I like to complain about the heat when the season starts but this was almost worst. The temperature at the start of the game was 50 with gusty winds and it only got colder as the game went on. The good thing about it all is that it started at 6:00pm and was done by 6:57pm. I don't think the clocks stopped for much.
As far as the game goes, Javalina had his best game defensively with 2 strong solo tackles and another 4-5 assists. He told me earlier in the week that he had talked to the coach about starting on defense and was excited when the coach gave him the ok. They appear to have shifted to a 3-4 defense and he was sitting there at nose guard, which is fine but he was all over the field. The scariest play was in the third quarter when he followed the quarterback on a keeper play and he did grab him from behind near the sideline but when all the bodies got up, Mijo got up very slowly and hobbling, stepping gingerly on his right foot. He was about on the sideline already so he sort of hopped off to the bench and sat there for a bit. Wife told me to go over, but as usual, they sit us all on the one side and there is a gate they lock to prevent people from going over. I would have had to walk on the field or at least the track to get over, but our son can't sit still. Within a few minutes, he was up and moving around, I guess testing his leg.
I would have preferred he stay sitting, but he managed to get back on the field after hobbling around. After the game, he admitted that it hurt and he was walking with some pain on his right calf muscle. He said when he was tackling the QB, he fell back and landed on his leg with a bunch of other guys. That is the scariest thing, to see your boy getting hurt while essentially playing a game. I remember when Boy played and his best friend landed badly on his back and head somehow. He didn't get up for a few minutes and we ended up going on the field and then following them to the hospital. He walked away with a concussion. I am glad nothing like that has happened to any other boy in games we have seen, but it is always a worry.
But back to this game, it was a fairly close game considering the offense just did not move the ball. The wind just made it unbearable to be out there. There was like one good pass between the two teams, luckily it was at the end of the half because it would have put them very close to scoring. Wife says she remembers McCallum being a "black" school and it is located about a mile away from Reagan High School, but the team was 95% white. I guess it didn't matter in this situation, because they came ready to play. Their coach kept referring to the team as send out the baby squad and send out the JV team, so maybe they had two teams mixed together. They seemed more organized.
After going to eat at Fuddrucker's, we are now home, he has showered and is getting mama to make some hot chocolate to warm his body up. It is a perfect night to have taken the night off, I would have hated to go back into the night to work.
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
10/30/19 Asking For A Day Off When You Have Unlimited Time Off?
I am a little uncomfortable with our new system at work, where we have "unlimited PTO (Personal Time Off)." I have never been one to over do taking time off, I believe people should work, but what does that get us in the end? Dying on the job, getting your ass laid off even when you do the best you can?
Some people here took to it like a duck to water, missing the equivalent of months of work and I don't think anyone has said anything, so why don't I just follow suit? I do take time off, but it is around the holidays, when my people are off. I am actually coming up on a week in November for the Thanksgiving week, and two weeks for Christmas break to be off with Wife and the boys. I used to just do one week and then suffer at work, making some killer OT, but those days are long gone. They prefer to be cheap and not pay OT, plus the workload is not what it used to be.
I remember when I first started working here, we had regular vacation time and sick time and if we're being technical, a sabbatical every seven years. All that pretty much went away, but I remember saving all my sick time and cashing it out, for about the first 8-10 years when I started. Since my start time was at the end of November, I would get that money right on time for the holidays. I wish we still had some sort of system like that where I could shake some coins loose from this place, but it is rare nowadays.
Still, when I think of all the time I am fixing to take off, I feel guilty asking for one more day, but I know that it becomes pretty much a dead place here during the holidays, even the customers tend to go on vacation and it'll take until mid-January before we get going again. One of the guys that was laid off a while back would always take the two weeks around the holidays off and I thought that was excessive but now that I tried it, it is something to love. I almost wish we would shut down for a couple weeks in the summer too.
But anyway, I have asked as much as I feel weird doing it, throwing Wife's name in front that she wants me home, so unless they call me to come in, something they never seem to do, I should be off here for a nice 5 day weekend. Happy Halloween!!
Some people here took to it like a duck to water, missing the equivalent of months of work and I don't think anyone has said anything, so why don't I just follow suit? I do take time off, but it is around the holidays, when my people are off. I am actually coming up on a week in November for the Thanksgiving week, and two weeks for Christmas break to be off with Wife and the boys. I used to just do one week and then suffer at work, making some killer OT, but those days are long gone. They prefer to be cheap and not pay OT, plus the workload is not what it used to be.
I remember when I first started working here, we had regular vacation time and sick time and if we're being technical, a sabbatical every seven years. All that pretty much went away, but I remember saving all my sick time and cashing it out, for about the first 8-10 years when I started. Since my start time was at the end of November, I would get that money right on time for the holidays. I wish we still had some sort of system like that where I could shake some coins loose from this place, but it is rare nowadays.
Still, when I think of all the time I am fixing to take off, I feel guilty asking for one more day, but I know that it becomes pretty much a dead place here during the holidays, even the customers tend to go on vacation and it'll take until mid-January before we get going again. One of the guys that was laid off a while back would always take the two weeks around the holidays off and I thought that was excessive but now that I tried it, it is something to love. I almost wish we would shut down for a couple weeks in the summer too.
But anyway, I have asked as much as I feel weird doing it, throwing Wife's name in front that she wants me home, so unless they call me to come in, something they never seem to do, I should be off here for a nice 5 day weekend. Happy Halloween!!
Monday, October 28, 2019
10/29/19 College Algebra Has Gotten Harder? (Part 2)
We worked on the third quiz until almost midnight Saturday. Luckily, YouTube really will show you anything. I started on Google, trying to figure out what this Matrix Math was. It is really a way to find answers for systems of equations, much like the elimination or substitution, but this really requires a lot of work. I had to learn how to add and what scalars were and that the matrices matter as far as which one sits in front of the other, meaning A+B does not always equal B+A. There is also no way to do division, but there is a way to figure out the inverse of a matrix and then multiply by this, effectively this becomes a way to divide. We filled page after page, but I think I figured out most of the nuances involved and I did enjoy getting them done after I knew what I was doing, but some of these problems took like 30 minutes apiece.
Javalina kept saying thanks Dad, I'll just submit what I have and that will be fine. That pissed me off because he might be willing to settle, I never have. I told him "no, I squeeze every point out of an assignment, I don't half ass." We only stopped for food, and before we knew it was Sunday morning. I usually get up early to mess around on the computer, but all that math work left me beat. I didn't get up Sunday afternoon until 1:00pm and it was immediately back to it. We did one homework assignment which he kept complaining that the quizzes account for 80% of the grade and HW only accounts for 10%. I said you are doing all of it, so you might as well just keep going. We finished this and I think I walked off to see what Wife was doing in the guest room. I jumped on the bed and fell asleep. Javalina came after me to continue and it was just more and more math.
We finally got to a stopping point around 8:00pm Sunday night when we had finished the four quizzes for the six weeks period and had a 100, 86, 85 and 85, for an 89 average. Not bad, considering I was learning with him and from the computer. He had about 8 HW assignments also and I helped him with the one. He said he had done two already and tonight I told him to do two more. He sent me pics of his progress, so hopefully he gets to tomorrow with only a couple more HW assignments to do. This will be the last time he blindsides us because we will be communicating with his teacher much more regularly, fat little liar.
Javalina kept saying thanks Dad, I'll just submit what I have and that will be fine. That pissed me off because he might be willing to settle, I never have. I told him "no, I squeeze every point out of an assignment, I don't half ass." We only stopped for food, and before we knew it was Sunday morning. I usually get up early to mess around on the computer, but all that math work left me beat. I didn't get up Sunday afternoon until 1:00pm and it was immediately back to it. We did one homework assignment which he kept complaining that the quizzes account for 80% of the grade and HW only accounts for 10%. I said you are doing all of it, so you might as well just keep going. We finished this and I think I walked off to see what Wife was doing in the guest room. I jumped on the bed and fell asleep. Javalina came after me to continue and it was just more and more math.
We finally got to a stopping point around 8:00pm Sunday night when we had finished the four quizzes for the six weeks period and had a 100, 86, 85 and 85, for an 89 average. Not bad, considering I was learning with him and from the computer. He had about 8 HW assignments also and I helped him with the one. He said he had done two already and tonight I told him to do two more. He sent me pics of his progress, so hopefully he gets to tomorrow with only a couple more HW assignments to do. This will be the last time he blindsides us because we will be communicating with his teacher much more regularly, fat little liar.
10/28/19 College Algebra Has Gotten Harder? (Part 1)
Javalina is taking a college level algebra class, one of the few reasons we agreed to let him go to Crockett HS when Akins HS is basically across the street from where we live. After finding out he had been lying to us about doing his work these current six weeks, all hell broke loose. Wife contacted his teacher and she expressed concern that he had not done any assignments so far. For some reason though, she is giving the students until this coming Tuesday at midnight to submit any and all work. Plus, she was good enough to say that they can work in groups, with open notes, open books, and even ask her for help to complete the quizzes.
I did one of those cool turn my neck to an angle and made that cool cracking noise, thinking well, I'll just take a stabby stab at those little math problems and get Mijo up to an A and it'll be no big deal. Don't worry, we are still pissed at the little chubby shit for being a liar and lazy as anything, but as much as I don't mind if the principal or counselors all take turns paddling his ass, I don't want him failing on his report cards because grades matter. So we mapped out the weekend and hoped for the best. We did one quiz Friday night and it wasn't too bad. He submitted it and "we" got an 86, it would have been a 96, but he doesn't listen very well and chose his answer over mine. On the first quiz, it was alright as he was doing the work and I was just acting as a mirror to make sure he was doing it correctly. He has a lot of small errors from sloppiness, such as forgetting to carry negative signs or adding when he should be subtracting, but we moved on.
Saturday afternoon, I wanted to get out of the house and he said he had started on a second quiz, so I thought great, I won't have to get that involved. Before we left the house, we were also going to eat, with Wife not living here, we just don't do a good job of keeping food in the house. But he submitted his quiz and he got a shitty 50. I told him not to worry, I would help him. I looked at the work and to my surprise, it was math I had never seen before. What do you do when you think you're hot shit and then run into a brick wall where everything you thought you knew goes up in a puff of smoke? I got panicky because I had no idea how to deal with the problems.
We skipped that test and it only got a little better on another quiz which dealt with solving equations and graphing, very normal stuff. We did this one and I think we got a 100, so now it was Saturday evening and we only had two of four quizzes done and the foreign stuff was starting to scare me.
I did one of those cool turn my neck to an angle and made that cool cracking noise, thinking well, I'll just take a stabby stab at those little math problems and get Mijo up to an A and it'll be no big deal. Don't worry, we are still pissed at the little chubby shit for being a liar and lazy as anything, but as much as I don't mind if the principal or counselors all take turns paddling his ass, I don't want him failing on his report cards because grades matter. So we mapped out the weekend and hoped for the best. We did one quiz Friday night and it wasn't too bad. He submitted it and "we" got an 86, it would have been a 96, but he doesn't listen very well and chose his answer over mine. On the first quiz, it was alright as he was doing the work and I was just acting as a mirror to make sure he was doing it correctly. He has a lot of small errors from sloppiness, such as forgetting to carry negative signs or adding when he should be subtracting, but we moved on.
Saturday afternoon, I wanted to get out of the house and he said he had started on a second quiz, so I thought great, I won't have to get that involved. Before we left the house, we were also going to eat, with Wife not living here, we just don't do a good job of keeping food in the house. But he submitted his quiz and he got a shitty 50. I told him not to worry, I would help him. I looked at the work and to my surprise, it was math I had never seen before. What do you do when you think you're hot shit and then run into a brick wall where everything you thought you knew goes up in a puff of smoke? I got panicky because I had no idea how to deal with the problems.
We skipped that test and it only got a little better on another quiz which dealt with solving equations and graphing, very normal stuff. We did this one and I think we got a 100, so now it was Saturday evening and we only had two of four quizzes done and the foreign stuff was starting to scare me.
Sunday, October 27, 2019
10/27/19 Can't Watch All The Games?
I try to be a loyal fan and watch the Longhorns when they play, but sometimes the weather is just too nice and we want to head outside. Saturday was kind of one of those days. I woke up way too early, around 6:45am and just kind of sat on the computer for a couple hours before deciding to put away the clean clothes and iron most of our boy's dress shirts. I worked quietly in Javalina's room as he was awake and I didn't want to turn on the lights in our room where I would wake Wife. We had an appointment for 1:00pm to meet the lady who gives her all those small blankets for the kids. She got up at 11:00am or so and showered while I ironed and quietly saw TV in our room, this was after I had separated all the clothes and I was figuring how else to be useful.
While I was showering, very near 1:00pm, the lady called that she had car trouble and wouldn't be able to make it, so now we were all dressed up and had nowhere to go. I suggested to Wife that I had been wanting to go to Floor & Décor, they specialize in different flooring options for our house and that is one of the first things we are doing when Girlie and her stinky dog move out next month. I really think I want wood flooring, but I have also thought that carpeting is not a bad option, specially now that we rarely have company and we won't be keeping a stupid pet in the house ever never.
The store is located far north, on Braker Lane, close to the warehouse I first got a job at. I told Wife that since we are headed North, it seemed like a good idea to run over to IKEA and get the hardware to hang the doors on the closet modules we bought for our room. Wife said it would be better to go there, then we could go wherever I wanted. That was a trick. As soon as we finished at IKEA, Javalina acted up that he was hungry, so we went to eat at Freebirds.
Freebirds is kind of Chipotle, which to me is white people making Mexican food. I learned from last time at Chipotle and just ordered some nachos, which were chips from a bag (looked like), some watery cheese, cold ass poorly refried beans, dry old-ish steak pieces, a small hand grab of shredded cheese, and a dollop of guacamole. It was really half-assed, but Javalina wanted tacos.Wife's burrito was worse in that it was about 70% rice, some beans, and chicken, I think. The girl massaged and rolled the food inside the giant tortilla like she was going to accomplish something spectacular, but then she simply rolled it into a burrito and wrapped it in foil to make it look like it was cooked. Wife did not finish it.
We then headed home, I did manage to buy some black out curtains while at IKEA to hang between the wall that separates the kitchen from the living room to darken the room when we want to watch the projector which I got back and at least turned on the game while I got everything together to hang them with. They went up fairly easy, specially with a power drill to put the screws in.
Although my house looked nicer afterwards, the Longhorns did lose in horrible fashion. TCU has been giving the Horns trouble for the last 6 years, but with them breaking in a new freshman QB, you don't expect to see Texas flounder, but it happened.
While I was showering, very near 1:00pm, the lady called that she had car trouble and wouldn't be able to make it, so now we were all dressed up and had nowhere to go. I suggested to Wife that I had been wanting to go to Floor & Décor, they specialize in different flooring options for our house and that is one of the first things we are doing when Girlie and her stinky dog move out next month. I really think I want wood flooring, but I have also thought that carpeting is not a bad option, specially now that we rarely have company and we won't be keeping a stupid pet in the house ever never.
The store is located far north, on Braker Lane, close to the warehouse I first got a job at. I told Wife that since we are headed North, it seemed like a good idea to run over to IKEA and get the hardware to hang the doors on the closet modules we bought for our room. Wife said it would be better to go there, then we could go wherever I wanted. That was a trick. As soon as we finished at IKEA, Javalina acted up that he was hungry, so we went to eat at Freebirds.
Freebirds is kind of Chipotle, which to me is white people making Mexican food. I learned from last time at Chipotle and just ordered some nachos, which were chips from a bag (looked like), some watery cheese, cold ass poorly refried beans, dry old-ish steak pieces, a small hand grab of shredded cheese, and a dollop of guacamole. It was really half-assed, but Javalina wanted tacos.Wife's burrito was worse in that it was about 70% rice, some beans, and chicken, I think. The girl massaged and rolled the food inside the giant tortilla like she was going to accomplish something spectacular, but then she simply rolled it into a burrito and wrapped it in foil to make it look like it was cooked. Wife did not finish it.
We then headed home, I did manage to buy some black out curtains while at IKEA to hang between the wall that separates the kitchen from the living room to darken the room when we want to watch the projector which I got back and at least turned on the game while I got everything together to hang them with. They went up fairly easy, specially with a power drill to put the screws in.
Although my house looked nicer afterwards, the Longhorns did lose in horrible fashion. TCU has been giving the Horns trouble for the last 6 years, but with them breaking in a new freshman QB, you don't expect to see Texas flounder, but it happened.
Saturday, October 26, 2019
10/26/19 Liar Liar, Pants On Fire?
We try to keep things "real" as the kids say, I always keep it 100 (another stupid kid saying) and expect my boys to do the same. I don't usually have time to dance with bullshit, so I'd rather be told the truth up front and deal with whatever as soon as possible. That all being said, Wife and I were both shocked to find out what we did this week. This is some of Javalina's dirty laundry but it wouldn't be embarrassing if he stayed on top of his shit.
Last six weeks, he went into the last week where he was failing with a 65 in algebra. Boy and I saved his ass by sitting with him and doing a ton of requizzing with him, turning a 45 into an 86 and another failing grade into a passing grade. He was also able to do a presentation for bonus pointsm, thus getting himself up into a like a 77. We all breathed a sigh of relief and we had a (what I thought was a real discussion)talk about not waiting until the last minute. He said he would be better, but quickly returned with a 45 grade on the first quiz. We get notices straight from the school, so even if he wants to be sneaky sneaky, the school makes it hard. He told us he was working on it, but that the teacher had not updated the grade. I thought Hmmm, but let it go, after all, as I reminded him, he would have failed the first 6 weeks and not been able to play football, so why lie? Well, week in and week out, the grade did not change, so a couple days ago I was talking to Wife who was working out in San Antonio that she should send an email to the teacher to see why she is dragging so much as in getting all the current grades posted so we could see Mijo passing.
Wife copied me the email sent by the teacher, first thanking us for being involved, but then saying that Javalina, our precious and non-lying little shit, had not submitted any work, all six weeks. This amounted to about 12 different assignments and/or quizzes. Wife and I were both shocked and left speechless, for a second. Believe me, we have not been speechless to him since then. Luckily, we caught it with enough time to work on his work this weekend. He is lucky that I am one of few parents who can sit and work on math problems with him, I actually like working on equations and inequalities and stuff like that.
My question to him when we found out was "are you secretly trying to fail so you get kicked out of Crockett and over to Akins?" He is at Crockett because he is on an advanced track, but if he gets kicked off the advanced track and is only a regular student, he can do that shit over here where he can walk to school and save me some gas money. He swears that is not the case, that he is just overwhelmed with work. He said that he had a big project in Geography and one in Avid and something else. He had plans to get on this work, it just had not happened. He said he was aware he still had time and everything was due by midnight on Tuesday this coming week. That's when I said "well time to shut up and get it done." Wife of course does not play around half as much as I do, she quickly took his phone away. She was trying to remind me when I was tougher, and that I would have lost it with Boy if he tried to lie like that and I would have probably taken his phone and broke it. I just said "I am not that guy anymore, I have matured and gotten older, sorry." It is true, Boy took a lot of shit from me, but I was in my 20s and kind of an ass. I have mellowed out a lot as I have gotten older, I am not angry or walking around with a chip on my shoulder. I am content with my life, so I try not to get mad at the little things. If Javalina fails despite my efforts, then he is the one that will be punished when he is sent to Akins and losses access to his buddies over there,
Last six weeks, he went into the last week where he was failing with a 65 in algebra. Boy and I saved his ass by sitting with him and doing a ton of requizzing with him, turning a 45 into an 86 and another failing grade into a passing grade. He was also able to do a presentation for bonus pointsm, thus getting himself up into a like a 77. We all breathed a sigh of relief and we had a (what I thought was a real discussion)talk about not waiting until the last minute. He said he would be better, but quickly returned with a 45 grade on the first quiz. We get notices straight from the school, so even if he wants to be sneaky sneaky, the school makes it hard. He told us he was working on it, but that the teacher had not updated the grade. I thought Hmmm, but let it go, after all, as I reminded him, he would have failed the first 6 weeks and not been able to play football, so why lie? Well, week in and week out, the grade did not change, so a couple days ago I was talking to Wife who was working out in San Antonio that she should send an email to the teacher to see why she is dragging so much as in getting all the current grades posted so we could see Mijo passing.
Wife copied me the email sent by the teacher, first thanking us for being involved, but then saying that Javalina, our precious and non-lying little shit, had not submitted any work, all six weeks. This amounted to about 12 different assignments and/or quizzes. Wife and I were both shocked and left speechless, for a second. Believe me, we have not been speechless to him since then. Luckily, we caught it with enough time to work on his work this weekend. He is lucky that I am one of few parents who can sit and work on math problems with him, I actually like working on equations and inequalities and stuff like that.
My question to him when we found out was "are you secretly trying to fail so you get kicked out of Crockett and over to Akins?" He is at Crockett because he is on an advanced track, but if he gets kicked off the advanced track and is only a regular student, he can do that shit over here where he can walk to school and save me some gas money. He swears that is not the case, that he is just overwhelmed with work. He said that he had a big project in Geography and one in Avid and something else. He had plans to get on this work, it just had not happened. He said he was aware he still had time and everything was due by midnight on Tuesday this coming week. That's when I said "well time to shut up and get it done." Wife of course does not play around half as much as I do, she quickly took his phone away. She was trying to remind me when I was tougher, and that I would have lost it with Boy if he tried to lie like that and I would have probably taken his phone and broke it. I just said "I am not that guy anymore, I have matured and gotten older, sorry." It is true, Boy took a lot of shit from me, but I was in my 20s and kind of an ass. I have mellowed out a lot as I have gotten older, I am not angry or walking around with a chip on my shoulder. I am content with my life, so I try not to get mad at the little things. If Javalina fails despite my efforts, then he is the one that will be punished when he is sent to Akins and losses access to his buddies over there,
10/25/19 We Think We Like The Cool Weather?
Well, after bitching all summer for cooler weather, here it is. Ehh, it seems too cold too fast. We finally got a real cold front and it came in like gangbusters. We had cool-ish weather earlier in the week and then it warmed up while we were anticipating the front. I got very close to giving up and turning on the A/C, but I decided to let my cheapness win. When I got up Thursday to go and pick up Javalina, the house thermometer was reading 84 and that is about as warm as we get before someone whines to turn on the A/C. Wife had just gotten here and we left the house with a few windows open. I don't feel comfortable leaving the house with any windows open downstairs, but Wife thought it was too hot inside to just leave things like that. I kept saying the cold front is coming, Just wait a bit.
After we picked up our boy at school, we stopped to eat some chicken wings at Wicked Wings, which is close to the house. We had eaten there without Wife a couple weeks ago when she had to be at class on a Saturday afternoon. Anyways, the clouds were all churning and looking interesting, while we ate. Girlie even called me to ask if she could turn on the A/C. I said no, which even Wife remarked "wow, you never say no to her!, sarcastically. I just kept looking out the window at the restaurant, knowing as the famous quote "winter is coming."
Sure enough, by the time we finished eating our wings, the weather started shifting. It was drizzling and the temperature started falling a bit. I love our modern technology which is able to tell us, almost up to the minute when the weather is changing. We had TVs in the restaurant and they were showing the clouds and thunderstorms moving into the area as it was happening. Of course, we get home and Wife is opening windows trying to freeze the house and also get the funky closed air smells out from a season of closed windows, specially now that we have had a dog living with us.
What was funny is that both boys are so used to having the windows closed that both of them keep going around closing the windows that we open. First it was Javalina claiming the house is getting wet because it is raining outside. I told him to stop being a Winnie and just let the stuffiness and warmth leave the house, then we can think about closing the windows. I re-opened them only to have to repeat myself when Boy got home and he too was commenting that everything was getting wet. Once we got everyone on the same page, we got the right windows open, which are the one up in the balcony, and the ones in the kitchen because the patio protects them, then we felt the house cool off.
By the next day, I had had enough and was attempting to close the windows, but Wife wanted them open, so I have been wearing warm-ups and a long sleeve shirt in the house while she slept without a blanket on and I added a second comforter to the bed before I fell asleep last night.
After we picked up our boy at school, we stopped to eat some chicken wings at Wicked Wings, which is close to the house. We had eaten there without Wife a couple weeks ago when she had to be at class on a Saturday afternoon. Anyways, the clouds were all churning and looking interesting, while we ate. Girlie even called me to ask if she could turn on the A/C. I said no, which even Wife remarked "wow, you never say no to her!, sarcastically. I just kept looking out the window at the restaurant, knowing as the famous quote "winter is coming."
Sure enough, by the time we finished eating our wings, the weather started shifting. It was drizzling and the temperature started falling a bit. I love our modern technology which is able to tell us, almost up to the minute when the weather is changing. We had TVs in the restaurant and they were showing the clouds and thunderstorms moving into the area as it was happening. Of course, we get home and Wife is opening windows trying to freeze the house and also get the funky closed air smells out from a season of closed windows, specially now that we have had a dog living with us.
What was funny is that both boys are so used to having the windows closed that both of them keep going around closing the windows that we open. First it was Javalina claiming the house is getting wet because it is raining outside. I told him to stop being a Winnie and just let the stuffiness and warmth leave the house, then we can think about closing the windows. I re-opened them only to have to repeat myself when Boy got home and he too was commenting that everything was getting wet. Once we got everyone on the same page, we got the right windows open, which are the one up in the balcony, and the ones in the kitchen because the patio protects them, then we felt the house cool off.
By the next day, I had had enough and was attempting to close the windows, but Wife wanted them open, so I have been wearing warm-ups and a long sleeve shirt in the house while she slept without a blanket on and I added a second comforter to the bed before I fell asleep last night.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
10/24/19 Finally, Crockett 40, Travis 20?
It seemed a long time coming, but the boys finally won one. It really sucks that it took most of the season for the team to come together, but they finally have a decent quarterback that can at least run and a couple of other guys to help move the ball along. It was very cool to see Javalina chosen as a team captain at the start of the game for the coin toss. As he said, it was especially cool to be back in Burger Stadium which feels like home. After the game, he said he felt very nostalgic being there. Whether it was thinking back to junior high and all the games they played there, or the track tournaments and throwing the discus over in the pits on the far end, he said the night just felt right. It was almost a perfect night for football. The sun was out at the start of the game and maybe it was a little warmer than I would have liked, but in the shade cast from the stadium, it was just right. As the sun went down, it got a little windy, and it felt about as fall as it has felt all year.
The game started rough and with the same shenanigans as always. They did a 3 and out series and then punted which the other team moved rather quickly to their first score, luckily they missed their 2 point conversion. This seemed to awaken something in our boys as they seemed different in the kickoff, which they returned all the way. Travis then returned the favor and did the same thing, making the 2pt conversion. Crockett then ran a couple of plays before another long run got them in the endzone again, with the 2pt conversion after, which put them up 16-14. Travis then fumbled the kickoff and Crockett got the ball on about the 30 yard line and scored again, quickly, making the score 24, missing the 2pt conversion. It started feeling like our boys could win this one. The best series was a defensive stand by our boys that happened in the 2nd quarter. Travis drove all the way inside the 5, Javalina was put in the game on defense, by the way, he was involved on the stop on a run to his side, then they dropped a pass and another run got them to the 1 yard line. On 4th down, the center threw the ball over the QBs head and Crockett took over on about the 15 yard line. The offense managed to score once more and then they were up 32-14 at the half.
The 2nd half could not have gone slower. I was waiting and it was looking like Crockett was going to mistake its way into a loss, as Travis came out hungry and again drove the ball all the way and scored, making it 32-20. Crockett gave up the ball rather flaccidly and Travis drove again, and actually scored, but it was brought back because of a penalty that I did not understand, they were not penalized yards, just made to run the down again. Still, it stopped their drive and again on 4th down, the center threw the ball over the head of the QB, making it much easier for Crockett. Crockett managed one more touchdown towards the end of the game, and then we just waited for time to run out, with about 8 minutes in the 4th.
The game started rough and with the same shenanigans as always. They did a 3 and out series and then punted which the other team moved rather quickly to their first score, luckily they missed their 2 point conversion. This seemed to awaken something in our boys as they seemed different in the kickoff, which they returned all the way. Travis then returned the favor and did the same thing, making the 2pt conversion. Crockett then ran a couple of plays before another long run got them in the endzone again, with the 2pt conversion after, which put them up 16-14. Travis then fumbled the kickoff and Crockett got the ball on about the 30 yard line and scored again, quickly, making the score 24, missing the 2pt conversion. It started feeling like our boys could win this one. The best series was a defensive stand by our boys that happened in the 2nd quarter. Travis drove all the way inside the 5, Javalina was put in the game on defense, by the way, he was involved on the stop on a run to his side, then they dropped a pass and another run got them to the 1 yard line. On 4th down, the center threw the ball over the QBs head and Crockett took over on about the 15 yard line. The offense managed to score once more and then they were up 32-14 at the half.
The 2nd half could not have gone slower. I was waiting and it was looking like Crockett was going to mistake its way into a loss, as Travis came out hungry and again drove the ball all the way and scored, making it 32-20. Crockett gave up the ball rather flaccidly and Travis drove again, and actually scored, but it was brought back because of a penalty that I did not understand, they were not penalized yards, just made to run the down again. Still, it stopped their drive and again on 4th down, the center threw the ball over the head of the QB, making it much easier for Crockett. Crockett managed one more touchdown towards the end of the game, and then we just waited for time to run out, with about 8 minutes in the 4th.
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
10/23/19 Born Half Animal?
I was never really the kind of guy that enjoyed playing grab-ass with the boys, when I was young. We played football in our yard, but it wasn't for the purpose of getting in front of someone and roughing each other up. I preferred running for a football pass or something like that.
When Boy was younger, they did plenty of wrestling activities, specially when DD started coming over around 7th grade. He was a big boy and loved to prove his strength by lifting the other boys. Boy himself was always smaller than the rest of the guys, and thus he made for light lifting material. Occasionally, we would (specially Mama) get after the rest of the boys to not throw Boy around. There was the time he spent the night at one of his regular friends and they made holes in the walls with Boy getting thrown via the bed. Then there was a time I intervened when boys I didn't even recognize started showing up at the house with boxing gloves. I said "nope, not here. I am not going to be responsible for taking any of you dumbasses to the hospital when you break something."
I have a new musclebound Donkey now. Javalina loves to throw down. A day doesn't go by that he doesn't have a story where he butts heads with another kid. Monday after practice, he told me he had a great practice. He felt like knocking somebody's head off because Grandma and Grandpa were visiting all weekend and he really didn't get a chance to hit me. I guess he charges at me and tries to push me around so often, I don't really take it as an attack anymore, but I guess the boy needs it.
Tuesday, he was going on about one of the linemen on his team took the chair with wheels in a class and as soon as he got up, he went over to take the chair from him, because he wanted it. I told him that wasn't cool, but he said all's fair in football class. Then he said the other kid did not like him taking his chair, the other kid being his nemesis, because the other kid is the biggest lineman and claims to bench press 250 pounds. Javalina says he is smarter and faster, but since he is only benching 160-180, I say he needs to admit the other guy beats him. Nothing pisses off, my little animal than words like that. He says he is a better athlete and that is why he constantly has to put #75 in his place. Anyway, they both lifted the chair high in the air and then the other kid let him have it and Javalina almost dropped it, but he got it. He also had a story about a running back having really muscular legs and he told Javalina and another kid to hold him from the ankles while he attempted to escape. I asked if he was doing this in football gear or his school clothes, and he said naw, in this, his nice school clothes. I just roll my eyes at him and he continues that after the other guy let go, he decided to tackle him, so they ended up rolling around on the floor.
I worry about what he is going to do now that football is ending in a couple more weeks. I told him to look into joining the wrestling team since he loves rolling around the floor with guys, but he says the uniforms are a little too gay for him. I tell him gay is you having to roll around on the ground with any guy who walks in front of you.
When Boy was younger, they did plenty of wrestling activities, specially when DD started coming over around 7th grade. He was a big boy and loved to prove his strength by lifting the other boys. Boy himself was always smaller than the rest of the guys, and thus he made for light lifting material. Occasionally, we would (specially Mama) get after the rest of the boys to not throw Boy around. There was the time he spent the night at one of his regular friends and they made holes in the walls with Boy getting thrown via the bed. Then there was a time I intervened when boys I didn't even recognize started showing up at the house with boxing gloves. I said "nope, not here. I am not going to be responsible for taking any of you dumbasses to the hospital when you break something."
I have a new musclebound Donkey now. Javalina loves to throw down. A day doesn't go by that he doesn't have a story where he butts heads with another kid. Monday after practice, he told me he had a great practice. He felt like knocking somebody's head off because Grandma and Grandpa were visiting all weekend and he really didn't get a chance to hit me. I guess he charges at me and tries to push me around so often, I don't really take it as an attack anymore, but I guess the boy needs it.
Tuesday, he was going on about one of the linemen on his team took the chair with wheels in a class and as soon as he got up, he went over to take the chair from him, because he wanted it. I told him that wasn't cool, but he said all's fair in football class. Then he said the other kid did not like him taking his chair, the other kid being his nemesis, because the other kid is the biggest lineman and claims to bench press 250 pounds. Javalina says he is smarter and faster, but since he is only benching 160-180, I say he needs to admit the other guy beats him. Nothing pisses off, my little animal than words like that. He says he is a better athlete and that is why he constantly has to put #75 in his place. Anyway, they both lifted the chair high in the air and then the other kid let him have it and Javalina almost dropped it, but he got it. He also had a story about a running back having really muscular legs and he told Javalina and another kid to hold him from the ankles while he attempted to escape. I asked if he was doing this in football gear or his school clothes, and he said naw, in this, his nice school clothes. I just roll my eyes at him and he continues that after the other guy let go, he decided to tackle him, so they ended up rolling around on the floor.
I worry about what he is going to do now that football is ending in a couple more weeks. I told him to look into joining the wrestling team since he loves rolling around the floor with guys, but he says the uniforms are a little too gay for him. I tell him gay is you having to roll around on the ground with any guy who walks in front of you.
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
10/22/19 What Is Right?
I got into a pretty heated debate recently and it left me thinking if again, like anything Trump related, are the people that listen to him mouth breathers or am I so soft I would give the country away to foreigners with a nice smile? Ultimately, this falls into another perfect reason why I believe religion should just go away from the planet entirely. It has just become another way to draw a line in the sand and say we are x and you are y and our way of living (and dying) is better than yours. Man, the Trump types, to be nice, are running out of ways to separate and make enemies. It used to be skin color, if you were black you were inferior and white was right. That was proved wrong, but in the meanwhile, whole laws were written to try and keep the different people from mixing. Nowadays, that doesn't seem to be as big a deal, at least in big cities where people are exposed to more stuff. Still, small brains in small cities still think backward thoughts, and that may never change, too bad for them.
To me, religion is another one of these things. People see different and thus a line must be drawn. I don't think the bulk of the people are willing to die for their "god", but, as in anything and like we have been told, extremists exist everywhere. Sure, there are muslims who hate us, like in the 9/11 attacks and they might even have good reasons, but Americans are attacked by a lot of groups, probably the biggest being our own right wing extremists with their guns who can't wrap their heads around the bulk of America being happy to just exist. In the past two years, most of those shootings have been homemade assholes, not strangers from another country.
I refuse to live scared of my neighbor because he might have different skin or different ideas that is what makes the United States the great country that it is. A comedian was talking about this awhile ago, look at our gymnastic squad at the next Olympics, it is a mix of different people, all trying their best to be the best for their country. Look at the Chinese team, it is all Chinese, look at the German team, all German people and on and on. This country is better and thus more hated because enough of us are tolerant enough to let us live like a big stew and just be a big mix of the world.
Plus, the 9/11 atrocity turned 18 years old and it's not like it has been copied over and over. I know, the extremists have killed many people in other countries, but haven't our own extremists be they brown, black, or white, and without the promise of 72 virgins, also had their share of killings in the last 20 years?
To me, religion is another one of these things. People see different and thus a line must be drawn. I don't think the bulk of the people are willing to die for their "god", but, as in anything and like we have been told, extremists exist everywhere. Sure, there are muslims who hate us, like in the 9/11 attacks and they might even have good reasons, but Americans are attacked by a lot of groups, probably the biggest being our own right wing extremists with their guns who can't wrap their heads around the bulk of America being happy to just exist. In the past two years, most of those shootings have been homemade assholes, not strangers from another country.
I refuse to live scared of my neighbor because he might have different skin or different ideas that is what makes the United States the great country that it is. A comedian was talking about this awhile ago, look at our gymnastic squad at the next Olympics, it is a mix of different people, all trying their best to be the best for their country. Look at the Chinese team, it is all Chinese, look at the German team, all German people and on and on. This country is better and thus more hated because enough of us are tolerant enough to let us live like a big stew and just be a big mix of the world.
Plus, the 9/11 atrocity turned 18 years old and it's not like it has been copied over and over. I know, the extremists have killed many people in other countries, but haven't our own extremists be they brown, black, or white, and without the promise of 72 virgins, also had their share of killings in the last 20 years?
Monday, October 21, 2019
10/21/19 New Storage System From Ikea?
I almost forgot to mention this since this weekend was so busy. Last week, we went to Ikea and bought a pair of "closets". These things are huge, at the store they looked big, but you don't realize how big they are until you get them home with a regular roof height and not in a warehouse. I believe the height is like 92 inches, so it is tall enough to barely be able to go from laying down longwise to standing without hitting the ceiling.
I wanted them to clean up our room, after having the lady doing the appraisal, I felt a tad embarrassed at all the junk in the room. Maybe a better thing to do would be to just throw everything away, but I feel almost a sentimental attachment to some of the stuff, plus a lot of it does work, it just has become obsolete. We have my first TV I brought from my room when I moved out of my parent's house, a couple of VCRs, a couple of printers, some other electronics that would take too much to explain what they are. Wife had literally about 50 towels sitting there on top of the TV and leaning against the wall. Once I got the first closet set up, I started filling it and one was big enough to house everything that had been in the corner.
I have a second identical unit and I can't decide whether to set it up there and keep bringing stuff into our room, or set it up in the bathroom where we have some empty wall space and it could fit there. Wife also thought either of the guest rooms would benefit from one of these closets, but I think I want to keep these in my room since I bought them a s a pair. The one thing that bothered me was that even though we got the doors to match the units, they did not come with the hardware to hang the doors. We have to go back to Round Rock to get the stupid latches or whatever to put the doors on.
They were pretty easy to set up by myself. The instructions recommend two people needed to build these, but I managed just fine just by using the walls to lean the pieces while I attached them to each other. Now that I have built them, I almost wish I had bought the mirror doors to give the room a larger look to it, but I am going to stick with the doors I got. I could have just waited for Girlie to leave and then just throw most of this stuff into that closet, but Boy has plans for that room, plus I have also been thinking I wouldn't mind closing the door to the closet and adding a door from my bedroom into that closet. I think that would be the perfect closet for me, where I could install a safe to keep some guns and stuff. All that is part of the changes that are coming in the near future.
I wanted them to clean up our room, after having the lady doing the appraisal, I felt a tad embarrassed at all the junk in the room. Maybe a better thing to do would be to just throw everything away, but I feel almost a sentimental attachment to some of the stuff, plus a lot of it does work, it just has become obsolete. We have my first TV I brought from my room when I moved out of my parent's house, a couple of VCRs, a couple of printers, some other electronics that would take too much to explain what they are. Wife had literally about 50 towels sitting there on top of the TV and leaning against the wall. Once I got the first closet set up, I started filling it and one was big enough to house everything that had been in the corner.
I have a second identical unit and I can't decide whether to set it up there and keep bringing stuff into our room, or set it up in the bathroom where we have some empty wall space and it could fit there. Wife also thought either of the guest rooms would benefit from one of these closets, but I think I want to keep these in my room since I bought them a s a pair. The one thing that bothered me was that even though we got the doors to match the units, they did not come with the hardware to hang the doors. We have to go back to Round Rock to get the stupid latches or whatever to put the doors on.
They were pretty easy to set up by myself. The instructions recommend two people needed to build these, but I managed just fine just by using the walls to lean the pieces while I attached them to each other. Now that I have built them, I almost wish I had bought the mirror doors to give the room a larger look to it, but I am going to stick with the doors I got. I could have just waited for Girlie to leave and then just throw most of this stuff into that closet, but Boy has plans for that room, plus I have also been thinking I wouldn't mind closing the door to the closet and adding a door from my bedroom into that closet. I think that would be the perfect closet for me, where I could install a safe to keep some guns and stuff. All that is part of the changes that are coming in the near future.
Sunday, October 20, 2019
10/20/19 A Huge Burden Off Of My Back?
I finally managed to sell the RV and with that goes the last of my responsibilities which I have been carrying for some time. A few weeks ago I wrote about selling our land we had owned by the lake. The same family wanted to go ahead and buy the RV, if the price was right. I really don't know what the right price would or should be. My mom says I should have been asking for more like $3500. I don't know where she got that price. I was thinking I would have liked maybe $2,000-$2,500. Wife's nephew asked me if he could buy it and initially I told him I wanted $2,000. He said that was too much and then since I didn't have a buyer and I was really just trying to get rid of it, I told him I would take $1500 if he could get the money together. After going back and forth, he jokingly low balled me all the way down to $500. I told him I'd rather make a nice bonfire with it and enjoy the fire than to give it to him for $500. Still, I was trying to work with him and said give me $1200 and I guess you can have it. He still couldn't or wouldn't do it. I figured it was for the best, as he is just a kid and the RV is a great big hassle.
My brother in law, not sure if he played dumb or wasn't reading context clues that the low price was for family, but he mentioned the $1200 to the guy that he found to buy the land. The guy of course liked the rice, so by the time I talked to him already had that price in his head and I wasn't going to talk him up. I thought about it for a while and agreed to sell it for that price. It is basically giing it away, but even with my mom offering to let me park it at her house and find a seller down there, it's not like I had a truck. I did sell the truck to my father in law, but a couple weeks ago, my sister in law was rear ended in San Antonio and the truck bed was left damaged, I am not sure if it could tow the RV anymore. Another thing is I haven't moved it in years, who knows if it is road worthy. Then it would need a current tag, possibly tires, needs to pass inspection. All of those things just sounded like a pain in the ass, and then if I plug it in and find out the A/C doesn't work or something else doesn't work??? My conscience would have wanted to start spending money to fix things on it.
Selling it as is simply allowed me to walk away from it and the land all in one swoop. The new owner can deal with people dumping trash on the lot, or breaking into the RV unit and I can sleep with one less thing to worry about. We may still own another RV someday or a boat, but that will only happen if I have a good place to keep it at. If it is on another piece of land, it has to be someplace where I am not surrounded by white trash and other ne'er do wells who can't respect other's property. Maybe we will just get a tent with some nice quality inflatable mattresses or some other bed solution.
My brother in law, not sure if he played dumb or wasn't reading context clues that the low price was for family, but he mentioned the $1200 to the guy that he found to buy the land. The guy of course liked the rice, so by the time I talked to him already had that price in his head and I wasn't going to talk him up. I thought about it for a while and agreed to sell it for that price. It is basically giing it away, but even with my mom offering to let me park it at her house and find a seller down there, it's not like I had a truck. I did sell the truck to my father in law, but a couple weeks ago, my sister in law was rear ended in San Antonio and the truck bed was left damaged, I am not sure if it could tow the RV anymore. Another thing is I haven't moved it in years, who knows if it is road worthy. Then it would need a current tag, possibly tires, needs to pass inspection. All of those things just sounded like a pain in the ass, and then if I plug it in and find out the A/C doesn't work or something else doesn't work??? My conscience would have wanted to start spending money to fix things on it.
Selling it as is simply allowed me to walk away from it and the land all in one swoop. The new owner can deal with people dumping trash on the lot, or breaking into the RV unit and I can sleep with one less thing to worry about. We may still own another RV someday or a boat, but that will only happen if I have a good place to keep it at. If it is on another piece of land, it has to be someplace where I am not surrounded by white trash and other ne'er do wells who can't respect other's property. Maybe we will just get a tent with some nice quality inflatable mattresses or some other bed solution.
10/19/19 Tex Ren Fest 2019 Style?
Maybe I am just not used to doing activities anymore, maybe I am getting older, but again, I was not looking forward to going to the Renaissance Festival. We had seen that it was going to be warm and the idea of walking around in the hot sun just isn't my idea of fun. Plus, I am still kind of hurting from my left knee and I basically left a lot of money on the table by not working the OT I claimed I didn't want. All that being said, I was still glad we went out there Saturday afternoon. We had a chance to hang out as a family. I thought Boy was going to take Sweetie, but she stayed behind to work or do homework, so we had Boy's attention all day.
Wife's family went as well as my mom and brother. My dad is getting older and he did not want the hassle of walking out in the heat all afternoon, so he stayed at my house while my mom and brother drove with us. We walked about half of the time with my in-laws and it was nice and all, but they do walk especially slow and although they took our nephews, they walked off since they walk a lot faster. we all met at Sherwood Forest where the games are located and I got Javalina to try the big hammer striker and he did fairly well, for a kid, getting the metal thing to go up and about a foot or two away from ringing the bell. My nephew, who is a freaking monster of a boy made it ring 2 out of 3 times and might have gotten all three times if he had waited for the ringer to have settled down and stop bouncing after going all the way up the first time.
We managed to leave at a fairly early time, we left the house at an early 8:00am, although Wife wanted to leave by 7:00am. I went ahead and checked the tires of the Excursion with my air pump and found that both rear wheels were down in the 35lbs area, when they should be at 55lbs. I pumped them up to the correct pressure and also vacuum cleaned the inside. I felt pretty good in the morning and managed to drive the whole way up there and got us there in one piece, but on the way back, it was another story entirely. I gave Wife the keys and I let her take over. I don't think I made it past 4-5 miles. I fell asleep and hard. I woke at one point only because I was freezing with both air ducts pointed at me. I pointed them away and moaned to Wife to turn down the A/C. I would have asked for a blanket from the back but both boys were asleep pretty hard too. Part of the reason for all this is that we are all nocturnal animals and prefer to be awake at night and not so early like we did.
Still, we got back to civilization, Wife stopped for some KFC and we managed to get home by 8:30pm and Wife even had dinner ready to go, that's why she's the boss. We ate, somehow, I couldn't manage to keep my eyes open and basically ate half asleep, moved over to the sofa, still half asleep and eventually made my way upstairs. I know Wife was still u, watching her shows for a couple more hours. I slept solidly, from like 8:30pm to 2:30am before I got up to pee. I did get up at 6:00am, but only because I need to write a couple of these.
Wife's family went as well as my mom and brother. My dad is getting older and he did not want the hassle of walking out in the heat all afternoon, so he stayed at my house while my mom and brother drove with us. We walked about half of the time with my in-laws and it was nice and all, but they do walk especially slow and although they took our nephews, they walked off since they walk a lot faster. we all met at Sherwood Forest where the games are located and I got Javalina to try the big hammer striker and he did fairly well, for a kid, getting the metal thing to go up and about a foot or two away from ringing the bell. My nephew, who is a freaking monster of a boy made it ring 2 out of 3 times and might have gotten all three times if he had waited for the ringer to have settled down and stop bouncing after going all the way up the first time.
We managed to leave at a fairly early time, we left the house at an early 8:00am, although Wife wanted to leave by 7:00am. I went ahead and checked the tires of the Excursion with my air pump and found that both rear wheels were down in the 35lbs area, when they should be at 55lbs. I pumped them up to the correct pressure and also vacuum cleaned the inside. I felt pretty good in the morning and managed to drive the whole way up there and got us there in one piece, but on the way back, it was another story entirely. I gave Wife the keys and I let her take over. I don't think I made it past 4-5 miles. I fell asleep and hard. I woke at one point only because I was freezing with both air ducts pointed at me. I pointed them away and moaned to Wife to turn down the A/C. I would have asked for a blanket from the back but both boys were asleep pretty hard too. Part of the reason for all this is that we are all nocturnal animals and prefer to be awake at night and not so early like we did.
Still, we got back to civilization, Wife stopped for some KFC and we managed to get home by 8:30pm and Wife even had dinner ready to go, that's why she's the boss. We ate, somehow, I couldn't manage to keep my eyes open and basically ate half asleep, moved over to the sofa, still half asleep and eventually made my way upstairs. I know Wife was still u, watching her shows for a couple more hours. I slept solidly, from like 8:30pm to 2:30am before I got up to pee. I did get up at 6:00am, but only because I need to write a couple of these.
Friday, October 18, 2019
10/18/19 Things Change?
I used to be the biggest money chasing "whore" at work. If there was any bit of extra work that could be done on my day off, I was basically shaking my ass at it and begging for it. For a while, back a few years ago, we had a customer who would just send us samples all the time, including weekends and then expected and demanded, at times, we get them done overnight. There were times I was working even 7 days a week, only to see my checks double in size. It becomes addicting, or I have the personality that likes making things like that addicting. That particular customer wanted/expected too much and I don't think management ever really had a good open relationship with them that eventually, we lost them. About that time, we also lost the "supervisor" that didn't ever say no to allowing me to come in to work any time I wanted it.
Things slowed down, over time, it took about a year, I would constantly be asking "is there OT this weekend?" much like a child, always wanting more. In my lame little passdowns, I would always add "I can come in if needed over the weekend." Gradually, we moved away from that mentality, then 2-3 years ago, we were even hit with that horrible pay cut. I wasn't sure I was even going to stick around, I was at a loss as to what to do. I sacrificed my truck, which I was paying close to $700 a month and luckily, we were about done paying for the RV, which saved us another $343.
I have been told that things will pick up a couple of times and I always say I am ready whenever I am needed, but uhh, I guess I have learned to enjoy/appreciate my time off. This week, again, I was told there would be a huge job coming for FIB/TEM (with 24 samples) and they even let me "practice" over there Tuesday night with a job that had 4 samples, I worked on two of them. For them to do those 24 samples within 5 days, we would have to work 24 hours a day on them because we can only prep about 2-3 a shift, things just take awhile and they can't be rushed, or you will be prepping double or triple samples. I am the only one working nights and there are only two people left who run the FIB tool during the week, the work has just diminished that much. There was a time we had about 15 people to cover FIB and TEM/SEM. Three of us moved over to chemistry to survive the layoffs, the rest were laid off or moved on.
The work didn't come in Wednesday when it was supposed to, then it didn't come in Thursday. Wife was ready to sacrifice me, saying instead of going to the renaissance festival, which is our plans for this weekend, we can move that up a weekend and you can work all weekend. I said not so fast, if the work had come in Thursday, I might have gone along with that idea, but I am not going to sacrifice our plans, my parents are supposed to drive up and join us, and then the samples don't even come in and now we lost the weekend. Of course I still love money more than the next guy, but I am not so needy of it anymore. We have been living within our means lately and I get extra money from having renters, which other than putting up with extra people and their dog, I don't have to do much for it. I told them I would go in Sunday night, if the work comes in, but even that sounds like a pain in the ass.
Things slowed down, over time, it took about a year, I would constantly be asking "is there OT this weekend?" much like a child, always wanting more. In my lame little passdowns, I would always add "I can come in if needed over the weekend." Gradually, we moved away from that mentality, then 2-3 years ago, we were even hit with that horrible pay cut. I wasn't sure I was even going to stick around, I was at a loss as to what to do. I sacrificed my truck, which I was paying close to $700 a month and luckily, we were about done paying for the RV, which saved us another $343.
I have been told that things will pick up a couple of times and I always say I am ready whenever I am needed, but uhh, I guess I have learned to enjoy/appreciate my time off. This week, again, I was told there would be a huge job coming for FIB/TEM (with 24 samples) and they even let me "practice" over there Tuesday night with a job that had 4 samples, I worked on two of them. For them to do those 24 samples within 5 days, we would have to work 24 hours a day on them because we can only prep about 2-3 a shift, things just take awhile and they can't be rushed, or you will be prepping double or triple samples. I am the only one working nights and there are only two people left who run the FIB tool during the week, the work has just diminished that much. There was a time we had about 15 people to cover FIB and TEM/SEM. Three of us moved over to chemistry to survive the layoffs, the rest were laid off or moved on.
The work didn't come in Wednesday when it was supposed to, then it didn't come in Thursday. Wife was ready to sacrifice me, saying instead of going to the renaissance festival, which is our plans for this weekend, we can move that up a weekend and you can work all weekend. I said not so fast, if the work had come in Thursday, I might have gone along with that idea, but I am not going to sacrifice our plans, my parents are supposed to drive up and join us, and then the samples don't even come in and now we lost the weekend. Of course I still love money more than the next guy, but I am not so needy of it anymore. We have been living within our means lately and I get extra money from having renters, which other than putting up with extra people and their dog, I don't have to do much for it. I told them I would go in Sunday night, if the work comes in, but even that sounds like a pain in the ass.
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
10/17/19 LBJ Destroyed Crockett?
There was nothing good about this game. I have complained in the past about how I hate sitting with the fans/parents from both teams on the same side. Sure, in August when the sun is beating us to shreds I get it, but now that the weather is more pleasant, they should let the parents walk over. That was my biggest problem/disappointment with this game. It was apparent by the end of the first quarter that these two teams were on separate levels. I don't think the offense managed to make a first down the whole game, and that has happened in other games but I knew our team did not have a true quarterback at the position. This week I had a little hope as several players had come out of the woodwork and even Javalina was kind of excited because a kid from the varsity team got moved down to junior varsity and my boy was excited that he was faster and quicker and maybe even stronger than him.
I can live with a bad squad, nothing you can do about bad coaching, which I believe is the problem here. I am sorry but once you figure the draw play isn't working, quit trying it. It got stuffed every time in the backfield, and forget about these delay plays, they are too sophisticated and the other team was way too fast to let anything develop. What I found the most disgusting was sitting amongst the group of proud parents wanting the score to be run up and yelling for it. Why? What good does it do? You are already winning and the other team is no threat. In the 2nd quarter with 10 seconds before the half, the other team was around the 5 yard line and they were already up 28-0. The stupid people around us were yelling for a timeout. They got it with 1 second left before the half and they managed to score another touchdown on 4th down. Great! Awesome! Now you are up 36-0, happy?
We had to sit through shit like that all through the end of the game. I was at least glad Wife was with me, but she also was the reason I didn't just get up and move someplace else. When I have gone alone, I will move around, to get more comfortable, etc. But anyways, the crowd was shit talking a bit all the way to 50-0, the same imbecile yelling for a timeout was yelling "we need a pick six, yeah!" Why? Do you have money bet on the game? I don't blame the players on either team, it seemed so easy for LBJ to score, they just ran around our boys, but I don't feel the crowd should bask in it. I guess if we were sitting on the other side I wouldn't have heard all the Bullshit, but damn if I was going to smile at any of those parents and say "good game" afterwards. They can all line up and suck a Dick!! Classless A-holes!
I can live with a bad squad, nothing you can do about bad coaching, which I believe is the problem here. I am sorry but once you figure the draw play isn't working, quit trying it. It got stuffed every time in the backfield, and forget about these delay plays, they are too sophisticated and the other team was way too fast to let anything develop. What I found the most disgusting was sitting amongst the group of proud parents wanting the score to be run up and yelling for it. Why? What good does it do? You are already winning and the other team is no threat. In the 2nd quarter with 10 seconds before the half, the other team was around the 5 yard line and they were already up 28-0. The stupid people around us were yelling for a timeout. They got it with 1 second left before the half and they managed to score another touchdown on 4th down. Great! Awesome! Now you are up 36-0, happy?
We had to sit through shit like that all through the end of the game. I was at least glad Wife was with me, but she also was the reason I didn't just get up and move someplace else. When I have gone alone, I will move around, to get more comfortable, etc. But anyways, the crowd was shit talking a bit all the way to 50-0, the same imbecile yelling for a timeout was yelling "we need a pick six, yeah!" Why? Do you have money bet on the game? I don't blame the players on either team, it seemed so easy for LBJ to score, they just ran around our boys, but I don't feel the crowd should bask in it. I guess if we were sitting on the other side I wouldn't have heard all the Bullshit, but damn if I was going to smile at any of those parents and say "good game" afterwards. They can all line up and suck a Dick!! Classless A-holes!
10/16/19 What Is Appropriate Age For Kids To See R rated Movies?
I know that the title seems to answer itself when a Rated R movie says no children under 17 allowed, but that is BS. Kids today spend all their free time playing games that appear to be getting them ready for the military where killing is just what you do to advance. I know, don't get your panties in a wad, I know video games don't make killers, how dare I even approach that ridiculous idea. No, my point is that the idiots in charge of putting a rating on a movie will allow kids to see a movie where someone gets decapitated, but goddammit if they see a nipple, that is an outrage. I don't believe that the ratings system is honest enough. Why is the naked body an automatic R rating anyway?
I digress, one of the reasons for bringing this up is a couple weeks ago, Javalina, who is 14, tried going to the movies with his friends to see It, the second part to that clown movie, which I thought was pretty stupid in the first place. Wife dragged us to see the first one, then he wanted to go because it is Halloween season and they wanted to see something cool. Come on, you don't expect teenagers to go to the movies to watch cartoons, do you? Most good movies nowadays are rated R. He was stopped by the person selling tickets, it did not help that the youngest looking guy in the group had his little brother who looked like he was in third grade, little chubby baby face.
Yesterday, I was leaving work a little late and ran into my boss. He wondered why I was leaving so late, it was like 9:30am, and I told him I got caught up arguing over the Joker movie which I thought was very good and Monster Drink thought it was very bad. We then talked for a minute and said he was wondering about going to see it with his 13 year old. I told him I might not be someone to ask because I don't really censor my kids, I am alright with them looking at whatever, life is life, you can't protect them like little flowers all your life. At 13-14, they are already watching things on their phones that would shock us in our teen years. I don't know if I am doing the right thing or not. I am glad I only have boys, I feel maybe girls should be protected more, but I don't know why. Probably in the same way that men are expected to sign up and die for their country, but women get to argue that life isn't fair. I don't know, I guess I just want my son to have snap and not have this crazy world be a shock to him. If anything, that rating thing should be moved down to about 12. Kids older than 12 are already exposing themselves to much more than we think, I think.
I digress, one of the reasons for bringing this up is a couple weeks ago, Javalina, who is 14, tried going to the movies with his friends to see It, the second part to that clown movie, which I thought was pretty stupid in the first place. Wife dragged us to see the first one, then he wanted to go because it is Halloween season and they wanted to see something cool. Come on, you don't expect teenagers to go to the movies to watch cartoons, do you? Most good movies nowadays are rated R. He was stopped by the person selling tickets, it did not help that the youngest looking guy in the group had his little brother who looked like he was in third grade, little chubby baby face.
Yesterday, I was leaving work a little late and ran into my boss. He wondered why I was leaving so late, it was like 9:30am, and I told him I got caught up arguing over the Joker movie which I thought was very good and Monster Drink thought it was very bad. We then talked for a minute and said he was wondering about going to see it with his 13 year old. I told him I might not be someone to ask because I don't really censor my kids, I am alright with them looking at whatever, life is life, you can't protect them like little flowers all your life. At 13-14, they are already watching things on their phones that would shock us in our teen years. I don't know if I am doing the right thing or not. I am glad I only have boys, I feel maybe girls should be protected more, but I don't know why. Probably in the same way that men are expected to sign up and die for their country, but women get to argue that life isn't fair. I don't know, I guess I just want my son to have snap and not have this crazy world be a shock to him. If anything, that rating thing should be moved down to about 12. Kids older than 12 are already exposing themselves to much more than we think, I think.
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
10/15/19 Should We Still Be Upset If Our 25 Year Old Runs Around Late?
This was one of those BS weekends when my older son decides they are going to Dallas for some reason. I try to give him space, he is 25 now, so we can't treat him like a little kid, I just wish he was better at being a human. Everything was fine Friday night, they left before I got up and that is always one of Wife's demands when he travels. Leave early so you aren't out on the road in the middle of the night. This doesn't seem like something too demanding, but man, does it cause a rift between those two knuckleheads. Boy always seems to have to wait for one of the members of his group to get out of work or school, so they usually are leaving later in the afternoon. Sunday though, he really managed to piss her off by mostly being evasive. She was wondering what time they would be coming back, so she called him and texted him and when he didn't respond she also tried Sweetie, who seems to be made of sugar and spice and everything nice, unless they are up to shenanigans. Then all of a sudden even with their phones permanently attached to their hands, neither will respond.
Wife kept trying them and I guess Boy finally got tired of hearing his phone buzzing that he answered only to tell Wife they were just leaving Dallas, at 10:00pm. She was not happy about that because there is no good reason to wait that long to leave. To add more worry to her, Boy did mention on the way up there, they had to stop and put air in one of the tires. This is a reason for me to get upset because the vehicle tells him, he knew if he had a low tire all week, why wait until they are on the road? What if he had a nail or just a slow leak? That is what causes blowouts and then accidents that can get ugly fast.
Still, in the end, I didn't say anything ugly to him. I told Wife that other than being an idiot driving late, they aren't doing anything wrong. At least we never have had to worry about them drinking and driving, they really don't partake in alcohol. I did call him around 11:00pm to see that they were moving along and he was near Waco by then, so I told him to just be careful and get home safe. He admitted time got away from them but he said they were moving good and there wasn't much traffic, but there was construction.
What can we do? He is going to do what he thinks is right. He would rather please the GF than his parents at this point, so if she wants to stop and smell a flower by the side of the road and kill an hour, he will probably do it, we can just hope some of our teachings have sunk in his head and he attempts to stay safe when out there in the real world.
Wife kept trying them and I guess Boy finally got tired of hearing his phone buzzing that he answered only to tell Wife they were just leaving Dallas, at 10:00pm. She was not happy about that because there is no good reason to wait that long to leave. To add more worry to her, Boy did mention on the way up there, they had to stop and put air in one of the tires. This is a reason for me to get upset because the vehicle tells him, he knew if he had a low tire all week, why wait until they are on the road? What if he had a nail or just a slow leak? That is what causes blowouts and then accidents that can get ugly fast.
Still, in the end, I didn't say anything ugly to him. I told Wife that other than being an idiot driving late, they aren't doing anything wrong. At least we never have had to worry about them drinking and driving, they really don't partake in alcohol. I did call him around 11:00pm to see that they were moving along and he was near Waco by then, so I told him to just be careful and get home safe. He admitted time got away from them but he said they were moving good and there wasn't much traffic, but there was construction.
What can we do? He is going to do what he thinks is right. He would rather please the GF than his parents at this point, so if she wants to stop and smell a flower by the side of the road and kill an hour, he will probably do it, we can just hope some of our teachings have sunk in his head and he attempts to stay safe when out there in the real world.
Sunday, October 13, 2019
10/14/19 Joker (Movie)? (spoilers)
I have to admit I didn't want to go watch this movie in particular. The idea of an origin story for the Joker seemed silly to me because he is a bad guy and should be celebrating a bullet to the head, not celebrity status. Anyways, even with my coworker saying the movie was not worth seeing and this is how a murderer gets created, both my Wife and son were too eager to go. Boy has been gone all weekend to another comic con, this one in Dallas, so he was not going to join us.
I found the movie very engaging, right from the start. The guy that turns into the Joker is a guy the audience is hoping can turn it around. I felt a sense of sympathy for him, he is not automatically a bad guy, He is doing the best he can and trying to find his niche in life, but life keeps shitting on him. We learn later he was abused as a baby by one of the mother's boyfriends and he was even tied to the radiator for a time. The mother is not all there as she spends her time locked up in their apartment and always hoping for her one time boss, Mr. Wayne, to help them and she does let out a kernel I want to believe as true, she claims in a letter that her son is his, but he denies it and insists she is just a crazy lady. This would mean that Bruce Wayne and the Joker are actually half brothers, which is crazy, in that universe, at least.
As a grown man, he is trying to become a comedian, but is currently employed as a clown. He is not complaining to anyone as to the status of his life. He does seem to fantasize quite a bit and then he has a condition when he gets nervous or overwhelmed, he starts laughing out loud oncontrollably which always makes everyone around him nervous. There is a scene where he gets beat up by a pack of street boys who steal his sign (he is working outside a store with one of those signs you twirl in the air) as a prank. They lead him down an alley and then blindside him as they all gang tackle him. This almost seems to want to repeat in the subway when three guys are attempting to get the attention of a girl. He ends up saving the girl but again finds himself on the floor taking a kicking again by "guys" much older and well-to-do. This time though, he isn't without a weapon and promptly brandishes the gun, killing two of them instantly while on the floor and the third one he hunts down as he tries to escape when the subway stops. This then starts a movement of the poor not putting up with antics of the rich and people start dressing up as clowns as they gather to protest.
In the end it does get a little confusing because you realize that a lot of what we are "seeing" is just Arthur fantasizing, such as the girl down the hall being a love interest. We see her walking with him in one scene and she is even in the hospital supporting Arthur as he sits with his mother, and only in the end when he "breaks into her apartment" (who leaves their door unlocked?) and she freaks out do we realize all those scenes with an almost tenderness and love have all been just fantasies.
There was really a lot more going on in the movie. Robert de Niro plays a late night host who the mother and Arthur are obsessed with and there are some good scenes with him. Arthur is also seeing a psychiatrist once a week or so but he realizes she is ineffective one time calling her out that all she does is ask the same questions every week. He embarks on a philosophical thought at one point "in my whole life, I didn't know if I even existed..." which once he accepts himself turning more and more into Joker he proclaims the answer "but I do, and people are starting to notice."
Usually, in a movie as a character finds himself, we tend to see a good guy coming around and start doing great things. This one went in the opposite direction, what was a wounded puppy looking for kindness from anyone in his cold dark world manifested and created a monster. Only upon accepting his role as a destroyer of liars and cheats does he feel "happiness" for the first time in his life. I would not be surprised to see this movie nominated for a Best Picture film, it had that dirty realness to it.
I found the movie very engaging, right from the start. The guy that turns into the Joker is a guy the audience is hoping can turn it around. I felt a sense of sympathy for him, he is not automatically a bad guy, He is doing the best he can and trying to find his niche in life, but life keeps shitting on him. We learn later he was abused as a baby by one of the mother's boyfriends and he was even tied to the radiator for a time. The mother is not all there as she spends her time locked up in their apartment and always hoping for her one time boss, Mr. Wayne, to help them and she does let out a kernel I want to believe as true, she claims in a letter that her son is his, but he denies it and insists she is just a crazy lady. This would mean that Bruce Wayne and the Joker are actually half brothers, which is crazy, in that universe, at least.
As a grown man, he is trying to become a comedian, but is currently employed as a clown. He is not complaining to anyone as to the status of his life. He does seem to fantasize quite a bit and then he has a condition when he gets nervous or overwhelmed, he starts laughing out loud oncontrollably which always makes everyone around him nervous. There is a scene where he gets beat up by a pack of street boys who steal his sign (he is working outside a store with one of those signs you twirl in the air) as a prank. They lead him down an alley and then blindside him as they all gang tackle him. This almost seems to want to repeat in the subway when three guys are attempting to get the attention of a girl. He ends up saving the girl but again finds himself on the floor taking a kicking again by "guys" much older and well-to-do. This time though, he isn't without a weapon and promptly brandishes the gun, killing two of them instantly while on the floor and the third one he hunts down as he tries to escape when the subway stops. This then starts a movement of the poor not putting up with antics of the rich and people start dressing up as clowns as they gather to protest.
In the end it does get a little confusing because you realize that a lot of what we are "seeing" is just Arthur fantasizing, such as the girl down the hall being a love interest. We see her walking with him in one scene and she is even in the hospital supporting Arthur as he sits with his mother, and only in the end when he "breaks into her apartment" (who leaves their door unlocked?) and she freaks out do we realize all those scenes with an almost tenderness and love have all been just fantasies.
There was really a lot more going on in the movie. Robert de Niro plays a late night host who the mother and Arthur are obsessed with and there are some good scenes with him. Arthur is also seeing a psychiatrist once a week or so but he realizes she is ineffective one time calling her out that all she does is ask the same questions every week. He embarks on a philosophical thought at one point "in my whole life, I didn't know if I even existed..." which once he accepts himself turning more and more into Joker he proclaims the answer "but I do, and people are starting to notice."
Usually, in a movie as a character finds himself, we tend to see a good guy coming around and start doing great things. This one went in the opposite direction, what was a wounded puppy looking for kindness from anyone in his cold dark world manifested and created a monster. Only upon accepting his role as a destroyer of liars and cheats does he feel "happiness" for the first time in his life. I would not be surprised to see this movie nominated for a Best Picture film, it had that dirty realness to it.
10/13/19 Red River Rivalry 2019
I have to say I miss my old friend and coworker who passed away a few years ago. Jorge was a Sooner and he was always ready to give us a little poke when the Sooners would beat the Longhorns, but he was never ugly or rude about it. He hasn't been mentioned in a while, but we still have a cubicle in his "honor", as he left it. This is where my mind went when I thought about the game this week.
I was hoping the Horns would win this one, but the offense just could not get going. The defense was playing about as good as it could. I missed the first score from the Sooners, we had gone to eat breakfast Don Dario's, who would think they would start playing at 11:00am, that is way too early for anything serious. Nevertheless, the game was being showed at the restaurant, so we could see the action. Javalina was going on about how he could handle him and him and him on the screen. I thought it would be fun to point at a big ole "Bubba" sitting a couple of tables over and telling him those linemen are about his size. That is a 6' 5" man sitting down. He made me look small and I am a 400 pounder. He just said "you suck Dad, but I can take him." I just rolled my eyes and told him to order some food, my little guy needs to get bigger. (He hates stuff like that)
Breakfast was good, we then headed back home and watched the rest of the game at home. Since we had eaten out, I ran to the bathroom at halftime, did my business and took a shower. By the time I came back out, the score was 20-10 in favor of the Sooners and it just never looked like the Horns could do much. My son and I are huge fans of Dicker the Kicker, mostly because that is the coolest name for a kicker, but the little guy has balls of steel, after the tackle he did near the sideline where he alsmost got called for a spearing penalty and we see him on the sideline like a cocky rooster not realizing what he did without his helmet on.
I sort of watched the 4th quarter from the kitchen with the big screen still on, but I couldn't sit and cheer when the offense just didn't seem into it. They only lost by a TD, but that is now two that have gotten away from them. I am sure their chances of making the 4 team playoffs are out of range by now, so I guess that is the season. I still want to see them win, but this game is very important because they are usually really the only good teams in the Big12. Oh well.
I got up way too early, as usual, I was up at 6:00am, and by the time the game finished, I was ready to take a nap. I told Wife to wake me at 5:00pm and we could go somewhere to walk around, but Javalina came in the room and told us he would rather just stay in. I ended up sleeping until 10:00pm, and woke up only because Wife said we had tickets to go watch Joker at Alamo Drafthouse. It was really good, even after being told not to bother watching it by a different coworker.
I was hoping the Horns would win this one, but the offense just could not get going. The defense was playing about as good as it could. I missed the first score from the Sooners, we had gone to eat breakfast Don Dario's, who would think they would start playing at 11:00am, that is way too early for anything serious. Nevertheless, the game was being showed at the restaurant, so we could see the action. Javalina was going on about how he could handle him and him and him on the screen. I thought it would be fun to point at a big ole "Bubba" sitting a couple of tables over and telling him those linemen are about his size. That is a 6' 5" man sitting down. He made me look small and I am a 400 pounder. He just said "you suck Dad, but I can take him." I just rolled my eyes and told him to order some food, my little guy needs to get bigger. (He hates stuff like that)
Breakfast was good, we then headed back home and watched the rest of the game at home. Since we had eaten out, I ran to the bathroom at halftime, did my business and took a shower. By the time I came back out, the score was 20-10 in favor of the Sooners and it just never looked like the Horns could do much. My son and I are huge fans of Dicker the Kicker, mostly because that is the coolest name for a kicker, but the little guy has balls of steel, after the tackle he did near the sideline where he alsmost got called for a spearing penalty and we see him on the sideline like a cocky rooster not realizing what he did without his helmet on.
I sort of watched the 4th quarter from the kitchen with the big screen still on, but I couldn't sit and cheer when the offense just didn't seem into it. They only lost by a TD, but that is now two that have gotten away from them. I am sure their chances of making the 4 team playoffs are out of range by now, so I guess that is the season. I still want to see them win, but this game is very important because they are usually really the only good teams in the Big12. Oh well.
I got up way too early, as usual, I was up at 6:00am, and by the time the game finished, I was ready to take a nap. I told Wife to wake me at 5:00pm and we could go somewhere to walk around, but Javalina came in the room and told us he would rather just stay in. I ended up sleeping until 10:00pm, and woke up only because Wife said we had tickets to go watch Joker at Alamo Drafthouse. It was really good, even after being told not to bother watching it by a different coworker.
10/12/19 First Cold Front of 2019?
After an especially hard week at work, it was almost a shock to walk outside and feel the temperature dropping below 60 degrees. I got in my Excursion and drove away, close to 9:00am because I had come in late after watching Javalina's game. The first thing that came to mind was "I have to make some chili." I stopped at Target and got the necessary ingredients to impress everyone at home. I got home around 10:00am and got to cooking the ground beef while I poured the cans of beans and diced tomatoes with the chili powder mix into our slow cooker. After browning the ground beef, I followed that with doing the same with a package of ground pork meat. While I did that, I went ahead and cooked up some hamburger patties I had bought to cook during the week but never got around to cooking them. I ate two of them for breakfast and after mixing up all my chili contents went to bed very close to noon.
I woke up late thanks to Wife calling me that she was on her way up here from La Pryor. It was 5 O'clock and although I had set my alarm for 4:30pm, I slept right through it. Javalina called as I was driving to him, but he seemed ok and was talking with friends outside not in any particular hurry. I got him and came directly back home. I told him we had chili ready, unless he wanted to wait for some cornbread and he said he would wait. We then spent the next hour or two playing music, they had a cowboy day at school and he was mad they didn't play some songs he likes like Garth Brook's "Friends in Low Places", or that Zac Brown "Chicken Fried" song. We then started playing random songs. He seemed interested in that "Day Oh song" from Beetlejuice, so I suggested Cuban Pete from Mask and then played some Chery Popping Daddies with some swinging music that pops.
While all this was going on I managed to take out the trash, wash 3-4 loads of clothes and fold it, and sweep and Swiffer mop the kitchen. I also turned on a candle by the front area along with opening the windows to try and clean out the air in the house. I almost prefer to do things this way as Wife then can't complain about much and makes for a much more pleasant evening.
I have to say the cornbread was great and worked magic with the chili, cheese and dollop of sour cream. Wife had a bowl when she got here and after a while of catching up on the tabke in the kitchen we went to our bedroom to watch some of our recorded shows. I managed about three shows while I ironed Javalina's school shirts, but since I had only slept like 4-5 hours in the afternoon, I found myself quickly dozing off. I was asleep by 11:00pm probably and I felt Wife come to bed at that point. I then got up at 1:00am to go pee and stayed awake until 3:00am, remembering I still had a load in the dryer and one in the washer. I found one more shirt to iron and decided to do it so it wouldn't linger around until Sunday night. The cool weather made it all the more easier to do all the chores.
I woke up late thanks to Wife calling me that she was on her way up here from La Pryor. It was 5 O'clock and although I had set my alarm for 4:30pm, I slept right through it. Javalina called as I was driving to him, but he seemed ok and was talking with friends outside not in any particular hurry. I got him and came directly back home. I told him we had chili ready, unless he wanted to wait for some cornbread and he said he would wait. We then spent the next hour or two playing music, they had a cowboy day at school and he was mad they didn't play some songs he likes like Garth Brook's "Friends in Low Places", or that Zac Brown "Chicken Fried" song. We then started playing random songs. He seemed interested in that "Day Oh song" from Beetlejuice, so I suggested Cuban Pete from Mask and then played some Chery Popping Daddies with some swinging music that pops.
While all this was going on I managed to take out the trash, wash 3-4 loads of clothes and fold it, and sweep and Swiffer mop the kitchen. I also turned on a candle by the front area along with opening the windows to try and clean out the air in the house. I almost prefer to do things this way as Wife then can't complain about much and makes for a much more pleasant evening.
I have to say the cornbread was great and worked magic with the chili, cheese and dollop of sour cream. Wife had a bowl when she got here and after a while of catching up on the tabke in the kitchen we went to our bedroom to watch some of our recorded shows. I managed about three shows while I ironed Javalina's school shirts, but since I had only slept like 4-5 hours in the afternoon, I found myself quickly dozing off. I was asleep by 11:00pm probably and I felt Wife come to bed at that point. I then got up at 1:00am to go pee and stayed awake until 3:00am, remembering I still had a load in the dryer and one in the washer. I found one more shirt to iron and decided to do it so it wouldn't linger around until Sunday night. The cool weather made it all the more easier to do all the chores.
Friday, October 11, 2019
10/11/19 Reagan And The Refs Barely Beat Crockett?
I am kind of kidding, just going off the energy from the parents as the game ended. This was the closest game the boys have played with the final score being 12-14 in favor of Reagan. The game was played at Nelson Field and I have to say, it was a major pain in the ass to get there. We live down south and this football field is way up north, as in it took me a solid hour to get across town. I know it was 5:00pm when I started my drive, but what else could I do? When they played at Manor, at least I could take the toll road. It was too far away to make it make sense, but I might just do it next week, as they play again over there. I don't think I like it when they convert a baseball field to a football field, which this is the second field I have seen like this. The seating is set up for baseball, so everyone sits on the same side, but then there's the super tall fence to protect the people from errant baseballs. They also manage to have these big light posts right in the middle of your view. I wanted to sit near the 50 yard line but the light post would have blocked my view of the middle of the field.
As far as the game itself, Javalina said they finally got their QB1 back and the coaches let some players go, those with a shitty attitude, according to my son. The QB would be fine, he can pass and run, I think he is just rusty from not playing all season. Javalina is dying for a win, he seems so frustrated after every game. He kept asking me "what else can we do to win?" They believed the hype that Reagan was not going to be good, and on paper they should have won. The team consisted of the 11 players on the field and 3 extra guys on the sidelines. Compared to them, Crockett has at least a full offense and a full defense and some extra players. To add insult to injury, this week at least the center was moved from JV to varsity and Javalina took it personally, he feels he belongs with the big boys. I say a year over here with the young 'uns is good for him.
I asked him how the game was and he was pissy and said he didn't want to talk about it. After he calmed down, he started talking and said he felt like he made a lot of mistakes. I asked him how and he said the defensive guy in front of him was using his hands a bunch and he couldn't block him like normal. Of course he was quick to say that the kid was not stronger, he was just hard to handle like normal. I thought he did alright. He played most of the second half on defense as well. The QB and ball handlers are starting to make more first downs and they now have a sense of a passing game. I still think they can win one or two, all we can do is wait and see.
As far as the game itself, Javalina said they finally got their QB1 back and the coaches let some players go, those with a shitty attitude, according to my son. The QB would be fine, he can pass and run, I think he is just rusty from not playing all season. Javalina is dying for a win, he seems so frustrated after every game. He kept asking me "what else can we do to win?" They believed the hype that Reagan was not going to be good, and on paper they should have won. The team consisted of the 11 players on the field and 3 extra guys on the sidelines. Compared to them, Crockett has at least a full offense and a full defense and some extra players. To add insult to injury, this week at least the center was moved from JV to varsity and Javalina took it personally, he feels he belongs with the big boys. I say a year over here with the young 'uns is good for him.
I asked him how the game was and he was pissy and said he didn't want to talk about it. After he calmed down, he started talking and said he felt like he made a lot of mistakes. I asked him how and he said the defensive guy in front of him was using his hands a bunch and he couldn't block him like normal. Of course he was quick to say that the kid was not stronger, he was just hard to handle like normal. I thought he did alright. He played most of the second half on defense as well. The QB and ball handlers are starting to make more first downs and they now have a sense of a passing game. I still think they can win one or two, all we can do is wait and see.
Thursday, October 10, 2019
10/10/19 Wife And Her Nose?
Wife has always been a pain about smelling things that I assume she makes up. She will say stuff like the house smells like this or there is a funny smell in the fridge. Usually I just go along with her, honestly, I can't smell half as well as she does. I think it is the opposite of a gift to have that fine of a nose. We sit all week at the house, yes, right now we have a dog in the house, but if it smells, I can't tell you. The minute she walks in the door it's "oh my god, that dog needs a bath." I am not a fan of having the dog there, but at this point, they should be leaving in another month or so, so I can put up with it.
The plan to me has always been that once they move out, we will start putting in new wood floors or now we have even been talking about putting in new carpets, which would probably be cheaper. I want the wood floors so smells that she smells can't hide in the carpets. The carpets are twelve years old and have their fair share of stains from the kids growing up to my parent's dog and everything else in between. After having Girlie's dog with us all summer, it finally pooped in the house. She and the BF think the dog was sick, and honestly he kept looking at me and standing by the door, he tells you when he wants to go outside, but he has gotten in the habit of taking off, so I refuse to open the door for him now. Wife came in and almost instantly zoomed in on the poop and I guess there was some throw up as well. If it was a new carpet, I would have been pissed, but since they are old, what is the point of getting upset? They were quick to clean up the mess, but she can still smell something.
The plan to me has always been that once they move out, we will start putting in new wood floors or now we have even been talking about putting in new carpets, which would probably be cheaper. I want the wood floors so smells that she smells can't hide in the carpets. The carpets are twelve years old and have their fair share of stains from the kids growing up to my parent's dog and everything else in between. After having Girlie's dog with us all summer, it finally pooped in the house. She and the BF think the dog was sick, and honestly he kept looking at me and standing by the door, he tells you when he wants to go outside, but he has gotten in the habit of taking off, so I refuse to open the door for him now. Wife came in and almost instantly zoomed in on the poop and I guess there was some throw up as well. If it was a new carpet, I would have been pissed, but since they are old, what is the point of getting upset? They were quick to clean up the mess, but she can still smell something.
Wednesday, October 9, 2019
10/09/19 Diet Appears To Be Working Slowly?
I wish I could say I am losing more weight, but I think the way I am doing it is better for me. In the last two weeks I have lost another 6-7 pounds. It feels like I take two steps forward and one step back. For example, last Friday I weighed myself at home and at one point I saw 407 on the scale. I thought great, then Boy comes up with the brilliant idea of making home made cookies, and different varieties, to boot. Of course, I said I would just have one but that turned into about 6 of each kind while we sat and watched Beatlejuice with Javalina. He has been wanting to learn about the good movies we grew up with. He really enjoyed that one.
But back to the diet thing, by Monday morning I was back to 410, which sucks a little. By the end of the week I will probably be back down near 407, if I can just get through the weekend without overdoing it. There was also pizza on Sunday night and a little bit of pumpkin pie. It is a lot easier to be disciplined during the week. I eat one meal with Javalina after school/football practice, then I eat something when I come home, usually around 1:00am. I tell myself not to, but I feel hungry, so I get whatever I can find. Last night was especially gross, a can of sardines with some Chicharrones, cheese sticks, and an avocado. I believe an Atkins friendly diet, but not very glamorous.
I do feel better, I started walking when work slowed down a bit, but usually I am too busy to leave the lab. I feel a little more limber, both boys say my stomach doesn't look as bloated. I just feel like I will continue staying on Atkins for the long term, but if I feel like eating a burger once in a while, I am not going to cry about it. Same with the pizza on Sunday, instead of 5-6 slices, I ate three and that was quite good. I also ate the thin crust instead of the pan, which is a lot more bread. Feeling better also contributes to wanting to continue doing what I am doing.
But back to the diet thing, by Monday morning I was back to 410, which sucks a little. By the end of the week I will probably be back down near 407, if I can just get through the weekend without overdoing it. There was also pizza on Sunday night and a little bit of pumpkin pie. It is a lot easier to be disciplined during the week. I eat one meal with Javalina after school/football practice, then I eat something when I come home, usually around 1:00am. I tell myself not to, but I feel hungry, so I get whatever I can find. Last night was especially gross, a can of sardines with some Chicharrones, cheese sticks, and an avocado. I believe an Atkins friendly diet, but not very glamorous.
I do feel better, I started walking when work slowed down a bit, but usually I am too busy to leave the lab. I feel a little more limber, both boys say my stomach doesn't look as bloated. I just feel like I will continue staying on Atkins for the long term, but if I feel like eating a burger once in a while, I am not going to cry about it. Same with the pizza on Sunday, instead of 5-6 slices, I ate three and that was quite good. I also ate the thin crust instead of the pan, which is a lot more bread. Feeling better also contributes to wanting to continue doing what I am doing.
Tuesday, October 8, 2019
10/08/19 Appraisal Time?
With our attempt to refinance our house, we needed an appraisal as part of the process. They scheduled it for Monday morning at 10:00am. It was almost too quick, as far as giving us time to clean up and organize the house a bit. Wife was spazzing out Thursday night when I told her they were coming on Monday. I told her to relax, that the clutter does not affect the valuation, but it did not change her reaction. In reality, it is time we go through the house and just start throwing away a lot of things. Our garage is full of stuff I don't know what to do with. Every closet has too much stuff already tucked into it. We had the big closet upstairs in the guest room filled with our Halloween decorations but Girlie and her BF moved in and I had to move that around to random places all over the house, most of it in Javalina's closet.
The lady showed up about 10:15am, a little late, but that's ok. I was up again Sunday night until about 4:00am trying to clean any last minute things I could, mostly for Wife. I then forgot to put an alarm for 9:30am, but I still woke at 9:45am. I was scared I had missed her knocking so I called her number and she called back that she was stuck in traffic, so I felt better about that.
Stuff like the weights in the living room are going to look weird for normal people, but they work for what we are doing. I was also bothered by her comments that the solar panels can't be used as a valuation on the house. They cost like $60,000. Why wouldn't they add value? They are a huge part of the roof and they are good for the environment and all that other shit they were blowing out there ass to get us on board. It doesn't make sense that a new chandelier can add value but the solar panels don't.
I know I am getting all riled up, but the truth of the matter is that we don't need some crazy valuation, just as long as it comes in with the county numbers, we should be able to borrow enough for my needs. I don't know what happens if the numbers don't come in. I know that there a like 8-10 houses pretty much like ours in our neighborhood, it is the same as the model home, and I know they are all valued above $400k, so she shouldn't come in below that. We shall see in 3-5 business days.
The lady showed up about 10:15am, a little late, but that's ok. I was up again Sunday night until about 4:00am trying to clean any last minute things I could, mostly for Wife. I then forgot to put an alarm for 9:30am, but I still woke at 9:45am. I was scared I had missed her knocking so I called her number and she called back that she was stuck in traffic, so I felt better about that.
Stuff like the weights in the living room are going to look weird for normal people, but they work for what we are doing. I was also bothered by her comments that the solar panels can't be used as a valuation on the house. They cost like $60,000. Why wouldn't they add value? They are a huge part of the roof and they are good for the environment and all that other shit they were blowing out there ass to get us on board. It doesn't make sense that a new chandelier can add value but the solar panels don't.
I know I am getting all riled up, but the truth of the matter is that we don't need some crazy valuation, just as long as it comes in with the county numbers, we should be able to borrow enough for my needs. I don't know what happens if the numbers don't come in. I know that there a like 8-10 houses pretty much like ours in our neighborhood, it is the same as the model home, and I know they are all valued above $400k, so she shouldn't come in below that. We shall see in 3-5 business days.
Sunday, October 6, 2019
10/7/19 Longhorns Steal One In West Virginia?
There has been so much going on, I hadn't had a chance to write, now that I can focus and everyone is still asleep (I am on my third blog to get ahead by one, at least. Saturday started way too early for me, as I had to go do all that paperwork to sell our land. In the early morning, Wife was also up getting ready to go to class and we were watching the weather. I find it amazing that there are people who will rally and drive all the way to West Virginia from Austin to go watch them play a game. I can hardly stay awake sometimes here in my own house. But still, the point to mentioning that was that the reporters were talking about it being in the 40's in the morning over there. Meanwhile, we are still sitting here sweating our asses off.
Fast forward to after coming back and going to eat. I had told Javalina "how about some Pluckers?" We could enjoy some wings before the game, which I was thinking Pluckers was the wing place across the freeway from Southpark Meadows. When I pulled in there, it turned out to be a different place and Javalina wanted nothing to do with it, he said the wings there sucked. We ended up going home, picked Boy and Sweetie, then I almost thru a fit because I didn't want to drive across town for some wings, which Javalina then backed off and we tried Wicked Wings which is like a mile from the house. They were quite good, so it worked out well and now we have a new choice to eat after school.
We got home just in time for the game to start and it didn't look like it was super cold, nobody seemed bundled up. The game was OK all the way to the half, Javalina sat with me and we were watching the game pretty good. We were both impressed and shocked at the hit by little Dicker the Kicker on one run back. He went at the runner with his head down, and he is a scrawny but wiry little fellow. After the play, the camera was on him and he was standing there looking oblivious to the chance that he might get ejected for a targeting hit. The commentators were thinking that would be a first, to have your kicker ejected for an aggressive illegal tackle, he was not.
It was too much activity for me, and by halftime, I was out. Wife had gotten home about then and I could feel myself fading. I closed my eyes and slept for a bit. I opened them and the Longhorns had opened up a lead, then I closed them again. When I opened them once more, West Virginia was coming up strong, but there was also a minute left, so it looked like the Horns stole a game, even of they were favored. I then went upstairs to sit with Wife and she was napping. I laid down with her and napped until 7:30pm. At that point we got up with the idea of going to get some things for her trip tomorrow and for dinner. We ended up going to the Halloween store, and then instead of going out to dinner, we got stuff at HEB, he shampoo stuff for her trip and some meat to cook real fast on the stove. It was a nice night, Javalina had been wanting to see Beetlejuice and we saw it all, I even stayed awake. He and I then stayed up and we watched American Pie, which had been telling him he would love and he felt like it was written for him. We have been crazy busy, but for a good cause, I think.
Fast forward to after coming back and going to eat. I had told Javalina "how about some Pluckers?" We could enjoy some wings before the game, which I was thinking Pluckers was the wing place across the freeway from Southpark Meadows. When I pulled in there, it turned out to be a different place and Javalina wanted nothing to do with it, he said the wings there sucked. We ended up going home, picked Boy and Sweetie, then I almost thru a fit because I didn't want to drive across town for some wings, which Javalina then backed off and we tried Wicked Wings which is like a mile from the house. They were quite good, so it worked out well and now we have a new choice to eat after school.
We got home just in time for the game to start and it didn't look like it was super cold, nobody seemed bundled up. The game was OK all the way to the half, Javalina sat with me and we were watching the game pretty good. We were both impressed and shocked at the hit by little Dicker the Kicker on one run back. He went at the runner with his head down, and he is a scrawny but wiry little fellow. After the play, the camera was on him and he was standing there looking oblivious to the chance that he might get ejected for a targeting hit. The commentators were thinking that would be a first, to have your kicker ejected for an aggressive illegal tackle, he was not.
It was too much activity for me, and by halftime, I was out. Wife had gotten home about then and I could feel myself fading. I closed my eyes and slept for a bit. I opened them and the Longhorns had opened up a lead, then I closed them again. When I opened them once more, West Virginia was coming up strong, but there was also a minute left, so it looked like the Horns stole a game, even of they were favored. I then went upstairs to sit with Wife and she was napping. I laid down with her and napped until 7:30pm. At that point we got up with the idea of going to get some things for her trip tomorrow and for dinner. We ended up going to the Halloween store, and then instead of going out to dinner, we got stuff at HEB, he shampoo stuff for her trip and some meat to cook real fast on the stove. It was a nice night, Javalina had been wanting to see Beetlejuice and we saw it all, I even stayed awake. He and I then stayed up and we watched American Pie, which had been telling him he would love and he felt like it was written for him. We have been crazy busy, but for a good cause, I think.
10/6/19 Seguin Matadors Are A Very Organized Football Team? (late review of game from Thursday)
I hate writing week in and week out loss after loss, but at least my son saw some positive in that they finally scored a couple of touchdowns in this game. They even moved the ball and were making first downs. Still, the final score makes the game seem very lopsided at 58-12. By the time I got there, and I was only like 5 minutes late, the score was already 6-16. I then got to see a 50 yard scamper by the old quarterback from 7th grade who ran like a gazelle, these beautiful long strides that seemed like he was moving in slow motion but covers so much field with each step. I got excited, knowing they were staying within reach, the score was then 12-16, the difference being the 2 point conversions after the touchdowns. This would be as close as the score ever got. Seguin then scored on their next drive and Crockett managed to throw the ball into the opponent's hands repeatedly. The first drive when the game still seemed within reach, the ball bounced out of the receiver's hands and right into a defender's chest and he ran it back about 30 yards. This happened again before the half. They went into the half down about 36-12.
The second half started the same way, at some point, our great hope, the "new QB from 7th grade" took a hit and although it didn't look like much, he is super skinny, it roughed him up and then I don't think he wanted to be QB anymore. He came back in as safety on defense, but not as QB. This is fustrating because the current QB is just not trained well enough at the position and is not much of an athlete to make things happen.
I have to admit with that score, I started fading, and sort of zoned out in the 4th quarter. I was sitting in the uppermost row and there is a metal handrail to prevent people from falling back and between my stadium chair and this back support, I got about as comfortable as I can get. In all the turmoil of the mess that this game was, I missed the one play Javalina was shocked by. I had been watching him play and he does his position well, I like when he pulls with the tackle and they run in unison across the field to the other side and I did notice he was handling the big lineman in front of him ok. What I didn't see was in the last interception, he said he was kind of using his tackle as a shield only to be shocked as the tackle was blindsided and taken off his feet and just as he was looking for where to go, he was hit almost from the back and thrown a good distance. We saw this on the HUDL.com website where the coaches get to study game film and he got taken off his feet pretty bad, it is only by luck that he did not get hurt. In slow motion, it looks like because of his momentum and then being shoved, he flies about 3-4 yards in the air and lands on the back of his shoulder pad. He then slid and used his forearm to get himself up, this was all in less than a second, but the website has a slow motion feature. I am just glad the worst of it was a little grass burn on his forearm.
We still enjoyed IHOP after the game, then I started all the cleaning I have been doing.
The second half started the same way, at some point, our great hope, the "new QB from 7th grade" took a hit and although it didn't look like much, he is super skinny, it roughed him up and then I don't think he wanted to be QB anymore. He came back in as safety on defense, but not as QB. This is fustrating because the current QB is just not trained well enough at the position and is not much of an athlete to make things happen.
I have to admit with that score, I started fading, and sort of zoned out in the 4th quarter. I was sitting in the uppermost row and there is a metal handrail to prevent people from falling back and between my stadium chair and this back support, I got about as comfortable as I can get. In all the turmoil of the mess that this game was, I missed the one play Javalina was shocked by. I had been watching him play and he does his position well, I like when he pulls with the tackle and they run in unison across the field to the other side and I did notice he was handling the big lineman in front of him ok. What I didn't see was in the last interception, he said he was kind of using his tackle as a shield only to be shocked as the tackle was blindsided and taken off his feet and just as he was looking for where to go, he was hit almost from the back and thrown a good distance. We saw this on the HUDL.com website where the coaches get to study game film and he got taken off his feet pretty bad, it is only by luck that he did not get hurt. In slow motion, it looks like because of his momentum and then being shoved, he flies about 3-4 yards in the air and lands on the back of his shoulder pad. He then slid and used his forearm to get himself up, this was all in less than a second, but the website has a slow motion feature. I am just glad the worst of it was a little grass burn on his forearm.
We still enjoyed IHOP after the game, then I started all the cleaning I have been doing.
10/5/19 Selling Our Land By The Lake?
It only took one asshole move, but I quickly lost my attraction for a piece of quiet paradise near Canyon Lake. After whoever dumped that load of trash on our site and then seemed to do it again within the same week time period, I figured it was time to go. I thought my brother in law or even grandfather would want to keep the land, but they were ready to sell as soon as I brought it up. I had talked to Wife that I was willing to just let them buy me out for the original cost which was 1/3/ the price of $7,000. Surprisingly, the minute I brought it up, they were also ready to sell, so we had a small meeting between the three of us and we decided we would put it on the market for about $15,000. I was glad I kept my mouth shut, because if I went along with this, I could perhaps double my money, and I never come out on top on a deal.
Within a few days, my brother in law said he had talked to a guy who was an interested buyer and since he had come to us, we didn't need to pay a realtor or anybody else anything. I don't think we even put an advertisement out. The guy is actually the neighbor in the property behind the property, so that is someone who can keep an eye out on things. The only thing was that he came in offering $14,000, which I said "take it!" right away, I just want out before more trash got dumped there.
The great thing about this is the guy was also interested in buying the RV, and since I really didn't want it anymore, I was only too glad to sell it. The only downside is I probably sold it too cheap at $1,200, but the idea of renting a truck with a hitch, finding a storage location, or taking it to my mom's house (three hours away) just seemed like a problem. Shit, what if the tires are bad and then I needed to buy new tires? Apparently, now RV's need to pass inspections before being considered road worthy, I had never taken it to get an inspection. If I kept it close to me in Austin, I was surely going to be paying a good $100 a month, so all things considered, I took the offer. I mean between the land and the RV, I still made out with almost $6,000.
Nothing is ever easy though, the meeting was set for 9:30am, which sounded like a good time since the banks are not open all day on the weekends and we did the transaction at Wells Fargo Bank. It hurt so much to get up at 7:30am, specially because I had spent Thursday night and Friday all day cleaning and fixing up the house. It is Sunday morning and my back is still sore. I did like that we met at a bank because I don't know these people and what if I got a fraudulent check or fake cash or gave me cash and then had a friend follow us and hold us up, blechhh, so many thoughts when it comes to money transactions.
The couple was very nice, he was even wearing a company shirt and said he worked for a company that has cabins, which he had built most of them and they rent them by the river in New Braunfels and San Marcos. If we wanted to ever try them, to mention his name and we would be given a discount or if they were not busy, maybe even let us stay for free. I thanked him for the offer but that I didn't like taking advantage of people like that. He said it was no big deal, he doesn't have much family to use his discounts, so it would be fine. I really did like the offer, I told him maybe.
Back to the deal though, the bank had a notary, we both signed some paperwork my brother in law had printed up with the address of the property and our names along with a bunch of lawyer words like henceforth and seller and buyer, etc. When it was time to do the money part, the wife went to the teller and had her print a cashier's check which looked like a pay stub and then I got this directly from the teller, so It felt very legitimate. I wanted to go get rid of it as quickly as possible, but we were also over in Sattler, which is the village outside New Braunfels that hugs the lake and although there was a Wells Fargo, there wasn't an RBFCU. We went and looked over the RV quickly (athough I had been told it had been broken into, nothing looked out of place and even the door and frame looked fine, so the deal is on for this Friday), at this point we were only a few miles away, then we headed back to Austin. We were back by noon, picked up Boy and Sweetie and went to eat wings, poor Wife was in class until 4:00pm.
Within a few days, my brother in law said he had talked to a guy who was an interested buyer and since he had come to us, we didn't need to pay a realtor or anybody else anything. I don't think we even put an advertisement out. The guy is actually the neighbor in the property behind the property, so that is someone who can keep an eye out on things. The only thing was that he came in offering $14,000, which I said "take it!" right away, I just want out before more trash got dumped there.
The great thing about this is the guy was also interested in buying the RV, and since I really didn't want it anymore, I was only too glad to sell it. The only downside is I probably sold it too cheap at $1,200, but the idea of renting a truck with a hitch, finding a storage location, or taking it to my mom's house (three hours away) just seemed like a problem. Shit, what if the tires are bad and then I needed to buy new tires? Apparently, now RV's need to pass inspections before being considered road worthy, I had never taken it to get an inspection. If I kept it close to me in Austin, I was surely going to be paying a good $100 a month, so all things considered, I took the offer. I mean between the land and the RV, I still made out with almost $6,000.
Nothing is ever easy though, the meeting was set for 9:30am, which sounded like a good time since the banks are not open all day on the weekends and we did the transaction at Wells Fargo Bank. It hurt so much to get up at 7:30am, specially because I had spent Thursday night and Friday all day cleaning and fixing up the house. It is Sunday morning and my back is still sore. I did like that we met at a bank because I don't know these people and what if I got a fraudulent check or fake cash or gave me cash and then had a friend follow us and hold us up, blechhh, so many thoughts when it comes to money transactions.
The couple was very nice, he was even wearing a company shirt and said he worked for a company that has cabins, which he had built most of them and they rent them by the river in New Braunfels and San Marcos. If we wanted to ever try them, to mention his name and we would be given a discount or if they were not busy, maybe even let us stay for free. I thanked him for the offer but that I didn't like taking advantage of people like that. He said it was no big deal, he doesn't have much family to use his discounts, so it would be fine. I really did like the offer, I told him maybe.
Back to the deal though, the bank had a notary, we both signed some paperwork my brother in law had printed up with the address of the property and our names along with a bunch of lawyer words like henceforth and seller and buyer, etc. When it was time to do the money part, the wife went to the teller and had her print a cashier's check which looked like a pay stub and then I got this directly from the teller, so It felt very legitimate. I wanted to go get rid of it as quickly as possible, but we were also over in Sattler, which is the village outside New Braunfels that hugs the lake and although there was a Wells Fargo, there wasn't an RBFCU. We went and looked over the RV quickly (athough I had been told it had been broken into, nothing looked out of place and even the door and frame looked fine, so the deal is on for this Friday), at this point we were only a few miles away, then we headed back to Austin. We were back by noon, picked up Boy and Sweetie and went to eat wings, poor Wife was in class until 4:00pm.
Saturday, October 5, 2019
10/4/19 Cleaning Clutter For The Appraisal?
I read it didn't really matter whether one spends the time before an appraisal (for the refinance) cleaning or not. They don't measure the cleanliness of a house, only the size of the rooms and their features. Saying that, the article does suggest that your house should be fairly clean and not looking like a pigsty as you live there and for your own good, there should be some order to how you live. Following that sort of rule, I feel our house could be tidier, so I thought I would address that.
We have a few bins of Halloween decorations out, we are in October now, not that this shitty weather is any indication, so knowing that, I decided to get on it after the boys went to bed, around 11:00pm. I worked until about 4:00am stringing up the lights on our stair rails, hanging our assortment of scary witches and zombies and werewolves. It was kind of fun doing this. It is usually a little more fun knowing I am doing it for Wife. Of course she will enjoy the house decorated, but mostly it felt like I am doing it for devious reasons. There are a few holes on our walls, such as by the punching bag where the frame holding up the bag was leaning against the wall and surprisingly, Javalina busted a hole just by the whole being punched against the wall. Another hole is halfway down the stairs, there is a little spot where the stairs turn 90 degrees, I guess it is referred to as a landing, and when we were moving a desk one of the corners got jammed into the wall. By devious I just mean I am using some of the bigger posters and scary props to cover the walls and thus save the time from properly fixing these failures.
I guess the one fix I did do was re-weather stripping the back door where that dog living with us went nuts and cut it up. Last week sometime, the dog must have sensed something like a raccoon or possum right outside because he chewed up the bottom 2-3 wood slats in the blinds in the door frame and somehow scratched the weather stripping away. This amounted to about 15 minutes of elbow grease as I used a putty knife to scratch off the old weather stripping, then I used some Goo Gone to remove the sticky residue. I then washed the area with some soapy water and attached the new stripping. I did this because Wife and Javalina were blaming the holes as allowing spiders to get into the house, hoping this shuts them up.
After all the Halloween decorations all night, I went to bed at 4:00am, but woke up when I heard Javalina stirring Friday morning for school, at 6:30am. I got up to check on him, make sure Boy was taking him to school and that got me looking in the kitchen and I decided to clean some space in the fridge so I could put the sodas sitting out in a proper place. This led to me spending the next two hours cleaning the fridge and rounding up two bags of expired foods, from brown dried limes, to old beer bottles labeled with a 2005 expiration date. I discovered, almost a little funny, but by the amount of bottles, our favorite condiment must be relish. We had about 8 bottles of relish all over the place, from the top shelf to the doors to the bottom shelf in the very back. I felt much better to go through and do this.
The next chore I did was do the same with the spice cabinet. We had gotten to the point of just putting the newest salt and spices on the counter. Since I was in clean up mode I decided to go through and look at each bottles expiration date and throw some stuff away. All I cold say was "Wow!", some of the bottles made it over expired from our first house. We had a paprika container that said "best by April 30, 2006." We moved into this house in May 2007. All together, I threw away four bags of food and old spices and stuff. This then made the putting away of all the spices next to the stove much easier and organized. I was then to very easily clean the rest of the kitchen and declutter the counters.
While I was doing this, I was also washing and trying to get Boy involved in helping by having him take care of the bulk of his crap. He likes to use the pool table as his work area whenever he gets posters and crap in the mail. He was up to about 6 new tubes of posters leaning against the walls and I had him putting all these away and taking care of all his accessories from his game nights that were thrown about the room all over. I kept an eye on him by working in the kitchen and then moving towards him by cleaning the room in between. That room isn't too bad other than I noticed the walls were splattered with chocolate milk or something like that. I just grabbed a wet sponge and spent a good 10-15 minutes cleaning the walls. I also managed to hang a couple of photos and frames we had lying around.
By then, it was 3:30pm and realized I had not slept at all and if I was going to get any rest, I should just stop and lay down. I ended up sleeping until 6:30pm. I somehow talked to Wife in my sleep when she was on her way and I had told Boy to pick up his brother if I didn't wake when my alarm rang. I had a feeling since I only slept like two hours in the early morning that I wouldn't even wake when I heard my alarms. I barely remember turning them off, but I did not. When I woke at 6:15pm, the first thing I did was look into Javalina's room and did a little "phew!" when I saw his room light on.
I am running a day late because I didn't want to stop and write when I needed to be cleaning and I would continue writing today's blog (I am writing this Saturday morning around 4:00am), but I have an appointment with the guy we are selling the land to in New Braunfels and I really need to sleep some more. Wife is worried because I am going out there by myself and she thinks I am going to get drowsy driving. I think I will be fine since I am chasing down money, I should be excited about the little trip. Maybe I'll even stop and look at the jetskis at that store they sell them with the money in my pocket.
We have a few bins of Halloween decorations out, we are in October now, not that this shitty weather is any indication, so knowing that, I decided to get on it after the boys went to bed, around 11:00pm. I worked until about 4:00am stringing up the lights on our stair rails, hanging our assortment of scary witches and zombies and werewolves. It was kind of fun doing this. It is usually a little more fun knowing I am doing it for Wife. Of course she will enjoy the house decorated, but mostly it felt like I am doing it for devious reasons. There are a few holes on our walls, such as by the punching bag where the frame holding up the bag was leaning against the wall and surprisingly, Javalina busted a hole just by the whole being punched against the wall. Another hole is halfway down the stairs, there is a little spot where the stairs turn 90 degrees, I guess it is referred to as a landing, and when we were moving a desk one of the corners got jammed into the wall. By devious I just mean I am using some of the bigger posters and scary props to cover the walls and thus save the time from properly fixing these failures.
I guess the one fix I did do was re-weather stripping the back door where that dog living with us went nuts and cut it up. Last week sometime, the dog must have sensed something like a raccoon or possum right outside because he chewed up the bottom 2-3 wood slats in the blinds in the door frame and somehow scratched the weather stripping away. This amounted to about 15 minutes of elbow grease as I used a putty knife to scratch off the old weather stripping, then I used some Goo Gone to remove the sticky residue. I then washed the area with some soapy water and attached the new stripping. I did this because Wife and Javalina were blaming the holes as allowing spiders to get into the house, hoping this shuts them up.
After all the Halloween decorations all night, I went to bed at 4:00am, but woke up when I heard Javalina stirring Friday morning for school, at 6:30am. I got up to check on him, make sure Boy was taking him to school and that got me looking in the kitchen and I decided to clean some space in the fridge so I could put the sodas sitting out in a proper place. This led to me spending the next two hours cleaning the fridge and rounding up two bags of expired foods, from brown dried limes, to old beer bottles labeled with a 2005 expiration date. I discovered, almost a little funny, but by the amount of bottles, our favorite condiment must be relish. We had about 8 bottles of relish all over the place, from the top shelf to the doors to the bottom shelf in the very back. I felt much better to go through and do this.
The next chore I did was do the same with the spice cabinet. We had gotten to the point of just putting the newest salt and spices on the counter. Since I was in clean up mode I decided to go through and look at each bottles expiration date and throw some stuff away. All I cold say was "Wow!", some of the bottles made it over expired from our first house. We had a paprika container that said "best by April 30, 2006." We moved into this house in May 2007. All together, I threw away four bags of food and old spices and stuff. This then made the putting away of all the spices next to the stove much easier and organized. I was then to very easily clean the rest of the kitchen and declutter the counters.
While I was doing this, I was also washing and trying to get Boy involved in helping by having him take care of the bulk of his crap. He likes to use the pool table as his work area whenever he gets posters and crap in the mail. He was up to about 6 new tubes of posters leaning against the walls and I had him putting all these away and taking care of all his accessories from his game nights that were thrown about the room all over. I kept an eye on him by working in the kitchen and then moving towards him by cleaning the room in between. That room isn't too bad other than I noticed the walls were splattered with chocolate milk or something like that. I just grabbed a wet sponge and spent a good 10-15 minutes cleaning the walls. I also managed to hang a couple of photos and frames we had lying around.
By then, it was 3:30pm and realized I had not slept at all and if I was going to get any rest, I should just stop and lay down. I ended up sleeping until 6:30pm. I somehow talked to Wife in my sleep when she was on her way and I had told Boy to pick up his brother if I didn't wake when my alarm rang. I had a feeling since I only slept like two hours in the early morning that I wouldn't even wake when I heard my alarms. I barely remember turning them off, but I did not. When I woke at 6:15pm, the first thing I did was look into Javalina's room and did a little "phew!" when I saw his room light on.
I am running a day late because I didn't want to stop and write when I needed to be cleaning and I would continue writing today's blog (I am writing this Saturday morning around 4:00am), but I have an appointment with the guy we are selling the land to in New Braunfels and I really need to sleep some more. Wife is worried because I am going out there by myself and she thinks I am going to get drowsy driving. I think I will be fine since I am chasing down money, I should be excited about the little trip. Maybe I'll even stop and look at the jetskis at that store they sell them with the money in my pocket.
Thursday, October 3, 2019
10/3/19 On The Diet, Again?
I know I sound like a broken record, but I have gotten on a diet again. The last time was at the start of the year with Javalina and we both lost about 40 pounds by mostly doing Atkins, or staying away from carbs. People are calling it Keto or Atkins or South Beach, or Caveman diet, but I think they are all the same in that we are supposed to cut out carbs and sugars to get our bodies into ketosis. I am not calling myself an expert but when I am trying my best to follow the diet structure, I can lose about a pound a day. I hadn't said anything because I tend to get ahead of myself, so I wanted to see how it was going to work out this time and so far the results have been a mixed bag, the difference is I am not going to let it control me completely.
I started about a month ago and as of today, I have lost 20 pounds or so. Sadly, I lost 40 in January and put them all back, so I am still not in new territory. Last time I actually saw the scale stay in the 300's. I started again from the 430 pound area and am feeling better even if I am still a hippo sized 410 pounds. Last time I fell off the wagon and I just never got back on it, but last time I also felt I was doing it for Javalina. He has lost 40 pounds and is staying in that 220 pound range now since February.
I told Wife I was just going to make that effort of going slow and steady. If I see a cake and I devour it, oh well, just continue the next day, no big deal. The first weekend I decided I was starting this, there was a birthday party at my in-laws. We went and I ate a bunch of cake, I just decided it was only one day, just continue with your diet tomorrow. The same thing happened again this past weekend, Boy has never voluntarily gone out and bought pan dulce (Mexican pastries), but he came home with a good sized bag. I said "what the hell?", nobody else really eats this stuff, except me. I just decided it was the weekend and I would eat some Saturday night and another piece or two Sunday morning and then Sunday night I would throw away whatever was still there. I had seen 409 on the scale last Friday, Monday it said 412, but I just kept going, and I am back at 408 today. I could've have just gotten mad at myself and spiraled out right there, but I am trying to just take it in stride. As long as the overall picture looks like I am going down, I will try to continue eating like this. I am almost 50, and I don't want to be the first of my siblings with diabetes. I mean I am sure it is headed my way, but I would like to delay it another 10-15 years. We'll see.
I started about a month ago and as of today, I have lost 20 pounds or so. Sadly, I lost 40 in January and put them all back, so I am still not in new territory. Last time I actually saw the scale stay in the 300's. I started again from the 430 pound area and am feeling better even if I am still a hippo sized 410 pounds. Last time I fell off the wagon and I just never got back on it, but last time I also felt I was doing it for Javalina. He has lost 40 pounds and is staying in that 220 pound range now since February.
I told Wife I was just going to make that effort of going slow and steady. If I see a cake and I devour it, oh well, just continue the next day, no big deal. The first weekend I decided I was starting this, there was a birthday party at my in-laws. We went and I ate a bunch of cake, I just decided it was only one day, just continue with your diet tomorrow. The same thing happened again this past weekend, Boy has never voluntarily gone out and bought pan dulce (Mexican pastries), but he came home with a good sized bag. I said "what the hell?", nobody else really eats this stuff, except me. I just decided it was the weekend and I would eat some Saturday night and another piece or two Sunday morning and then Sunday night I would throw away whatever was still there. I had seen 409 on the scale last Friday, Monday it said 412, but I just kept going, and I am back at 408 today. I could've have just gotten mad at myself and spiraled out right there, but I am trying to just take it in stride. As long as the overall picture looks like I am going down, I will try to continue eating like this. I am almost 50, and I don't want to be the first of my siblings with diabetes. I mean I am sure it is headed my way, but I would like to delay it another 10-15 years. We'll see.
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
10/2/19 I Guess We Are Refinancing?
Shoot, what started as a little conversation with Wife has turned into a thing now. I brought up the idea of refinancing the house down to 15 years from our 30 year note, mostly because thinking about it, I am 48 and we refinanced in 2016 which helped us probably keep the house at the time, but things have improved today and I don't see me still working in 2046, when I would be like 77 or something like that. My logic was that if we refinance to a fifteen year note, we could have the house paid off in 15 years, when I will be turning 63, that is still a reasonable thought, if I don't stroke out from being a fat f*cker. While we are at it, I noticed the value of our house is ridiculous, mostly because we live in Austin where the housing market is still hot, so I figured might as well borrow enough to pay off the newer credit card debt we have accumulated from the various BS of the last 3-4 years.
So I went on Lending Tree online Saturday evening and before I was done filling out the forms, I had already gotten a call from a lender. It was a real dude and he seemed knowledgeable and friendly, I think he was with Ameriserve. I was ready to work with him, then Sunday morning a guy from Quicken Loans called and he was also very friendly and persuasive. Thing is, he said he would call Monday to get on the application but he never did. Monday I got a call from Loan Depot who did our refinance the last time. The guy was another friendly voice and he was quick to say that because we were already their customer, we wouldn't have to pay any of the normal application fees which are normally added to the loan for another $4,000-$5,000. Since we had history with this company and he was smart enough that once he hooked me he didn't get off the phone. I don't really care between 1 or 2 tenths of a percentage point, I wanted someone who would walk me through the process. He took me through their website and helped me all the way. We don't need to show up with any money for closing and we are even supposed to get like $2700 plus the $495 I paid for the appraisal.
The end result should be that we will be paying about $800 more a month, but we will be cutting about twelve years from our note, which the guy said would amount to a savings of like $240,000 in interest plus the additional $35,000 in credit that has been rolled in. Between the mortgage and the three credit cards we added in we were paying north of $3700 a month on just that. Now, we will be paying $3300 a month, plus all the interest becomes a deduction for taxes. Rarely am I quick on gathering paperwork, but I managed to get everything they requested in one morning. They wanted two years worth of W-2s, a month's worth of pay stubs, a copy of our home insurance, which normally I like to leave for Wife to handle, but I did most of it before calling her.
So I went on Lending Tree online Saturday evening and before I was done filling out the forms, I had already gotten a call from a lender. It was a real dude and he seemed knowledgeable and friendly, I think he was with Ameriserve. I was ready to work with him, then Sunday morning a guy from Quicken Loans called and he was also very friendly and persuasive. Thing is, he said he would call Monday to get on the application but he never did. Monday I got a call from Loan Depot who did our refinance the last time. The guy was another friendly voice and he was quick to say that because we were already their customer, we wouldn't have to pay any of the normal application fees which are normally added to the loan for another $4,000-$5,000. Since we had history with this company and he was smart enough that once he hooked me he didn't get off the phone. I don't really care between 1 or 2 tenths of a percentage point, I wanted someone who would walk me through the process. He took me through their website and helped me all the way. We don't need to show up with any money for closing and we are even supposed to get like $2700 plus the $495 I paid for the appraisal.
The end result should be that we will be paying about $800 more a month, but we will be cutting about twelve years from our note, which the guy said would amount to a savings of like $240,000 in interest plus the additional $35,000 in credit that has been rolled in. Between the mortgage and the three credit cards we added in we were paying north of $3700 a month on just that. Now, we will be paying $3300 a month, plus all the interest becomes a deduction for taxes. Rarely am I quick on gathering paperwork, but I managed to get everything they requested in one morning. They wanted two years worth of W-2s, a month's worth of pay stubs, a copy of our home insurance, which normally I like to leave for Wife to handle, but I did most of it before calling her.
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
10/1/19 I Guess Both Nostrils Can Work At The Same Time?
It has only been one night, but I believe the HEPA filter air cleaner I bought Sunday is a game changer. I usually don't believe in gadgets even when I buy them. I take it most shit like this is created for uppity white chicks who don't have real problems, but Wife was complaining that maybe she has become allergic to the dog roaming our halls since she can't shake the allergies she has had. It rang in the back of my head and Sunday afternoon I got tired of being in bed and went over to Lowe's to look around. I came upon the area with vacuum cleaners and almost bought a Dyson since they advertise it is the best vacuum, but those things get to $600 pretty quick and I already had other stupid crap in the basket, like Dewalt flashlights, which I know I don't need but I love that bright yellow color plus I need reasons to use all those 20V batteries I have now.
Anyways, I saw the air cleaners and wasn't sure, again, seems hokey to me, but I said F it and bought one. I set it up next to the kitchen table to see if it would run and then left it on while we ate dinner. Boy said it seemed to be working, he could breath through both nostrils, his GF said "nah, it's in your head." Still.... I then took it upstairs and set it up next to Wife, hoping it would help her sleep. I don't know if she was being nice, but she said she slept a restful sleep, she wasn't coughing all night. I then slept with it on and honestly, I can't remember the last time I breathed through both nostrils for an extended period of time. I also didn't drool a gallon, which is super gross but my reality. I mentioned it to one of those guys helping us refinance and he said it made sense, if you're breathing good through your nose, your mouth will stay closed. Maybe because I wasn't swimming in my wet pillow, I also managed to sleep like three hours instead of the normal two before getting up to pee. I know this was only one day and maybe it was just a fluke, but who knows? I will keep sleeping with it, an added bonus is that the air coming out of it has a scent like when it rains just a little bit, which is quite nice. Wife is already thinking we need one for each room, so her babies aren't breathing in dirty air germs, but I say they are younger and tougher than us, plus as far as I know, neither of them has problems sleeping. Maybe there is a little uppity white chick in Wife, heh heh.
Anyways, I saw the air cleaners and wasn't sure, again, seems hokey to me, but I said F it and bought one. I set it up next to the kitchen table to see if it would run and then left it on while we ate dinner. Boy said it seemed to be working, he could breath through both nostrils, his GF said "nah, it's in your head." Still.... I then took it upstairs and set it up next to Wife, hoping it would help her sleep. I don't know if she was being nice, but she said she slept a restful sleep, she wasn't coughing all night. I then slept with it on and honestly, I can't remember the last time I breathed through both nostrils for an extended period of time. I also didn't drool a gallon, which is super gross but my reality. I mentioned it to one of those guys helping us refinance and he said it made sense, if you're breathing good through your nose, your mouth will stay closed. Maybe because I wasn't swimming in my wet pillow, I also managed to sleep like three hours instead of the normal two before getting up to pee. I know this was only one day and maybe it was just a fluke, but who knows? I will keep sleeping with it, an added bonus is that the air coming out of it has a scent like when it rains just a little bit, which is quite nice. Wife is already thinking we need one for each room, so her babies aren't breathing in dirty air germs, but I say they are younger and tougher than us, plus as far as I know, neither of them has problems sleeping. Maybe there is a little uppity white chick in Wife, heh heh.
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