Rain, Rain, go away!
Well... the last time I attempted a post on my political blog it got stupid on me. Told me it couldn't do the post because of an invalid URL. Since there were no URL's in my post that was rather odd. Anyway... after about 30 minutes of attempting to rectify the problem I just gave up. Hopeful this posting will work.
Rain wise I've had quite enough, thank you. Ground around here has a rather high clay content and thus isn't too good at passing moisture through to the aquifer below. (Where the water is *really* needed) There is a time table based upon rate of rainfall and duration before water begins seeping into our sleeping area. During the previous serious rainfall event I had the pleasure of getting out of bed around 3 am for a bathroom visit and planting my feel in about a half an inch of water. NOT what you really want in your bedroom. This time the carpet near the bedroom door got somewhat soggy.... but so far doesn't require the full day of shop vac work that previous rain event demanded. (followed by a week of fans blowing and dehumidifiers running 24/7)
Thankfully the rain seems to have tapered off for the moment. Hopefully that is a continuing trend for the balance of the week. I'm not anti-rain.... not at all. Given a place not prone to pretending to be a submarine like this place is..... I could care less if it rains until pairs of animals come to the door seeking safe haven. But as the old saving goes.... all things in moderation.
As far as the continuing saga of the kitties goes... we did add a third full time cat to the mix. If you'll recall out little tail-less kitty (Amber) didn't show up at the house for several days a few months back.... mid summer I guess. We decided that Paige needed a companion so we went to the kitty jail and got a calico off death row. We named her Kali (clever, huh) and introduced her to Paige. That's when fecal matter impacted the rotating atmospheric propelling device. This was NOT her regular playmate! As far as Paige was concerned this was a grandma cat.... no fun to be around and good only for fighting with. Given that Kali had been de-clawed at some time she wasn't able to defend herself at all. Soooooo.... now we have two cats which cannot be left alone together at all. Oh.... and the day after we brought Kali home Amber returned home. (For which we were grateful)
As far as the outside kitties go we still have three to four which make sporadic appearances out back. There is a mama cat and two kittens.... which are perhaps 3 to 4 months old now. Also a grey cat drops by now and then for something to eat then takes off. The sad bit of news is Old Tom. He was a solid black cat... and most likely Paige's father. He was rather old.... probably had some arthritis.... moved pretty slow most of the time and had been *very* afraid of people (us) for about a year. We had finally built up some trust with him and had been able to get closer. He would let us walk up and pet him now.... sometimes he'd walk up to us for pets. I have a nice photo of him sitting in Becky's lap enjoying some affection. After that day we've never seen him again. I think the city cat nappers took him and killed him "for his own good" as they would say. I'd like to do the same to them quite honestly. After all.... fair is fair.
Home wise.... still no progress.... and winter is coming near once again. Since we're paying a little over $700 a month to buy the place... it would be nice to actually LIVE in it rather than just visiting. We just seem to have lost all motivation at this point. We've become "comfortable"
with the wreckage that is the living room. The router table in the kitchen seems normal. Having everything BUT a bed in the bedroom doesn't matter. And there are larger issues too.
Working at Wal-Mart just isn't paying the bills.... not like truck driving did. Now I make in two weeks what I used to make in 5 days. While the income does help.... it's little more than pissing in the ocean and expecting to see the water level rise. Safe to say I'm not reaching for a life jacket while I zip up my pants. Bills outpace income by roughly $1300 a month if I remember right. Not something that can be sustained for much longer.
The question is.... can I drive again and not end up wrecking my back? The deal is that I only need to work long enough to pay off two or three debts and we'd likely be okay. Of course the more bills we could pay off the better things would be since that damn interest means you'll never get out of debt.
The company with the orange trucks, Schneider National, usually has openings for tanker truck drivers out of the Dallas terminal. (7 miles from the house) The down side of driving again are the usual ones.... time away from home and never really knowing where the heck you'll be come bed time. (Other than in your truck somewhere) And there is the communication issue. We canceled my modem card for the laptop but could get another with the first check.
The up side of tankers (Esp. Schneider) is that they rarely haul hazmat loads. Over 90% of the destinations are outside of cities.... so little in city navigation like with dry vans. Tankers evenly distribute the weight of the load so the tandems on the trailer are fixed.... no fighting with them so your load scales out right. You do, however, have to work with 3 inch diameter hoses getting those off the storage trays... coupled and uncoupled etc. All in all it seems to be both less physically demanding than dry vans and less stressful as far as destinations go. Ultimately... back or not.... I may not really have a choice but to drive again and hope for the best.
Oh.... if you want to know what stress is..... get behind the wheel of a vehicle that's 8 feet wide, 13'6" tall, nearly 65 feet long and weighs upwards of 40 tons. Now.... all you have to do is navigate that vehicle from your current location.... to a destination in a city you're not all that familiar with in any of a dozen states to a specific address..... on a schedule you're not in control of and without making a wrong turn or being late for your appointment. While attempting to do this you may be randomly stopped by state and local police for "checks" of various things from your vehicle weight, to your license, to your record keeping. BTW... truck driving is the ONLY job in America where you can be sent to Federal Prison for a clerical error. Still... it does pay the bills.
Well.... I have laundry in the dryer that needs tended to. All my kitties are safe and sound in the house so no worries there. Becky is at work... won't be home until about an hour after I leave for work in the morning. I think I work Tuesday and Wednesday from 0700 till 1600... then have two days off before the schedule changes from 1400 till 2200 for a week. It's pocket money.... barely.
Y'all take care of each other out there.....
Rain wise I've had quite enough, thank you. Ground around here has a rather high clay content and thus isn't too good at passing moisture through to the aquifer below. (Where the water is *really* needed) There is a time table based upon rate of rainfall and duration before water begins seeping into our sleeping area. During the previous serious rainfall event I had the pleasure of getting out of bed around 3 am for a bathroom visit and planting my feel in about a half an inch of water. NOT what you really want in your bedroom. This time the carpet near the bedroom door got somewhat soggy.... but so far doesn't require the full day of shop vac work that previous rain event demanded. (followed by a week of fans blowing and dehumidifiers running 24/7)
Thankfully the rain seems to have tapered off for the moment. Hopefully that is a continuing trend for the balance of the week. I'm not anti-rain.... not at all. Given a place not prone to pretending to be a submarine like this place is..... I could care less if it rains until pairs of animals come to the door seeking safe haven. But as the old saving goes.... all things in moderation.
As far as the continuing saga of the kitties goes... we did add a third full time cat to the mix. If you'll recall out little tail-less kitty (Amber) didn't show up at the house for several days a few months back.... mid summer I guess. We decided that Paige needed a companion so we went to the kitty jail and got a calico off death row. We named her Kali (clever, huh) and introduced her to Paige. That's when fecal matter impacted the rotating atmospheric propelling device. This was NOT her regular playmate! As far as Paige was concerned this was a grandma cat.... no fun to be around and good only for fighting with. Given that Kali had been de-clawed at some time she wasn't able to defend herself at all. Soooooo.... now we have two cats which cannot be left alone together at all. Oh.... and the day after we brought Kali home Amber returned home. (For which we were grateful)
As far as the outside kitties go we still have three to four which make sporadic appearances out back. There is a mama cat and two kittens.... which are perhaps 3 to 4 months old now. Also a grey cat drops by now and then for something to eat then takes off. The sad bit of news is Old Tom. He was a solid black cat... and most likely Paige's father. He was rather old.... probably had some arthritis.... moved pretty slow most of the time and had been *very* afraid of people (us) for about a year. We had finally built up some trust with him and had been able to get closer. He would let us walk up and pet him now.... sometimes he'd walk up to us for pets. I have a nice photo of him sitting in Becky's lap enjoying some affection. After that day we've never seen him again. I think the city cat nappers took him and killed him "for his own good" as they would say. I'd like to do the same to them quite honestly. After all.... fair is fair.
Home wise.... still no progress.... and winter is coming near once again. Since we're paying a little over $700 a month to buy the place... it would be nice to actually LIVE in it rather than just visiting. We just seem to have lost all motivation at this point. We've become "comfortable"
with the wreckage that is the living room. The router table in the kitchen seems normal. Having everything BUT a bed in the bedroom doesn't matter. And there are larger issues too.
Working at Wal-Mart just isn't paying the bills.... not like truck driving did. Now I make in two weeks what I used to make in 5 days. While the income does help.... it's little more than pissing in the ocean and expecting to see the water level rise. Safe to say I'm not reaching for a life jacket while I zip up my pants. Bills outpace income by roughly $1300 a month if I remember right. Not something that can be sustained for much longer.
The question is.... can I drive again and not end up wrecking my back? The deal is that I only need to work long enough to pay off two or three debts and we'd likely be okay. Of course the more bills we could pay off the better things would be since that damn interest means you'll never get out of debt.
The company with the orange trucks, Schneider National, usually has openings for tanker truck drivers out of the Dallas terminal. (7 miles from the house) The down side of driving again are the usual ones.... time away from home and never really knowing where the heck you'll be come bed time. (Other than in your truck somewhere) And there is the communication issue. We canceled my modem card for the laptop but could get another with the first check.
The up side of tankers (Esp. Schneider) is that they rarely haul hazmat loads. Over 90% of the destinations are outside of cities.... so little in city navigation like with dry vans. Tankers evenly distribute the weight of the load so the tandems on the trailer are fixed.... no fighting with them so your load scales out right. You do, however, have to work with 3 inch diameter hoses getting those off the storage trays... coupled and uncoupled etc. All in all it seems to be both less physically demanding than dry vans and less stressful as far as destinations go. Ultimately... back or not.... I may not really have a choice but to drive again and hope for the best.
Oh.... if you want to know what stress is..... get behind the wheel of a vehicle that's 8 feet wide, 13'6" tall, nearly 65 feet long and weighs upwards of 40 tons. Now.... all you have to do is navigate that vehicle from your current location.... to a destination in a city you're not all that familiar with in any of a dozen states to a specific address..... on a schedule you're not in control of and without making a wrong turn or being late for your appointment. While attempting to do this you may be randomly stopped by state and local police for "checks" of various things from your vehicle weight, to your license, to your record keeping. BTW... truck driving is the ONLY job in America where you can be sent to Federal Prison for a clerical error. Still... it does pay the bills.
Well.... I have laundry in the dryer that needs tended to. All my kitties are safe and sound in the house so no worries there. Becky is at work... won't be home until about an hour after I leave for work in the morning. I think I work Tuesday and Wednesday from 0700 till 1600... then have two days off before the schedule changes from 1400 till 2200 for a week. It's pocket money.... barely.
Y'all take care of each other out there.....
posted by Rev. Joe Ruyle | 7:26 PM
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