Ok, quite the interesting trip.
First was Wednesday morning. I get to the plant and they come in and tell me after attempting to start loading the trailer that it has a broken internal cable. Internal valves are there for emergencies - if something goes haywire, you pull a lever and walaah, the product stops flowing.  I had no way of knowing that that cable was busted and it came back from Mexico, it likely occurred there and they didn't bother to say anything to anyone about it.

It cost me hours - I knew right away I wouldn't be making it down there that day and that it would drag this out to a 3 day deal.

Well this is outrageous. I was scrutinizing the Settlement Sheet for my Washington trip, they paid me ZERO for the entire time I sat up there babysitting that trailer and spending countless hours blowing off pressure to keep it from automatically doing so - and causing a helluva lot of problems.  With it heating up that much, those safety valves would have just kept open and there would be hell to pay.  I immediately texted my manager.  I have no problem asking her to give me phone numbers for these idiots that run this show above her and speaking to them directly. I have been asking around about other cryogenic companies - one of which pays 75k per year with NO weekend work. But if you DO do weekend work, it's paid at a rate of $56 per hour.

_________________________________

I kinda of got into a back and forth with my manager, tho not in a heated type of thing, sharing info on my 36 hours or so of tending to a trailer.  Ridiculous that this company isn't going to pay for that.  I wrote all that stuff down, she says she is going to get into it on Monday. 

Meanwhile, I'm headed to Oklahoma today.  I don't really like that run because it's not that much miles for 2 days but the same is true of Cheniere which is even less miles.  BUT, CHeniere apparently is realizing that no drivers like that run - everyone says it  to them - and is attempting to get drivers in and out of there quickly.  If they continue on with that I wouldn't mind it quite so much.  I do like the Oklahoma run for the stop in Bartlettsville - if I do indeed decide to take that route.  The best route tho is to take the trailer to the plant yard, drop it in the yard and then wait in the parking lot outside of the facility.  Ohyes that's why I don't like that place.  You either stay in their parking lot all night long and get the trailer unloaded earlier or you don't and have some fun in Bartlettsville eating fine Mexican food and bowling and then show up at 8:00 am and hope another trailer isn't ahead of you to make you wait for hours. 

They can only unload one trailer at a time.  I guess I'l make that decision when I get to Tulsa and decide whether to head to Bartlettsville or go straight to the plant in Barnsdall.  There's a Quick Trip right at the exit to go to Barnsdall - it's just a gas station convenience store but Quick Trip does have some pretty decent, fresh sandwiches.  I actually parked there one night when I first started going up there and didn't know where I could park. 

Well I'll be.  I'm glad I have texting to 10 other drivers.  We no longer have to wait, apparently they changed the whole set up up there, we drop a trailer and pick up an empty. Didn't used to be that way.  No more Bartlettsville, just drive straight there, drop the full trailer, pick up an empty and head back as far as I can get with whatever drive hours I have left.  Nice.  If the plant loads me normal tim frame this morning, I should be able to get at least a couple hundred miles back towards the yard. 

Anyway, my weekend is not a weekend at all, just another couple of days.  But I'll be back at a decent hour on Sunday if all goes as I'm thinking it will - it's not possible to do the entire trip turnaround in a single day but I'm pretty sure you can get within a hundred miles of the yard at the end of it.  Meaning I'll have a lot of Sunday to kick back - do laundry - and then back at it Monday afternoon and back up there again.  2 trips back to back up there.  Cheniere cancelled all of their loads - plant must be having issues again.

Meanwhile, I'm just going to start looking at jobs that are completely out of the trucking realm.  I don't qualify for much of anything but that isn't going to stop me from trying.  I would really like a much more normal schedule back.  And really, now that I know I can rent out rooms here without that much problem - so far anyway, the third dude is moving in today - I am feeling a bit more comfortable about doing a small mobile home park or possibly a small apartment complex.  One that already exists tho.  I"m saving money, it's going into a savings account, I'm going to try to double what's going in there.  I also upped the amount being taken out for my 401k. 

Anyway, close to time to leave. Judge Brett Kavanaugh circus almost over. At 4:54 pm today, they are expected to take the vote and he is expected to be voted in.  Get this over with and then watch the sparks fly!!!

In the last 5 days, I've worked 1 of them.  I don't mind a down time here and there, but I would like to know about it so I can - travel.  I could have flown to Phoenix, taken a trip locally, whatever.  Something, anything, out of here.  I've got a nice ride to drive off somewhere or plenty of funds to fly off somewhere. Money is no longer the huge issue it used to be.

Anyway, Ive gotten some things done some days and nothing done on others.  Count this an almost nothing day.  Didn't feel like it. Got up late, went out to eat with Taylor at lunch, came home and went back to sleep.  Well, I have done some laundry and I have had modules online from work open all day long.  Those are assigned by the company and you are allowed to spend up to 3 hours on each module and get paid 3 hours worth.  I've been going 2 plus hours on each. It takes 60 seconds to read each one tho. 

But I have to supplement my paycheck somehow, this was the only thing that came to mind this morning.  I don't have to babysit it, either. Well sorty of, I have to stay active every 50 minutes or so.  Anyway, I intend on 10 hours of that today, it's the same pay as detention pay. 

Meanwhile, both rooms are tentatively rented.  One person is moving in tomorrow.  I don't have to put furnishings in the rooms, that's a big plus.  Didn't really want to have to go buy beds and dressers and such.  The room being filled tomorrow is also disable  He doesn't work, same as Rene, monthly check from the government.  Plus and minus there. Plus is that guaranteed income to pay the rent. Minus, sometimes those people are "needy" and trying to borrow money off of others.  I already asked Rene to please not ask other people in the house for loans, it doesn't sit well that a stranger should be approached for money they probably don't have.

I mean, if you're renting out a room in someone else's house, highly likely it's because you aren't financially stable enough to afford your own place.  At the same time, I am renting out a room in another person's house and I can easily afford to get my own place.  But, I don't want my own place, I'd rather live with other people, just my preference.  I wouldn't be too happy living alone, I don't think. 

Anyway, I'm cautiously optimistic that this is going to work out and work out much faster than I thought. I kinda thought I would end up eating a lot of this month's money towards that house in trying to get people in there.  Instead, it happened within a week of posting ads and 2 payments coming tomorrow - one from Rene and the other from 1st new tenant. The 3rd cannot move in until Donny is out.  Donny is living there free, on my dime.  6 days worth it will be by the time he gets out of there.  I didn't give him permission to do that, I am just staying away from him because his mouth is crass and I am not really feeling in the mood to listen to all of that.  In other words, I'm just protecting myself from getting into an altercation that could get ugly. 

I'm heading back down to Brownsville again tomorrow.  I think I'm going to try and dig out my passport just in case I get stuck down there and  in case I get a wild hair and decide to venture across the border.  Apparently going into Mexico isn't an issue, it's coming back into the states where they want you to have a passport.  I have to admit I'm a bit uneasy about venturing off over there, but at the same time, that's what makes it a challenge.  Ok, I really need to get stuck down there for a day or more even if I don't go across the border, too much down time, I need the finances. 

Oh, and my 401k! Has taken off yet again.  Thank you President Trump! Yup, I'll give him credit, especially after democrats poo-poohed it a while back saying it "flattened out" and predicting doom and gloom for the economy.  Hey, the economy could experience a hiccup or a collapse, who knows, but times are good right now.  Unemployment is so low that companies are having a hard time finding enough employees to fill slots.  That's a good and bad thing. 

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We went to a law enforcement event at the main square in town.  Yup, this is a small town.  Big, OLD, courthouse right in the middle of the square.  I think it's a museum now, the court is now in a high rise building across the street.  Funny how we need courts everywhere, and big expansive ones, even in small towns?  What the heck is wrong with the human race that you have to have this kind of junk all over the place?  It was interesting and there were free hotdogs and chips and water so what the heck. 

James was still at work, we took the kids - it is only a mile away, checked everything out, ate the food and left.  The 3 year old had fun in the bounce house. 

I'm not really looking forward to getting up at 5:30 am.  That's 8 hours from now.  Going to sleep in half an hour.  Just trying to ensure that I will sleep mostly through the night, that happens if I stay up later than I should. A bit less sleep but more of it overall.  The only good thing about the early loads are you don't have to drive late at night. If I go on duty at 6:30 am - which is when I wlll, I can only be on duty until 8:30 pm.  I will be there around 7:30 pm if nothing goes wrong.  Haven't had a break down in a while. 

The news. It's nothing but Kavanaugh. ENDLESS Kavanaugh, endless new false narratives by the left, endless accusations.  This nation is in a bad way right now.  Politics is tearing this nation apart,  The left have collectively lost their minds.  There is no excusing this outrageous behavior.  I'm on the Convention of States channel, will be until all of this is fixed - and it won't be fixed until the states come together, engage in a convention of states and force the feds back into their place. Washington politicians have this nation handled by the throat, they dictate to us what's going to happen next and I am quite done with it. 

Well enough.  I'm still trying to figure out the world of stock investments.  I have no problem with 401k, but doing it with cash is a completely different story. 
















                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

16 hours from the time I left this morning and - actually made it back tonight.
The loading plant was fine, the drive down there not so wonderful.
I had only had 4 hours of sleep and when I went to fuel with the new fuel card, it didn't work either.

I texted my manager about the fuel card, but I left the fueling station I was at. It would have taken too much time, I was having hopes that I might make it home today.

Just bypassing a lot of stuff, my manager finally texted me back 2 hours later.  Oh, well you have to use another digit on your social security number now.  Great, they changed the password without bothering to tell me.  Was I supposed to intrinsically know that information?  I ended up at a Petro in or near Beaumont, not sure really, used that password and walaah, fuel!

Down at Cheniere.  I was shocked. I got into the plant and they came up to get me within 5 minutes. Even after all the time I lost with that fuel card crap, I thought I might still have a chance to make it home today.

I pumped that trailer up to 95 pounds - 10 pounds below the point where the safeties release product automatically into the atmosphere - and we got busy offloading it.  I got out of there with 4 hours and 45 minutes left on the clock.

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Monday.  Things are coming together. I'm kind of surprised it happened this fast to be honest.
But I have 2 tenants to take the available rooms in the house.  Here's the problem that could have occurred: I signed onto this lease as well as the other 2. Now, my friends told me that might come back to bite me later on, but I always had confidence that if something did go down between these two characters, one would leave and then I would rent out the departed tenant's room.

That is exactly what is happening here. But it's actually going to work out to my advantage now.  For I have rented out all 3 rooms - Rene is in one but the other 2 are also being filled.  In looking at the finances - what will come in and what will go out, I might have to pay at most $50 per month, versus the over $200 I'm paying now with Donny and Rene in there.  I did that to help those people, that was my only motivation, I have always tried to help people in my lifetime, that aspect of me hasn't changed and likely never will.

Okay, sometimes even to my own harm.  That's a trait I have been working on.  I really had to find a place where I need to look out for myself as well and really count the costs of helping any particular person in whatever endeavor that may end up being.  In this case, I did count the costs and I figured that if worse came to worst, I would be able to re rent the rooms and nothing would change.  So, Donny is going to live with his uncle. His uncle apparently has no idea that he is a crack addict and a drunk.  I don't know his uncle, I feel no particular interest in telling him.  He'll figure this out on his own. 

I don't hate Donny, I really wish he would get help. 

Anyway, I thought I might get some pushback from Rene about renting both rooms out. The biggest inconvenience is going to be sharing a shower with 3 people. Not at the same time lol, you know what I mean, 3 people using the same bathroom. But one of the rooms has it's own personal bathroom, just no shower in it. So that at least alleviates the main bathroom of 3 people constantly using it.  Rene can take a shower whenever the other 2 aren't there. That alleviates at least her portion of it. From what I'm seeing, one of them has a totally wild schedule, so he'll not be taking a shower at regularly scheduled times, I do believe this is going to work out. 

But belief is based on the hope of people being civil, respectful of each other and being able to give and take. Some people do that naturally, others aren't so inclined.  I have been renting out rooms for a long, long time, I know how this works.  It can go either way.  I'm forced now to learn Texas renting rules and how to get rid of tenants. Actually it's not my house so I would have to dump that onto the owners, or, they could make me a landlord and then I could legally take care of it.  Whatever the case, I certainly wasn't going to just eat $800 per month. That's not happening.

Anyway, if it works out, I'll be getting $1,200 per month and the bills are - a little over that.  I'm fine with that, I will still have a place to take my dogs for almost free.  Actually, winter is coming so the gas bill will go up, but nothing I can't deal with.  Even if it went up $100, I'd still be fine with it.  There aren't any places where you can take 2 dogs and have them babysat for days at a time - at least 15 days out of the month - for $100, $200 or even $300.  But $200 was my threshold. After that, I wouldn't be so inclined to do this and think about asking Taylor if she would take care of them while I'm gone and I'll pay her the money instead.

Just means the dogs would be outside,  alone all day long.  I thought the situation with Rene was better. She truly loves those dogs, she treats them like they are her own, she really does. And she offered to have them to stay in her room now.  I figured a couple of doggy beds in the living room and put up a gate, but she insisted she would have them in her room.  Again, if all goes as it's heading right now, I will have a much sweeter set up than what it was with Donny there. 

Whatever, and not counting my chickens before they hatch, they have to pay the rent and then move in - but if that occurs I'm in a decent position with that house.  Funny that even in a small town such things can occur.  Perhaps my desires for fun items such as a 4 wheeler or a boat should stay on the track towards property.  I haven't done anything about buying any toys yet. 

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A bit disconcerting that I didn't hear from my manager today.  I had 2 days off, then worked Sunday, then today off, fully expected to be sent out tomorrow. Well, maybe not "fully" since so many trucks were sitting in the yard yesterday. 

Uhh, well, looking at my paycheck today, I've made almost double now, at this point in time, than what I made at Ferguson for a full year. Guess I need to sit back and rethink all of that. Still, a LOT of negatives in this company beyond pay  I guess what irks me is if I had known about this much time off in advance, I'd have just take off out of here.  Like, road trip or back to Phoenix, but out of here. 

This is a do-nothing day for me.  I've spent the last 5 days out on the road, I will take a day for myself.  I just found out I have tomorrow off as well, so I will plan on getting things done tomorrow. Otherwise I would be doing the bare minimum to just get myself ready for the next run. The only problem with the last 5 days is that 3 of them were wasted with that new Cheniere run and it certainly isn't going to pay anything near what I need/want a 3 day run to pay off.  I've made West Virginia once a 3 day run and that was 2,000 miles. This new Chenire is only 810 miles round trip, huge difference when it comes to mileage pay. I estimate maybe $200 in detention pay, simply not enough to make up for the time spent.  Yes, I said something about it, I shouldn't have to spend that much time doing one run on such a short trip and not make decent money doing it.  Whether that saying something pays off, I will find out next paycheck.

The next run is Cheniere near Port Arthur. This is the place that takes far too long to deliver and makes it go over a day run, which it really should be, a one day run.  But, I will have a partial Monday off but then I will need to be sent out on a minimum 3 day run to get some funds going on my next paycheck.  This Cheniere is a waste of my time, it does little for my paycheck, I hate the place, but it's whatever.  They had a plant shut down, hence we haven't been going there in a while. The new cheniere is over-filled. They haven't fired that up yet and so I don't expect to go back there in a while.  I would definitely take another Brownsville run, tho.

I need to find my passport, I'm pretty much thinking I'd like to take a day trip across the border to Matamoros. From what I'm reading, getting into Mexico is easy, getting back into the states requires a passport.  I have also read that it isn't safe for Americans over there and honestly? I haven't been to Mexico in decades. I've spent a LOT of time traveling over there, but that was before the drug cartels started killing people.  That wouldn't stop me from taking a trip to the areas they say are safe as along as you are in and out during the daytime.  You can't take your firearm over there - that will send you to prison indefinitely - so I'd probably just follow their advice and guidelines.

What do I expect to find? A different culture of course. I've spent years in those border towns and I was in Matamoros in the mid 80's.  I don't actually expect it to have changed that much - Mexico is a poor nation.  But some good eating, perhaps some good buys, just a sight seeing adventure really.  With that in mind, I'm going to dig through my boxes until I find that passport.  I may need it next year anyway.  Taylor still wants to go - she is depending on income tax returns to fund it.  I have money being diverted to a savings account in case that happens. I want airfare and hotel plus ample spending money to tour if that happens.

Why not have an adventure?  I really love Mexico, mexicans are very giving people in reality.  I think they have fallen for the hate-Trump campaign that the American left leaders have been purporting for a while, but they aren't bad people.  I don't care for them coming over here illegally, tho I can understand why they would want to do it.  In fact, I'm quite opposed to them just walking over there and now? Demanding asylum?  Please spare me.  Go through the proper channels or just stay home.

Anyway, I'm trying to find that passport - it got lost in the move from the move of one bedroom in this house to the one I'm in.  I'm very happy for the move, this is a much larger bedroom,, has a walkin closet and a personal bathroom.

Ribs in the smoker.  Half rack in the oven.  Some people here don't like smoked meats.  Trying new rub for the meat - a sweeter version that will appeal to the crowd that wants a sweeter taste than the normal rubs will give.  I like both so no biggies to me.

These days are going to go down in history.  They will be reflected by historical scholars and pundits and - everyone - for a long time to come. I'm referring to this outrageous circus we call a Senate Judiciary Committee, specifically Senators on the left, the unbelievable accusations without corroboration, the stunning callous, unequivocal departure from the long held protocol of "presumption of innocence" to presuming a person is guilty, please feel free to prove your innocence bs.  This Kavanaugh hearing has brought out exactly what the left is all about. The scope of it is far worse than even the Clarence Thomas hearings, it's just astounding to watch the litany of unsubstantiated accusations being given any kind of weight by anyone in the committee.

I'm truly amazed at the lows that this nation is going to.  This is all about Trump, not Kavanaugh, and people that are obsessed with hatred of all things Trump, including any nominee, according to Schumer, that Trump puts forth.  Kavanaugh needs to be voted in, that's all there is to this.

Kavanaugh saved his own ass today with his extended, accurate, scorching, opening  statement that left no stone un-turned, even pressing against individual members of the Committee who have made outrageous statements against Kavanaugh in the news media.   

______________________________

I was listening to the hearings on and off all day long.  It was only off because I was in lack of cellphone signal strong enough to stream video.  I'm glad to be home for at least a day so I can not have to use cell phone data to see the reporting on this.  

Okay, well today.  There was a trailer in the yard in Brownsville when I arrived at midnight, so I spent the night sleeping there and then got up, hooked up the trailer and took off.  5 hours later, my manager calls me.  You left the yard already?  Yea, hours ago.  Oh, I needed a trailer from the Mexican company, not one of ours. 

I'm thinking, what?  If she wanted that, why didn't she tell me that?  I dunno. I guess she could have had me turn around and drive 300 miles back, but there wasn't another trailer there and there was another tractor from our company waiting on a trailer.  She knew that, of course, but said she needed another one.  I guess she'll remember to let me know in the future that she needs a specific type of trailer?  Certainly not my fault, I would have gladly waited and get detention pay.  As it stands, I didn't get any detention pay from down there on this trip.  I had thoughts of doing some things down there, hoping to have to wait.  

Anyway, somewhere around Lufkin, I saw a tractor heading south. Lol.  She sent a driver down there without a loaded trailer to wait and get a mexican trailer.  

Well that wasn't a fun trip.
I got there Sunday evening - to have to wait until the next morning to get unloaded. They were supposed to have this a 24 hour unloading operation, not yet!  Next morning, walk over to Subway and yay! They had a Keurig machine in there!  Got me a couple of cups and talked to the other driver that had beaten me down there. He was going in to unload first and then I would leave the Walmart we were parked at about an hour and a half later.

But, about an hour later I called the plant manager. Well, he says, that guy didn't have steel toed boots so you can come now.  Okay.  I got there, got directed to a holding lot near the entrance and waited.  And waited. And waited.  Well wait, I had called the guy again when I got there and he said he was sending someone to come get me.

Well, I finally called him an hour later after waiting and he said that my manager had told him that they could unload an Airgas truck first.  I didn't say it, but I thought what a crock of shit.  This dude is lame. I got off the phone with him and immediately called my manager.  I didn't tell that guy shit, she says, let me make some phone calls.  I ended waiting in that holding lot for almost 5 hours.  When they finally came and got me and I got to the loading rack, the real story came out.

They didn't take an Airgas truck first, they had unloaded the other dude from our company, he apparently beat me back there, and then the valves for their giant holding tanks went crazy.  These people haven't got a clue what they're doing. As this scenario was unfolding before me for - hours - and baking in the hot sun and 90% humidity with fireproof jump suit on, just burning up - it became evident that their system is almost full and that's why they are having trouble.

Well, we get the truck half empty and then the crap started. Their valve automatically shut off the flow to the tanks. Why? Because all 3 tanks were full.  Don't these people understand when their system is giving them obvious signs of what's happening?  I'm not going into specific details of what occurred next cause I dunno - well I'm just zipping my mouth on all of that stuff.  I can say it took another 4 hours before I finally got out of there.  I was burning up.  These lame people went after water bottles and didn't bother to ask me or offer me one when they came back.  This is company supplied water, not anything they bought them selves.  I had forgotten to buy a case at the walmart and had run out.

I told them when the conversation came up that I was out of water.  My head was throbbing when I finally got out of there.  I drive for 2-1/2 hours and then shut down for the night.  Way too out of it to even think about driving through Houston - tho I would have if I wasn't so out of it.  I paid for that this morning, driving through Houston rush hour traffic and heavy rain.  2 hours getting through there.

I'm finally home, but 3 days wasted on a trip that isn't worth over 2 days at most in terms of pay.  Even with detention this trip isn't even close to being worth 3 days out.

______________________

That location will not be taking any more ethylene until they fire that plant up, which I'm told is going to be a while.  Meanwhile, I got my marching orders for tomorrow: Brownsville.  I still haven't been able to nail down the "new" detention pay rules, I was going to sit with the manager today and get this clarified but - they were out to lunch when I got there and I didn't want to wait. I knew  - well I guessed - that I was going to get sent out tomorrow and that means get the heck out of there, get my dogs, get home and just relax.  I usually don't do much on days when I get home and I know I'm going out the next day. 

_____________________________________

Meanwhile, motivation piling up to get back into exercise.  I was doing dumbell bicep pulls - every day actually - while on the road.  Just took the dogs for a walk and amazed at how bad I have let myself get in terms of physical conditioning.  It's a simple walk.  Maybe a mile, brisk pace, huffing and puffing.  I'm taking small steps, not diving into it.  I've found in older age diving into things leads to failure.  Condition myself slowly, get used to it - slowly.  I'm out of shape, that's just the plain facts of it. I"m overweight, more facts.  I'm a bit sluggish because of it.  I've had to buy larger sized clothing.  I'm tired of it, it needs to stop.  I'm trying, but it's just take a step and take another step until I have all the steps in order and the weight gain stops.  You get into ruts and habits and they just don't go away overnight.  You have to fight the feelings the thoughts. But, I still rarely eat ice cream, sweets, candy.  But I have been eating heaving calorie, grease laden food.  I've had little exercise since starting this job.  I've done it here and there, but not a daily thing where I'm doing it out of enjoyment, I have to force myself now.

That's not a good thing, since I used to enjoy exercise and going to the gym was an adventure. 

I'm going to take the dogs to the lake the next full day I get and can spend a couple hours out there.  I wouldn't mind seeing if they will get into water. I think Aspyn will, I don't know if Addler will, lol.  He likes water - under controlled conditions haha. 

Well, I don't have an early load but enough for this post. 

The political climate is getting more and more aggressive from the democrat side.  That's my view of it, anyway, as they are talking tough about investigations even if Kavanaugh is voted in as the next SCOTUS judge.  I've been reading all over the internet the right declaring a civil uprising. You know, I just don't think a Supreme Court justice' being impeached would cause the kind of motivation it would take to take up arms.  I do believe if Trump was impeached, it might motivate enough people. 

It's an interesting time we're living in regardless.  

Whatever the case, there is an entire family of 4 visiting here this weekend.  2 kids and 2 adults.  So the house is full.  Like 9 people full at the moment and apparently they aren't leaving until tomorrow.  It's raining here and has been raining all night long, kind of takes out the motivation to do much of anything, excepting I am cleaning leaves out of the pond regularly to try and keep that thing clear and not get to the way it was before I pulled it out of the ground not long ago and clean the thing out.  

It's fun now to look at the pond because I have it loaded up with small fish.  Like about 25 to 30 of them. Mostly goldfish but I've put in 5 Koi to see if they will survive.  I don't have much vegetation in there, but it's getting late in the year.  I'm going to look into seeing if I can buy a hard plastic bubble to fit over the entire pond for the winter, that way the plants would survive for they wouldn't get frostbite during the coldest nights.  

Interesting. Found a do it yourself setup using electric conduit that you simply bend over the pond and attach to the ground with stakes and then cover with either heavy duty tarps of 6 mil plastic.  I'd love to find clear plastic so you can still see in the pond.  My pond isn't that big, maybe 5-1/2 feet by 4-1/2 feet.  Just a small thing, wouldn't take but 3 or 4 stretches of the conduit.  If I fill the pond up with plants now, that will motivate me to go ahead and build the thing when the weather starts getting cold.  

Wow, also found a cover you just put over the pond to keep leaves out but can still see into the pond and still allowing sunlight in.  It's actually not that difficult to keep up with the leaves tho.  Those floating on the surface easy enough to just pick out, the stuff that makes it to the bottom is drawn to the pump.  I have a much larger capacity pump than necessary for the pond.  Around 750 gallons per hour for a pond less than 200 gallons. It keeps the pond well aerated, keeps the water nice and clean and as I said above, helps draw leaves to it for easy removal.  

I kind of have a renewed interest in this pond after I got all that crud cleaned out of it.  If I keep up with it, I can keep it clean.  If not, well, can always remove it again and spray it out.  Takes much less time to do than I figured it would.  

Well, the rain is coming down heavy now. I had no idea we were going to have a rainy weekend, I'm glad I didn't have to go out and spend quality time in the rain again.  I very much love rainy days - if I'm home.  Out on the road not so much unless I'm stopped for the night and don't have to deal with it.  

Wow, looking at radar. There is a huge storm system starting out in the Gulf near Houston and connected all the way up to Ohio! Anyway only 10% chance of rain in Corpus Christi tomorrow, which is where I'm going, it will be nice not to have a repeat of my first trip down there.  Heavy rain, soaking wet for a couple of hours, at least it was warm out so I didn't get sick.  I have a late start - I probably won't be able to deliver until Monday morning and then drive home.  Which is fine, this is a definitive 2 day run, there is no way to drive 820 miles in one day in trucks set at 65 mph.  Even if you could, it's 2-1/2 hours at the loading plant and at least 2 hours at the unloading plant, just not enough hours in the day for that.

____________________________

Sunday morning.
Now I'm cranking up the ads to try and find someone to rent that room. Not sure the market for roommates round here, but there are plenty of colleges in this small town.   Donny is definitely leaving - and I actually wish him the best, but that situation was untenable. I've had one reply so far, an 18 year old girl, allegedly employed and has a dog.  Dunno about that.  I suppose if push comes to shove I'll take anyone in there that has any cords of sanity and a normal person.

I don't have to be to the plant until 11:00 am, I got up a bit early so I could enjoy some coffee out of my new Keurig machine.  I absolutely love this coffee.  It's very good and it's very fast.

The family that's been visiting all weekend long is leaving today as well.  I spent a good part of yesterday in my room for the sounds of kids screeching at the top of their lungs in a very high pitched sound escaping from their throats that was driving me insane.  I had to get away from it.  Things will return to normal when they leave. Really nice people tho. 

And with that, off to the races!

Apparently I forgot to publish the last post before leaving.
Mapleton was a plain old trip. I got up there, they unloaded it, I drove back, got back into town earlier this afternoon.  In fact, when I got up to the plant, they told me they had run out of ethylene a few hours earlier and I was just in time.  Oh, well if y'all had called me I could have been here sooner.  No, the guy replies, we had other stuff we needed to get done, no big deal. We stood there and discussed everything on the earth I think for 2 hours before the thing was unloaded and I got out of there.

I was determined to get up early this morning because I figured that I would only have today to relax at home before getting sent back out tomorrow.  I was right and wrong about that deduction.

When I was at the yard, my manager was on the phone, but said don't leave yet!  She's a really nice lady, she doesn't "yell" at people in anger or anything, it was just a please stay a moment type of thing.  It turns out every single driver has complained about the changes that have come with this new company and several drivers have threatened to quit.  One was on the phone with her and she had it on speakerphone and he was informing her about the changes to Qualcomm (logging device) and that he wasn't going to drive for a week and just wait for his truck (he's an owner operator that was using a company truck) to get out of the shop.

Other drivers with same sentiments. It's like this company is working against it's own drivers to make the job as difficult as possible.  I was very glad to hear I was not the only person that is extremely unhappy about all the bs going on with this change.  Very happy indeed.  I only asked to switch to a different division - it would still be the same bs with this new Qualcomm crap, but at least I would be home every day.  Whole different set up delivering gasoline. 

Anyway, she wanted to see what I was talking about this noise making stuff. She thought it was the Qualcomm, I said no, it's this radar unit. If you get into heavy traffic, you can kiss your peace goodbye because this thing is going to beep and beep LOUDLY.  She had spent half the day telling these people that know everything about all the sentiments against this new setup.  Hey, there's only 20 of us in this division and this stuff doesn't deliver  like anything else in the rest of their divisions. Enough people quit?  Same as my last company, you are kissing your experience goodbye and good luck.  I'm sure this company wouldn't care about that, tho, seeing their attitudes but it's always nice to give them a dose of their own sundry medicines. 

After all this time - I've been there 10 months now - they finally got a driver that was given the "driver training" promotion. That guy has been there a long time, he knows his stuff, he's definitely qualified to train others.  I don't need training, they deemed that from the beginning. I figured most of this nonsense out on my own through force of being there and doing that without anyone's help.  Ridiculous. 

Anyway, she said she was sending me out tomorrow. I said great and left.  Might as well fly home, get the dogs and relax for a few hours anyway.  I got to the other house and found 2 cop cars and an animal control truck out in front.  My heart sank immediately.  What is going on here?  I didn't see my dogs so I was wondering if they had them in the truck?  I started freaking out - not saying anything but definitely going haywire on the inside because all of those people were inside the house and one of them came out with one of those noose things they use to capture stray dogs. 

Rene was sitting there. ???  Your dogs are fine, it's Donny's dog.  Dang.  What happened?  My friend from church came over yesterday, I opened the door Helga (his dog) ran out and viciously bit the man on the leg. This dog has been biting people since the first day I met it, when it bit my twice and I ended up kicking the damned thing half way across the yard.  It started in on Addler, who finally had enough and bit the s*** out of that dog.  It then went after Aspyn who also tore into it after it kept going at her and wouldn't stop. It's bitten all kinds of people, in the house, with owner present.

Lack of training, obviously.  So, they hauled the dog off and are doing a 10 day hold of it.  I don't know what they expect to do or find out, but apparently Donny can get the dog back after that.  No clue on that one.

I got home, got out a beer - yep it was have a few beers time - and then my manager called.  Oh, wait, she had called earlier and said I had my choice. Pennsylvania, Corpus Christi or Pasadena.  I'll take Pasadena thanks. PA is a 7 day trip.  Corpus Christi is the new plant and a 2 day trip, Pasadena is in theory a 1 day trip - it can be done but everything has to go right.

When she called again, she said she had "manuevered" some things around and was sending me to Pasadena on Sunday.  Meaning a full day off tomorrow! Yay!

Well Taylor is home so I'm going to go visit with her and the kids.

Well. I'm going up to Mapleton, IL tomorrow. That place almost always causes some form of detention pay.  But now, detention pay is up in the air.  Are we getting paid for it or not?  Why was my paycheck cut to 13.5 hours of it after what i believe was 36 hours if I recall correctly?  What are the parameters?

I'm not sitting around for free, I can assure them of that.  If I have to sit for a day waiting on a plant to unload or a trailer in Brownsville, I want paid for it. If they are changing that, I want the damn policy in writing.  Why aren't they paying it and if I even want anything further to do with this.  There are plenty of trucking companies that will not pay detention pay even tho they say they will, if this is one of them they can go stick it where the sun doesn't shine. I sure as hell am not going to sit up in Mapleton for a day or two and have them think that I'm doing it for free or that they can somehow just randomly subtract hours because they say so.

I'm basing this on the conversation with the other driver yesterday who said that they are taking out 10 hours every day for motel stay that the company pays for. I didn't have the company pay for a hotel, the policy is or was that if you don't, you are paid the entire time for waiting.  I am waiting for a reply, I contacted my manager again awhile ago and she hadn't even asked about it yet.  But, if they are going to take out 10 hours whether you use them to pay for a motel or not, then I'll take the company paid motel and meanwhile start looking for a job.  Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky and the plant will unload the product then and there when I arrive and I can immediately turn around and head back.

Cause' right now? I have questions with no answers.  If this new company has different policies, I want all of it in writing.  I'm not going to work for a company in the dark  concerning specific policy that addresses drivers.  I'm going to Mapleton. Only one time I have gone up there that I didn't have to wait, the rest of it was a nice generous amount of detention pay and I was happy.

Okay, that was irritating.

More irritations: the kitchen sink is clogged again. I called a plumber out this time, this happens too frequently and takes too much time to try to figure out what's going on.  I want a plumber with a guarantee to come out, find out why this drain is always clogging up, fix it, let us know how to deal with it and be done with this problem.  Very much tired of it.  I didn't ask my friends, I just called them. My friends can't afford a plumber but we can't clean dishes or run the dishwasher at the moment.  As it stands, they are getting into a contract for a new washer and dryer set. I just know their finances aren't too great and they are having trouble dealing with all of this.  But you have to have your plumbing working and I have no idea why this drain keeps backing up.

We don't dump grease into it, but we also don't have a garbage disposal. I'm wondering if the food going down in there is doing it.  It's an old house, I just think there is something maybe going on down there we don't know about.  The rest of the plumbing in the house is working fine, I'm doing laundry while writing this.

That's the other thing. The washing machines is leaking water and it's making a lot of noises.  It's dying. They went and bought a new set on payments but it won't be here til next friday.  The place they got it from has to order those specific machines. They are giving them the financing to get them, so my friends were willing to wait.  But if this set continues to fall apart, I'll be spending quality time at a laundromat.

And that is my day. Cleaning my room, tried to clean the kitchen but kinda difficult without the sink working.  And now that I know I have to get up at 3 am, my motivation just ran clean out of my bones.  I know what tomorrow is going to be like, I might as well enjoy the rest of my day.  Cause I don't see tomorrow as being any barrel of fun. Up at 3, out the door at 3:30, at the plant at 5:00, get out of there by around 7, on the road.  It's about 560 miles to the area I normally stop in, another 40 if I go to the Flying J I made it to last time.  Depends on how I sleep.  I'll probably just stop at the gravel parking lot I've stayed at before - the truck stops in that area fill up and there's no room to park at them.  The Flying J has spots, but I have to be able to make it there.  It's better to get to the Flying J because that is most of the way around Saint Louis and avoiding rush hour traffic in the morning.

Well, I was going to take the dogs out to Caddo Lake today, but this early rise thing nixed that.  I might take them for a short walk but that's about it.  They'll end up over at the crack house tomorrow.  Okay, it's not a lab or anything, just that "dude" living there going on his crack binges. If Rene didn't love my dogs so much, I wouldn't even think of taking them over there.
______________________

Long interruption and life.
I was given another trip to the place in Illinois that is notorious for sending you off to a hotel.  I want answers to detention pay. If they hold me up, I want to know what is being pad and what is not. Pretty reasonable request?

Meanwhile, I have a dumb bell with enough weight to not overload me while driving but still keep me busy at times to do some bicep work.  There is no reason I can see why I can't work out with one hand while driving down the highway on open road with little traffic.  I've done mock versions of it without anything, I can do an effect bicep work out with both hands while driving, just the left hand limited to one kind of workout.  I'm not sure it's so great to have biceps bigger on one side than the other, but I'm not interested in losing any more muscle definition because I'm not doing anything to keep it up.

Wow.
Yesterday was grueling for me.
I woke up at 1 am for whatever reason and never was able to get back to sleep.
13 plus hours of driving and loading and unloading later and I was done. 
And boy was I toasted done.  Fried crisp, felt like hell, wanted to go to bed.
And bed I did, 9:30 pm and didn't get out of bed until almost 9 am.

Anyway, this is a cleaning day for me. I just spend an hour cleaning off my computer desk, wiping off dog hair and about to get the vacuum cleaner, throw the dogs outside and thoroughly vacuum as much hair out as possible. 

But, I ran out of windex so a trip to the store is in order. And I really need to get a flea shot for Addler, calling them in a few to see if there is any availability. I hate taking that dog to the vet because he refuses to get on the scale.  I literally have to pick the dog up, step on the scale, weigh both of us and then weigh myself alone and then subtract it.  It's a bit ridiculous this giant dog won't just step onto the freaking thing and let's get this over with. 

They both smell again, so i guess I'll have to give them baths today as well. That is quite the exercise program, bathing 2 dogs, one the size of 3 or 4 of most people's dogs.  But Taylor complains about dogs smelling like dogs so I am trying to keep up with bathing them at least ever other week.  I think I'm going to see about getting one of those things you hook up to the garden hose and see how that works. 

Ehhh. And the kitchen is in a shambles.  I'll likely clean that as well.  I can stand a dirty house in other parts of the house but the kitchen? No, no and no.  It's just a magnet for roaches, ants, mice, rats and whatever else.  And it simply looks "trashy" I guess you'd call it. 

Meanwhile, I got the pay stub for last paycheck and sure enough, they deducted over 20 hours of detention pay without any explanation.  Well I got an explanation from another driver yesterday who called me asking if there was a trailer yet - he was at a hotel.  He said he's heard different things from the "new" company that has taken ours over.  They bought it quite a while back but now are transitioning it from the old company to one very large new one.  And allegedly they are taking out 10 hours of any wait for your time forced time off.  I could see that for the first night, but after that? NO. 

The reason? Because after the first 10 hours off, that's all I need.  After that, whenever a trailer comes in at whatever hour of the night, I can leave.  If they don't pay me this detention pay, it will push me to further considering finding greener pastures. But, I'm almost at a year, so I'll try to at least wait the full year out.  I think I started in November, which isn't too long off now.  Actually, I may try to simply switch over to the gasoline division, that's all local work, home every day or night depending on what shift you get.  After that, I could get on with a local company that pays more.  I've heard my company doesn't pay well for the local gas gigs, but I can deal with that on a temporary basis.  Just need to get my experience in and move on. 

Or move over to Hines trucking and haul wood chips.  14 hour days, 5 days a week. That's why I didn't take it the first time, but now that I know I can handle such long days, I could do it.  Weekends off as long as you get all the work done during the week.  Which I would, would try anyway. It would be a pay cut but I could deal with that for the trade off of going home every night and have my weekends freed up.  I'm still very unaccepting of a trucking company such as the one I'm working for not having any regular scheduled time off.  It's not fair to the drivers and it's very self serving to the company. 

The news. All things Trump. If it isn't Trump directly, it is related to Trump, such as his SCOTUS nominee, Kavanaugh and these "new" allegations that he groped a girl in high school.  Textbook play book by the left.  Feinstein had that information since July but chose now to do anything about it?  65 women signed off on a statement that says otherwise about Kavanaugh's demeanor during high school years, now hundreds of colleagues have also delivered a letter.

Monday, apparently, they are going to have a hearing where both Kavanaugh and this woman are invited to come. Kavanaugh will most certainly be there, I dunno about the accuser.  This isn't the first time this has happened, Clarence Thomas went through similar accusations and delivered a scathing monologue for the Senate committee members at the time. It's a classic, you should listen to him speak. 

Well, back to work - home work that is. 

Not the greatest trip on earth.
The trip to Portland, Texas which is right on the other side of a bay from Corpus Christi.

Geeze. Interrupted by people doing things.  Intent for bad things.  Things that you think you want
to do when you're drunk.  Not going into that here tho...and not me, thanks.

Uhh, wow.  That is an unfolding event, I'm not involved with it, but it's happening "near me". 

Anyway, I got to the yard yesterday around 5:30 am, fired the truck up - and didn't fire the truck up.
The batteries were dead.  Not completely dead, just not enough to fire up the truck.  Went into the shop and got the portable jump starter only to find out the battery packs in it had been removed.  Okay.  That's when I dump it on my manager's lap.  I called her - she was obviously sleeping at the time - batteries dead, truck won't start, can't get it going, what now. 

Call the mechanic.  Please give me his number and away we go. He shows up 40 minutes later, decides it needs new batteries and installs them.  I get in the truck, fire it up, back under the designated trailer, go to start my 14 hour day on the electronic log - and it wouldn't allow m to log in.  I'm sitting there 10 tries anyway. What is going on with this thing?  Safety dude shows up, gives me a number to call. Not the right person to call in the company.  She gives me a number to call, but it's for a mechanic?  Mechanics don't deal with electronic logs, so I go to the mechanic that was there because of my situation, he tells me while I was gone they switched the name of the company over to the new name and and that people were having trouble logging in.

Back to my manager, I can't log into my elog. This goes on for hours, actually, between the batteries and the elogs. I wasted almost 4 hours of the day and the elogs were never figured out.  Back to paper logs.  I leave for the plant.  About an hour into filling the tank up, the dude comes in and says we have a problem. I go out, the air is leaking out of the main bag that holds up a valve that allows the product to either flow in or out, depending on what you're doing.  Air leak, it's held up by air pressure.  After 45 minutes of fooling with that, the dude declares the truck full enough and sends me off. I'm directed back to the yard, where the mechanic "fixes" it and I leave.

That whole ordeal wasted a lot of my on duty hours, so I ended up driving down there but staying at a truck stop for the night. Slept pretty well actually.  Anyway, I get up this morning, drive over there, this that and the other thing - ordeals you run into in going into plants you haven't been to before.  Weird tho. They didn't take down my name or ask for my license or anything.  That's not really standard protocol for a plant that produces liquid LNG. But whatever. It's raining.  It's been raining.

I got in the plant and directed to wait for a propane tank to finish loading ahead of me, about an hour.  It starts raining heavy, I know at this point I'm going to get wet regardless of a good rain coat.  I thought the suit came with pants, but it didn't hence I knew my jump suit was going to be soaked and probably my pants underneath it, I wasn't wrong.  So, standing out in the rain, trying to get this all going, that main valve bag setup was leaking profusely.  To the point it leaked out all the air within 60 seconds. That's bringing down 150 pounds of air pressure!  I finally see what the problem is, the mechanic didn't fix anything.  2 nuts that hold the stud on the top of the bag assembly were missing, turning on the air pressure to it was simply letting out all the air out the top.

An hour later, we fixed it, at least temp fixed it.  Then, getting the pressure up to 90 pounds in the tank - turn on the valve to the coils, the product goes through it, bubbles up because of the heat and produces vapor which produces pressure - they turned on their intake valve and away we go! And away we went to the pressure on my tank dropping rapidly.  I had no clue.  Weather? Rain? what? 

I tried several different settings to no avail. It was building pressure, just not enough to keep up with it. We discussed it. Do you have a water hose?  I asked.  Well, somewhere, yes.  Well if you can spray the coils down with water the pressure will come up.  They looked at me funny. Really? Well yes, otherwise, we're going to have to shut this all down and I'll have to build up pressure again.  They got out their hose, they obviously didn't believe me. Trust me, I wouldn't have known about it either except having had gone through this already once somewhere else and the people at the plant told me about it.

They start spraying water on it, the supervisor comes out and stares at the pressure gauge.  At first, very slow. But after a few minutes, baam. Pressure starts building rapidly.  I'm no expert, I watch and learn.  People take an action and there is a consequence.  We had to do that twice. Near the end of the delivery, I let the air out of the airbags in the back. What are you doing? A whole crew of them standing out there in this pouring rain with me. At least I wasn't suffering alone - it was raining but it was also warm and muggy, very uncomfortable. I'm letting the air out of the air bags.  Why? To angle the trailer back so all the product comes out.  Ohhhhh. The last driver here didn't do that  - this is a new plant and the "last" driver was the only driver they had had any experience with. 

Well they should be letting out the air so they can get all the product out.  I didn't learn that from the company, btw, I had to figure out why they had a dump valve on the trailer.  I knew what it did after the first experience with it, I didn't know what it's purpose was.  It just dawned on me:  angle the trailer down at the back, product all comes out.  Actually I had seen a picture of a truck on the internet with it angled down and showing the air bags dumped, it just didn't say why.  I had to really think about it. It seems obvious but when you don't know, you just sit there wondering endlessly. 

You sit there thinking. Here is a valve, it lets the air out of the airbags.  WHY does it do that?  I just couldn't connect it with the product delivery because I thought it was for some mechanical reason, new technology I might have never heard of.  Anyway, I didn't suggest they tell truck drivers what to do with their trucks, I just said they should be letting the air out to angle the trailer back down. As with the water trick, that's up to them to inform other drivers that are having difficulties but don't know what to do.  If they so choose. My guess? They will so choose.  And as an aside, I got this trailer yesterday morning with 2 inches of product still in it.  The vapor pressure was up to 72 pounds.  Yeah, no.  You shouldn't be returning to the yard with any measurable level of product in there.

So, we finally get done with this ordeal 4 hours later.  I was soaking wet.  "I'm getting in my truck and putting on dry clothing before I even leave this rack". There were no trucks waiting, I didn't to trash the interior any worse than possible with mud and water everywhere, so that's what I did.

After that, the trip was a piece of cake.  Well, no cake trip tho.

Anyway, it's super late, time for bed. 

Well, that changed.  The plant in South Carolina cancelled the order and now I'm going to Corpus Christi tomorrow instead.  Someone decided to inform me that there is a tropical depression that will be hovering over that area - tomorrow - lol.  I have a rain coat, I can deal with it, but if there are thunderstorms? The plant won't take the delivery until the lightning goes away and they likely won't stand in the rain for 2 hours dealing with the unloading of the truck.  It's just rain tho, it's nothing like a Hurricane, I'll deal with it if they will. If I show up and they turn me away? Detention pay.

Rene - I don't know if she's in the hospital still or what. She got on my FB and said she was doing great, but I don't know any specifics. I do know that she won't be in any condition to watch my dogs and I sure as hell am not leaving my doggies over with Donny. First off, he leaves his dog in the hous over there when he goes on these binges without saying anything and second off, after the exchange via texting? I'll never trust him again.  I'll leave them here. 

All this nonsense going on over there is highly annoying, to say the least. 

Anyway, the hurricane is starting to hit hit the shores, the predictions weren't exactly right but from the appearance it's a good thing they told people to leave. No one can perfectly predict storms, and if you don't warn people and you don't get all this stuff on board at the beginning before it hits?  Well, the President gets accused of not caring.  I'm so sick of the endless accusations of our President. 

Anyway, this is a new plant I'm going to, I have no idea if anyone's been there yet, forgot to ask about that, it's not the greatest miles but it's better than the other Cheniere and it will get me some miles started towards the next paycheck. 

So yesterday, all hell broke loose over at the other house.  As far as I'm concerned, Donny has gone off the deep end and yes Donny, since this is the only place I write about such things and you mentioned my "social media content", you need help.  You need to get yourself into a rehab center, apply yourself towards getting out of your addiction and get on with your life. Find something to do besides sitting in your bedroom watching a TV which you no longer have....because of your addiction.  I don't hate you, I don't wish you evil or harm, I wish you would deal with this. To blame all of this on Rene is ludicrous, outrageous and unbelievable. 

She said you kept turning off the AC yesterday because - spite.  Anger, rage, pettiness, selfishness.  Whatever dude.  Get a grip.  I'm not interested in your excuses, you stole my money off the kitchen table, you disappeared, you brought the drug dealer over to that house, you screwed up, deal with your situation and move on with life. Or don't, wallow in it, and end up dying in it, because addictive drug use never has a good ending.  Get into church, speak to a minister, get the help of people that care if you won't do rehab.  Whatever.

Enough of that.  My manager called today and said she has a run going to - South Carolina.  I chuckled at that one.   I've been to that plant if it's the one I'm thinking of, once.  It's on the west side of the state, well away from the coast.  I said fine, I'll take it, always love an adventure.  But I think if I do end up taking the run that the worst I'm going to run into is maybe some heavy rain and wind.  But whatever, I'll take a challenge for the fun of it.  The other 2 options were to go to Massachusetts - too far, I don't want to do another long run after just getting done with another one.  It's too long away from home, I want that kind of run to be far and few between if possible. I didn't even know we had an account in Massachusetts.  I don't really understand what's going on, the longer timers in the company usually want those long runs.  I was in Massachusetts last winter, saw enough of that place. 

The other run is down to Houston. That's a one day run, home that night almost always. Doesn't pay much but it pays sufficient on a one day basis.  I've apparently been moved out of the Brownsville run.  I can only guess that longer term drivers figured out how profitable a 2 day run can be.  Lots of miles, only 2 days out, if you're out longer that's because you are getting detention pay and that adds up quite a lot. 

Well I'm waiting on this run, cause' they don't know yet if the plant is going to stay open.  If it isn't I just asked for the Houston run. 

I'm on my 5th day off and I have really loved most of it. Sans watching a sick 1 year old baby, but I did that cause' I wanted to help my friends.  But I can tell ya, that baby has a lot of energy and is a handful.  The only thing I didn't love is finding damage to the grill on my new vehicle. Somebody ran into it, hit it, not sure.  But the "Ford" emblem is covered with white paint where it appears something backed into it or drove by, is smashed in and the chrome grill itself is cracked, tho only in one place.  Just pissed me off.  If you damage someone's vehicle,l own up to it, pay for the damages. You don't just drive off and say too bad so sad.  Makes me want to mount a camera system on my vehicle just like you can do on big trucks. 

I go out of my way to park well out in parking lots to keep vehicles away from it. It's in that good of a condition.  Trying to keep the thing in good condition so it will still have a good trade in value when I go to get a truck.

Well that's it for me today.  Watching the hurricane news, tho that is getting boring, it isn't going to do a whole lot until tonight or tomorrow morning.  Trump gets credit for mobilizing in advance whatever the states need and declaring emergencies in those states.  There is nothing more he can do, so reading from the left about his lack of concern is rather humorous. 

2 Facebook posts, texting and ended with a phone call to mom yesterday on her birthday plus got her a magazine subscription that she said she wanted and that hopefully was enough.  She gave me news of my cousin in Australia attempting to find out info on another extended family member and then said this individual was dissing her about her sons - my 2 brothers and I and how her family is "much better".  How do you tell a mother crap like that?  And her family is hardly much better with one that committed suicide and another that apparently wrote the entire family off and will have nothing to do with the whole lot of them. 

There aren't too many people walking the face of this earth, I think, that have the "perfect family". I certainly have never met any of them. Even people that put on their best face in church with their families there? Yea.  You find out everything isn't hunky dory behind the scenes.  That doesn't in any way  mean that I wish that upon everyone, it's just human nature.  Even Christ alluded to it in the Scriptures.  It just seemed appalling to me that this person took it upon herself to say that junk to my mom, they don't have a relationship and she really had no business.

Then she apparently said she was trying the reunion thing again.  I won't be going.  It's become obvious that my relatives aren't the greatest people on earth and I am not going to dump that kind of money on a trip to have a miserable time.  The best airfare is a bit over a grand round trip. That's with the searcher inputting the dates for you.  Specific dates? Go way up.  I could afford it but why?  I'd LOVE to go to Australia, but not to meet up with some miserable family that doesn't want to get along with each other.  I have internet friends that live over there that I'm sure I'd have more fun with - really complete strangers - than my own relatives. 

Anyway, I really wanted to spend more on my mom but she is very frugal and just doesn't think that way.  She just doesn't like to spend money.  So, for $39 bucks I got her a package deal of 3 subscriptions.  She wanted Better Homes and Gardens, so I got that along with a couple of other home type magazines replete with recipes and home fashion ideas and gardening tips.  It's a recurring annual subscription so if she likes it, I'll just let it go indefinitely.  I'd actually like to get her on some sort of wifi that would get her on the internet as much as she wants versus her limited data that doesn't get her much time on it at all. Perhaps it's best lol, but she does like getting on Facebook and looking around the internet. 

Well whatever. I'm on day 4 off.  I didn't ask for today off, I know my manager told me last week that she knows she has been working me hard, I guess she figured I'd like another day off? Yes and no.  4 days is 4 days of no pay.  Still, the paycheck coming tonight should be very good, next paycheck after that should be okay.  But I'm going to need to get back to work in order to work on 3 paychecks from now.  That pay period starts tomorrow and goes 2 weeks.  I can say that 2 days definitely wasn't enough so I'm happy for that.  It's really going to be hard to get up at whatever time to go back to work, lol.

Meanwhile probably alot of us are watching the progress of this hurricane.  They're predicting a potential stall and that, of course, would be devastating.  I hope these people have flood insurance and not "acts of God" provisions that leave them hanging.  I was looking at a map, whoever is going to Charleston may be in for a time, tho I would suspect just heavy raining. I think they're talking sometime today for a landfall or tomorrow morning.  I don't necessarily understand people staying in the zone where they believe it's going to hit tho.  I mean perhaps some of them don't have the means to get out, but some of them are just stubborn. I hope it doesn't end up with them losing life and limb.

So what to do today? 2 days in a row I was babysitting, that wasn't really that much fun because you're both responsible for a very young child and you don't get to get out and do anything at all. I mean, you aren't going to take a sick child all over the place.  I dunno if I want to go anywhere. Probably means I'll spend money and that isn't really that appealing right now.  The local theater is cheap, but they aren't having any showings until after 6:00 pm.  Weekday, small town, yea you probably are taking a loss opening up any earlier before kids can also show up with family. 

I might go to Walmart and see if I can actually get them to get me some fish.  Maybe stop at my favorite local restaurant and have a bit to eat and attempt to get my mind back into working phase. 

3rd full day off. Wouldn't have had it if I hadn't asked.  I always get this "we'll see what we can do" as a reply.  As if it's evil to want some time off once in a while.  Really, that's what it is.  There's a lot of work, there's not enough drivers apparently, but that will change.  At the end of the year, there will not be enough work and then, you either get shipped off somewhere like I was last year or you sit around and don't make any money I guess.  I'm not really in love with the idea of doing another blizzard stint, but I'll do it if I'm pushed hard enough.  Just that this time, perhaps another driver can go up there that didn't do it last time and is a new driver.

Lord only knows where I'll be sent off to tomorrow.

Today is my mom's birthday.  It's always a bit strange to have a family member having a birthday on what is the anniversary of one of the worst attacks on our own soil that has ever occurred.  And then there's this Cat-4 Hurricane barreling down on the Carolinas. If I were any of those people in the path of that thing? I would be getting the heyday out of there, in a fast hurry.

Some of that huge storm system seemingly hovering around Houston right now has come up this way and it's been raining all night long.  I'm watching a time line of the attack on the World Trade Centers on Fox News.  Some footage I've never seen before of the planes crashing into the buildings.  It's still just as sickening to watch today as it was to watch the events unfold before all of us in 2001.  But I'm not going to spend the day watching footage of it like I have every other year.  I've seen all of it enough times, I don't need to see it anymore.  It's a sad day in American History, the perpetrator has been killed, the nation moved on, took a while but it did. It was eerie to not see any airplanes flying in the sky for however long it was, months?  And the worst part was seeing those people jumping out of the building faced with either burning up alive or ending their own lives.  I certainly can't blame them for not wanting to have their flesh burned off of their bodies, I would like to hope that on impact, they didn't feel anything.

Moving on from that and honestly having had forgotten about mom's birthday until today, I am going to see about sending her some flowers at least and whatever she may want for her birthday.  My mind has been a bit cluttered with thoughts of what to do next, if anything in terms of this job and just life in general.

I texted my manager about getting another day off and therefore not having to go back to work any earlier than Wednesday.  She hasn't responded yet - she's always busy, always on conference calls, or talking to drivers with problems, or people in her office.
She's pretty well over worked.  My issues with this company are not really about her at all.  In fact, she really needs an office assistant, there's just no way around that.  Her days off she still gets driver calls and texts for problems or needing a hotel room or this and that.  I don't envy her position.  If she says no, it's no, I'll go back to work tomorrow quite begrudgingly, get in the truck and drive.

Regardless of when I go back to work, I really want short runs. Brownsville is a short run.  2 days, one overnight.  I mean short in terms of time out, not distance traveled.
Cheniere is a short run tho as anyone that has read this blog for a well knows, I hate that place.  Destined to get another run there sooner or later and also to drive down to Corpus Cristi whenever that plant fires up and load them up as well.

Whatever the case, that Washington run was a very limited thing that happens only once every few years.  They just don't use that much Ethylene apparently and the product is keep cool in double lined vacuum jackets.  I personally can't see ethylene sitting around for years without it heating up unless they have a way to refrigerate it back down tho.  But who am I, I'm hardly an expert on this stuff.  Definitive learning experience.

Meanwhile, I get a call from Taylor at 7:45 am.  I was sleeping, yes, I sleep much better at home in my own bed than I do in that truck.  Hotels are the only exception while on the road, I usually sleep well in a hotel bed unless it's a lumpy, bad bed or there are people making too much noise.  Anyway, she actually had tried to call twice, I had the ringer off but the vibrating thing was on and eventually woke me up.  The baby is sick, throwing up at the daycare. Gag.

She just started a new job, they are broke because of a gap in employment between the 2 jobs - but she still tried to find someone to babysit him.   The daycare had called her and said they couldn't deal with him like that.  I agreed to watch him - but boy am I paying for that. He isn't throwing up, he's got bad diahrea.  I'm no fan of changing diapers, but this kind  of mess is even worse.  But, she's a very close friend and I am happy to help her when I can.  Just not something I would want to do very often, at least not while the boy is sick like that.  He's 1 year old and change, he can't even talk yet to let anyone know what he needs.

Anyway, I changed him 3 times after he got home and then he started getting reaaaaaalllllyyyy cranky and crying and fussing, so I put him to bed - that after trying to give him milk and something to eat to make sure that wasn't the problem, but with the runs, he probably has an upset stomach.  So, he's been sleeping for a little over 3 hours, thank God, I'm sure there will be a mess to clean up when he wakes up but at least I got that much of a reprieve from it. 4-1/2 more hours and she'll be home to deal with this.

They aren't really going through such a great spell in life right now, with expenses mounting.  The washing machine started leaking. It's had several problems since they came back. The dryer timer is malfunctioning. They decided to go get a new set on credit.  I know those days - no money, but the need is great.  You can't have a family of 4 without having a washer and dryer set unless you want to spend a lot of time at the laundromat.  I would have financed the purchase myself if they hadn't been able to get a place to give them a loan.  Preferred not to, but I can't be living here without a washer and dryer.  It takes way too much time to go to a laundromat versus having it here and being able to do other stuff while doing laundry.

Hopefully nothing else goes bad, but unless the AC quits, everything else is in good working order and even if it went bad, wouldn't cost much to fix or replace.  I had found a used set at an appliance store for a very good price, but she balked at the 30 day warranty.  I admit that isn't much of a warranty, but you figure if it's going to go out, it would do it within the 30 days.  I've had great luck buying people's used sets, they just want to upgrade if you are getting it from a wealthier family.  But this was at a store, that does give financing.  Anyway, they did what they wanted to do and I'm fine with that.  It's not on me, I have enough bills to cover, no, they didn't ask for my help and they mostly don't. They are quite independent people that really don't want handouts from anyone, they want to make it on their own. They both have great work ethics, there isn't really anything to complain about them at all.  They do the best they can with what they've got.

Well, there sort of goes my day anyway.  The reason I asked for another day off, I want one where I can go out and do stuff. I'm not totally complaining tho.  It's raining outside, just a lazy day.  I was going to make Salisbury steak tonight, but that plan is nixed since I can't go to the store.  Just going to have to find something to make that is already here.  Rene should be able to come over tomorrow after she gets her pre op stuff done and after she takes Aspyn to the vet - she needs a heartworm shot.  Mosquitoes around here are terrible.  Dogs get heartworm all the time if they aren't regularly treated.

Well that was easy. I buy rib eyes when they are on sale, there's numerous packages of them in there.  Just pulled out a 3 pack and walaah.  Bake some potatoes, throw in a veggie, grill the steaks and there you have it.

Well here we go with Sunday morning. Sleeping in until almost 10 am felt really good!  Tomorrow I'm asking Ann for a 3rd day off.  I really need a break from this rat race.  If I didn't go back to work until Friday it wouldn't bother me in the least. Of course, it might affect my paycheck....

But I did get up and fire up the smoker.  Wasn't sure I wanted to do that until I walked outside. Very nice! 73 degrees. A bit muggy but still feels good, that motivated me to fire the thing and let it smoke a while before putting anything in there. I just repainted it before I left on that last run and tho I didn't paint the interior, I still want to make sure any bad stuff is burned out of there. 

Maybe another half hour and then I can put my rack of ribs and my small roast in there, then find the recipe for the spicy meatloaf.  I think that only takes like 2 hours to cook so no hurry there. 

And that may be the extent of my doings for today. Tomorrow I can get down to business and get some stuff done. 

Okay, I might go up to Walmart and try to get some Koi again.  They don't exactly come rushing to the aquariums whenever you go in there to buy some.  In fact, you can push the button and not have anyone show up for at least 10 minutes.  Last time, I waited so long I just walked out of the store with nothing.  I didn't buy anything else and I can assure you, I am attempting to make Walmart lessor of a stop on my list than it used to be.  They run the mom and pops out of business and town, the money doesn't go back into the local economy it goes to the corporate giant. They may have great prices on things, but as long as I'm making decent money, I'll pass on it as much as I can.

On that note, there is a local company that is hiring drivers. It isn't hazmat or tankers and it doesn't pay as much - but - home every weekend and still making around 60 to 65 k per year.  I'm still trying to make it a year here at this current place, they don't make it any easier by rolling out new stringent rules about getting bonuses.  Staying out of accidents and incidents should count for something, that's what the ultimate goal of safety is. 

I'm going to try, after a year at this place and if I last that long, to find local tanker jobs.  It's worth a try at least.  Before delving into something completely different that doesn't pay as much. 

But enough of that and this entry, I'm going to relax and enjoy my day off : )

4 days since my last post.  I got up Wednesday morning early, went to the Dutch Bros. coffee across the street - 24 hour place, constant line, 24 hours a day, amazing considering this isn't a really big town or anything - got a coffee and a latte.  Got in the truck, got over to the plant. It's just on the other side of the Columbia River.  I mean, you get across the river, take the exit right there, and a few miles down along the river is this plant. 

The first thing I discovered was ample room for one of the new trailers.  I mean, whoever told my manager that this place isn't big enough to maneuver one of these things around in there?  Not a truck driver.  That's all I can say about it.  I found out later that the person that told her that no longer works for the company.  This plant hasn't been fired up in a year, well 10 months I think.  So, starting it up? Of course! It's going to be an elongated, wait forever delay.  I had no doubts about this which is why I took 2 coffees with me. 

But I hadn't slept well, the over pressuring on the tank was keeping me up and I felt like crap that morning.  Hours and hours sitting there, waiting on them to get their act together and get this place up and running so we could unload this trailer and I could get the Hercules out of there.  Finally get the product flowing - but their pressure was high.  Meaning I had to get mine really high to pump it into their system.  It took forever. I was at that plant for almost 8 hours.  That's a regular working day for a lot of people.  Not for me.  Got done with that place and hoofed it down the road.

But you know? I was exhausted and worn out.  I drove 210 miles and pulled into a truckstop and slept - over slept - actually - for the night.  3 days after that and I am finally home. 

Lots I could tell about the route back, but I'm just burned out from that trip and I just want to relax. Of course, getting back to the yard, I found a notice to all employees in my mailbox.  They "changed" their bonus requirements.  One of them I found laughable. If you get an overspeed "event", you won't get a bonus and you won't get one for 3 full periods after that.  Overspeed is when you are going over the company speed limit to the point the system automatically engages a "critical event" advisory and sends it to the company. Yes folks, you go 3 miles an hour over the speed limit of 65 mph and you get an over speed event and you lose your bonus for a long, long time. 

I'm sorry, but this company isn't worthy of my driving for it.  This is just  a copout, a way to say we don't want to give out bonuses so you have to be a perfect little driving angel and make no mistakes, whatsoever, or you're toast.  I've had 2 of these instances. The last one, I had the trailer brakes locking up for a few seconds coming to a stop at a light - a light where the speed limit is 75mph - yes even through the intersection.  It turned yellow, I knew I wouldn't get stopped in time without cranking on the brakes (oh, I was going 64mph, the highest speed that truck will go except for gravity pulling it down a hill).  Anyway, there was a car sitting right there at the edge of the intersection.  I thought, I'm not blowing this light with that car sitting there, that person pulls out and we're both going to have a very bad day.

So, I get dinged for using my best judgement.  I actually had to give an explanation to the company about why I had a "hard braking event".  This place can go screw themselves.  I'm going to try and last the full year that I had previously I was going to at least do, which I think is 3 more months and then I'm going full scale into looking for a new job.  Screw their purchase program, screw them. Big brother watching over your shoulder?  You don't even know what it's like to have this system recording every single freaking thing you are doing in the truck.  It's ridiculous and it's outrageous, IMO.

The CEO of this company was lamenting why they had hired a lot of new drivers last year and ... subsequently... alot of those new drivers quit.  Well gee, dude, if you can't figure it out, ASK THE DRIVERS. BYPASS your management that are saving their jobs and find out what's going on. 

Whatever, I'm not going to waste any more mental space on that tonight. I turned on a movie, I'm enjoying being home, Adler started punching me when I got to the other house lol.
He gets up on his hind legs and throws his front paws at you.  It's actually, uh, kind of intimidating. The dog is huge, the paws are huge, the power behind the paws is substantive.  But, I thrust him off of me and we go at it for a while and then we're all buddies again.  I dunno dog minds, but I think it's his way of showing his disapproval of me being gone too long and at the same time happiness that I'm back. 

Tomorrow, I intend on smoking some meats.  In fact, thank you for reminding me, I was going to make a smoked meatloaf.  Just want to try a small scale version of it. Like a one pound deal.  So I need to go and get some hamburger meat out, is what I'm saying, lol.  I want to spice this on up nicely.  Cayenne pepper, some red chiles and put some pepper jack in the middle of it.  We'll coat it with a spicy covering and call it dinner.  The kids won't eat it but there will be plenty of other stuff to eat.  Anyway, I pulled out one rack of ribs.  We traditionally won't eat 2 full racks, so one will suffice and I pulled out a beef roast that I bought on sale for it being at the end of it's shelf life. 

The roast is small and it's only a pound of beef.  The roast will be smoked for 2 hours and then wrapped up well in tin foil.  The ribs as well.  The meatloaf doesn't take as long to cook and I have to look up the recipe again. It's a pretty spicy version of it.  We'll have some potatoes with it, tho easier to make version such as tater tots and a cold salad of some sort.  There is going to be company over, more mouths to feed, but really I just want to do some cooking.  I want to be home for awhile.

This trip has given me some new perspective on things I will write about tomorrow or future date. 

But I need not go into that now. I really like this movie for some odd reason.. It's called Passengers and it's pretty crazy. 

Anyway, it's a great evening.  I'ts getting a bit late depending on what perspective I want to take. I'm going to bed around midnight, which used to be a very late hour for me, now seems to be a good bedtime lol. 

Pressure problems.
Old trailer, of course. It just has plain old insulation like the kind you'd find in your attic.
The new trailers have vacuum jackets that keep the temp down and keep the product from starting to boil, which starts the pressure to start building up.

I've spent hours of my time since I came to this hotel dealing with this nonsense.
There is really no way they should be sending one of these old trailers on a trip this far.
That's the end of the story. Apparently a driver told my manager that a new trailer - which is a bit over 10 feet longer - will not fit in to this plant. I'll find out tomorrow.

But now? I have to deal with it.  I spent 2 hours this morning fooling with this nonsense and then
felt confident enough to take off to Walmart to get a much-needed haircut.  I wanted a new pair of shoes, but they had nothing that looked appealing to me.

So, I bought some "Tide pods" and some dryer sheets - I need to do a load of laundry today or I will be wearing dirty clothes on the way back. I took a bit of extra clothing but 8 days worth is a lot of clothing to pack.  My bedding in the truck needs to be washed anyway, so a couple of loads.

But before that, I'm going back outside, let off some  more pressure and then hopefully walk up to the theater and finally see Alpha. Just depends on where the pressure is at.  I want to go to the first showing, later showings are too late. I want to do  my laundry after the movie. I will need to be at the plant at 6:00 am and happily so, I will be there.  I was up til midnight last night keeping an eye on the pressure, I finally just said screw it and fell asleep - for 3 hours.  I bolted up right out of a dead sleep, got up at 3:00 and yes, went out there and checked the pressure.

Fortunately, it cools way down here at night and that helps to keep the pressure from building up.  So, in 3 hours it had "only" gone up 4 pounds.  Now, in a new trailer, it wouldn't go up that much in 24 hours.  I'm wishing myself luck that the pressure will be good when I go back out there in a few minutes. But if it's gone up, I'll stand out there for however long and deal with it and hopefully have it to a pressure by the time I need to leave for the theater that will have it low enough by the time I get back that it isn't a serious issue.

One thing I am doing here? A lot of walking. Looking in the mirror, I just said enough of this.  Getting fatter and fatter.  I'm trying to do a work out program, but it's not enough. I'm going to have to do some serious changes to my eating habits, admittedly, that's going to be difficult.  I'm really trying but there is a lot more I need to incorporate on a daily basis to actually start losing fat.  The walking can't hurt tho.

Oh, speaking of walking, I stopped at Payless shoe source to get some shoes.  I don't much care for the quality of what they sell, but the sale price was good enough that I actually bought 3 pairs of shoes and 3 bags full of socks for $49.

Okay. Well I'm back in the room.  I'm watching the confirmation hearing of Brett Kavanaugh.  I read earlier that there was a ridiculous outcry from democrats when it first started and that there were people protesting in the room.  In other words, total chaos.  Well, it's in order now, I don't hear any objections coming from Democrats and right now? There is a man up there absolutely reaming Congress for the way it behaves.  I don't remember his name, but he is very nicely articulating what a lot of us think about establishment politicians that are career oriented to save their positions of power versus simply doing their jobs.
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Another 50 minutes dealing with pressure.  Gag.  But I'm confident it will hold well enough to spend 3 hours doing the movies.  Just come straight back after it's out - and probably spend another hour at least with this nonsense.

But I am determined to go see the movie, It says it's only an 1 hour and 37 minutes, add half an hour walk time and wait time for the movie to start, short of 3 hours, I should be good.  It helps that the outside temp today is much lower than it was yesterday.

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Nice walk to the theater.  Very good movie.  Basically a tribe living in the wilderness.  They take a bunch of young men on a journey to kill buffalo.  Long story shortened: the son of the tribe's chief falls off the side of a cliff, thrown over actually by a buffalo, lands on a ledge way down below.  The father howls his name for what appears to be at least a full day, but the boy is unconscience. They leave him for dead.  The boy then wakes up with a vulture in his face, and then endures a long journey home, relete with a wild wolf that becomes his friend.  You kinda have to be into movies like this, otherwise you might find it boring.  Anyway, very happy that I finally got to go. 

Stopped at a place on the way back to have a bowl of soup and a salad.  Very taste and very filling.  Back at the hotel, gritting my teeth for what may face me with this trailer, it was up to 70 pounds.  Really, very much less than I thought it would be at.  I figured at least 80 pounds, so that was a nice surprise. I decided to get laundry going instead of standing out there for an hour and a half venting down pressure.  I can do that a little later when the sun starts going down and cools off a bit. 

Apparently the first day of hearings is over, or if not, they aren't showing any more of it.  I'm waiting to see the recaps of the beginning when "people" including the left politicians were allegedly shouting and freaking out.  Totally planned of course, stupid and non-productive. Unfortunately I have 2 loads of laundry to do considering I decided to wash my bedding, but it really needed it. I should have washed it before this trip, but then again, I didn't know I was going on this trip until the evening before I was to leave.  But then again, again, I should know that stuff like this can occur and be prepared at all times.  It was just getting dirty from extended use. 

Well that's my day, so far.  I'm watching the news, now about Nike and using Kaepernick as the new face of the "just do it" ads they do.  Of course, the resulting getting pissed off was expected, I'm sure Nike weighed the costs of taking such a move.  Kaepernick, quoted, says "the U.S. oppresses black people", which is a bunch of malarky and why I don't respect him or his "movement" whatosever, at all.  Virtue signaling, identity politics, using a platform that most Americans can see is simply the wrong place to engage.  I don't see Kaepernick or anyone of the kneelers out on the streets doing crusades and campaigns?  I consider them anti-American.  Use some other venue and more importantly, some other way other than dissing our Anthem and flag. 

But I hear it all the time.  "F*** your flag", from blacks on the internet.  I'm quite sure they aren't all saying that, but I have encountered a large number of them.  They try to claim they "built" America, which is more baloney loaded with fruitcakery.  They may have had part in it, but not all of America owned slaves at the time slavery was a thing.  There's all kinds of nationals that can be accredited with building America. 

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I'm completely worn out.  I need much of nothing to do for the next however many hours  until I have to get up - 5 am - to rest.  My laundry is almost done.  I just got done dealing with pressure once again. I'm pretty sure tomorrow is going to be a very long day.  First off, they are firing up that plant.  I was already informed to "show up at 6am and probably wait around a while".....well why have me show up at 6am if you aren't going to be ready?   But grin and bear it. 

My legs, however, are the biggest bearer of the brunt. I've done more walking in the last 24 hours than I"ve done in quite a long time. Calculated, yes.  I'm going to get myself back into exercise mode and that means doing things you might not want to do. 

So whatever.  I"m done with this one.