I went back under the house and sure enough, there it was, mixed in with a clump of other wiring being fed to the entire house.  Secured it at the top, put the main panel door back on, done for today.

Why?  That was ENOUGH of that stuff for one day, that's why.  If my explanation of the rigors of trying to just get that part of it done wasn't enough, dunno what else to say.  It is, hopefully the hardest part, though, I will have to drag a line clear under the entire length of that house at a diagonal to get it to the new sub-panel.  Which reminds me, there is no green ground wire, either.  Have to get a 2 strand wire, I guess, might as well do it right.  Either that or just run an entire new line altogether, but that will cost some serious money in wire, that stuff isn't cheap.  Still looking on Craigslist for wire that I might be able to get my hands on.

Male tenant showed up today, after being gone 4 days.  Handed me rent.  Female tenant that was helping a lady with her newborn - gone for the last, what 6 days?  She owes rent - today actually.  The other was off to work early this morning.

I was informed that the Steelers are playing in a little while, I think I'll cruise out the rest of my vacation on a Steelers game followed by whatever movies might be on with a bit of cleaning thrown in.  I am not dreading work tomorrow.   That is no frame of mind to go back to work.  The only thing I ever dread at work is if there is nothing to do - I am a work oriented person, I want to work, I want to keep busy while at work, having nothing to do is not my idea of fun.  People muse about how great it must be to have a job where you just sit around doing nothing.  In my view of it, that is a job from hell, a NIGHTMARE job.  I can't imagine the boredom of inactivity and not using your mind to accomplish anything while you're there 8 hours or however long.

So, I bid you a happy Sunday.  I feel better having taken this time off.  There are 2, 3 day weekends coming up for Christmas and New Year's, so not too long before even more time off.  I probably won't be writing another entry before tomorrow (no guarantees, however), so I bid you a.........

G'day.

ben

Saturday 11/27/2010

Vacation slowly winding down.  Today and tomorrow left and then poof, back to driving trucks all over the place and everything else that is associated with my job description.  I hope it's busy Monday morning as I would rather just jump right back into it and having something to do versus - nothing.

I got up this morning and headed over to Ace Hardware to see if I could score a weedeater with the 50% off coupon.  The coupon is restricted:  Nothing over $30 and nothing that is on sale.  They had one weedeater at $24.99 - small but exactly what I needed.  Everything else was over $30.  I got that one and paid a whopping $13.95 for it.  Put it together, went out there and started hacking down overgrown grass.  THAT little project is going to take a while to finish.

I also went to Home Depot and spent the store credit on the electrical setup I need for outside.  Huge overkill.  A 6 breaker box.  It was the smallest outdoor box they had.  They had plenty of smaller indoor boxes, but not outdoor.   It wasn't that expensive, I just didn't really want one with that big of a box or that many circuit breakers.  I could power EVERYTHING outside with that box, easily.  As it stands, I only bought one circuit breaker for it and the wiring.  I only need it for Christmas lights out front for right now.  I will eventually run line next to the big pond and have it running off of that setup with a 4 outlet setup right there, next to that pond.

I don't need that right now, I am just going to put a 2-outlet setup out front for Christmas lights out there.  I won't have to run miles of extension cords, I can start running lights right off that setup.  I haven't started on that yet, I am still feeling vacationy - like - I don't really want to do to much intensive.  But, I would like to start getting Christmas lights out there.

Speaking of Christmas, I'm looking at this picture of this 19 year old freak of nature that conspired to blow up a van at a Christmas tree lighting ceremony.  I mean, the Feds were all over this and the whole thing wasn't even real to begin with, the bomb was a fake put together by the feds.  The question I have is: how many more of these nutcases are out there, in our country, planning to blow up whatever?  None?  10?  100?  1000?  More?  These people are already HERE is the point.  That's insanity.  We can only ask the Good Lord that all of this stuff is uncovered before an - NFL stadium is blown up full of people or a concert at a concert hall or a huge gathering of people outdoors such as with this Christmas tree plot.

NK is still churning the rhetoric machine.  Don't really want to go into all of that again, just waiting to see what, if anything, happens with this joint military exercises the US is going to do with SK.

As for now, I am going to go outside, get the electrical components and get started on doing whatever it is going to take to get the new electrical panel installed, up and running.

G'day.

ben

Black Friday 11/26/2010

I didn't bother to get up early.  It was cold - in the 30's and I had no expectation that anything on sale would just disappear as they used to when times were good, money was flowing, people were using their homes as ATM machines (second mortgages/refi's) and spending on credit cards was no big deal.  I still couldn't believe the TV images yesterday and even the day before of people camping out in front of stores for these "big" deals.  If they were giving away free 72 inch HDTV TV's, yes, I would pitch a tent.  I have waited in the past an hour and  a half at most.  That's when it first started.  No-one was putting up tents and showing up 24 hours in advance.  I don't see the point of sacrificing that much time in a very uncomfortable setting to get - things.  They put one woman on the news and asked her - she was first in line - what she was going to get.  She didn't even know!!! She just knew she'd find "something" and that was good enough for her.

No, I got up at 6:30 am, took my time, drove leisurely up to Walmart, yes, it's a Supercenter.  I didn't know what I would see in the parking lot for cars.  It was a bit surprising:  there weren't any more cars in that lot than you would expect to see on a busy day at Walmart. Walked in, lots of police and security standing around everywhere. I really only wanted one thing:  the $98, 19 inch HDTV that my mother hinted that she wanted for Christmas.  I really didn't think those would be big sellers - after all, a 32 inch HDTV was selling for - I believe it was $238.

I walked to the back and couldn't find any anywhere.  Bummer.  I saw one of them in a shopping cart behind counter in the electronics department.  It was full of all kinds of stuff, like when people go to check out and decide they don't want or - oftentimes - don't have money to pay for it on their cards as they might have thought they did. I had thoughts maybe  A store manager was standing right there, so I asked him if he knew if there were any of those left anywhere.  He reached behind the counter, picked the thing up, handed it to me and said: "Yes, this one, it's the last one in the store".  I looked it over.  Hadn't been opened and the box wasn't damaged.

Good enough for me, I thanked him profusely and walked off.  For yuck's sake and because I scored what I went there for, I walked around the entire store.  I found a fleece jacket for $7.  Yeah, I grabbed one of the few of those that were left.  But, I didn't really see the great deals that I thought I would see.  There was stuff out in the aisles all hyped up as a great sale - but maybe the stuff had a couple of bucks hacked off the price, it certainly wasn't a 20, 30 or 40% slash.  I was looking for deals on Christmas lights - nothing but regular sale prices.  I"m not complaining, I saw what I figured I would see, really.  A few good deals - especially on the flat screen TV's -  but not much else.  And, everything that was slated for that Black Friday sale - besides the last of the type of TV I got - was still there.

I left there. I have a $57 card for Home Depot - it's a store credit for something I bought, lost the receipt and just said fine, give me the store credit, I know sooner or later I will be able to use it.  So I went there. The store was virtually empty.  They had a few great Black Friday sales, the rest was nothing that even caught my attention.  A washer and dryer set was the biggest steal there, I am not in the market for such and if I were, well, I pretty much always buy used.  I bought nothing.  I walked the entire store and the only thing of interest was an iron for $6.  I just passed it by. I called mom while there, wandering around the store.  I had to tell her what she was getting because yesterday, when I was visiting her, she said she was going to look for a TV - well, I didn't want her getting a TV when - I just got her one.

In all of this, I hadn't had a cup of coffee yet, so I stopped at McDonald's and got a large cup, went home, got online and did some surfing.  Went outside and realized 2 things I need from Home Depot. 1 - a weedeater.  I have grass that I always pull out and it always grows back.  I stopped pulling it out because - it always grows back and it's a pain.  A weedeater would hack it down in a few minutes with much less effort.  2.  The electrical setup I need for outside.  Not enough outdoor electrical outlets.  I haven't gone back today, in fact, I don't think I am going back out at all.  I am going to think about it and make a decision tomorrow - which one is more of a priority.  Probably the electrical outlet, but, I have a coupon from ACE hardware for 50% off any item  in the store that's $30 or under - just one item - valid tomorrow only.

I'm going to go there and see if I can score a weedeater cheap and then I can spend the store credit on the electrical setup.

I have already eaten another complete Thanksgiving meal today.  The trailer tenants also consumed a large portion of it, plus forked over the money for a pay-per-view on Direct TV: The Expendables.  I have wanted to see that movie, it's an all day ticket on every TV in the house.  Watch that later.

I then started doing more landscaping maintenance on the front.  I've definitely sold myself on installing the small pond out front.  I started pulling out that Texas wild grass that Mary planted some time ago.  It looks okay, but not great.  It's appeal is much lessened now that much of the other stuff I have planted out there is slowly starting to mature.  Well, where that plot of grass is is where I want to "plant" the pond.  What am I going to do with the dirt? Good question, I may just half bury the pond and then use the dirt to build up mounds all around the pond and put plants in on the sides of the mounds.

Mark - one of the trailer tenants - said he was going to buy a space heater today.  Alarm bells went off in my head.  Space heaters consume a lot of electricity and I did not withhold that information from him - immediately.  If they want to heat the thing, they are going to pay for it.  Look, I don't run the heat in my house at night, either.  I am not expecting them to do anything that I don't already do.  I do admit that on some morning, I'll turn the heater on for 10 or 15 minutes, but that's it.  It got down in the 30's last night and no, the heater wasn't on.

Oh, I took Coco with us to Grandma's yesterday.  Well, Caleb's grandma anyway.  Coco is the Dane/Catahoula mix.  She was okay for a while, but after about 3 hours, she started getting nervous.  Did she need to go outside?  Let her out, she stood at the window and stared at me.  Was she hungry?  Fed her, and then started this nervousness again.  I got up to go to the bathroom, she followed my footsteps.  I wondered if it was a flash from the past.  She was handed off to 4 different families before I got her.  She had separation anxiety when I first got her that you wouldn't believe.  It wasn't til' we got in the car that she calmed right down.

I kinda wonder about the materialistic society that we are becoming.  Thanksgiving is becoming just another day off.  God is becoming something that we don't really need.  If we don't have the most current electronic gadget, we are behind the times.  Yes, I did just put together a new computer - but that's after using the old one for some 10 years.  This computer?  I won't be replacing it for a long, long time.  I will undoubtedly upgrade it over time, though right now, the only upgrade it needs is Windows 7.  I'm kinda hoping Cyber Monday might have a deal on it on one of the software sights like Newegg or Tiger Direct.  I just look at this Black Friday hype and mania and see it as a sign of what we are becoming.  Yet, many of us are broke.  It was no wonder to me, at all, that Walmart had far fewer shoppers than in previous years. I wondered how people were paying for the carts stuffed full of stuff - mostly electronics - with credit cards?

Not trying to judge people.  Just wondering.  I also saw North Korea shooting off more bombs/artillery.  They're talking the brink of war.  Are they going to shoot at the aircraft carrier USS George Washington ?  I mean, they know there are US troops in South Korea, are they also going to wage a war with the US? Is this just more talk and rhetoric, or are they serious?  I'm guessing the rhetoric, but who knows.

My vacation - the rest of today, Saturday and Sunday.  Next month, I'll have a 3 day weekend for Christmas and a week later a 3 day weekend for New Year's.  I wrote dad and told him I was hoping we could find a couple of days that Caleb could get off of work to come down with me.  If not, I may just go down there by myself.

As for the rest of today.  Well, it's a bit cool outside, but really, it's wonderful.  I'm going to go back out and do some more foliage maintenance.  My next door neighbors kitty keeps coming over when I'm out there visiting.  I find the thing strangely endearing.  I have been a cat hater since after my childhood - my parents had cats and guess who had to clean up after them and also take care of the litters every 6 months?  Yeah, I got tired of it and that's the reason I really don't much care for them.  But someone else's cat?  I'm finding that that's fine by me.  Kinda strange the kitty just comes right up to me and puts around, smelling, looking and doing whatever cats do.

 I am going to get a box at work, put the turtles in it and shut down that pond for the winter.  The turtles will get stored in the shed, just following the expert's advice.  When it's time to take them out?  I'm not sure.  I can't put them in any pond that I want plants in - which is all of them - because they just cut them down. They would have to have their own setup.

That's it for today.  I'm content and at peace.  I signed up on Plenty of Fish yesterday, someone said I should try it out, well, why not.  It's a dating thing, meet the ladies.  One person showed interest - a 48 year old that has kids, lives in Gilbert, states that she is successful, a businesswoman, owns her own house, all kinds of stuff.  Interesting.  I put it all out there, who I am, what I do, etc etc.  Well, I don't know about that, just have to think about it and wonder if I met her, would there be a connection?

I'm headed outside.

Later.

ben

Thanksgiving Sales Frenzy

I'm not sorry to say that I will never support stores in going out on Thanksgiving Day to buy - stuff.  Just like the deal with grocery stores now being open until 6:00 pm.  Are there not enough days leading up to Thanksgiving to be able to buy whatever you need in advance?  Christmas is what, 30 something days off, and we need to degrade the spirit of THIS day for the commercialization of a future holiday?

No.  I don't care how good the deals are, I wasn't going and I won't be going.  Stores should shut down, just like they "used" to on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.  Even if you don't celebrate the day as it once was, doesn't it seem even necessary that there are a couple of days per year where most everyone can expect not to work and get together with others?  I know, I wrote about this a couple of days ago, but the desperation from retailers is crossing the line in a big way, at least with me.  I'm not saying I won't ever go to their stores - I'm saying I won't go to their stores today.

I had thoughts of getting up early and going to Black Friday sales, but I don't think so. I mean, I will get up early - my normal time - and head out to see if there's anything left, but to get up at midnight for a 5:00 am sale is a bit ridiculous.  Those people sitting out there?  Phoenix is under a freeze warning tonight. Well, parts of it is, anyway.  The point is that it is going to be cold out there and there are people at Walmarts and all kinds of other stores, sitting in chairs, waiting for these stores to open up.  Kohl's opening at 3:00 am.

I don't see any deals that are worth me freezing my @$$ off in the night cold in 30 degree weather to get a deal.  Not sorry, don't care.  The only thing I am really after is a gift for my mother, not anything for myself.

Whatever the case, Thanksgiving at mother's was very pleasant, sans my brothers - they weren't there in other  words (I have encountered TOO many people that have no idea what sans means) - Caleb, one of the dogs and I headed out and got  there around 2:45 pm.  Caleb had to work but came straight here and we headed out to grandma's.  Great food.  It was a good visit and I was glad to have gone.

Got home - a PILE of food out on the counters.  The trailer tenants cooked all that food, ate to their heart's content, I couldn't believe how much food is left over.  I repeated 6 times anyway: HELP ME EAT THIS STUFF!! Don't ask, just come in, help yourself, come in later, help yourself some more.  I was amazed at that amount of food left over.  I would have run an ad if I would have known this, and frankly, I might anyway.

My big refrigerator is loaded with the stuff.  Well, we'll be eating well for days.

As for the temps tonight, a hard freeze forecast.  Just a general Phoenix forecast for it.  I haven't even gotten out my blankets and sheets that I have in the shed for these occasions yet.  Well, I found a local forecast that specified which cities were in that hard freeze forecast - it is all outlying cities, not for Phoenix.  I hope it's right, cause I don't have protection on plants that would need it.

I also threw in an extra heater in to each pond.  The fish were all hovering around the 1 heating in the large pond, now they have 2 heaters to hover around.  Leave the extras in there until around tomorrow afternoon.  I do wonder about the trailer tenants.   There is no heat in there, I know they have plenty of blankets. I have camped out in the wilderness in zero degree temperatures, but that doesn't mean that it's actually fun or anything. It's more like a challenge, can I survive this without freezing to death?  Of course you can with the proper gear.

Of course,  don't turn the heat on in here, either.  But, this house is well insulated and when I walked in here tonight, it was quite warm in here.  In fact, overly warm from the cooking that was being done.

Well, whatever the case, it was a good day.  I am having a nice vacation.  3 days left before going back to work on Monday.  Our company is actually opened tomorrow - but it is usually dead.  Our contractors always shut down for Thanksgiving through Monday.  The stores are only opened until noon - I am not working, no biggies to me, just seems almost a waste to even open the place up.  Our company is all about numbers, though, there must be the numbers there to substantiate opening up.

So, my bed time really.  But there is a movie on I have never seen, one of those feel-good movies: The Town Christmas Forgot.  I'm going to stay up until 10:00 to finish watching it and then go to bed.  That's LATE for me!  I'll get up around 5:00 am, head over to Walmart and see if the 19 inch TV for $98 is available.  If not, well, not the end of the world, definitely.

Well, hope everyone had a great day.

G'nite.

ben

Happy Thanksgiving 11/25/2010

Just want to wish a happy Thanksgiving to everyone, especially regular readers from all over the net (and world) - even if your country doesn't celebrate this particular holiday.  I am going to my mother's house this afternoon with Caleb to visit and partake and then coming home to another feast afterwards.

I am thankful, more than anything, for the love of the Lord in my life.  I am thankful, also, to have a roof over my head; food to eat; a job to go to to bring home the bacon; a car to drive to get to work;  I'm thankful for what family I have left and friends.

I hope you all have a great day, it's good to be alive.

ben

Wednesday 11/24/2010

I missed writing an entry yesterday.
Actually, I had one going, I just didn't finish it and it's in a draft form.
You might be surprised at how many entries I have in draft form, lol.

What to say?
Politics.
North Korea.  If a military attack from one country against another is not considered an act of war, what is?  Unbelievable.  Let's just give out useless "condemnations" from the White House forever.  Oh, and BTW, why was it such a great shock to find out they have much more nuclear capability than what was previously thought?  If we don't do anything, they will just continue to grow their nuclear ability until - yes, until they can send nukes wherever, just like we can, just like Russia can.

Sanctions aren't working and they are NEVER going to work, that's all I can say.

Vacation.  What's to say?  I'm enjoying the time off.  The temps outside are unbelievably wondeful.  I spent  a good part of the afternoon working out front, trimming ground growing vines and still attempting to come up with a plan for the dirt - I really want to put a pond out there.  It's just a bit over half way through my days off.

Thanksgiving Day - tomorrow.  My son isn't getting off work until 2:00 pm.  We are usually eating Thanksgiving meal by then.  However, my son and I are the ONLY ones showing up at her house, so, it makes it a bit easier to decide to wait until Caleb is off of work and take off to grandma's house.  I would let Caleb drive - but he has never driven on the freeway, number one and number two, rest assured we will get there FAR faster than what he will get us there : )  Maybe he can drive the way home.  The freeways should be virtually empty and it will be a great time for him to get used to trying higher speeds without all the dangers of driving on Phoenix freeways.

Trailer Tenants.  They continued to insist that Thanksgiving dinner wait until we get home.  I told them that I won't be home until 7 or 8:00 pm.  Cook the dinner, eat it, enjoy it!!   They got the hint and will be in here cooking tomorrow.  I think they still feel that they are an imposition to me, I have attempted from 7 ways to Sunday to tell them they are more than welcomed here and I don't consider them some sort of blockage to life.   I can do no more than that.

Pickup truck inhabitants.  There is a pickup truck parked beside a house on a sort of parking area on the property belonging to the house.  It's been there a long time.  I have half-noticed that there are always people around that pickup.  It wasn't long ago that I became suspicious that possibly there are people living IN that pickup.  There is definitely a couple living in there.  I half know one of them.  No, I am not going to give them a place to live, there isn't any room left here for more people.  But, we can take a Thanksgiving dinner to them.  This, I feel, mandatory.  What kind of people are they?  Does it really matter?  They are part of God's creation, that's all I need to know in this particular circumstance.  Okay, there are things that would limit my desire to help, I don't think those people fall under any of those guidelines.

Black Friday.  Walmart is advertising a flat screen HDTV - 19 inch - for less than $100.  I don't want a 19 inch TV, my mother does for Christmas.  I'm not convinced, however, that I want to show up at - what time do you need to show up at nowadays? - to be sufficiently in front of the line to be able to score one at 5:00 am.  Or will they disappear that fast?  Who knows.  I have resolved that if I do anything, it's going to by the Cyber version of Black Friday - isn't that on Thanksgiving?  I dunno.

More? Sure, but I'm tired, it's late (for me) and I'm going to bed soon.

G'nite.

ben

Monday 11/22/2010

What happened to the day?
I'm asking myself that question as bedtime rolls around and I didn't even get an entry in.
I did much of nothing, again.
I mean, a load of laundry, a bit of cleaning, feed this and that, but nothing major.

However, I did get it into my head that the smallest pond should be installed out front of my house and remove several plants to do so.

I have not, however, figured out what, exactly, I am going to do with the dirt.  Which sort of nixes that project before it started.  I have no idea what to do with the dirt. I don't have a pickup truck to haul it off, I have no open areas where I could put a mound of dirt and say, gee, that looks good.

Dunno.  I ain't giving up on it, I just haven't figured this out yet.

Besides that? Tomorrow's high temp? Forecast at 65 degrees.

Lol.

I was sitting out there at the ponds today and the breeze made it feel a bit brisk.  That, sitting in direct sunlight.
Now THAT'S a change!

G'day.

ben

Sunday 11/21/2010

Look, I've been reading the news.  I'm taking my leisurely ole' time doing whatever I please - I'm on vacation and that's that.
I find it highly - and I do mean HIGHLY - amusing that Obama, Clinton and all of the rest of the rhetoric pukers are now suddenly talking bi-partisan-ship and attempting to make the GOP look bad because of Kyle's resistance to voting on a treat during a lame-duck session.

Where was the bi-partisan ship during the health care debates?  Behind closed doors, dems-only invites.  CNN coverage, as promised by Obama?  Never happened.  GOP had it's own version of a bill, Dems wouldn't even look at it.  In fact, just about everything Obama has "accomplished" has simply a Democratic agenda that has been easily rammed through because of majorities in both houses and a Democratic president.

Well welcome to reality.  The Americans that voted out the incumbents are not going to fall for this BS.  Kyle has his reasons, that he has outlined publicly, for wanting to wait until the freshman newcomers are sworn-in/actually in office.

Not going too far into that, it doesn't upset me, no, it just makes all of them look pathetic.  Crying and whining about "partisan politics", they are the grand masters of that s*** and they can now eat it JUST the same that they smiled with a **** eating grin shoving their bile down everyone else's throats.

I have no love for either party, but the Dems seem  to want to be able to play this game from both ends of the table, whichever side they happen to be on, they work it to the Nth degree.  My middle brother is EXACTLY this type of person, there are always excuses for everything and it must always be someone else's fault if something goes wrong, ALWAYS.

Onto other things.  It rained today. Didn't expect that but haven't checked the forecasts for over a week now.  Skies were very dark, but the rain only lasted a few minutes.  I wished it would have rained all day long.

Caleb has to work Thanksgiving Day.  He was shocked when he was asked about whether he was working or not - people actually have to work on Thanksgiving Day?  Yes, though not all that long ago, grocery chains shut down altogether on Thanksgiving.  I think it a mistake to have stores opened on a day when everyone should be able to take a day off and spend it with whomever they choose.  I understand emergency service personnel having to work, but a grocery chain?  Supposedly Walmart and Sears are now opting to be open on Thanksgiving Day as well.

I'm not amused.  As far as food for the big feast goes, there are ALL of these days before Thanksgiving - make your list, go to the store, buy it, get it over with.  Which reminds me, I was going to take the turkey out of the freezer this morning and put it into the refrigerator.  Umm, I think I'll give it a kick start and leave it out until bedtime.  Maybe take it out of the refrigerator again tomorrow for another 6 hours or so. It takes many days for a turkey to thaw in my refrigerator.

The entire day has passed since I started writing this.  I'm watching one of the Lord of the Rings movies, thinking about what I am going to do tomorrow (as change from: what is going on at work tomorrow); and thinking about going to bed soon.  I know, vacation you should stay up late.  When you get used to going to bed early and have done it for years and years, it's just what you do, only on a few occasions do you push it later.

Anyway, have a great evening/night/sleep.

ben

Saturday 11/20/2010

First day of vacation has begun.
I cleaned both pond filters today - a major chore and the most time consuming task of dealing with ponds, at least these ponds - and also checked in on the turtles.  They are not coming out of the water and I assume they are hibernating.  It isn't cold enough to put them in the box like the experts told me I should - it's still getting up into the high 70's during the daytime.

I have done nothing else besides cranking around the internet and - nothing.  I didn't turn the TV on until 5:00 pm.  I am on vacation, I probably should DO something, ie: go OUT and do something, but, I just didn't feel like it today.  Tenants told me I should go to the casino, considering my history.  Yes, but, it just wasn't there for me today, the feeling hasn't been there since the last time I went.  Of course,the last time I went, I came home with - $300 I  think it was - more than I went in there with.  Not a huge haul, but not bad for one nights' worth of entertainment.

Wow.  Lots of distractions.  Not a long entry, but I'm done with this one.

G'nite.

ben

Friday

Friday

Well this work day won't get over with fast enough.
I am feeling better, but not enough to say I really wanted to get out of bed this morning and rush right on down to work. 

Whatever plans I may have had for this weekend are shot down unless I come back to life here. Of course, I am also starting an 8 day off vacation, so, I have plenty of recovery time available : )

I sent my mom a bouquet of flowers - an "Autumn" bunch, which were supposed to arrive 2 days ago. Yesterday morning, I called her and she said she hadn't received anything.

I called the florist - they had sent me an email saying that "your flowers have been delivered" - all bright and airy. The guy put me on hold and said he would call them to find out what happened.

Well, it turns out, my mom wasn't home so they left them at the house next door (note that I specifically put on the instructions, of which they give the option, to leave at the doorstep). I didn't give them a hard time, though, I just said thanks and called mom back: your package is at the next door neighobrs. I didn't tell her what they were, sort of a Thanksgiving type of arrangement that looked pretty sweet on the page.

The next morning, the man of the house that lives over there brought the flowers over to her. Mom was exuberant, to say the least. Orange roses. Never heard of them, I didn't see orange roses in that arrangment, which also has all kinds of other flowers in it. Do they have orange roses now? I guess so! 

I didn't know my mother loves to receive packages so much. She kept going on about how much she loves that kind of thing. Have to remember that for Christmas, lol.

Umm, so work day is almost here. Some running around to do in pickups and one delivery. Gonna try to make it the entire day's worth, but no guarantees.

G'day.

ben

Feeling QUITE Under The Weather

...........and considering the weather is absolutely beautiful, it makes it that much worse.

I left work after I finished whatever there was to be done at 10:30 am.  I have PLENTY of sick hours, so no biggies there.  I felt like throwing up all morning long, then my head started feeling woozy and now?  I just got up from an almost 2-hour nap.  Do I feel any better?

NO, is the definitive statement on that situation.  Worse, my sister-in-law is coming over to give me 2 Koi in about half an hour.  She is desperate to get rid of them, so I am not going to say no, but I am also not going to be very much into a lengthy social interaction, either.  She wants some goldfish in exchange - I offered - but at this point, I have absolutely NO desire to try and catch fish.

Oh well.  I found out today that several people at our main branch have also come down sick - they didn't show up for work. I am going to show up to work tomorrow morning unless I feel REALLY bad because, it's the last day before my 8 days off.  I can usually force myself through a work day when sick, but I also don't want to spread it around to anyone.

In the latest news - like just now - the female tenant that lost her last waitering job - just lost the new job, too.
She took a nap and overslept.  I dunno about any of that, but if she stays current on rent, which she has without any full-time job, instead,working for  a company doing house-cleaning, it doesn't bother me.  I mean, doesn't it stand to reason that if you are due to show up at work at a certain time, you are going to do whatever it takes to GET there on time?  Like, set an alarm clock?

My sister-in-law finally arrived.  I am not feeling well, at all.  I had no desire to deal with it, I love the fish setup out there, but most things take a back seat when I am sick.  Just focus on getting better and then I'll get back to the things that I like to do.  Her 2 Koi are about 5 inches long, very colorful, nice looking fish.  I put them in the water and they were swimming around in there like they were in heaven.   I offered her some goldfish, she would only take one of them.  I offered her a plecostomus - I have too many - she took one.  All of them are VERY large - I thought maybe a bit too large for her tank.  I asked her to let me know if it was showing signs of stress in there as I would take it back if so.

We got into a conversation anyway- I don't like being rude even if I feel like s*** - I heard a story that I had never heard about her.  Her ex-husband had shot her 5 times at close range with a .45 caliber handgun in 1998.  A long story, but my gosh.  How do you live at close range with holes the size of baseballs in you?  She was in a coma for a month and a half and said it cost her company - Boeing - 3 million dollars in the end to deal with all the expenses she incurred.

Nice company that will eat that kind of expense.  My company doesn't have a limit, either.  Most companies have a million dollar limit and it's over.

Anyway, that's over.  I can't remember the last time I have felt this bad, hope it doesn't last too long.

ben

Thursday 11/18/2010

Thursday

Ate some shrimp yesterday afternoon. Last night, it must have come back alive, cause'
it woke me up. It was deciding whether to go through my system or back out the way it came in.
Yeah, well, about an hour of that and it finally settled back down and I slept the rest of the night.
No need to go into too much detail about what happened this morning as I walked out the door to leave for work and ........ended up running back into the house.

So, my sister-in-law is contacting me on Facebook yesterday having some kind of emergency. What's up? She has an aquarium. She has 2 Koi in it. She says the Koi food is clogging up her filtration system and the water is turning yucky, she wants to get rid of the Koi.

I'll take hers and anyone else's Koi that want to get rid of them for free!
She wanted to bring them over last night. No thanks. I want to be able to see what I'm doing out there, night time is NOT a good time to introduce fish into a TOTALLY different kind of environment. An aquarium and a pond are 2 totally different things and it takes fish a while to make the transition comfortably. 

Which reminds me, get some stress reducer on the way home from work, it helps fish eash into a new environment.

Sarah Pallin. I have figured from the beginning that her departing as governor and going on campaign trails all over the place was eventually going to lead to what it looks like may just happen: a run for the presidency. The talk is growing stronger and stronger and now there is an article out. Of course, the loud mouths are already debunking her and saying there is no way she could ever get voted into the Oval Office. I would like to suggest that those people simply have the platform with the press and use it - frequently - to express their opinion, and frankly, that's all ANY of us have when it comes to politics: an opinion. 

Would I vote for her? Well, if she was the only other thing going up against Obama, yes, definitely. The political landscape is going to change dramatically, however, over the next, what 12 months or so? Give it time, see who comes up to the forefront, see who is the best qualified candidate. 

2 more work days, including today, until the start of vacation. I'm going to be sleeping in, I can say that much with confidence. Every day, sleep in at least an hour if not more. 

Whatever the case, I am done with writing - my system is acting pretty messed up right now and I'm not really feeling all that great. I dunno what was wrong with that shrimp, I don't normally have this kind of reaction from that particular food, but, definitey, my system said no to it and is kicking it out.

G'day.

ben

Wednesday 11/17/2010

Wednesday

2-1/2 days until 8 days off.
Yup, I'm counting the days now. I have this half-plucked idea I might spend a day or two before Thanksgiving going down to see dad - but - not sure about that. I think I can take a couple days off during the week between Christmas and New Year's even though I am also taking this much time off at Thanksgiving. 

A nuclear free world? Obama and his attempt to get a new treaty ratification going with Russia and the apparent fact that it's going to be shot down for now. There is never going to be a world without nukes. It would be extremely stupid for the U.S. to agree to, eventually, disarm and dismantle all of them. We would be sitting ducks, available for roasting at any time. Nukes aren't meant to be used, really, just deterrents for other nations not to use THEIR'S against us. 

I started toying with the idea of short-saling the house. 10, 15 years until the mortgage is equal to what the house is worth? Lol, I mean, that IS laughable. That's pretty much the projections I have been hearing for some time now. I dunno what to do. It's kinda tough to try and figure out what's next. So many people are just walking. Goodbye, c'ya later. 

My next move, though, is to try another loan mod. If they won't reduce principle amount, maybe I can get the interest rate reduced another percentage point. That would bring the payment down another $200 (at least) per month. It's funny that a bank will allow you to short-sale a house - meaning they are going to accept an offer for the house FAR below what your current mortgage is on it, but - they refuse to reduce the principle amount on the mortgage making it more affordable and possible for the current individual or family to stay in it. 

Whatever the case, I am seeking some way to get the total payment - taxes and insurance included - down below 1k per month. Another percentage point would bring it down to the $800 per month range. So, yes, I am going to write yet another letter of hardship, send it in and see what happens. It's worth a try and I would rather stay in that house than leave it. Rental housing, I am seeing in the Phoenix area, is getting much harder to find and the rates are going up. 

Anyway, my pre-work time is about gone.

G'day.

ben

First Dead Fish

Lovely title, aye?
Well, that's what I found when I came home from work today.
I saw that fish and first thought that a Heron might have found my ponds and here we go, what now?
But then, I started thinking about it.  This is the pond that is above ground.  From what I have read, Heron need to be able to step into a pond.  I don't think that includes up and over almost 2 feet in heigth.

The dead fish was about 3-1/2 feet from the pond.  What Heron is going to drop a fish, as what I've read can happen, only 3 feet from a pond and not stop to pick it back up?  From what I've read, it's much further away, they're taking off, drop it, for whatever reason don't come back for it.  But 3 feet?

I surmise the thing accidentally jumped out of the pond.  It happens.  I have seen some of those fish jumping out of the water on more than one occasion.  They have, however, always landed back IN the water, not outside of the pond itself.  It undoubtedly flopped around until it could flop no more and that was the end of it.  The fish was, obviously, long dead.

Nothing I could do about that - but - I was thankful it was a goldfish and not one of my Koi.  I have too many goldfish to begin with, I am still trying to give some of them away.  That's how unpopular goldfish are in ponds and how popular Koi are - people don't even want to come get them for free.  No, I am not crying, there is no grief such as whenever I lose a dog, it's just a fish.  Koi, I wouldn't be that way, either, but I would look at the money lost and the time spent scouring Craiglist ads to get them.

Well, anyway, I HOPE it wasn't a Heron, they are plenteous in the Phoenix area but - there aren't any ponds around here that I know of.  I can say that because yes, I have looked at Google earth and other such venues for such in my area.  Plenty of pools, no ponds.  Heron aren't going to "naturally" be in this area looking for more victims.  A pond shows up on a satellite view pretty much as easily as a pool does, not quite as much cause pools are much brighter in the exposure.

Changing the subject and just throwing this out there:  We all remember 911.  Terrorists using jumbo jets as giant bombs.  This is the irony of the TSA forcing pilots to be subjected to these scanning and/or groping searches at the airports.  What would they need with a weapon if they were so inclined?  They have one of the largest flying weapons you can find: a jumbo jet, filled with fuel, a literal flying gas bomb at their disposal.  It makes no sense.  But, I am totally against both of these types of searches anyway.  One is irradiating you and also allowing naked views, the other has a complete, perfect stranger feeling out your penis, testicles, butt, vagina, boobs, it's insanity.  The protests aren't going to go away.

The argument that it's low level radiation doesn't wash with me.  I don't care what level of radiation it is, I don't want ANY part of it.

The "final" tenant handed over rent today.  All accounts are now even.  For the first time in a long time.  I have a water bill left to pay this month and that is it for recurring monthly bills excepting the mortgage - which - I get paid on Friday.  That paycheck is gone already, lol.  Electric use is way down; water use is down; food expenditures an eighth of what it used to be, if even that.  I hear people getting into a heated argument outside, I think I'll mosy out there and see what's going on - next door neighbors that is.

G'day.

ben

Tuesday 11/16/2010

Tuesday

So, the foreclosure fiasco with banks speeding through documentation and not following their own procedures closely when foreclosing on a home - could cause even further, massive financial chaos or - it could cause nothing.

What else is new. Supposedly, somewhere around mid-next-year, more ARM's are going to "adjust" and that will send yet another wave of foreclosures and financial shock through the system. I have only heard about that one, though, I haven't read it anywhere - yet.

The real news, for me anyway, is this situation going on with TSA, the full body scanners at airports and the fact that more and more people are rejecting the idea of walking through what amounts to be an x-ray machine, exposing themselves to radiation for the sake of security.

I was watching a lot of video and reading a lot of material about this situation yesterday. There was one incident where a man in San Diego refused to go through the machine, otherwise known as "opt-out". When they took him to "grope" him, he said something like: "If you touch my junk I'm going to have you arrested".

It is UNBELIEVABLE that the TSA thinks it has the right to literally touch your genitals. I wouldn't want to subject myself to EITHER. Apparently, this stuff is all random, it doesn't happen to every passenger, many just go through without anything being done to them.

How would you like to take your teenaged son or daughter through one of those and stand there, watching some freak groping him or her all over? Or a little boy or girl?

I think this issue is eventually going to come to a head. It's obvious that more people are very much against either of these methods than are for it. The National Opt-Out day will stand to be interesting if enough people participate in it. I love to fly, but I am glad I am not flying anywhere, anytime soon, because I would probably be led out of that place in handcuffs. There is NO WAY I am going to let some pervert/freak grope my penis, balls and butt in the name of "security". Okay, they may not be perverts, "just doing their job", it's a job I would not want, at all.

In the case of the man in San Diego, you can actually hear one of the TSA agents state: "You give up a lot of rights when you buy an airplane ticket". Oh REALLY? I don't remember reading that in the constitution, can anyone identify exactly where that is found?

Changing the subject, I got a reply back from the ops manager yesterday. He stated in email that he thinks that foreman was just having an off day and that he, the ops manager, is going to give me some hats to give to him. I am hoping to talk him into some shirts, as well. That ALWAYS makes foremen happy - they love that stuff for whatever reason.

November 16, 2010 6:05 AM 

Anonymous said...

My ponds? It hasn't been a very cold winter yet, so everything is okay, for now. The lowest low has been in the upper 40's. The Phoenix area, however, can get down into the high 20's if Momma Nature feels like blasting us with it. Then, I will probably have to put a couple more heaters in the ponds and I will have to cover most of my plants as well. The fish are looking healthy. This is new territory for me: fish and winter.

The expert's consensus is if you have a deep enough pond, you don't have to worry about it. Minimum 3 feet deep. My ponds aren't anything near that depth, hence, the heaters.

Ummm, rent. Paid yesterday by the new guy. He thought he had paid up entirely, I said no, he still owes me $15, he said let me check. He checked and said he owes me another $10 and handed it to me. I bit my lip, no point in arguing over $5. It was one week that he skipped and has been paying up on ever since. I said good, we're good, and let it go.

The other tenant that was behind now is only $10 behind. Plus, she just found a new job at a major restaurant chain. The problem? That place is like 20 miles away from my house. I dunno what her future at my house is - she moved in because the job before that was only 2 miles away.

I don't ask tenants, usually, if they are thinking about moving out, I just wait until the news comes. For now, it's good to have 3, full-paying tenants. Especially considering all the car trouble I have had. Christmas is coming, Thanksgiving as well. Though, I have already bought the expensive stuff for Thanksgiving, I'm pretty much good to go there. I don't really have that much to buy for Christmas anyway. My son? I'm pretty much letting him know that the money I spent on that car covers Christmas, his next birthday and probably a few more beyond that! No, not really, I'll get him something, it just isn't going to be anything grand. The old car is running quite well, so far.

3-1/2 days until the beginning of my 8 days of no work : )

I'm trying to decide if there's something I might actually DO during that time besides staying home and doing projects. It feels like it's time to get out and meet new people. I have been looking at several clubs - singles come together to do some activity. Whether you hit it up with someone or not - well - that's up to you, I guess.

With that, I bid you a good day.

ben

Monday 11/15/2010 Trip To Sells, Arizona

A very interesting drive on a road that I don't ever remember travelling before today.
The cruise down I-10 to I-8 to Trekell road - same thing I've done too many times in  the past.  I know this drive well.
But, after that, I hadn't seen any of it before.
Heading south, passing 2 separate locations with Sheriffs pulling over vehicles, the road ended on the "American" side and started on the "Native American" side.  Indian 15.  That's what the 2 lane, 55 mph highway is called. It is a sign with an icon of a Tomahawk.  15 in the center of the tomahawk and Indian on top of it.

It was an amazing drive.  On several fronts.  First, I had never been on the road before, or if I had, possibly on one of the endless road trips my parents used to take, I certainly didn't remember it.  Second, the vastness of the desert.  You could see - if mountains weren't in the way - for miles and miles, just endless desert.  Third, the crosses.  This road had very little traffic on it. I am seriously saying that I saw more Border Patrol vehicles on that road than ALL other vehicles combined.  I did not encounter another tractor-trailer rig on that road either, which was quite amazing to me.

Let's visit the crosses.  This is what they do nowadays: someone dies, they put up a cross.  I came across one cross - very well kept.  Fresh paint, fresh flowers.  I came across another, another.  Then I came to one where about 12 of them were grouped together.  That was amazing.  Did that many people die in one accident, out here, in the middle of nowhere?  And if so, what happened?  I came across several crosses that had elaborate structures built over them.  NONE of them were unkempt.  The individuals that put each, respective cross or set of crosses out there were taking care of the "upkeep" of them.

The highway itself was - yes - out in the middle of nothing.  There would be a house here, a grouping of houses there, there was no rhyme or reason to it.  Why did someone choose to put a house THERE?, I asked myself several times over.  I attempted to recreate thought processes that would go into a person's mind in determining why, exactly, a person would set a house plump out 20 miles from the nearest village.  I had no answers to the question and the wildest of thoughts didn't come up with anything concrete, etiher.  But, it was fun to muse.

I also came across a rock quarry.  It was about 200 feet off to the side of the highway.  I was scrutinizing this quarry from the point that I could clearly see it until I passed it.  Machinery there, yes, but no machinery to move it from the ground to a truck.  That's how quarry's work, they have all kinds of huge equipment to process it, but to get it from the ground, where the machinery eventually dumps it via conveyor belt, to the bottom of a dump truck or a belly-dump trailer, a (front-end) Loader scoops it up and dumps it in there.  No loader out there. Not any equipment with a bucket there.  Yet, I wondered, in this almost primordial type of setup I had been seeing for a while now, was it that they just hauled a loader in there when they needed it?  I couldn't answer that question, either, there was no-one out there.

Yet, another 10 miles down the road, I saw a loader on top of a huge pile of sand.  This was also out in the middle of nowhere, literally.  When I got past it, I was travelling over a small bridge that gapped a wash.  There, up in the wash, was a HUGE hold where that loader had been digging out the sand and making a pile on the side, out of the wash.  Question answered there, at least for me.

On I went.  I couldn't help the feelings I used to have when I: was doing OTR trucking.  I used to go off the Interstates as much as possible and take the 2-lane highways because of the tremendous views that America has to offer - all over.  I started remembering winding, 2 lane highways going through rolling hills and seeing farms, pigs, cows, giant red barns.  Fall leaves on trees - those memories stand out predominately.  Next to streams or rivers.  I was flooded with memories of the past in trucking and when I used to love OTR - just because I was seeing America and saw more of it than most people will ever see.  I haven't just BEEN in 48 states, I have seen a LOT of many of those states, and not just from the Interstates.

I remember hating Interstate Highways. After driving and driving, it all eventually looked the same to me.  The only thing that made my heart leap was the highways that I could take.

On with today's trip.  A coyote leisurely trots across the highway.  When I get up to where he trotted, I couldn't see him even though there wasn't much brush there.  His colorings blended in perfectly with the desert floor.  I eventually came to a "town".  The road actually didn't go through it, you could see it off to the left.  I passed dozens and dozens of small, dirt roads that led seemingly to nowhere.  My mind wandered to what it would be like to turn down one of those roads and explore.

This road was something I won't forget anytime soon.  I couldn't believe the lack of traffic.  After being on that road some 40 miles, I came upon a Border Patrol checkpoint.  They have them all over southern Arizona.  You are involuntarily stopped and asked if you are an American citizen.  I have very strong views about that subject, but today was not a day I wanted to go into that.  I slowed down - to about 15 mph.  Cruised through it.  Agents were sitting under a canopy on lawn chairs.  Didn't try to stop me and I didn't bother to ask.

The road eventually ended.  At highway 86.  I got on that highway.  Much narrower than Indian 15, yet it had a speed limit of 65 mph.  I was on that road for a 1/4 mile before passing an "outpost" they like to call them, just a convenience store, albeit out in the middle of, literally, nowhere.  There was a line of trucks I caught up with, I was cruising.  Let's get there and get this truck unloaded  - this highway was nothing like Indian 15.  The trucks were speeding up, slowing down, I hate that kind of driving.  Pick a speed and keep it.

I eventually got to Sells, AZ.  I was informed to turn onto the road just before a Shell station.  That road led to a building that houses - federal police, apparently.  It's border agents.  Not going to go into too much of the unload process, but the septic tank I was delivering was dropped.  It flung upside down and a barbed-wire fence post plunged right through one of the screw-on lids on it.  The foreman got mad, started cussing and blaming the water inside the tank.  There was some water in it, but not hundreds of gallons as this guy attempted to ascribe.

It took a while to get out of there, he was scrutinizing the blue prints and wondering why this that and the other thing hadn't been sent.  I looked at the blue prints and agreed - the salesman should have sent several Tee's, more Wye's and some other fittings.

I finally was able to leave, but not before watching a Border Patrol helipcopter land next to the building.  Also not before seeing individuals with t-shirts on that said federal police get out of an SUV, shotguns in hand and head into the building.  Don't know, exactly, WHAT they do in that building, but - this entire area was obviously a hot-spot for illegal alien crossing.

Back on the road.  Pass a propane truck - he's going 55 mph on a 65 mph road.  I sped up much more than I realized, I was cruising, enjoying the day.  I come around the corner and there is a police SUV parked on the other side of the road, facing me.  I look down at my speedometer:  74 mph in a 65 mph zone.  Uh-ohhh.  I slowed down, of course, but I was already caught.

I pass and see the turn signal of the SUV come on, I'm busted, I thought, darn.  No, she got on the highway and headed the other direction.  I didn't fool anyone, she let me go.  She could have pulled me over and issued me a citation and there would be nothing to say about it.  Thanking God that the day hadn't been ruined  by my stupidity - I moved on and got beyond that.  I stopped at the convenience store in the middle of nowhere.  I got a sandwich - with no condiments as I didn't want any - and a bottle of cranberry juice.  Hit the spot.  Got back on the road, hit Indian 15 and cruised back.  I had different views going the opposite direction than I had going through the first time.

I was also stopped at the Border Patrol checkpoint. "Hello,sir, how's it going today", the agent said.  "Great, thank you, how're you doing?" "Good", he replied, "Have a nice day". "You do the same", I said in genuine honesty and glad that I, an American, wasn't asked on American soil IF I am an American.  I drove the rest of the way - followed the entire way by a beat-up, grey, Dodge Ram pickup with the same intrigue I had coming through that area.  I had no clue why the pickup wasn't passing me, there was ample opportunity.  I passed a couple of cars along the way, he passed them as well, but didn't pass me. No idea what that was about.

Got back on Interstate 8, then to Interstate 10.  Came to a rest area and decided that I would take my break there.  I got a 15 minute nap in when an RV pulled up right next to my truck.  I wish he would have opted for the NUMEROUS other parking spots that were empty - my nap was done and over with, but it did feel good.   I was going to take the entire 30-minute break napping. no biggies.  It was a great drive, I wish I could get more of them.

There's more to this day - it's benb's world, lol - but, who cares.  There are no great negatives today.  One tenant paid up, cash, and is current. That was nice as well.  Very nice, really.  Umm, and I'm going to go to bed early, again. Why?  Cause' I tend to get a good night's sleep that way, even if I wake up in the middle of the night, which usually happens.  Weather's beautiful.  I'm feeling at peace right now and I have no cosmic explanations of why.

G'nite.

ben

Saturday 11/13/2010

I got up this morning, looked at those dogs with a pathetic look on their face and decided to take them for a walk.  This time, however, instead of walking them to the mountains, I got them in the car and drove over there.  It is too much of  a pain to try and get 3 very large dogs to cross Baseline road with all of that traffic.  I just would rather not.   It was about a 25 minute hike up and down mountainsides.  There were a LOT of other hikers out there, but fortunately, no other dogs.

Getting done with that, I decided to go to Home Depot.  The shower faucet in the bathroom is leaking and it's leaking on the hot water side.  Wasted water, wasted electricity.  I have a clue about these things: not fixing them will cost you FAR more than forking out the money for a new setup or parts to repair the old.  I decided to replace the whole thing because it has a bent cold water handle - I have no idea how that happened, surely one of the tenants does - and I didn't want to fool with it.

Well, I had more to write but I want to go out while it's still afternoonish time and enjoy the beautiful weather.

ben

I also decided to stop at Fresh and Easy.  They have the cheapest turkeys on sale: 37 cents per pound, Jennie O frozen.  I don't care if a turkey is frozen or not, in the end it all tastes the same to me.  Fry's has the same exact thing - but their price is 55 cents per pound and they claimed to not have a price matching policy.  I don't know about that one, I thought they did, but the lady adamently stated they did not.  I will be checking into that here today sometime.  But it doesn't matter, I already got a 22 pounder and at a great price.  Farmer John hams also were good price at 77 cents per pound, I got one of those, too.

The trailer tenants are going to do all the work this year.   I buy, they fry.  Well, you know, they are doing the cooking.  I'm thinking of getting another turkey - much smaller so I can keep it in the freezer and then cooking it maybe in January or something.  I usually buy 2, 1 for now and then in 2 months or so when I'm not so burned out on eating endless amounts of turkey (lots of leftovers, usually) I will cook another one.

Absolutely beautiful weather out now.  It's almost 2 pm and it's like 75 degrees outside.  Gorgeous.  The fishies are doing well with it getting cold at night - but I have been running a heater in each pond for what, a week now?  It had no noticeable effect on electric usage so, they're just going to stay on, set at 75 degrees each.

Friday 11/12/2010

Friday

Work week almost over. Another week with car problems - over - hopefully for a long time. I won't be holding my breath, but one can dream.

The fact that I didn't have to shell out yet hundreds of more dollars to get it into running condition was a blessing and certainly not a disuised one. I would be facing my week off during Thanksgiving being pretty much broke if that had been the case. 

Of course, I don't really plan on doing anything during that time excepting buying all the fixings for a huge turkey dinner which the trailer tenants have already indicated that they would be extremely interested in cooking. Still, broke is never a good "condition" to be in.

Meanwhile, I'm reading about Obama's rant at the Summit and wondering if anyone is even bothering to listen. His renewed interest in jobs creation is humorous. The talk about jobs was almost completely gone when Obama, Reid and Pelosi were literally forcing the health care bill through, now all of a sudden here we go again. And anyone wonders why the elections turned out the way that they did?

I would also like to argue with this idea that Social Security benefits is an "entitlement" program. That's a LOAD of BS. If you REALLY want to call it that, then yes, I'm entitled to take the money I paid into it for my entire life with the promise that I would get X amount every month when I am near the end of life. That is the end of that story: we PAID into it for THAT purpose, it's a separate deduction on your paycheck, it's not part of the general fund. If it is gone when I get to retirement, well, obviously I and a lot of other people that PAID for it are not going to be happy (and probably be broke). 

There are 2 things I fear in growing old: being broke and being single. I let the 2% deduction out of my paycheck for 401k start back up again earlier this year - our company does that automatically, you can opt out if you like - and haven't either increased it or reduced it. It has an "amazing" $9,000.00 in it. I'm 46 years old and all I have saved for retirement is 9k? Ouch. If I could afford to up it to where it was pre-economic-disaster era, I would. I was trying to get to the point where I would be comfortable with having 10% being deducted from every paycheck.

Not anywhere near that now, obviously. Well, it's just something that I think about now and then and wonder, what, exactly, my retirement will "look" like and at what I can expect to actually be able to stop working. If the White House has it's way, the day I stop working is the day my body is being viewed in a casket......

.........with that, I bid you good day.

ben

The Old Buick - Highland Auto Repair Shop, Chandler, AZ 85225

3 days that car has been at that shop.
I had no idea what to expect when I got there today.
I walked up and saw my old car sitting there, hood up, engine running.
I wondered how long it had been running.  I asked the owner that if they did get it running, just let it sit there and idle - for hours if need be.  That's what they do anyway with vehicles that have had running problems, they turn them on after fixing them and walk away from them.  I watched that the other day, a car sat there idling for over 2 hours.  
Well, Virgil was busy with another customer.  I had no small amount of trepidation.  How much is this going to cost this time?  The fourth time in in a little over a month, I knew the towing bill was at least $50, the mechanic the first day I was there with it had spent a couple of hours on it.

Well, Virgil gets up and goes and moves around some vehicles.  He comes back, gets out a notepad, writes down a phone number with the name of an electrical shop and hands it to me.  He says: "If it has problems again, take it here".  Virgil's a good guy.  He is a rare breed in any realm of customer service in terms of whatever kind of business it may be. Certainly, you don't get such honesty in many auto repair shops nowadays, most of them are going to rake you under the coals and take every last cent they think they can get from you.

While standing there, I listened to his son having a conversation with a person on the phone.  He was telling the person that his vehicle needed a new timing belt, but also needed new fan belts and other stuff.  He told him that now would be the time to replace them since they were cracked and not looking too good, because, he said "We are already going to have to take all of that stuff off anyway to get at the timing belt, there will be no extra labor charge to replace it".  

How many shops would get on the phone and say that you need a timing belt and you need this other stuff and yes, there is EXTRA labor charge for the  other stuff, even though they already have to take it off the engine to get at the timing belt? You can bet your sweet @$$  that there are a plethora of shops out there that will do that.

What I am saying in all of that is that I figured whatever I was going to be charged, I was not going to be raped.  I definitely also was thinking, my gosh, I have dumped no small change into this car and I have bills to pay.  I would NEVER say that to them, but I was sweating this one.

Well, it turns out, the owner's son - Jeremy - had given the car over to Bill - one of the shop's mechanics - to look at it.  I have also watched Bill - the man knows what he's doing.  He does just about ANYTHING a car needs.  I have a lot of respect for this shop, it's owners and it's employees.  I asked Virgil how long the thing had been running?  We walked over to where Bill was working on another vehicle, he said that this time, it has been sitting there running for about an hour.  Before that, he thought he had it sitting there running for about 3 hours.

You see, I don't CARE how much gasoline was going to be wasted, I definitely wanted to know if this thing was going to work or not, if not, what do we do next, Virgil had already given me the next thing to do if it needed anything else, we're good.

Well, instead of walking back to his desk to tally up the hours spent on the thing - turns out the mechanic - Bill - had cleaned some wires that go to the computer that was replaced last week and that (hopefully) was it all it needed - Virgil starts walking to my car.  I asked him how much it was going to cost.  He just shook his head, no, nothing.  I would have none of that, they had spent considerable time on it plus the towing fee.  Nope, he said, nothing.  I insisted that I at LEAST pay the towing bill.  He flatly refused my money.  I'm totally serious, I TRIED to give him SOMETHING for the time spent, I mean, the man's running a business and I don't want to turn into a sore spot with a person and a business that I fully intend on taking my vehicles to from here on out.  He just wouldn't take it.  I told him I didn't feel right about it, he couldn't help me.

WHERE, in this day and age, do you find ANYTHING like THAT?  GOOD LUCK.  This is old-school - the way business used to operate in a different day and age.  Nothing bad about it, I'm just saying, when you find something like that you treat it like gold.  Yup, I'm propping Highland Auto cause' - it's worth the prop.  Not that they need it, they have plenty of business, but if you are fed up with being ripped off and live anywhere in the Phoenix Metro area, this is the place to take your vehicles.  They have vehicles brought in from ALL over - Wittman; Scottsdale - everywhere. Even up north people come into town and bring their vehicles there.

As for me?  I got home and the relief was palpable. I didn't have to spend more money on that old thing, though I was fully prepared to.   Caleb's mom's car (we're divorced) - a new thing that is only like a year old - a tin can on wheels is what I call those little cars - isn't running.  They were coming to tow it as I went over there to get Caleb to take my newer Buick back with him to her house.  I am going to drive this old thing for at least a couple more weeks.   He has a car to drive and they have something to get around in while her car is at the dealer's - it's under warranty (must be nice!).