Tuesday 7/26/2011

Tuesday

An unexpected side-effect from the antibiotics: the red patches on my face are beginning to disappear. At the same time, huge bags of puffiness appear below my right eye every morning when I wake up. Yuck.

Lots of running around to do today at work, but I am hopeful to have it all done somewhat early and get home - somewhat early.

Taxes. The accountant called and informed me that you cannot carryover loss on personal loss, only on business loss. That doesn't make any sense to me, but then again, the entire tax code doesn't mean a heckuva lot to me, either. I will call the IRS today to get their take on this. If they say no as well, then it's no and I will move on. I am still getting close to 3 grand back anyway, so it's not a total waste of time. Hmm, well reminding myself of that, I just found the IRS number online and input it into my phone. Sooner or later during the work day, I am going to have to sit and wait for someone at a construction site somewhere, might as well use the time to get the question answered, cause' I am going over to the accountant's office today to pick up the finshed paperwork and get it sent in. Well, I might be going over there, depends on how I feel after work.

My take on all this bantering in Washington: Obama wants this behind him because an election is coming up and if he can't get this dealt with before then, he knows he is facing and even greater uphill battle in getting re-elected. This is the ONLY thing this is about with Obama. He doesn't care on iota about you or I, irrelevant of his redundant speeches about the average Joe/Jane taxpayer. He tries to speak for the entire mass of the American public as if we are all on his side. Got news for ya, bud, YOU are the single-WORST president this country has EVER had, period. The day they boot your A$$ out the door will not come too soon. He wants us all to contact our congressmen and women and tell them that we want the "balanced" approach.

My view of a balanced approach and Obama's are WORLDS apart. A "balanced" approach to me would mean that literally: BALANCE THE FREAKING BUDGET. Does anyone really believe that China owning America is a good thing? The massive amount of money that the Federal Government takes in every year IS enough to run this country. We don't NEED to be running in a deficit.

This is where Obama doesn't get it, actually, he doesn't CARE. As Boehner succinctly pointed out yesterday, Obama wants a blank check to waste even MORE money. Where did the trillion dollars he threw away get us? DEEPER IN DEBT. It's not JUST Obama that thinks this way - look at that dinosaur named Reid - that guy and all of his cronies need to go home. I'm glad the GOP isn't backing down to this crap that Obama keeps dishing out saying it's the GOP's fault that there is no agreement.

Anyway, I better get off that subject. Actually, I better get off all subjects, I gotta go to work. The alarm clock was making all kinds of noise this morning trying to wake me up. I mean, the sound intensifies after X amount of seconds of not turning it off, and the intensifies more, and then a 3rd time. After the 3rd time, WWIII must be starting the way that thing is sounding off. It's doing what it's supposed to do, of course, and I slept through it for several minutes before finally waking up.

G'day.

ben

Monday 7/25/2011

Monday 7/25/2011

I have no idea how I feel this morning - I am half asleep still. My right eye was and is still extremely puffy this morning, yucky looking and no clue about that. One thing that has become obvious, I need to get a regular doctor and start seeing that person. This urgent care business is great for minor junk, but I don't really consider what I am going through right now to be minor.

Umm, so there is a lot of work to do today, unfortunately, it may drag well into the afternoon. I hope I can make it through all of that.

I finally received a not from the ops manager - just saw it in my company email box - I am getting $250 for the effort put forth in getting rid of that drip system junk. It's about half of what I expected, but it's better than nothing and I will just put a smile on my face and be happy I am getting anything. I don't know if that "spiff" is subjected to the higher tax rate or not, if it is, I will actually get about $140 of it. This wasn't easy work, putting it mildly, it just seems way off for the time put into it, including personal time.

But, maybe the effort will be reflected in whatever fiscal year bonus might be coming our way, if any at all, haven't heard anything about that yet. I got a pretty good raise so it probably all pans out in the end, anyway. Perhaps I am just being grumpy because I am not 100% and not sure when I will get back to that magic number.

One certainly thinks about one's mortality when going through such things - sickness, that is. You know, like, will I ever get BACK to 100%? Certainly hope so, have to trust God on that one.

Umm, anyway, they changed their mind on who to send over here this week - Thank GOD almighty. They were going to send over a certain inside salesman who really doesn't have a clue about running a store. The inside salesman they ARE sending over definitely has a clue, has been over here before and doesn't sit around, "allowing" me to do ALL of the work as others have done. I don't have the energy right now to do all of the work, frankly, and I will be letting that guy know it right off the bat when he comes in. So sorry, sir, no can do all da work. I do some work, but not all.

Spoken with thick Chinese accent, lol.
July 25, 2011 6:01 AM
Anonymous said...
Allegedly, according to a news blip this morning, the NFL/players have reached a deal. Whoopdy doo. The spoiled brats sound about the same as Boeing's machinist's union that went on strike a few years ago and effectively shut Boeing down and are now making heck for Boeing in opening that new plant in one of the Carolina's: spoiled brats acting like 2 year olds. They make all kinds of freaking money - both sets mentioned and yet they can't ever be happy with it. I have no sympathy for any of them or it. If the there is no NFL this year, it's going to sour the taste for it for many, many fans. Maybe they won't quit watching, but maybe the sales of all of that branded stuff - hats, shirts, jerseys, etc etc etc ad nauseum might slink off a bit or even a lot. They make a LOT of money off of that stuff.

Just stupid people. The bantering in Washington. Obama threatening to veto any short term deal to get the debt ceiling raised. This artificial date set up saying "we are going to default on our loans on this date". The bleep we are. Again, Obama thinks Americans are stupid. The U.S. government is NOT going to stop taking in money on August 2cd. If the debt ceiling isn't raised, it won't be taking in ENOUGH money to cover the expenses. You really think we are going to default on our loans, considering how important the financial gurus state that staying current on them is so important not to just our economy, but the world economy? OTHER things will have to be cut, but please spare me the political bantering, because that is all it is.

Obama is using scare tactics and attempting to make the GOP look like the culprits. Yet the GOP is the side that is coming out with answers, I don't see the Dems doing much of anything but disagreeing with everything. Allegedly Reid, a dinosaur that needs to go home and retire, is coming up with his own budget.

Whatever. The Tea Party is the 'hindrance' on the Republican side in certain members taking a stance that they aren't budging from. That's because the Tea Party got those guys/gals in there and to shirk off of the platform that they used to get there would anger a whole set of people that can use their new-found influence to get them right back out again. They must realize that and they must therefore be taking an unmovable stance because of it.

Regardless, the pre-work day is done, I am going to work, wish me luck!

ben

Sunday 7/24/2011

This has beena particularly unpleasant morning. I am still sick and it was oh so glaringly obvious. The antibiotics are messing with my guts - as it says online it can possibly do. I have been eating yogurt as some have suggested, but, that hasn't done much good. I am extremely irritable and cranky right now, people coming in and out of here just make it worse. I will be heading to my bedroom soon to keep my misery to myself.

Acute Prostatitus is what this infection is called and the more I read about it - well I stopped. This isn't some head cold that you live with for a few weeks and get over it. I have a better understanding of what it is and what's going on and - well - I hope that 10 days worth of that antibiotic actually gets rid of it. The other prognosis was Dysuria - a fancy word to say you have painful urination. Well, I didn't need anyone to tell me that.

I don't about work tomorrow. I was feeling well enough yesterday that I could have probably handled a day of work, but today?

I JUST got a recorded call while writing this, it's from the Urgent Care place, call this number back and enter your patient ID number. Okay. Hi, this is Erica, yada yada yada, the urine culture came back, the infection is systemic and is what we thought it was, keep taking your medication, yada yada yada.

Well I am done with this. It's time to go spend the afternoon in bed.

ben

Saturday 7/23/2011

Chase bank finally got my savings account set up so that I can simply move money from the checking account to that account. I have decided to take the money that the trailer tenants are paying me each week and use that as the basis for funding it. My pay raise starts in August, hence the decision that I can simply afford to live where I am at and not miss the money. Oh, I am not actually moving the money from one account to another, now that I think about it, it's going to move by itself. Until I change it, it's a "permanent" setup. So, give it 10 months and if I can keep from touching it, it would have $1,600.00 in it.

Yeah, seems like something always comes up, but, maybe I'll get a "blessed" streak and not have any major outlays of cash for some unknown emergency. At least the AC seems to be holding out - which is a thing I shouldn't even have to worry about considering it's only 3 years old - but I had to replace the compressor after only 1 year of operation.

I guess I did not turn in 2009 taxes. I have never been good about tax time - I don't owe them I just don't do it. I received the second letter today with a demand to turn on 2009 taxes. What is the hard-on with 2009? I paid out a considerable amount of the money I earned to Federal taxes, ridiculous. Doesn't matter, it will all be done on Monday and they can eat it. And send me a check while they're at it. Have you ever considered how much you are paying out in city, county, state and federal income taxes? Do you consider beyond that? Cell phone taxes, home phone taxes, hotel taxes, property taxes, freaking taxed to death.

I am feeling much better - I'm far from done with this infection but I don't feel like I just got run over by a freight train. I was able to sit in my kitchen chair today instead of spending the entire day in bed - albeit I will undoubtedly end up going to bed early again tonight.

Ummm, and a lot of time passed.

G'day.

ben

The Problem With Self-Checkout At Grocery Stores

The issue of to use or not to use self check-outs.

I love the concept, I hate the real-life, rubber-meets-the-road reality of it.

The issue isn't whether the idea is a good one or not, I readily agree that it's great to be able to go and start doing the work yourself versus standing behind Aunt Martha who forgot something and asks the cashier to go get it for her. Really? Yes, really. You have never experienced that? I have on numerous occasions. Or another scenario where Mrs. Martha realizes she got the wrong kind and therefore, everyone needs to wait for 5 minutes while someone is called to bring it up front for her.

I guess cashiers are trained not to tell them no, you'll have to step out of line if you want to do that so that other - paying - customers can get their goods checked, rung up and get them out of the store. I have spoken up on such occasions when a particular, entire party of women wanted the store's personnel to bring them up a half dozen more cases of Power Aid. No, not a bottle or 2, cases.

Or you get stuck behind Mrs. Martha's sister - she sits there and watches everything being rung up and then, at the very end of all of it: everything is bagged, the sale is rung up, the goods are in the cart ready to go, she finally pulls out her purse and slowly starts getting out her wallet to get at whatever means she's going to pay for it. Really? I have my payment ready long before the sale is over, cognizant of others waiting behind me and very cognizant of the Golden Rule: do unto others as you would have do unto yourself.

Well, the lack of taking an action in this case goes against that rule. You don't care how long you hold other people up, it doesn't matter to you that your actions or inactions are causing other people grief, you are in your own little bubble.

Here's a very recent case-in-point: yesterday. I have prostate infection. I felt like I was dying yesterday. I was in CVS pharmacy, no, there was no self-checkout available at this store, waiting to get rung up and get OUT of there and get HOME and collapse in my bed. I'm waiting, very impatiently - one side effect of prostate infection is frequent urination and the demand your body signals send you to do it right NOW, even if you JUST went to the bathroom 20 minutes ago - and yes, I was there. I was holding it in, watching 2 people in front of me take their SWEET, LOVELY OLD TIME pulling out their payment and moving on.

So, advance to the new-age technology of self-checkout. I thought it a grand idea at first. I am not anti-social - so the news reports of this situation about people just wanting to get in and not have human interaction don't exactly apply to me. I want to get out, yes, but I like going through a human run checkout far more than self-serve.

But, the first time I went through one of those lines at Fry's Food Stores, there were problems. The second time I went through, less problems, all with technical issues trying to get the system dialed in and training personnel how to use the system.

After the techs were gone, the system fully up and running and the store personnel fully trained how to use the equipment, THAT is when the problems started. A list below explains my problem with self checkout.

1. The ever abiding screen that comes up and says an assistant has been called to help you. This happens almost every time I go into Fry's. I didn't call, ask or WANT an assistant to help me, but the issue is forced: I can't do anything until they clear the screen.

2. WHEN that screen comes up, the assistant is busy with someone else. Or reading something, or simply not paying attention. It can be some time before the assistant gets to my screen, clears it without asking me any questions at all. There is the big thing that annoys me, WHY did this screen come up in the first place?

3. The non-existent attendant. This is the person that isn't anywhere near the self-checkout station. They are off somewhere else, doing something else. I have seen them 50 feet away, doing something else besides manning their station. Apparently, paying customers that are helping that store by checking ourselves out aren't worthy of constant attention at the screen, even though there are up to 8 people doing that process at the same time. They certainly don't have 8 checkout lanes open with live, human cashiers doing the job for you. Once, the lady that was supposed to be doing the self-checkout was in the produce section at the Fry's Food Stores location I was at. The produce section is well over 100 feet away from the self-checkouts and more, you can't even SEE the produce section from there.

4. Employees that are rude. They don't do this with me anymore, they know who I am and they know I will simply go get the general manager of the store or I will contact Fry's Food Stores corporate as soon as I get home. If you unintentionally do something "wrong" at the self-check, these types of employees will get short and even nasty with you. I won't tolerate such attitude from any employee of any store, anywhere.

5. The social gathering. This is when 2, 3, 4, or 5 employees are gathered at the front of the store in complete oblivion to anything, and in this case, completely ignoring the customers that are stranded at the self-checkouts who are waiting for the inevitable "an assistant has been called to help you" sign that stops the entire process. I got sick of that - yes, at Fry's Food and Drug Stores - and started going to the general manager's office. I would bring him out and show him the screen and point at the employees. He would deal with my problem - and 2 or 3 others also waiting because of that screen.

6. Too many self checkouts, not enough attendants. The system was set up for 2 attendants if over 4 self checkouts are open. I heard this from the TECHNICIAN, not the Fry's employees who attempted to repudiate it. Sorry, Charlie, that doesn't work. The guy installs the equipment, he says it's so, it's so and for a good reason. When you have 8 self checkouts and only 1 attendant, there are going to be problems. IE: the damned screen that makes you wait. Or the customer that doesn't know how to use the self checkout and wants the attendant to do ALL of it for them. Or the problem a customer is having with whatever: been there, done that. Meanwhile, 1, 2, or 3 other customers are waiting to get that screen cleared or have issues of their own that need addressed. I don't even contest over pricing anymore, I just pay the entire bill and then I contest it. Why? Because I don't have to wait, first and foremost, and secondly, because Fry's Food and Drug Stores has a policy: it's free under $5 or a gift card over $5 when a scanning error occurs. I get done with the transaction - and then almost always get sent to customer service.

Need I go on? I would hope not. If working properly - these self checkouts are a great idea. On that note, I love the way Fresh and Easy works it. There is at least one "floating" attendant that is going between self-checkouts - they are ALL self checkouts at those stores but you can ask them to do it for you if you prefer. That person is working tirelessly - and quickly to make sure that everyone is taken care of speedily. If there are too many people at the checkouts, more employees appear out of the thin blue air. I have not had a problem at those stores.

But, more often than not, they are not working properly at many stores for the variety of reasons that I have given above.

Friday 7/23/2011

I haven't really been feeling that well this week, but I did nothing about it until....yesterday.
By the time I got off of work yesterday, I felt like death on feet. Without getting too graphic, it's usually described as a burning when urinating. But, my whole body felt like I had the flu from hades.

Anyway, I headed straight to urgent care. I am not fooling around with junk like this. They took a urine sample, came back 20 minutes later and told me that I had extremely elevated amounts of proteins and white and red blood cells in it. That all sounds wonderful, what, exactly, does that mean? What it means, the lady told me, is that you have an extremely severe infection. Men usually don't get urinary tract infections, I was further informed, it's likely your prostrate, which takes longer to heal.

Further, she explained, the symptoms you are feeling likely mean that the infection is going "systemic" - apparently meaning spreading throughout my entire body. Lovely day. I was given a prescription for Levaquin and was told they were going to give me an antibiotic injection. She left and came back in a while, informing me they couldn't do the injection because of my Penicillin allergy. You know, that doctor that told me I was allergic to Penicillin some 39 years ago really got my attention, even at the age of 8 years old. He wanted me to be extremly, absolutely clear on the fact that if I ever had another Penicillin shot or pills or whatever again, it would likely take my life.

You go around in life wearing that badge of junk and every time you go into a doctor's office, the first thing you tell them: I am allergic to Penicillin. I can tell you the first and only time I had a shot of it, I had huge hives all over my body, I was sick - really sick - for almost 2 weeks and life wasn't so great. Undoubtedly, it is a limiting factor of how doctors can treat me, but I'll take a sickness that feels like a hammer is being bounced on my head rather than death any day.

Of course, I read the potential side effects of this medicine - not until a few minutes ago. Yikes. I am not even going to go into any of it, it isn't worth it. I already took the stuff and that's that. What was I going to do, die? I had a fever that was just short of 103. It went up almost 3 degrees from the time I had left the doc's office til' a few hours after I got home. But I get really nervous taking medications - any of it. You continually read in the news about a drug that people have been taking and then find out it is killing them or causing birth defects to their babies or this, that and the other thing. Which is why I don't even like to take Tylenol. I never did much of that stuff anyway, and then, a study comes out about the side effects of taking too much of that stuff as well.

I had never known, though, besides the potential for an allergic reaction, obviously, that antibiotics could have such potential, serious side effects. Add the fact that they gave me the highest dosage of this stuff that is available. Add to that the pharmacist's reaction to the prescription: "Oh, wow, that is a high dosage!" I obviously had to ask what she was talking about. She said that this is a powerful antibiotic. It comes in 250, 500 and 750 milligrams. You are getting the highest dosage available.

Last night, my head was pounding. Hard to describe the feeling. My whole body was aching. I was not liking life, I can tell you that. I haven't felt that bad in years.

I found a description of prostrate infection symptoms: The symptoms of prostate infection can also differ according to its causes. For acute bacterial prostatitis the symptoms include increase in the frequency of urine; great urgency to urinate; pain while urinating; pain in the genital area; difficulty in producing a normal stream while urinating. There can also be some general signs for prostrate infection like fatigue, high chills and high fever.

Unbelievably, I have ALL of those symptoms. Last night, I had was going from feeling extremely hot to having cold chills.

Umm, the only thing I can say today? The pounding in my head is gone, I don't have extreme flu like symptoms anymore and I feel much better. I did not go to work today. I called my manager yesterday around 6:00 pm and toldhim I would definitely not be coming in. So, I am doing nothing today. I am still feeling really tired and I intend on sleeping much of today.

As for the heat wave, I saw New York with some statement that it had hit 112 degrees. I can only imagine what kind of swampish hell feeling that must be with the humidity there. Today's high there is 100 - but the "real feel is 111. Yowsa. Hope you have central AC over there, I know in the ghetto area of Pittsburgh I grew up in, those hold houses didn't have central AC and didn't even have the duct work for it. You can't really sit in a house in a situation that feels like 111 degrees. If it were me, I would at the very least buy a window AC unit and keep at least one room of the house cool - but that's me. Not everyone has the money to go out and buy window AC units or pay for the increased electric bill. Fin, if you are over there right now (versus down south), I just read that today, the real feel in that city is 107.

The high here today is only going to be 105. Humidity levels have been up around these parts, though. I think the other day it was 36%. That doesn't sound like much to you folks that live in 90% plus humidity, but couple that with an afternoon high of 109 and then we have a situation.

I'm done, for now.

ben

Thursday

Not much today.
Church last night - well I was tired when I went in there and it was difficult to focus. By the time it was over, it was past my bedtime and I will have to reconsider whether I can attend Wednesday night services.

I'm kind of tired this morning as well. Part of the reason is people making noise at night, and more specifically, closing the back door loudly enough to wake me up.

I have issued notices about this in the past - to the same people who are still living here. I don't really want to issue any more notices because they obviously aren't working. So what is left? Issue 30 day eviction notices to all 3 tenants and start over. This is what I am contemplating. If these people don't give a rat's @$$ about whether their landlord is sleeping or not, I figure it's about time for them to go find a new place to live.

Anyway, I'm done with this one.

ben

Fat

Wake up call today. I had the calipers on my body, I figured I was around 15%, I was actually at 18%. The salesman's computer program generated that I was still within acceptable range for my age, height, weight and fat index. He even congratulated me and said I was in pretty good shape. That compared to my co-workers - most of which are NOT in good shape. I was surprised to find out my manager is at 32% fat. You definitely could not tell that by looking at him.

Anyway, I am hardly satisfied. I would be happy around 12% body fat, maybe 10%. That would take a lot of work and a lot of workouts with weights to get back down to that, but I think I am up for the challenge. Goodbye to red meat, well I don't eat that much of it anyway. I'm at approximately 1,000 calories for the day and I don't expect to eat again. It's only a 4-month contest and so, a person that really wants to win is going to have to go all out.

Or is he? People are still seen dining on donuts and pizza at the main branch. I eat neither. I go to the main branch quite frequently and will not touch those donuts, as tantalizing as they look. For a contest, you would think they might think about doing something else besides donuts and having pizza. The point isn't REALLY about who wins and lose, it's about trying to motivate people to get healthy. People that are in the 30% body fat range are not particularly healthy and there are plenty of those at work.

I don't drink soda; I have an occasional glass of tea. I drink milk, but only the zero-fat/skim stuff. I drink a LOT of water. I gave up Powerade/Gatorage a long time ago - exception is if I have drank so much water, it isn't doing anything for me because electrolyte levels are too low. I drink coffee, but I do not use sugar and I mostly only use low or no fat creamer.

Even with all of that, the food you eat can still pack on the pounds. Red meat is going to be hacked off the list of edibles. In fact, my plan is to pretty much eat only the Weight Watchers frozen dinners. That in and of itself will cause some fat loss, perhaps, but the real ticket, at least for me, is to build muscle. Free-weights galore.

Enough. This all got ramped up today after finally getting my BMI checked. Ohhhhh!! I forgot: I MUST get an MP3 player!! I now have enough music selected that I can do a 10 hour work out, lol, if I wanted to and not hear the same song twice!! I won't be doing 10 hour workouts, bank on that! lol

I am guessing my taxes are ready to be done. I did not go to the DMV today because - I started early at work; busted @$$ all day long without a break and the combination of heat and humidity are just killers. I wanted to do nothing but come home and sit in the AC - currently exercising that right and fully enjoying it.

In fact, besides a LOT of physical exertion in high heat and semi-high humidity, I got nothing else done today.

I don't care, either.

Currently attempting to motivate myself to go to Wednesday night service.

ben

Wednesday 7/20/2011

Wednesday

Short one here.
I got into work here and started looking at the truck routing system - full, to say the least and an email telling me I could start early if I wanted to.

I'm not the biggest fan of having surprises thrown on me at 5:30am - ie: skipping my pre-work rituals. I think I'll drink a cup of coffee first, at the least, and then I'll sign in.

Meanwhile, dinner with the pastors last night was good. We talked about the entire world of subjects and as I thought would happen, my past as a missionary and involvement in the church came up. Oh well. Not the end of the world and they were more interested in my well being than attempting to push me into something I am not ready for, so for that, they earn even more of my respect.

I was interested in how they decided to do a church plant here - there are no lack of churches in this area. They have some different ideas than most churches around here, I'll give them that, and pretty good ideas at that.

Church tonight and I do intend on going.

I have also adjusted my "thoughts" on going up north to get Caleb. If I get my camping equipment in time, I may just leave after work on Friday, go up to the rim, camp somewhere or just go to my mother's property, pitch the tent and away we go. Maybe take one of the dogs with me.

Anyway, I gotta git offa here. My first cup is half empty and now I am feeling the need to get going on all of this - there is a LOT of driving to be done not to mention orders to be pulled and picking up materials all over the place plus the deliveries. Oh, but I can't forget the notice I need to write up.

Have to get into that later.

g'day

More Taxes/Dinner Out

So, I took all the tax junk into the tax dude. He has a small office and apparently works alone in it. We went through all of it, particularly the 2007 return. He said he would do the numbers and see if it was going to be worth it to modify it to get more carryover and he would let me know. Well, I replied, if the carryover net worth is more than your fee to do it, then we're going to do it! His response? "I'm just going to warn you that filing this particular form (whatever it was x31a or something like that) puts you at risk of being audited". Oh well. I thought I was going to get audited with this whole deal to begin with, if it happens, it happens, no sense in getting into fear about it. If it's rightfully my money, I want it!

I had no idea that you could write off the cost of your auto tags from year to year! He brought up the deductions, I knew about the rest of them, but not auto tags! I started giving to the church I am going to, and though I don't give to get a write-off, the write-off is available and since it's not unethical, I will be taking that write-off next year. I don't think I'm getting quite as much money as I thought I might, but whatever it is, it's better than nothing! The cost for having it done is about $500 - but that's going through fully 4 years of taxes and this guy, in listening to him, certainly appears to know what he's talking about.

1-1/2 hours and I am meeting the pastors for dinner. They wanted to get together, I offered dinner out at a decent restaurant. They accepted and away we go. I have no idea where this is leading, hopefully just more of a session to get to know one another a bit. I have not spent much time, admittedly and at all, talking with anyone at church. I show up for the services just before they start and I leave as soon as it's over. I smile at people, say hi, shake hands if it's offered, but I waste no time getting out the door. I can hardly say I am over the junk that happened in the divorce and that church era and I suspect it's going to take some time to fully get over it. But, I figure as long as I'm trying - which means at least showing up for church on Sundays and probably most Wednesdays - that's a good start.

Anyway, I had thoughts of waiting to see what I will end up getting in the rest of these taxes before getting anymore camping gear. But, I think I will just finish getting what I intended to get in the first place, which is the basic stuff you really must have in order to have a good camping experience and then, the other stuff that is nice to have but not absolutely necessary can come later. I'm figuring - in buying mostly used stuff - to get out of it much cheaper than I had initially anticipated. People are dumping camping equipment and one of the few things I would not do is buy someone else's sleeping bag. I don't care how clean it looks, someone else slept in it and I have no idea what that someone else might be "carrying". I wouldn't be comfortable in it and that's enough for me to go out and yes, buy a brand new one. I am sure Walmart undoubtedly has a good deal on them.

Umm, well getting wordy here.

Later.

ben

Tuesday

Tuesday
I saw in my email box this morning a reply from my new pastors: they would like to meet this evening. Well, I hoped it wasn't too late to answer the reply - it was sent yesterday evening so dunno if today will work in their schedule now or not - pastors tend to get their agendas filled up.

I love this story of 2 robbers attempting to rob a store and the store owner's Chihuahua apparently scares the robbers to the point that they go running out the door with the little dog chasing them down the street! Apparently there is a video of it as well - will have to wait until I get home from work to see that one.

Umm, whatever. That great story is overshadowed by the teenager that killed his parents with a hammer, shoved their bodies into a close and then..........had a party? Freaking monster. That's just pure evil.

Well anyway, my quest for camping gear may have paid off - I found 2 tents, used, good price. One of them they claimed they only used it once for $50, a 4-man tent. The other, same size tent, $30. The recurring theme on a lot of those ads: need to pay bills, this stuff's gotta go.

I have an appointment with an accountant this afternoon at 2 - though I am not sure if I will be off of work in time or not. I want all this junk turned into the IRS, filed, and get it processed and get the check in the mail.

Life moves on. Someone from my past - what was a kid at the time in the missionary organization I was involved with - somehow found me on Facebook and the next thing I know, I have dozens of "Friend Suggestions" coming from this guy to people I didn't know HAD FB accounts. People I haven't seen or even talked to in at least 2 decades. A couple of the suggestions, however, are cancelled. There is one individual that I will have nothing to do with and certainly, I won't be having him as a friend on any venue including FB. In other words, he can go piss off. But, I have already gone into that dude, what he did and the ensuing aftermath, I don't feel like going into all of that again here. I don't have that much time anyway, lol.

It will be interesting to see if any of these people want to get into any kind of conversation and maybe find out what they are up to. I think a few of them are still out on the mission field after all of these years.

Well, whatever. This entry is done, work day is here, plenty to keep me busy all day long - thankfully - later.

ben

Monday 7/18/2011

Monday
I had forgotten that today, my manager is going to be off. It always leaves up in the air who, exactly, is going to take his place. I can't run the shop AND make deliveries, hence the need for another body to fill the manager's position. Even if there were no deliveries in the system, you still have to have 2 people here in case something comes up.

Look, this debt ceiling and Obama's posturing aren't fooling me, I doubt it's fooling too many others, either. He is attempting to make it look like the GOP is holding any kind of a deal up, when, in reality, he didn't even want to make ANY kind of adjustments to government spending at all.

He would have rather just gone ahead, pushed for another 2-1/2 trillion debt ceiling increase and not done ANY kind of cutting. Dems weren't even talking about this until conservatives made a stand and forced the issue. Remember, at the same time, the Obama that was an Illinois Senator (of which very few people knew ANYTHING about, let's vote him into office because he's black and if you don't vote for him, you're a racist - I will never forget that garbage) said it was irresponsible to increase the debt ceiling.

Also never forget his statement the he knows what's best for America and Americans - alienating those of us that have our own minds and use them to think with on a daily basis. In other words, we're all too dumb to know what's going on, trust Obama.

Obama wants bigger government, that's the end of this story. If he could get away with upping ALL of our taxes, regardless of how much (or little) money you make, he would definitely do it. The entitlement programs thrive under such a presidency, unless, of course, you have a grouping of "Tea Party" backed conservatives who aren't going to budge an inch. And because of their stance, Dems come along and start calling them names - you must have seen all that stuff they were calling Eric Cantor last week because he refuses to give in?
July 18, 2011 6:02 AM
Anonymous said...
The dems have also apparently forgotten the rebuking they received in the last elections. Do they truly believe that we just "forget" about all of this stuff? They lost a super-majority because they were not listening to the vast majority of the American people who are sick of Washington politics as usual. Now you have McDonnell and Boehner talking about compromise. With what? A president that can't seem to get it into his thick head that we don't WANT bigger government and that many of us happen to think it's already too big?

Are any of these people on either side of the fence talking about fixing Social Security? Of course not. I've been paying into it all my adult life, I say get rid of it. Keep it for those that are already retired and receiving the benefits, you can't just screw them and blwo them off, but get rid of it for preceding generations.

I would FAR rather take that money and invest it myself. Instead, I am being forced to take even more of what little money I have left after taxes and attempt to save it because I know,in the end, if they don't change that system there isn't going to be anything left for me when I get to that age. I'm not going to go into my 60's broke and desperate if I have anything to do with it, and yes, I have something to do with it.

I have decided, after much internal deliberation on the subject, to up the amount of savings to 10% versus the 5% it's at now. BUT, the 5% is going into a savings account, initially, until I have enough to by CD's or some other investment venue. I may up the 401k from 5% to 7% and do a 3% savings plan instead. Any way about it, I am going to attempt to save a lot more money than I am doing right now.

The point? I cannot base my retirement on a system that may not exist by that time, or have so little left in it that what I receive is next to nothing. I cannot also depend on inheritances. I may very well get some, but you can't really forecast your financial future on such. No, I am facing the fact that I am going to have to supply my own retirment and to do that means upping substantially my savings portfolio and also, yes, I really want to get into the rental type of business in owning properties and renting them out.

That's a goal. I am starting to work forward to getting to the point where I am realizing that goal in my life, not just in my head.

Regardless, time is up.

G'day.

ben

Sunday 7/17/2011

I started an entry a couple of hours ago, didn't have too much written and then the phone rings. It's my ex. A van full of people had come back from the Salvation Army camp where my son is working and she said he had sent some pics, she was going to bring them over to me. Send pics? Personally? I had some weird thoughts about it - who does THAT? You can just email them and if you want them printed, make a disc and take it to Walgreens - or your store of choice that does such.

Instead, something told me to take a shower - so, I jumped in the shower, got on some clean clothes and then waited for her to bring me the pics.

15 minutes later, she calls and says she's outside my house with the pics. Okay. I walk out there, go through the gate, start walking out to the car and, walaaaah!! CALEB jumps out of the car!!! Now, for once, I was SHOCKED!! I didn't believe my eyes. My mind goes into - how is he home? How is he here? I'm that kind of person: instant analyzation in the mind, but showing great joy on the outside (well it WAS on the inside, too, just a lot of mind junk that sometimes gets in the way of things) to see my son!!

Yes, I got my pictures: LIVE pictures, lol. Mom had him for an hour and she brought him to me for an hour as well. We sat here in my kitchen and talked and talked until it was time for him to leave. I had to take him to the mall down the road to meet up with the rest of the people to head back to the camp. Today was a day off and he decided to hitch a ride down and visit us. Way cool. We had a good conversation, I mostly listened to him telling the stories of his great adventure/journey. Isn't that what parents of adult children are supposed to do? I dunno, folks, I am in a learning curve here, my boy went from childhood to adulthood in one fell swoop and it is definitely an adjustment period.

And mind you, he isn't just an adult by fact of age, he has matured GREATLY in the last 6 to 8 months. I dunno, I was ecstatic to see my boy, it was QUITE the surprise and a good one at that. We got to the mall and he started walking. A very noticeable difference in his gait: he used to walk slow, now, by fact of having to walk all over the place at that large expanse of a camp, he is walking as fast as I do at a normal clip. I brought it up to him: you are walking a bit faster, I see. The light went on: I hadn't noticed until now!!

We traipsed around that mall - large place - until we found the exit where everyone was supposed to meet. I know that it isn't going to be long and I won't be seeing much of my son at all - life takes over, you grow up, you get busy. I'm good with that, but I hope he does what I do with my still-living parents: email them and call them regularly.

It was a great visit. When your kids are with you, perhaps it's easy to take it all for granted. When they leave, then you may begin to see the gift of God that they are to you. My boy has turned out well, that is the greatest gift of all.

ben

Saturday/Payday

Yesterday morning, I check my checking account to see if my paycheck had been deposited. "Pending". Someone flubbed up. That check should have been deposited and IN my account, not pending. I didn't want to sign up for direct deposit in the first place but management "recommended" doing it since I was one of only 2 holdouts in the entire group that didn't use it at the time.

And this is the reason I don't like direct deposit. I have very little experience in using it and the little experience that I do have? THIS is what happens! I didn't say anything, I wanted to see if corporate would acknowledge something had happened at the very least. I get back later from all the runs that took all day long to do and find that corporate had air mailed my pay stub.

Whatever. If this is a routine occurrence, I will stopping direct deposit unless my company says I have no choice in it.

I was asked to write up an article for the company's new newsletter about selling off stuff that is NQ - no value. I have been selling stuff for quite a while now on Craigslist, that versus throwing it away and the company taking a total loss/hit on it. I wrote up an article yesterday but didn't sent it in.

I didn't send it in because I am pissed. The Ops manager said I would get a spiff for the months and months of work I dumped into selling that drip irrigation stuff - spent a considerable amount of my own, personal/off-the-clock time doing it believing I was going to get some kind of recompense for it. I didn't even get a thank you, much less some sort of monetary compensation for it. I won't be selling anything else for them until this situation is rectified and I can say that I am not going to sit around stewing on it forever. It's time to voice my displeasure about this situation - but not in a crass or otherwise obnoxious way.

A simple, "I haven't seen the spiff I was promised for doing all that work to sell that drip irrigation system supplies" will get the ball rolling. If the ops manager somehow tries to deny it, I will take it up with the general manager, who has much different views of things about making promises and then not following through with it. I don't want to make enemies out of the ops manager, but for crying out loud, how do you make such a promise and then just totally blow it off? Still, prudence and calm are what's called for, not anger and stupidity.

My camping equipment quest is on. A gas, 2 burner camp stove is on it's way over here. Rebuilt for $45. I have been wanting to get another camp stove for some time now. Not just for camping. I don't have gas in my house, if for some reason the power to go out, I have no way of cooking. It isn't a fear thing, I just like to have certain items in my repertoire of things I own for the "just-in-case" department. I need a tent, a sleeping bag, a large cooler a 5 gallon water jug and a battery operated lamp at the very least besides the stove. I actually think I can do the rest of that stuff for $200 or so. I'm not interested in a used tent - people don't always take care of them and zippers get broken and such.

My camp stove is here and so is a teflon coated, Coleman cookset. Basically, I am pretty much set on doing some kind of camping during the week off I have coming up next month. Probably only an overnighter or maybe 2 nights - I haven't been camping in a while and I have to get back into the mode. If you want to have an enjoyable experience, there is a lot you have to lug out there - wherever you go - with you. I also sent back with the guy a gas fired lantern that needs repaired. He said $20 to fix it - great, let's do it.

Ummm, I got busy with junk and never finished this entry, posting it anyway.

ben

Friday 7/15/2011

Friday

Now to find an accountant or one of these tax places that actually knows what they are talking about. I've been fixing and replacing things, so I have also been dipping into the money I got from the first tax return a bit. The fixing and replacing scenario ain't over yet, either. Oh, and throw in a 12 gauge shotgun, lol - but that was only $200.

The weekend. As always, no clue. Just going to go to church and the rest is up in the air.

Just a bit over 2 weeks before Caleb comes home. I miss my boy, I can say that before the world, not having him around at all is a bit different. Better get used to it, that's what I know.

I have been looking at camping equipment. Just the basic stuff - Walmart has a camp stove that runs on either camp fuel or unleaded gas. A 4 man tent. Sleeping bag and roll up cushion (no, I am not going to lay directly on the hard ground, doesn't work that way for me). Gotta have a decent sized cooler and a 5 gallon water jug. You can't go out there without water. Oh, and a battery-operated camp lamp.

That's all I need, lol. ROFL. In case you haven't figured it out, that adds up to a chunk of change. I will be looking on Craigslist to see if I can score some of that stuff cheaper, or even Ebay.

I'm still trying to find "The Deal" on getting that old Buick painted. It has 2 dents in it that have to be fixed and then a cheap paint job. It's the dents that are proving to be the thorn in the side as they want a lot of money to fix them and that car is not worth dumping that much money into.

Time's up.

G'day.

ben

Shell Shock/Sergeant - Phoenix Police Department

I took my newer car in today to have the window tracks repaired.
I had no idea that you don't repair them anymore, you have to replace the whole track, including the motor that is built onto the track.

It isn't that I wouldn't have had the work done if I had known that, it's just that I would have just had the driver's side done and not both sides.

I can tell you right now when I walked into that shop this afternoon and they told me they had to replace the entire tracks, motors included, I instantly knew this was going to be an expensive repair job. That stuff isn't cheap, at all. I wasn't let down, either, the parts alone were almost $400. With labor I was handed a $640.00 repair bill.

OUCH! Good thing I had that income tax return money in the bank, otherwise? I would be hurtin' for certain right now. Okay, I am not going to regret having the work done. The windows kept falling down while driving the car. I ended up stuffing cardboard between the windows and the frame to keep it wedged into place, but occasionally one of them would fall down anyway. Look, that car is a 2004 model and only has 56,000 miles on it. I have 2 plus years left of payments on it, but I expect to get another 75,000 miles out of that car anyway. Buick LeSabres have a pretty good track record for longevity. I figure by the time I have it paid off, it will still have only around 80,000 miles on it, so, keeping it up and in working order is definitely worth it.

I now need to get the speedometer fixed. That shop said they can fix some issues with speedometers, but not all of them. Well, I will give them a shot and see if they can do it, if not, there is a shop that specializes in - you guessed it - doing nothing but fixing speedometers. Getting the speedo fixed will be the end of most of the problems with the car. I've dumped over a grand into it getting some things fixed on it, I will guess the speedo another $300 and it will be done - for now anyway, lol.

I had had thoughts some time ago in trading that car in - but I am getting tired of spending my life making car payments and I want to pay this one off, like I did the old Buick and then save money to buy my next vehicle instead of getting into payments again. Or, put a large down payment on a vehicle so the monthly payments are so low, I won't care about it. I can't really complain about my Buick, though, the payments are only $223 per month. I just don't much care for all this "little" stuff going on that adds up to big money.

On the money note, I believe I have all the paperwork necessary to go to an accountant's office and get this stuff dealt with. I have already received all the mortgage interest information from both companies that I requested it from and that is all I really needed to get this going.

This entry was interrupted by a call from a sargeant at the Phoenix Police Department. I received a reply from an individual at the department yesterday saying that "I see no display of professional misconduct" with their officers. Of course you don't. This is South Mountain Precinct with national notoriety. NOT - GOOD - press, either. I replied to him via email and stated the obvious: officers coming into a locked back yard, leaving a gate open, being asking - with a "please" - to close the gate 3 times, with the officer jumping up and down having a hissy fit, threatening to fire upon my dogs? This is ripe for the news.

I will never have a dealing again with officers at my property without my camera running a video of it the entire time again. If I had THAT episode of that officer going into 2-year-old-throw-himself-on-the-floor-and-have-a-temper-tantrum-mode on video, it would have gone viral. It would have received press attention because of the issues this precinct already has.

I asked the Sergeant about this situation with them saying the threats from that officer and how they could possibly not be unprofessional conduct. He stated he wanted to speak to me in person. ???? Please answer the question. He then informed me was down the street and just wanted to ensure I was home before stopping by. I see. "See you in 30 seconds".

The discussion went on for quite a while, I cannot go into all of it because it would just be too much print and who is going to read all of that. Or, maybe I should so I can have something to refresh my memory in case I have need of it. You wouldn't believe how many times my blog has "saved" me in the past in situations where I needed a CLEAR memory of what happened in some certain situation that I had written about in full detail and had gone back, found that entry and instantly was "revelated" again.

But, oh well. Let's get to the deceit here: the Sergeant stated that his officer told him that he had kept the gate closed enough by standing next to it, holding it shut. This after much conversation, much, even getting to this point. This Sergeant was under the belief that this officer under him was standing next to the gate the entire time, therefore, there was no threat of the dogs getting out, even IF he refused to close it.

I "revelated" (yes, not a real word, but they should come up with these words I make up cause' they so neatly fit the situation that I am describing) him on what really happened. I have gone into it enough on this blog to not want to go into it again, needless to say, he was NOT standing anywhere NEAR that gate when he refused to close it after being asked to do so 3 times in a row. Well, the Sergeant says, how do I prove it? I wasn't there when it happened. We went back and forth, he was not going to get the upper edge on me because that officer's actions that occurred in my back yard were WRONG, WRONG and DOUBLE WRONG and NO-ONE is going to convince me of ANYTHING otherwise.

He finally toned down. Yes, we finally got into a normal conversation. He had been telling me to put myself into their shoes, I finally asked him how he would feel about these guys coming onto YOUR property, removing a lock out of a gate to get in, confronting the homeowner with attitude at the get-go, and then the situation with dogs? And, btw, WHY would these officers insist on staying in my back yard if they are so damned afraid of dogs? Why wouldn't they take this out front?

THAT is the question that FINALLY got through to him. "Well, yes, if it had been me, I would have definitely asked to step outside the gate, close it and not have to deal with that added situation". Thank you!!

Look, I am not a cop-hater. I don't hate cops at all. They have a profession that isn't exactly desirable to most people for the constant threat that they have to analyze, perceive and adjust to on any given call. I'm not trying to make their lives harder in their chosen profession, but when they start that kind of s*** with me right off the bat, they are going to get it right back in their face. If they want to be reasonable, then I will be reasonable. If they want to be mini-gods, I am not going to tolerate it for a millisecond.

We shook hands. This wasn't a wimpy, light-handed - yucky - type of hand shake. When I shake hands with a man, that "nothing" wilted-flower type of hand shake really does nothing for me, at all. It was a firm grasp, it was the kind of handshake that makes you think either this guy is seriously trying to make amends - or - he has practiced this a lot - or - something came down from higher ups that said make this right and get this over with. I have a hard time deciphering all of that with this particular agency, their history as a precinct and the problems I have had with them.

But I let it go. "We're cool" after his repeated attempts to determine where we're leaving this off. I did ask him a few questions about the new law regarding not needing a CCW permit - especially about having one in your car. Yes, you can hide it, keep it in the open, whatever, but if you are pulled over, you MUST let the officer know right away that you have a gun in the car or yes, you are probably going to get into trouble with it. That's good to know. I had read that somewhere about letting the officer know, I hadn't read anything about the trouble you might face if you don't. I think they might want to clue people in on that particular aspect of it. You can have a loaded firearm in the trunk of your car without having to state it, apparently, but, if I had a gun anywhere in the vehicle at this point and was pulled over, I would let the officer know at the git-go and not have to worry about the legalities of it. \

No, I am not carrying my new 12-gauge shot gun with me in the car. That is a home-protection weapon and I fully intend on never using it - unless I really HAVE to. I am not trigger crazy or gun-happy. It's a fact of life in a very large city with thugs/criminals all over the place. I have wanted a gun in this house for a long time and I am happy to have one at this point. Last night, I loaded and unloaded the thing - including a shell in the chamber - repeatedly to get the hang of it.

Ummm, it's bedtime now that all kinds of time has passed and numerous issues have come up.
Gag.

G'nite.

ben

Thursday 7/14/2011

Thursday

"Epic congestion" and "Carmageddon". It isn't often that you see national headlines out of the closure of a ---- freeway. But, I've been on the 405 many times, I absolutely abhor that freeway. It's in California, Los Angeles to be more specific is the area that they are shutting down a TEN mile stretch of it to tear down a bridge. Just one more reason I am very glad I do NOT live in California!

Umm, anyway. The Resolution Mine in Superior, AZ. I have been there now several times. Superior is a washed up ghost town type of thing. In it's hey-day, it was home to a lot of mine workers that worked the mine that used to be there. Pretty much the mine closed down and most of the people left. Not that it became a complete ghost town, but pretty much had that effect on it.

Of course, the democrats are resisting the land swap needed to make it happen. I have no doubts, whatsoever, that the state and federal government will regulate that mine to the nth degree and force them to make the environmental impact as light as possible. They're talking thousands of jobs.

As it is, when I go in there, I had to watch a 20 minute safety video. I could not get up on my trailer. I had to wear the full fledged safety equipment: protective glasses; hard-hat; gloves; long pants; reflective vest; steel toed shoes. The safety meeting they had to have before they even unloaded the truck took over half an hour. I'm serious: they are required to have a safety meeting in order to unload a truck and everyone, including the truck driver who is forced to have nothing to do with the unloading of it and stand there watching, has to sign off on it.

Of course, once you see a picture of the aftermath of one of those giant dump trucks having had run over a Ford F250 pickup with it's occupants inside of it, you start to get a hint why they are so safety-conscious. It was "flat as a pancake". No, they didn't show the blood and gore, I didn't WANT to see that.

Anyway, I hope the house passes the bill and likewise the senate.

The 1098 statements from one lender have already arrived via fax machine, just waiting on the other and then I can go in and get this tax business done. Have them look at 2007 taxes and make sure that everything I could get out of it has been wringed out of it and then do the 2008, 2009 and 2010 modifications. Whatever it costs to do all of that will be worth the amount of money I am going to get out of it. Again, just before the federal government closes it's doors and says "we're closed for business", I would like to get that money into my checking account!

First time in quite a while that there is nothing to do in the truck routing system here at work. I mean, it's been something like 3 weeks since the last time that happened. Makes for an incredibly long day when there is nothing to do. There IS some clean up chores to do, undoubtedly.

Anyway, work day almost here, gotta get offa here.

G'day.

Taxes

It was amazingly much easier than I thought it was going to be to request 1098's from both former lending institutions that had my mortgage before they both sold them off. It was a matter of calling them and simply asking, giving a lot of personal information, of course, to identify me but now? 3 business days max and I will have all the 1098's that I need to modify the tax years 2007 - 2010. The modification is necessary to include the house fire carryover which will net me quite a large chunk of change, DEFINITELY worth the effort and even the expense to pay someone or an online thing to make sure it isn't flubbed up and that I get every penny I can out of it. I would like to get this done and turned in before August 3rd, lol.

If you don't know what allegedly will happen on August 3rd, then just read the news, any news, it's all over the place. The U.S. will allegedly default on it's loans and the earth will end, it will just disappear out of sight and we will all cease to exist. That is the kind of hype they are making this sound out to be. Definitely, they are declaring world-wide financial chaos the likes we have never seen if this happens. I don't know, that's all coming from the Obama administration and his ilk and considering his past of the lack of actually imparting the entire truth, well, I simply remain neutral until the day comes and goes and if there is no deal, see what happens.

Basically, I want to take a whole pile of papers to an accountant somewhere, dump it on whoever, let them go over it all and see how much they can eek out for me. If it costs me $500 to get $10,000.00, it's money well spent. I do expect to net at least 10 grand out of it, at least. If it goes like I got for 2007, then there is the potential for up to 18k out of the Feds and State, that is, if they have the money to give me back, lol. I can't even imagine having that much money in the bank. Just sitting there, waiting to be blown in a lavish vacation to the Bahamas or maybe a world tour of all the places I want to see. A 30-day cruise all over the place, who knows!

Okay, that is all a bunch of hooey. I am not going to waste a bunch of money on a temporal and short-lived trip, though it would be awesome if I could! No, it would afford me the opportunity to do some upgrades to my house and still have quite a lot left over after I was done. Or, it might afford me to find a rental property somewhere - go to those property auctions and see what might happen. But you know what? If I could blow 2 grand on a trip to Italy or England and have a lot of money left over in the bank, I would SERIOUSLY consider it.

I have decided against the trailer that the man has now decided to give as a straight across trade. My trailer, actually, is better than that thing. I just didn't realize it until giving it focused thought. I have too much on my mind right now with a lot of different things that are completely unrelated to each other going on.

I uhhh, have so much of that going on right now, I am finding it difficult to even finish this entry.

ben

Wednesday 7/13/2011

Wednesday

So the Army Reservist finally came clean. Yes, she lost her pickup, but she has a friend that might loan her the $1,400 it's going to take to get it out.
She was she was "only" 2-1/2 months behind on her payments. I informed her that after 30 days, you better start thinking about them coming and getting it cause' they don't wait forever to get their money before the repo man shows up. She handed me the rest of the rent for last month and partially into this month and then dropped the bomb that I knew was coming anyway:

"I am probably going to move back to Alabama". This will be a never-ending story as long as I am renting rooms. I hope the carpet in there isn't trashed so I don't have to go replacing carpet.

Rey has his girlfriend back - they have broken up at least 3 times since he has moved into my house. Clue: breaking up the first time would have been enough for me, twice definitely the end. Forecast: it will happen a 4th time. Ending: I don't really care, if a person wants to torment themselves over a girl, then have at it. Just don't bring drama into my house because I will have none of it, as he and her started the last time she was in my house and they were arguing LOUDLY. I made it LOUDLY known that I don't DO that kind of s***.

The girl is messed up, anyway. She goes between Rey and a woman that lives in Tucson. Yes, you read that right, going between a man and a woman. We're living in a strange world.

But, messed up is that kid that was killed in New York. They said his body had been stuffed into a plastic bag, into a suitcase and into a trash can or something. That's just sick and evil. Undoubtedly it will come out that the boy was raped before he was killed. Isn't that what it always turns out to be? Some guy getting his "rocks" off and then to eliminate a witness, kill the victim. The REAL justice for a person committing such a heinous crime comes in the next life, not this one.

If Obama and Boehner don't think that the average American doesn't see right through all this BS that is going on, they might both want to wake up and get a clue. We aren't stupid. This whole debt ceiling fiasco is nothing but political games and bantering. I'm not saying we shouldn't bring the deficit under control and do something about bringing the national debt down, but clearly, both sides of this aisle are poising for political "gain" and that's the end of this story. Vote the WHOLE lot of them out - GOP and Dems and start over.

The work fat loss contest has begun - but neither of us at our branch have had fat content measured, so, really, it hasn't begun for me. Until the salesman who started this contest comes over here with the fat calipers to takes measurements, I am not going to go full bore with it. When he does, I intend on limiting myself at least 4 days a week to between 1,000 and 1,200 calories per day. Maybe less. I intend on pumping iron at the gym as well.

Neither her nor there. I will be interested at what my body fat/bmi percentage is, at one point in my life, it was at 4.9%. I am nowhere near that now, admittedly, neither do I have any desire to get that skinny/lean again. Lean, yes, but I had almost no body fat on me and it just would take too much to get back down to those levels again and more, it is not necessary to get that low again to be at a healthy weight/fat ratio.

Well, work day has arrived again. That seems to happen, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year excepting on paid holidays and taking time off. Wonder that.

G'day.

ben

Tuesday 7/12/2011

Tuesday

Another busy day at work ahead. I may end up with some good hours this week the same as last week and the week before : )

So, I finally HEARD from Caleb (my son)! Not just Facebook or emails, but he called me yesterday. I was REALLY bummed when I saw I had missed a call from him. I tried to call him back to no avail. I left him a message and 30 minutes later, he called again.

The boy has FAR more free time than he has been letting on. I asked, he gave in. There is a good down time between when one batch of campers leave and a new batch of them come in. Like about a day and a half, or even 2 days.

So, I guess the counsellors all take off to Showlow - a town that is not actually that close, I think it's at least 60 miles away. A nice diversion, I guess, they go bowling there and do whatever else. In other words, they have their own family going up there and so they spend their free time together. No problem, just a little communication with family here and there would be nice, though I definitely say THAT to him, lol. It was just good to hear from him.

He also indicated that he wanted me to go up there and bring him home. Which is cool, I definitely would love to do that. So, he is done on August 30th and unless something changes, I will be going up there to get him. That's on a Saturday, so I don't have to take time off of work, either.

I have no idea what is going on in Quartsite, AZ. That one took me totally by surprise. Ousting the mayor and apparently in times past, arresting him? I don't quite get it, it appears there is ill workings in the town council, I would hope the State would intervene, start an investigation and find out what's going on there. Yikes!

Iran's president's "half brother" is killed. I don't know anything about the man, but if he is anything like their president, I won't be shedding any tears. In fact, from my perspective of it, that nation's president's views on things does not necessarily even come close to how at least some percentage of it's populus see things.

Tempe is turning off the cameras. AZ DPS shut them off quite a while back on the freeways and then, finally, Redflex was forced to remove the cameras altogether off the side of the road. Good riddance. Now Tempe has voted to turn the damned things off as well. The story stated that "any tickets received between now and the time the contract officially ends must still be paid". Bunk. I didn't pay the only one I ever got from a freeway camera and beat it, even if by default, I wouldn't pay another one, either. My little book I bought that shows you how to beat them has so many ways to beat them that you are likely able to get out of it without the help of a lawyer.

Where is my mind REALLY at right now? Vacation. I really do NOT want to sit home the entire time. I will undoubtedly go down and visit my dad at his new residence for a day, but that can't be the ONLY thing I do, can it? I mean, really. If it just means renting a cabin for a day or two up in the mountains, that's better than nothing. I dunno, I'm really thinking about what I can do to get out of this hot town for at least a few days without having to break the bank to do it.

With that, I must get offa here, work day has arrived.

G'day.

ben