The service at the Salvation Army yesterday was pretty cool.  I missed my church's service excepting to go to the first 45 minutes of worship, but I was amazed at the worship service the SA had, very anointed.  I took a video of Caleb and another person who was also going through the ceremony to become a Soldier.  I don't really know what becoming a soldier in the SA actually means in terms of what they expect of you, though there are commitments he made yesterday that were interesting.   

I was also given a complement by one of his friends, lol.  "You're dad's pretty buff".  Oh really?  Nice to hear from the younger generation.  Vanity I guess, but I'll take it, lol.

That was it.  I didn't go to the baptismal yesterday for our church, I was plain too tired, it was a later start time and I wanted to see Caleb when he came home.   I also was still obsessing about that stupid bird that keeps eating my fish, keeping an eye on the sky and the ponds, waiting to see if I could see it come flying over.  I have only seen it once, Mark has seen it several times now. 

Start of a fresh new week.  Same old thing at work.  Oh well. I kinda get tired of it after a while which is usually a good sign that it's time to take some serious time off of work and get away from that rat race for a while, get revitalized, do something different.  Or just stay home, doesn't really matter, the point is to get away from it for a while.  The new truck is supposed to be in this week, actually, today, but I am not holding my breath on that one, they keep changing the arrival date on it.  

The truck I am driving now, the AC doesn't work well enough to keep up with the heat and this week is going to be warmer.  So, that new truck needs to get here, like, soon, very very soon.  I cannot stand driving around hot trucks and we aren't going to dump more money into it to try and get it fixed.  We have already spent almost 4 grand trying to get the AC fixed on it - and that at the International dealership - they don't seem to have a clue and it's a waste of money and time.  So, crossing my fingers that the new truck will arrive and I won't have to put up with nonsense anymore.

I am thinking of asking for a week off in June and in fact will probably put in the paperwork for it today.  

Regardless, it's time to be off to work!

G'day.

ben

So, Caleb has shown a sudden interest in learning how to cook.  This started about a month ago.  I finally heard why he is so interested in such last night:  His missionary stint to the Salvation Army will include him having to cook for himself.  He mostly has not cooked much of anything in his lifetime, relying on frozen dinners and whatever I cook or his mother cooks.

So, it's good to see that he will have to fend for himself in that arena.  Today, he will learn how to cook and glaze a ham - pretty easy stuff - and how to make mashed potatoes out of real potatoes (versus instant potatoes) and that should do it.  Well, throw in a vegetable or 2 of course.

Anyway, this will be a busy day. Start off with the worship service at my church, but then leave early to go to Caleb's church to see him promoted to a Solider within the Salvation Army, a necessary move for him to be able to go to Hawaii later this year as a missionary.  After that, our church is going to do baptisms at one of the congregant's homes in Gilbert so if there is time, I am going to travel over there and hopefully help pray in these individuals that need to get baptized.

I was baptized in lake Mead long ago so I don't feel the need to do that again.

For that, I am going to have to get off of the internet, go clean a pond filter, take a shower and get out of here.

Happy Sunday (or Monday to those living on the other side of the world, lol).

ben

It's all out war.  This war consists of having had placed an online order for a very realistic, cool-looking Great Blue Heron and also having had bought shade fabric to put around the ground installed pond to keep the Heron from wading in.

Frankly, if it were legal, I would just take the thing out with my pellet rifle.  It has a scope on it and it is very accurate.  I could take that bird out with one shot from that thing.  It isn't some play toy, it is a very powerful, air-driven rifle that looks like a real rifle.  Wood stock and almost 3 feet long.  The only way you can tell it's not a real rifle is the size of the barrel.  It is obvious after a closer look at it that it's not a large enough diameter to have any bullets going through it.

But I will have to dismiss that thought as I am sure if I did shoot the thing down, neighbors would be calling the police and I would probably get arrested.  Not worth it, especially considering there are other ways to deal with this thing.  I don't really want to go around shooting birds, anyway, it just pisses me off that this thing has taken to roosting in the pine tree directly behind my house which partially comes over my property and then feels free to eat my fish.

I went out and looked this morning, there are a LARGE number of fish missing out of that pond.  My only real luck is that the thing hasn't gotten any of my prized Koi, the ones I really like including the big butterfly Koi.  I can accept the loss of those other fish, but I would be completely infuriated right now if one of those 4 were gone.  So, in a few minutes, going to go out there and get this done.  I should take long since I already have posts cemented into the ground around the pond as I installed a shade cover over it a few years ago to keep some of the intense sun off of it and heating up the water too much.

_________________________________
Phase 1 completed.  The screening is now installed and should be enough in itself to stop any of them from entering.  I am now going to reinforce it.  I wish I had a camera to run over there!  My Heron decoy/lawn decor will be here in about a week.  Between the 2, hopefully the bird will be stopped/deterred from doing any more damage.

Further inquiry into the internet has Herons not liking big dogs - I have huge dogs but they won't like me making them stay over there.  Fishing line.  Apparently trips them up, but I have read that it has limited success. Scarecrow.  A motion activated water sprayer that some swear by and others say don't work as the Heron will get used to it and won't care about water spraying on them (and also a bit on the expensive side).

I also read that they can just stand at the side of a pond, even an elevated one (the above ground pond is about 30 inches tall) and just wait for fish to come close enough for it to stab one.  Okay.  I have an answer for that but it's going to take a while.  My Yerba Mansa has about half of the pond covered on the sides.  There is no way a Heron can fish through that mass of plant sitting there.  But the other half of the pond doesn't have any of it and so - at least start the thing towards growing over there so the bird cannot access it at all.  Not to mention it looks nice having that plant growing like that.

Both ponds now fully protected - I hope.  Stood out there until the sun went down and did not see it come back to the tree.  I don't think birds wait until after dark to be coming "home", so not sure what's going on with it.  What I do know is that the blooming thing knows where my ponds are and it will be back, especially after getting as many free - and easy pickings - meals as it has gotten.

You think I am obsessing about this.  Yep, I am.  Those fish are worth a lot of money.  Koi are not cheap fish.  I spent a lot of time going around to homes where they were shutting down the ponds and either giving the fish away or selling them cheap.  All over the Phoenix metro area and even a trip to the town of Maricopa.  Once I acquired enough fish, I stopped.  I can buy more small Koi from Petsmart, but I still  have plenty of fish in both ponds so prolly not going to do that unless I want to get another Butterfly Koi - they are selling them now and they are such beautiful Koi fish.

I am definitely going to replace the fancy goldfish - don't remember it's name - I can get a couple at Petsmart -  small ones - for like 5 a piece.  It will be years before they are as big as the one that was eaten and found on the ground the other day - which is what sent me into all of this frenzy of shoring up my ponds and keeping that thing out of there.

Heron Back In Full Force

I was pretty sure it was a Heron that had left a half a dead fish body laying on the ground, but now it's completely and totally confirmed.

In fact, the news isn't good at all.

Mark came up to me a few minutes ago and said he was outside, smoking a cigarette and saw a "giant bird" chasing after a smaller one, forcing the smaller one out of the tree.  The tree is a pine tree - 60 or 70 feet tall I guess.  This is what's happening to my Koi and goldfish.  It is NOT going to continue. This is guaranteed. I am not going to lose 2 entire ponds full of Koi and goldfish to some bird that thinks my ponds are the local Burger King or Jack In The Box.  SCREW THAT.

My first plan of attack will be to put netting or thick screen over the entire exposed pond.  It's going to be a pain, to say the least, to deal with this but deal with it I must.  I would actually love to be able to put a camera on those ponds and record whatever's happening for a couple of days and look over the recording to find out what time the bird is there.  This is important, because Herons have a routine.  They go to the same ponds, every day.  They add to that routine whenever they find a new pond or whatever body of water that has available fish in it.

Whatever the case, if I can get the above ground pond covered with netting and the in-ground pond that already has poles cemented in the ground also surrounded, this should stop the problem temporarily until I can figure something else out.  I cannot believe that freaking thing has decided to take a home in a tree that is partially over my property.  If it were on my property, I would scale that tree and deal with that thing once and for all. I was reading that there is probably a nest up there as well, something I would discard of immediately.

I'm gonna have to get off of that subject.  It's getting late - after 10 - I went to church and the prayer meeting and yes, it went on for a while.  It was great, though. The pall that was over the church on Sunday was gone tonight.  The word I sent to the pastor at the behest of a strong willed lady in the church who declared I should give the word IN the service and what kind of impact it would have instead of writing it out.

Freaking herons. Go to a public pond and eat all the stocked fish you want.

Oh, well she told me that tonight as well. Not in a haughty way or anything like that, just an exhortation.

If I get something clear at the next service, I am going to deliver it.  Whatever happens, I will get up, go the front, grab the microphone and speak it out.  I need to get my feet wet again.  I just don't want to say something that isn't from the Lord.

Time for bed.

ben

Well, more drama.  I go into one of my email accounts - I have several - and find an email from my dad that he wrote this morning.  He had sent it out to most of his extended family.  His "wife" kicked him out yet again.  He was an emotional wreck and he had to find a new place, allegedly and he was writing about all of the problems he is going to have in attempting to deal with it.  Then, I find another email he wrote this afternoon, saying that his wife was waiting for him at the door with open arms.

Look, this kind of drama I don't need.  If he wants to stay with a woman that repeatedly kicks him out and tells him to find a new place to live, then that is his problem.  If it were me, I would be a goner, buh-bye, I won't be seeing ya later; don't call me and I most certainly won't be calling you.  But, that's not the way my dad is.  I still can't understand why he wants to stay with a chick that apparently needs bi-polar medication or mood-swing therapy, I dunno.  Last time I got that same kind of email from him, I immediately wrote him and told him I would help in whatever way I could.  I guess I would have this time, but only after  waiting at least 24 hours to see if this situation had ironed itself out again.

Whatever.  I came home today to find the stove top covered with food and goo yet again.  I am assuming this is the new tenant's doings, because I haven't had this problem up until now.  Laughable at best to think this guy stated that he is cleaner than Mark - Mark is a clean freak and obsesses about cleaning things to the point of taking things apart to clean them.  No-one else in the entire house including me is "cleaner" than Mark.  I consider leaving the stop top covered with that kind of s*** to be the workings of a slob and the issue is being addressed by a notice on top of the stove.  If that doesn't work, then a face-to-face confrontation will occur because I can't stand having a dirty kitchen.  I want it clean and I want it kept clean.

Went up to Globe again today.  We sell pipe and fittings to store that sells the stuff up there.  We don't go up that often, but I like the drive.  Today, the guys wanted me to "take it up the hill". The store is already up on top of a hill - about a 15% grade to get up to it.  This other hill is behind the store and is extremely steep.  45 degree angle anyway.  Well, I got it up there but it was so tight, getting back out proved to be the biggest backing challenge I have had in a while.  So much so that I had to do a pull up after realizing I hadn't cut quite enough and the truck? Stuck on this hill. It lost traction even with inter-axle lock.  Sure, I could have kept going backwards, but I would have ended up taking out a fence and going into a ditch.

Had to have them pull me out with a chain.  But, no biggies.  Not the first time I have gotten that truck stuck - some construction sites pose problems with differing situations that can make a truck sink in mud or get stuck in deep and loose rock.  It isn't the end of the world and I consider  part of the job description.

Work week over.  I am still planning on hitting the church prayer meeting tonight, which starts in an hour and 45 minutes.  That is, of course, if I'm awake enough by then to be able to fully engage myself in such.  Well, I think I"m going to take a nap because I'm tired as it is.  If I can't wake myself up enough for the meeting, I just plain won't go.

ben

So it's Friday already, a very busy week almost behind me.

Between working 12 hour days and having to call my car insurance company - a dozen times at least - and calling Century Link to fix the freaking internet - which it is still messing up - I'll be glad when today's work day is over.  Oh and let's not forget whatever creature came and ate half of one of my fish out of one of my ponds.............

The insurance situation was simply the desire to have my windshield replaced on my car using my windshield insurance with no deductible.  It started with a lady on the phone who was asking endless questions, which I guess they all do, but after 15 minutes of this, she THEN stated that "okay, let's get started, this is going to take a while".  ???  What do you mean?  Well it's about a 30 minute "investigation".  But I just answered questions for 15 minutes.  Yes, that was the preliminary investigation.

Unbelievable.  I have had windshields replaced with insurance companies where you simply call them, tell them you want it replaced, 5 minutes later you're done, off the phone and scheduling a company to come out and replace it.  Not here.  We got "started" on this next "phase" and went on for another 10 minutes before she asked about previous accidents.  Yes, I was in one about 3-1/2 years ago with this car, minor bumper damage.

NOW, this woman wants to go into a lengthy discussion about an accident that occurred years ago and most assuredly had absolutely NOTHING to do with THIS claim. I asked to speak to her manager as I was sick of this s***.  She said no, company policy you can't speak to a manager.  That's when I knew things were going to turn ugly.  Company POLICY that I can't speak to a manager?  This went on for a while, I wasn't budging, she switched me over to a claims adjuster.  This guy was a real piece of work.  I asked this dude about the ethics of an employee that would tell me it's a "policy" not to be able to speak to a manager?  He didn't want to talk about that, told me he wasn't in customer service and eventually hung up on me.

I called back and talked to another lady who was very sweet, looked over my policy and informed me that everything was done, all I needed to do was to get a glass company and have them fax over their information.  This after the guy that hung up on me told me that I was "refusing to cooperate" and that this investigation would have to be completed  to get my windshield - and then hanging up.

Well, the glass company called them the next day and someone informed this guy that I had been "uncooperative" and that I had not completed the investigation.  He calls me to inform me of their statement.

I called back several times, getting the runaround.  I was attempting to find a way to call their corporate headquarters, but even Hoovers only had their 800 number listed.  Yesterday morning, I hunkered down, steeled myself and got on the phone.  One refusal after another.  The final adjuster I was talking to absolutely refused to connect me with a manager.  He repeatedly asked my why I needed to speak to one and I repeatedly told him why.  Apparently not good enough for him.  I finally just stated that if he did not connect me to a manager, I was going to call corporate (though I had no idea how, I guess do an extensive search on the internet) and have this phone call reviewed.  He still refused and I just started repeating "management please" after every time he repeated himself.

This finally got me connected to some other department, who connected me with another department and I finally got a lady on the phone who said, well, okay, let me get you a manager.  FINALLY!  Another woman got on the phone and yes, this was, after an hour of trying to get to that point, a manager.

I told her the entire story from front to end.  She was aghast at some of the statements some of the people had told me, including Ryan, the adjuster who had absolutely refused to get me a manager or the first lady that also refused, or the second person, or anyone after that excepting the final person.  She checked into it and said well, you are already good for the windshield.  No, ma'am, I am not.  The glass company called and someone told him that I had to call back.  This story unraveled and finally?  Yes, she was telling me how she was going to be contacting the managers over all of these people that had told me all of this BS and that they would deal with these individuals accordingly.

A certain feeling of satisfaction started creeping in.  These people all thought they were immune to any form of disciplinary action.  I asked that she ask those managers to review every single phone call.  ALL of those calls are recorded, they each explicitly state that before you even start talking to any of them.

So, relief hitting, I have a new windshield to be installed today while I am at work.

As for the internet, it comes on and off, I have no idea and neither did Century Link.

As for the pond, I don't know if this a daily, recurring theme or what, but I am going to have to figure something out.  Whatever (Heron?) ate that fish, that fish was about a $40 fish.  I got it when it was small and it had grown very large. It's a fancy type of goldfish and I saw them listed for almost $40 at Pet Smart the other day and those fish were smaller than mine.  Goldfish are cheap to replace - just buy another small one and eventually it will be a big one - but the large Koi?

Well, almost time to leave for work.  I have been neglectful of my journal but what can I say.  I have been too tired to do much of anything but come home from work, sit down, browse the internet for a while and then - go to sleep.

Church prayer meeting tonight, I am hopeful I can muster the energy to go to it, it should be good, very good.

G'day.

ben

I've read a number of articles about helicopter parents.  These are folks that would rather do everything for their child instead of letting them learn - and probably making a lot of mistakes in the process - of how to do things for themselves.  It has been interesting to finally read some articles about studies that show that this kind of parenting actually harms a child versus helping them learn much of anything on their own in life.

I must admit, with my son, that teaching him how to cook has not been high on my list of priorities in life.  I just have never had the patience.  It's easier for me to whip something up and serve it to him than to have to go through all that process to teach him how to cook.  My ex-wife, apparently, the same way.

I say that because he has finally taken it upon himself that in order to be able to make it on his own? Cooking is a big part of that.  Sure, you can do microwave junk and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches; cereal with milk, but is that going to cut it for the rest of your life?  So yesterday, he determined he was going to cook his own dinner.  I was amused by that idea, but I didn't show it.  I wondered how he would do on his own without any supervision?  But I was all for it, don't get me wrong.

So, while I was outside working on the various - numerous - parts of the yard that need attention - he went to the store.  He came back some 30 minutes later with a bag of brown rice and a package of beef stew meat.  This is ground round or something similar that has been cut into small portions that are apparently the butcher's idea of pre-cut, pre-packaged stew meat.  Okay.  He didn't know any better and I didn't even try to correct him, just figured we would see where this goes.

Well I was on the phone with my mother when he came back home and he informed me he wasn't going to do this without at least my supervision on the project.  Okay, I can do that, but I am not going to do the work.  He's going to do all of it.  I had no clue what to do with stew meat? Except put it into a stew?  But he was hungry, so improvisation was the necessity of the minute.

I went inside and decided that he was going to cook that rice first.  This was NOT instant rice, this is the long cooking term stuff.  So he got that on the stove - after I corrected him a few times on not following the instructions on the package. After about 30 minutes, we got started on the stew meat.  I decided that frying it in a cast iron skillet with some olive oil would probably turn out okay if it had some kind of something on top of it - so I got out a packet of fat-free beef gravy.  I had him do the "work". This was a pretty simple dish.  Nothing too extravagant here.

He got the oil in there - put too much in so I just hinted next time about half of what he had in there would suffice - got the burner on and then we waited.  After it was nice and hot, I had him dump the stew meat in there and stir it around a bit, get it frying nicely.  I then pulled out some spices and showed him how to spice meat without going overboard.  His attempt? Definitely overboard but I stopped him before it was going to get overwhelming and then showed him my version of wrist action to get the spice out all over everything without over-spicing it.

While that was going on, I had him read the instructions on the gravy packet.  Very simple, but many people don't seem to get that you must mix it with COLD water or it's going to lump up and it's not going to turn out very well.  So I sort of re-iterated that a few times: cold water and whisk thoroughly until it's all absorbed into the water.

I kept on top of him - in a non-intrusive way - about keeping an eye on the meat.  Don't want to over cook it and need to keep it moving around since it's frying at a high temperature.  I figured the best way to show him how to see if beef is cooked to  his liking or not is to simply cut into a piece of it.  So that's what I did.  Not quite cooked enough, I said, but if you overcook it, it's going to be tough and not very appetizing.  So while he was stirring the gravy, I also had him looking at the meat.

Meat done, gravy done, off the burners. We got the rice off - it was just at the point that it was going to be overcooked - I am slowly getting the hang of cooking whole rice, I was never a big fan of it, instant rice turns out perfect every time, lol, but my son was into the idea of how cheap the bag of regular rice was.  79 cents. Instant rice is definitely not that cheap.  But it was still good.

He got the plate filled with beef and rice and poured the gravy over it?  And ate the entire plate. He proclaimed how good it was and yes, it was rather tasty.  I had never even bought this pre-cut beef before, much less attempted to make a quick dish out of it, so I was rather pleased at how well it turned out.  Of cousre, gravy can cover a multitude of sins, yet, the beef was cooked to perfection - it was not over-cooked and still red on the inside of each, small cut, the way we wanted it.  You want brown beef all the way through?  I only want that on a hamburger and even a slightly red hamburger doesn't bother me at all.  In fact, I used to eat raw hamburger meat. That was long ago before all the scare about stuff you can get out of eating it like that.  I never got sick off of it.  I loved the taste of it.  I know, gross to most people, I just loved it and can still eat it raw, but with the sickness risk factor, I don't do it anymore.

Mission accomplished.  End result - good.  My intervention - minimal.

Another thing they were saying about helicopter parenting was the amount of offspring still living at home. But they were including 18 year old kids and up.  Uhhh, really?  Many kids don't get out of high school until after they turn 18.  You can thrust them into college after that, I suppose, but that's not the only path to go and in this day and age, there are a lot of people walking around with freshly-acquired bachelor's and other degrees that cannot find a job in the field of study that they accomplished in college and are as low as minimum wage workers because that's the only jobs around.  Further, because of that, they are living at home with parents because the cannot afford to live on their own.  I didn't necessarily agree with those findings.  I don't think a 30 year old should still be living at home, prolly not, but a teenaged adult a different story.  My son is almost 20 and he is finding his own way and soon will be out of the house.  I am not forcing him out, I have only been standing behind the idea that he needs to find his own way, preferably through the Lord - and that is exactly what he is doing.  I am very proud of his course of action for life - following after the Lord - and I could care less what some worldly study's findings tell me that should be his reality.  Perhaps those people that came up with this study haven't been out looking for a job lately..............

I do tend to read a lot of stuff on the internet.  I do not tend to give all of it credence but I do like to read numerous different articles about the same subject, just to see if there is a consensus.  Even then, I still may not agree with it.  Just because several people have the same viewpoint does not, in my view, necessarily make them right.

Whatever the case, my 3 day weekend is now almost over.  Another 5 day work-week en-queue.  Not necessarily looking forward to it.  I need some extended time off and I think I am going to ask for it coming next month or if I think I can last that long, June at the latest (great month to take some time off considering the miserable heat that June provides us).  Actually I will have to take a day off next month as well because I will be at the edge of my maximum accrual hours for vacation once again,.  I have 3 and a half weeks of paid vacation leave available to me at this point.  I wanted to let it accrue until it was full for a variety of reasons, not the least of which to be able to take at least a week off during the 3 hottest summer months, but probably more like 2 weeks  off - maybe one in June and another in August.  That's 80 hours of vacation time taken while still leaves 60 plus the accruals during that period, adding up to 90 total left over.  This is what happened after I entered my 7th year of service at my company - I went from accruing 6 plus hours per month towards vacation to over 10 hours per month.  It's quite a large difference in the long run.

Enough. Time to wind down and get ready for bed.

ben

Finally got myself to go back to a casino.  Haven't been in  - a couple of years I think.  I have been playing the free, online version through MyVegas for a while now and decided to go an see what happens.

First table: 2 guys that had no clue what they were doing.  Didn't sit there long.  Second table, would have had the table to myself but a guy showed up as I was placing a bet.  I sat there for a while - it was up and down.  I decided that table wasn't working and went to another one - which wasn't working at ALL.  I ventured over to the other side of the building to their other blackjack tables.

2 guys at the table I sat down at.  One got up and left - making bad decisions on hands - and that's when I made the comeback.  Nothing grand.  But there was one hand that was very interesting.  I was dealt a pair of Aces.  I split.  I get another Ace.  Split again. I get another Ace and yes, split again! 4 hands running now.  You only get one card per hand when splitting aces.  I got a 10 on 2 of them and a 2 and a 3 on the other.  2 21's and 2 bad hands but if I win the 2 21 hands then it will offset the other 2 and it will ultimately be a push.

Didn't happen.  Instead, the dealer busted! Woohoo! I had my money back and I left shortly after that.  Just wanted to venture into it once to see if I could still hack it.

That's it.  I'm not going back to that one.  I will try a different one eventually, but - not today lol.  

I slept in this morning having had the day off - and went to bed early last night.  I got up and cleaned out the dirty pond's filter again.  It had gotten filthy in a short period of time.  Going to keep doing that until that water is clear and clean.  Probably every other day or every 2 days.

_______________________

Long interlude.  Went to Fry's.  They have almost completely relocated everything in the store.  I know (knew) where everything is.  Now I can't find anything.  I mean, they have relocated everything from one place to another, most of it to completely different aisles.  I mean, people are walking back and forth along the main aisles looking down the shelf aisles looking for the things they used to know the location of.

I asked, yes I did.  Shrugging shoulders from management and employees: Whose bright idea was THIS?!!
A new front end manager.  Dunno him, talks to me with tones of authority and as if he had been working at that store forever.  He's brand new there, I simply told him what I thought of his attitude, directly, to his face.  When I got home, I called Fry's corporate.  Blah Blah Blahhhhh.  They said they would have someone contact me.  I distinctly stated I wanted to speak to someone in corporate, not the store's general manager.  Who calls?

The store's general manager. That conversation went on for less than 60 seconds.  I called Fry's back.  Not a happening event.  Next call was from the district manager.  I decided to let it ride at that point.  A long, involved conversation.  Her pathetic points - handed down to her from Kroger's Corporate - were lame and my responses had her grasping for something to say other than you're right, or yes, or I completely agree.  Kroger's decided to do panels with people in study groups to determine what the best layout of a store was. I wondered if, during those panels, the following or something similar to it might have been brought up: If this was to be implement at YOUR favorite grocery store and it meant that, over the course of less than a week, the entire store was going to be changed around to the point that NOTHING would be anywhere CLOSE to where it was before and you had to, in effect, learn an entirely new store, would you want those kind of changes? I am guessing it was not.

The point, presumably, is to change it around for "psychological" purposes, ie: the things that if a person sees, is more likely to want to buy, according to even more group studies and testing.  None of that kind of thing does anything for me.  I completely ignore all or most of that stuff going into a store - they already had junk like that out there - and go for what I went in there for.

Do you know how long it takes to learn where everything is at in a giant grocery store?  I'm sure many people do.  Once you learn all of that, you certainly don't want to walk in there one day and find the ENTIRE store has been completely moved around.  Further, the employees can't find anything, either!
I was using logic with the District Manager, was her label.  Umm, ma'am, if your own employees can't find anything - that work there in 8 hour shifts or whatever, how long, do you suppose, it's going to take a customer coming in 3 to 5 times a week spending 20 or less minutes in there?  I don't have the time or the desire to go walking down every freaking aisle every time I go in there!

Need not go into this further.  End of story? I'll take a list in there next time, hand it to someone - anyone - if they refuse I'll just be calling this manager back.  Why?  They could have done this smarter.  If they were insistent on doing this, they could have phased this in over time instead of completely changing the entire store all at once.   But, I guess that doesn't make sense if they were combining things from several aisles into one.  Right?

Done.

Well, apparently the money they put back into my account is = my money or they probably would have taken it out by now.  I dunno, but I gave up being mad at the thief that stole it, the world is full of thieves and I have been victimized in the past, nothing new under the sun, no sense in holding it against a person I will never even see, much less get to meet and...........

Nice, windy day.  Winds came and brought in much cooler air, something more like the feel April SHOULD.  There is nothing in my mind that tells me that April should start feeling like near the end of May when the heat of summer begins to kick in and you start bracing yourself for the worst to come.

Fish troubles.  Aerator quit working - I have enough fish in that pond that an aerator that quits working? Those fish are going to be gulping air at the surface of the pond maybe half a day later.  Or so.  I think I just barely had enough aeration going into that pond as it was.  Well, go out there Monday after work and ALL of them were at the surface attempting to gulp air. This typically means they don't have much time before they die.

Air pump had quit.  I quickly went out front to the pond with only mosquito eaters in it - they can live in standing water - took that pump and set it up.  It only has enough for one aerator in the pond, but enough, I think.  I then took the filter assembly apart, cleaned it out and then set it up higher by adding more pavers underneath it.  Meaning the waterfall will be from a higher perch and more aeration from the water falling into the pond by virtue of the water going deeper from the waterfall.

I then added plenty of fresh water.  I simply had no desire to go to the store.  Yesterday, I went and bought a much larger air pump at Walmart, the biggest they have and that was it.  That thing cranks out a lot of air.  The water looks like it's boiling at the area where the bubbles are coming up.  Thankfully, no fish lost and they are swimming around as normal.

But, the water is getting dirty so now I am going to have to start cleaning out the filter every couple of days until it's clean again.  Big PITA.  It's getting dirty cause' it's growing season and the fish are eating like crazy.  Rather then cut back on their diet, I will just have to clean out the filters more frequently.  Just got done with one of them, will do the other one tomorrow.

Which reminds me, I have a 3 day weekend coming up.  Finish off tomorrow and I get Friday off.  The purchasing agent at a municipality that I frequent in making deliveries - and we talk a lot about blackjack - wants me to come to the casino and see if we 2 can end up in the final series.  It's a weekly thing on Fridays at 3:00 am.  Yes, that is Friday morning, 3 AM.  He has 3 day weekends every week - many municipalities are switching to 4 - 10 hour work days instead of 5 - 8 hours and so, lucky him, 4 day a week work schedule.  He CAN get up at whatever time to be at the casino that early.  Actually, he stays up all night long!  Me?  I would go to bed at 8:00 pm and get up instead of attempting to stay up all night long, too much for me to handle being up all night.

I am considering it is all I can say about it.  It's a 25 buck buy in and you get a coupon for free breakfast at one of the casino's restaurants.  I have eaten at one of that particular casino's restaurants and the food was very good.  That was, of course, after winning $500 and deciding that a free meal - free because of the house's money, lol - was called for.

I started this entry a day and a half ago, lol.

Now, it's Thursday late afternoon, I am off work until Monday.  Very long day today, but I got a run up to Globe in.  They were going to do it tomorrow - and I would have lost that run - but I talked them into it cause' tomorrow?  They have all KINDS of stuff in there to do.  A 3 plus hour run up to the mountains would not be a happening event.

Western Union Fraud

You want to talk about distracted driving, that was me, coming to work this morning.
That's because I was online, looking at my checking account - I pretty much do that on a daily basis.  When I got into the account, the amount in there was waaaaaay lower than I expected to see.  I started thinking, what on earth did I do?  I fixed Caleb's car and filled it up with gas, but it wouldn't have cost that much money.

The account comes up and there it is: 2 debits in the amount of $155.02 each.  Didn't make any debits for that amount yesterday or the day before and if I had, I wouldn't have made 2 of them for the exact same amount. I didn't recognize the name of the company on there, it just had WU with an 800 number.  I called the number - Western Union.

You want to talk about a good reason to check your accounts on a daily basis, this is the biggest one I can think of: people out there are out to steal your money and if they find a way to do it, you are cooked, screwed and shafted.

I'm walking out the door of my house, spacing everything else out.  I want my money back.  I got very mad, very quickly.  I would love to get my hands on the people that steal your bank information and then steal your money.  It would not be a pleasant encounter for that person or those individuals, I can assure you of that.

Well, I'm looking up the phone number of Chase and attempting to drive - not very smart on my part but everything in the "sane" department seemed to have checked out at that point.  Just get on the phone with the bank and get the account frozen or whatever needs to be done immediately.  I finally got them on the phone and the representative connected me with their fraud department.  It didn't take him long: Someone did an over the phone or online transaction with Western Union last night using your debit card number.  Your checking account is fine, it was your card that was used. We are cancelling that card right now and will be sending you a new one which will arrive in the next 7 - 10 business days.

All well and fine, but what about my  money? - I'm thinking but didn't say anything, thought I'd heard the guy out and see what happens in such circumstances.  They are "temporarily" crediting my account with the money and it's up to a review department to determine whether I get to keep it or not.  Well what are you going to do about this fraud, the person that enacted it?  It was not very clear at that point.  Well getting my  money back even if temporarily was better than hearing so sorry, sob, you lose.  Actually, the two transactions were still showing pending, meaning the bank hasn't even cleared them yet.

Standing down now.  At least my account is safe and no more fraudulent transactions can occur, but there is still one question that I must somehow resolve: How did they get my debit card number?  The last place I used it was at Quik Trip - a gas station a mile away from my house in filling up Caleb's car.  I use cash more often than not, I use the debit card but sparingly.  I wonder if one of those things had been installed on the gas pump card reader that I have read about?  I don't remember looking at it that closely.

The other place was Auto Zone.  These are the last 2 places recently that I used the card.  My online bill paying is mostly through the checking account number, not the debit card.  So I don't know, but I am going to call or visit the gas station today to see if such electronic device might have been found on thei pumps, however, I think it would be difficult for a thief to do such a thing in a very well lit area at a place that is open 24 hours a day.  I don't know, really.

Just makes me happy that I check my accounts almost every single day.  I do it because of this potential: thieves getting in there and stealing.   I hate Western Union, btw, it is the Bank of Thieves.  They use that mode to steal more than anything.  Excepting the fact that I did not use Western Union, at all.

Edited:  I just got off the phone with Western Union who, as I figured, basically told me to go blow  - the money was taken out last night.  I was thinking someone local got a hold of my information.  I thought wrong.  Pasy, Philippines.  Some dude, at 11:57 pm last night, went to a convenience store in the Philippines and made these transactions.

Here's the real problem: HOW did this person get my debit card number?  An online transaction is my guess.  I'm going to have to go in an change the passwords on all accounts that I pay online.  The only other thing I have done is buy fish food from an eBay seller - I have been buying from this same person for a couple of years now.  I'm trying to wrap my mind as to how this person got my number and I just don't know.  That card has been cancelled, but that is no peace of mind if this person can just find out the new card number once I start using it. I pay my car payment and credit card payments online.  I also pay Direct TV; water bill; Century link internet and Verizon online as well.  Some of these use my bank account number, most of them use the debit card number now that I am thinking about it.

I'm racking my brain, 2cd edit here, attempting to figure out how, exactly this individual got a hold of my debit card number.  Is there malware installed on my computer I don't know about?  Odd occurence: a Windows update 3 or 4 days in a row now, attempting to install on my computer.  You know, those auotmatic updates that come from Microsoft?  That is not normal.  I'm going to have to back up the files I want to save on my deskto- which fortunately aren't that many - and delete and reinstall Windows 7 as a precaution.  I've been wanting to do that for a long time, anyway, I just found the motivation to do it.  I am giong to change all passwords on every online account and I am going to make sure they are all differnet passwords.  So I will have to write them all down.  I have virus protection, but is it good enough? At this point, I don't know.


And I am still worried about whether this "temporary" credit is going to remain.


Oh well.

ben

Let's bomb the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Yeah, that's a great idea!  You have to wonder what, exactly, is going through the mind or minds or the person or people the enacted this horrific event.  Why?  I don't understand people who just want to kill others.  Okay, let me say here that there are circumstances where a person can lose it and potentially get some sympathy from the public.

Revisit the dad whose 2 young sons were killed when they were attempting to push their broken down vehicle back to their house.  A drunk driver smashed those kids and the dad - shot the man in the head.  Whether it's right or wrong?  I can definitely see where the man's mind would be at under such circumstances.  That drunk driver just took his offspring from him.  I don't know that, in such circumstances, I would have killed the driver, but - I am not going to say that that driver would have walked away under their own power.

I'm going to wait on this one.  Who did this? Al Qaeda?  A nutcase?  Some other militant group?  A rogue nation?  This is the world we live in and it's full of evil.  There is no understanding such things taking place, only the fact that this world is corrupt.

Onto other things. Church was amazing on Sunday.  Absolutely incredible. The presence of the Lord was palpable.  I had a word from the Lord that was intense. I didn't give it, though I should have.  An older lady came up to me while all of this was going on - rather surprising - sat down next to me and told me that she was not going to let me go on this one.  What?  "You have a word!  You must share it with the Body of Christ!"  

I was taken aback. Not in a bad way, she was right: I had a word yet I go through so many mind-battles at church, still, that I don't want to go up front, pick up a microphone and start speaking. Not that I am afraid to - I have preached in front of a lot of people - but I don't want to give out something that is not purely from the Lord.  I never did get up there.  She came up to me after the service and apologized, asking me for my forgiveness for offending me.

NO, I replied, you definitely did not offend me! I need a good boot in the rear.  A short discussion and she asked if I would at least write it out and send it to the pastor.  I agreed to that and I did.  He wrote me back and exclaimed how powerful a word it was and could he share it with the elders?  After that, he then said he wanted to share it with the entire congregation.

I am no great man of God. I am a faulted human.  This is my hangup.  After I got divorced, ministry went by the wayside and got off track.  I have been off track for so long, it's been very hard to try and get back into the swing of things concerning church and ministry.  Yet I hear these things coming from the heavenlies and it churns within me, especially during services.

Well, anyway, onto other things.  I went outside today to feed the fish in the ponds and was startled at the site of the horse trough pond.  All the fish were at the top, gasping for air.  A fish's version of drowning.  Meaning there isn't enough oxygen in the water.  A quick check found that the aerator had quit working.  Goodness gracious.  I don't want my fish dying like that!  I quickly went to the front pond that has nothing but mosquito eating fishing in it, grabbed the aerator off of it and set it up.  I then removed the waterfall filter - it was clogged - and cleaned it out and put it back.  I then got some pavers and put underneath that filter - which pours out water over the side of it, making a waterfall - and made it a higher fall of water, meaning greater aeration.  After that, I started pumping fresh water into the pond.

I hope that is enough to get them into a better situation.  Tomorrow I am going to buy 2 aerators for that pond and get it fully oxygenated.  But, fish attempting to sip air through their mouths at the surface are fish that won't last very long.  I am going to go out there in a minute and check again, it should be getting better in there by now.  Enough that they don't have to be hanging out at the surface.

It's late, for me anyway, need to get to bed.

G'nite.

ben

It doesn't take much to make me happy, I guess, cause' that Queensland Bottle Tree is finally taking off!  It's putting out leaves like crazy!  I am helping it along with frequent waterings and fertilizer.  It likes it, lol.  It's fun to watch an "exotic" tree - certainly not native to this area and I've only seen one growing in a back yard (which is where I found out about them to begin with) - growing and liking this kind of desert environment.

But, I'm going to have to transplant it.  I picked a bad spot to put it.  I realized that after remembering how huge the trunks get.

The RV trailer is gone.  It is amazing how nice it looks out there without that big ole' thing blocking the view of everything.  I'm considering taking the money from the sale and paying off my car.  I owe about as much as I got from the trailer on it and I would like to be done with the payments on it.  The free'd up monthly payment would be very nice to have indeed.

I considered getting an above-ground swimming pool - but I decided against it.  The summers here heat up the water in those kinds of pools  to the point it becomes unusable.  You have to drain the water out and refill - which is pretty costly when talking thousands of gallons of water and having to do that semi-frequently.   An in-ground pool would be wonderful if I had an extra 15 grand or more laying around, lol.

350 man strikes again.  My newest tenant was coming home from Circle K (convenience store a block away).  He said he was listening to music and walking by 350 man's house when 350 man came rushing out his door, in the front yard and started glaring at him.  Tenant was taken aback.  He wasn't even looking at 350 man's house, much less starting any trouble.

I ended up telling him the entire story of the situation between us and also with my next-door neighbor.  He wasn't afraid or intimidated, in fact, he said if he "was like I used to be" they would have brawled already. I won't tolerate 350 man attempting to intimidate my tenants.  I will go straight back to court and get another restraining order if that s*** keeps happening.

Anyway, weekend here.  Taking Friday off - only because if I don't, I won't accrue any more vacation hours starting next month, I will be over my 140. Don't use them, don't accrue them.  I'll take the time off, thank you very much.

Ummm, gotta get movin'.  Stuff to do around the house.

G'day.

ben

Trailer sold.  Less than I wanted but enough to make me happy.

News flash: It's Furrrrrrrrrridayyyyyyy!

Next news flash: I got started late!

Off to work!

G'day!

ben

The trailer has been sold!

I think.

Lol.

An entire family was here yesterday for almost 2 hours.  They had looked at a lot of other trailers.  All old trailers need some kind of work, but mine is in very good condition and though there are things wrong with it, nothing serious or major.

These people live approximately half a mile away, lol.

Well, they are coming back today with money, hopefully.  Never call it a done deal until money is in hand of course.

With that?

Time to be off to work!

ben

I make no apologies, I am not a proponent of gun control.  I don't care what Obama and his ilk are saying or how badly he wants to lambaste Republicans in an attempt to make them look evil for taking any kind of stand against it - which is exactly what he is attempting to do - gun control is not going to work and that has been proven repeatedly, time and time again in other nations throughout the world through a vast expanse of time.

None of these measures they are proposing would have stopped the Newtown killer from obtaining the weapons he had stolen from his mother.  None of these proposals will do anything about all the existing guns in Americans' hands so what's the point?  Not only that, but gun manufacturers in anti-gun states are considering leaving those states for green pastures.  I can't blame them.  I DO like the idea of starting somewhere at a baseline to deal with mentally ill individuals, but even then I think you start on a slippery slope.

Whatever the case and completely changing the subject, my son now has to raise $4,000 to go to Hawaii for his year long missionary venture, apparently the Salvation Army pays the rest.  I can do a little, but he is going to have to reach out to all of his friends, extended family, do some fundraisers, save his money from his 2 month stint up in the mountains that he's going to do and maybe find some odd jobs to do.  I figure I'll chip in around $200 and call it good from my end.  I just can't do much more than that right now and even if I could, I probably wouldn't.  He is taking a step into a walk of faith in the Lord and if God wants him to go, then by golly, the Lord will make the way and he needs to learn how to trust in the Lord for his every need.

Is it Friday yet?  I think it was last summer that I took an extended vacation.  I'm really fighting the urge to put in for a week off here.  I want to wait until the summer to do so - better to take time off when it's boiling hot outside and not have to deal with that for a week.  I am at my maximum hours, well just short of them, for vacation so I have to take a day off here pretty quick, before the end of the month anyway so I don't start losing my vacation accrual.

But, I am ready for a longer vacation.  Only two months until June, so I am going to try to keep my cool about this and wait until at least June to take at least a week off.

Yikes!  Lost track of time, c'yall later, it's time to head in for work!

G'day.

ben

Neighbor Wars Have Escalated

It's all-out, full blown war.
My next door neighbor, who has been busy building his house - made his move yesterday.  I didn't find out about this until today, cause' I can't see that side of his house.

His neighbor - 350 man - installed metal fence posts into the ground - 23 inches into my neighbor's property - some time ago.  Ever since then, it's been all-out war.  But, it's a civil matter, not a criminal matter and my neighbor has been through the rungs in attempting to deal with this.

So yesterday?  He installed 2X4's into the ground - on 350 man's property side of the fence- but really it's my neighbor's property - to erect a fence.  My neighbor's lawyer informed him that he can't take down 350 man's fence posts, but he can install his own fence up to the real property line.  When my neighbor told me this today, I went to take a look.

Oh yes, he did.  And 350 man called the police.  The police can do nothing, a civil matter that only the court can decide.  My neighbor went into a long diatribe about how 350 man has called the city 100 times on him. This concerning the house he is building.

350 man.  A piece of work.  An under-funded, genetically defective piece of work, but a piece-of-work never-the-less.

I must admit to my tones towards him after finding out his wanderings on my property, in my back yard, after I go to sleep at night.  Not pleasant tones.  In fact, I would have to call it downright abrasive.  But who does this guy think he is, after all the trouble he has started with me, in coming into my back yard at night, after I have gone to bed?

I thought it was the water bill. A letter with City of Phoenix logo on it.
I opened it and found a note inside saying the city prosecutor has decided to press charges against the owner of the dogs that attacked Duke.
Very odd. They sent me a letter a month or two ago saying they were not going to do that.  It had talk in it about sending the woman to jail and this that and the other thing.
Well, they never asked me my opinion on the subject but the reality of it is, all I want is the money I had to spend on the vet back.  Perhaps put those dogs down.  That person is a very irresponsible dog owner seeing from the numerous times I have driven past there and seen the gate open and the door to the house open.  Those dogs could easily just run out of the house and start their junk all over again.  My dogs have gotten out before, but they don't go tearing up the first animal they see.

But I'm not a fan of Pit Bulls and anytime they attack anyone or other dog I am a fan of seeing them put down.
_________________________________________

Started this entry yesterday.  It is official now: Caleb is going to spend a year in Hawaii, leaving sometime in September.  He is also going to do another 2 month stint as a camp counselor at the Salvation Army's camp up in Heber.  The stint in Hawaii is also through the Salvation Army.  The winds of change have finally come for him and I am excited about what God is going to do in and through his life.  I am not exactly excited I won't be seeing him, but that's the way life is and the way God has set things up.  Normal, in other words, for your children to leave after they grow up and find their own way.  I am guessing after that year in Hawaii he will be moving on towards the things his heart is full of, which at the moment is to become a minister in Japan.

I am feeling rather tied down at this point.  I remember the days of missionary life and as hard and sometimes trying as they might have been, I wouldn't trade that experience for anything on this earth.  It's hard to break free from the "chains that bind you", which in this case is the life I am currently living in working a full time job; making house payments and all that comes with that and basically doing much of nothing else if comparing it to the life I lived some time ago.  But, until I get a clear picture of what I should be doing with the rest of my life in contrast to what the Bible says - I will do nothing but what I already do and that is to help people as much as I can.

_____________________________________

So Saturday. So far, I have done much of nothing excepting to refill the 2 Hummingbird feeders, brown a roast and put it into a crockpot and ponder some bills that are due to be paid.  I haven't been invited to go with, but I have been informed about a festival going on in downtown Tempe, starting 10 minutes ago.  A bunch of local artists will be there showing off their work. Sounds intriguing, actually, I can get lost in a good painting.

Well, just listed the RV trailer for the however manyeth time on Craigslist.  I am thinking I am going to have to break down and list it on RV Trader for at least one month or however they do it now-a-days and see if I have better luck there. I've had a couple of people come look at it, but so far nothing.

Off to work.  I have plenty to do outside and I have a person coming at 1:30 to take some of the Yerba Mensa that is growing like crazy off of my hands.  I need to get rid of some if, it consumes a large amount of water and drains my pond down quickly.  Let someone else have some water draining plants! For free at that!

G'day.

ben

Well, I am finally getting a run tomorrow morning out-of-town.  To Globe. I have been there numerous times for this company but not anytime recently.  In fact, I have been stuck on in-town trips forever.  My manager does not want me going out-of-town, he wants me here for the in-town junk.  It is junk not because of the job or the deliveries, but because of the unbelievable shit that happens in traffic with idiots every day.

Today?  Let's talk about one incident in particular.  I had finished delivering to a job-site - which was no small feat in itself and would have had to have made a video of the maneuvers I had to make to get in and more to the point: OUT of that place.  I was on the freeway bridge.  I did not pay any attention, whatsoever, as to what was going on on the freeway underneath me.

In a few seconds, I had wished I did.  I made the left-hand turn and looked ahead - nothing but a sea of stopped cars both on the freeway and the on-ramp I was on.  I got to the point where the cars were - parked - in front of me and waited.  And waited. And waited.  At some point, numerous vehicles merged onto the shoulder and started backing up the 500 feet to the freeway entrance.  At another point, they simply got to a point where they could turn around and started driving the wrong way! This wasn't a situation where traffic was moving very slowly and stopping and moving, this was a situation where NOTHING was moving AT ALL!

I called 511 on my cellphone and heard a recording tell me that the freeway "is closed at Williamsfield road".   Willaimsfield road? The next exit, 2 miles away. At the rate we weren't going, it would take hours!! Well, eventually and after calling in to let them know that I was stuck in non-moving traffic, it all started to move again, albeit very slowly.  I observed all lanes after finally getting to the point of actually entering the freeway and notice the "high speed lane" or far left lane was moving faster than all of them.  I moved over to that lane immediately and spent the next 25 minutes there moving 2 miles.

When I finally got to the accident scene, wow.  Jack-knifed big rig.  SUV that had obviously rolled at least once, crumpled like a tin can after crunching it, entire roof had been cut off by first-responders to remove the victims inside. Another car had also rolled and it was totally trashed.  I mean trashed as in crumpled and destroyed, not just minor damage.  TRASHED trashed!  Another vehicle - a pickup - but I could only see parts of it - the parts I see damaged but the rest was blocked by the wrecked semi.

OH, wait a minute, THAT wasn't the thing I wanted to talk about concerning idiots in traffic!  That just came to my mind because it took so long to get past it.

Okay, this will take less writing on my part and reading on yours:  I just got off the freeway - yes, I am drinv the semi.  48 foot flatbed (skateboard truckers call it).  I am in the "slow" right-hand lane.  There is a side-street I am approaching.  A Discount Cab car comes flying up beside me, cuts directly in front of me - less than a car's length and then SLAMS on the brakes to slow down enough to make a turn on the side-street which is now maybe 30 feet in front of me.

I'm shutting the truck down, laying on the horn, wondering if I'm going to rear-end this complete and total idiot.  Fortunately for me, I had off-loaded most everything on the truck at the prior deliveries so truck was light and easier to get slowed down. If the truck had been loaded heavy, I would have taken that car out.

 I immediately became infuriated with this moron.  It would have cost his life if any and I do not want to be responsible for taking someone else's life, regardless of the fact I would not have been at fault.  I turned onto the side street and followed him - sort of - he was driving erratically and well above the speed limit, just enough to get his license and cab number before he cranked into an apartment complex.

I called Discount Cab a while later and got a woman on the phone who "would be glad to take my complaint".  No, I said, I want to speak to driver management.  She connects me to someone else.  "Are you in management?" "Hold on, please".  Another person.  Same question.  Hold please.  Another person, same question. "Yes, I am the operations manager". Thank you.  I let loose.  You have a driver that is a complete and total liability to your company, among other statements.

I don't know what that man did about it, I can only call in and complain. A person driving like that is going to have a mishap eventually and it is going to cost the taxi company in insurance premiums.

Well enough. Time for bed.

ben

Finally!

My little Queensland Bottle Tree finally  started growing again!  I mean, the thing stopped growing near the end of fall last year and hasn't grown an inch since then. Now, Spring came and here we go!  It had a total of 9 leaves on it and that was that.  Now?  Growing up - sending out new leaves and looking very promising!

Monday.  Not a good day for me.  At sometime around midnight last night, someone slammed the back door and woke me up out of a dead sleep.  I got mad - it takes me a long time to get back to sleep usually - I ended up with about 4 hours of sleep last night.  I did not want to get out of bed this morning.  I was on my way to work and a salesman called - it was 5:45 am!  But, he just wanted to vent about a particular LTL company - Central Freight  to be exact - that had left a giant part sitting on a dock on Thursday of last week when it should have been loaded into the truck and on the dock at their Phoenix facility on Friday morning.

This part shut a whole jobsite down and Central Freight offered nothing  to compensate.  We will be suggesting to the company that shipped it - which ships out a LOT of freight on a daily basis, to reconsider using a freight company that has screwed things up on numerous occasions.

Well, I got to work and started right in.  Not 30 minutes into it and loading pallet, I threw a 120 pound solid metal fitting onto the pallet.  My right hand was in the way.  More precisely, my right hand ring finger.  I saw a split second before it happened what was going to happen and I just couldn't get my hand out of the way fast enough.  The part landed on the pallet and was instantly forced sideways up against another, heavy, metal part.

Yup, my finger was in the way.  Lots of blood and intense pain. I got the bleeding stopped quickly, but the pain? Smashed finger meat.  Pain doesn't go away very fast when you smash your meat.  It just doesn't.  I put ice on it immediately, the only thing I know of to keep the swelling down and to reduce the pain.  Well not the only thing, but ice is very effective and if you freeze it enough, it's going to help.

But, I was working and every time I started lifting or pulling on something, the bleeding started again, not to mention exponential amounts of pain ripping through the finger, into the brain, telling me this doesn't feel very good.  I don't deal with things that are light, the stresses placed on fingers, hands, arms, body are enormous at times.  A freshly smashed finger isn't really willing to deal with all of that.

Well, I get to a job site and the truck is completely loaded.  The finger started bleeding again to the point of soaking the glove on that hand with blood.  Hope you aren't eating while reading this, lol.  No, this isn't an April Fool's joke, either, the joke was on me if anything.  I just continued on with getting the truck unloaded and when finally done, took off the glove, removed the bandage and poured bottled water on it to clean it, dried it and then put a fresh bandage on it.

But, the pain didn't stop. I left work early today.  I just wanted to go home, put ice on it and deal with the pain. A drink or two wouldn't hurt, either.  And so it was, I got home before 2:00 pm, something that hasn't happened in a long time.  One of my tenants went and got ice in a paper towel and handed it to me.  I'm feeling better now and no bleeding since I got home.  Slept for 2 hours.

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Ummm, got off of writing this and now the next morning, almost time to leave for work.  Finger feeling a bit better, but still painful if I rub it up against anything.  Oh well.

G'day.

ben

Happy Easter!

I am leaving in a few minutes to spend a portion of the day with my mother - and my brother and his son.  My son is also coming along with me.  I have no idea how this will turn out, but probably can turn out okay if my brother keeps politics out of the discussion.  If he starts in on it, well, I may just get up and leave.  It never turns out well when he starts in on his political views, which are at the complete opposite end of the spectrum than mine.  He can't agree to disagree agreeably - as the old saying goes - he's one of those "I'm right and you're wrong" people.  I could even stand that if he weren't so obnoxious about it.

He will make some absurd statement about Obama and all of the things he's "accomplished" and if I say anything back to the contrary, he simply can't stand it.  He will then start interrupting, raising his voice and acting as if I had just insulted him personally because I do not and won't ever agree with much of his political views.

My mother's political views and mine are almost identical.  But, she just keeps her mouth shut when my bro starts in on his ranting.  He does not visit her often and so she will put up with whatever in exchange for time spent with her son and grandson.  IF things can possibly take an amenable turn today, I will offer my brother the use of my trailer up on my mom's property to go up there for a visit.  Whether he wants to or not, I have no clue.  He used to go up there and camp, but I think camping is not his cup of tea anymore.  Fine and dandy, my trailer is home away from home.  It is very nicely decorated and has new, berber carpeting (that I installed myself and I am very pleased with it's outcome); new wallpaper that Lynnette installed last year and I have been upgrading it as money permits.

It also has AC, so no baking out there in the summer when the mid-afternoon heat hits.  It gets in the 90's in the summer in the afternoons.  It is not pleasant to be in if you are in a tent.  Been there, done that.  But, sitting in a trailer, watching TV if you are so inclined or just taking a snooze with the AC on a completely different story.  It has hot, running water (during the time of year I can keep water in the holding tank and not worry about it freezing up and freezing the lines), a microwave, etc.

Although the offer may be made, I actually do not expect him to take me up on it.  He doesn't want to go up there and visit mother, that's my take on it anyway.  Neither does my oldest brother.  The both have become very disinterested in much of anything to do with their parents.  They call her occasionally, they see her once or twice a year and that's it.  Pretty amazing considering they live - about 50 miles apart.  And when my oldest brother is up at his cabin, they are about 7 miles apart.

Well, whatever the case, I must depart for the grand feast.  Whatever may happen there, one thing is always for sure: the food will be tremendous!

Happy Easter again!\

ben