Taken about twenty minutes ago. Mike n' Lisa's quest blog UA-20271220-1 ga(‘set’, ‘&uid’, {{USER_ID}}); // Set the user ID using signed-in user_id.
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Thunderstorm
Taken about twenty minutes ago. Mike n' Lisa's quest blog UA-20271220-1 ga(‘set’, ‘&uid’, {{USER_ID}}); // Set the user ID using signed-in user_id.
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
A Settling In
"When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years" Mark Twain
One month down since our return to South Texas and the temps are hanging around the mid nineties but the humidity is more than stifling. Were reminded that the "Real Feel" is more like close to triple digits. Anyway, I step out of our little Castle here and my glasses immediately steam over. Quite hilarious to the workers I'm trying to sign in. I keep trying to get Jerry Lewis out of my mind while playing it cool. What???. Anyway the grind continues. We had a few days off this month but picked up another gig for six weeks. Two weeks down and four to go before a break where we can go to town together, have dinner or expect some privacy or even a little freedom. Maybe even sleep together as Lisa has the bed at night and I claim it during the day. As I write this however, our life is nothing compared to the average oil worker. Folks that checked in sixteen hours ago are still working. In the intense heat and humidity these guys have been working sixteen hours in full PPE consisting of Steel toed Boots, Flame retardant coveralls and hard hats. Their work week varies. Some guys work six twelve hour days with three off and some much longer. Yeah they make a lot of money but seeing the exhaustion on their faces when they are leaving, man they earn it. I have to admit though we could be in a less picturesque location.
.
Not sure it was ever mentioned before but the job consists working out of your own rv as an independent contractor as a low level security officer that you are required to be licensed for by the State of Texas. The contractor company provides a trailer that consists of holding tanks for sewer and non potable water and a Diesel generator that runs 24/7. The ramifications of this means unlimited power for ac microwave etc. Long showers if you so desire and a free parking spot that does not cost between twenty and sixty dollars a day. In addition, the pay is for 24 hours seven days a week. OK, the hourly is not that great but the monthly take home isn't bad. On a slow gate your time is your own other than somebody has to be awake both night and day A Frac operation is much busier and pays better. Food is the biggest expense and you might have to go anywhere's from ten to fifty miles to get it. We are both quite the accomplished chef's for the simple meals we prepare.
There has been a rumor promulgated by several internet blogs that a gate guard was either injured or killed recently run over by a truck. Certainly plausible to us who work day in and day out a few feet from these moving vehicles. Just a few short weeks ago we also learned of another guard who was beaten and robbed who worked for this company. That incident occurred near the border. what Lisa and I, as well as others believe in all liklihood this cash cow will not last forever. Our presence here might prevent some theft and accountability for some damage that might occur, we are but a holdover from old agreements between landowner's and the Energy companies. Therefore we will ride it to the bitter end. Word is technology (license plate recognition) and insertion of guard shacks will replace the RV.
Speaking of seeing another Sunrise, I have never before observed such brilliant Sunsets or Sunrise's. Or maybe more accurately did not have the time.
In just minutes a beautiful picturesque scene evolves from this...
To this.
A nighttime view from the window of our neighbors. The donkey introduced to us as "Al Gore", no relation of course, by the landowner is not around right now. And since it rained frickin buckets yesterday part of the road is washed out. Though we seem to be pretty water tight, I have to tinker with stuff almost daily to keep everything running. Last week we had to disassemble the A/C to run a toothbrush over the coils and remove tons of dirt that had gotten by the filters. I just replaced two lights and removed the front window to replace the caulking. More electrical stuff needs attention. Escapee's has a reportedley good RV Doctor class that I need to attend.
And a nighttime view of the rig about a half mile away. Note the slow neighbor getting across the road.
The first time I saw the exhausted worker's leave I was reminded when I was but 21 years old and living in Boise. I'd made a new friend Jeff, my new room mate for the summer and we had decided to try and get a job with the Railroad. After a few calls, we were told to drive to a remote location approximately fifty miles away and talk with the foreman of an"extra gang" of "Gandy Dancer's". When we got there, we were told to wait at the side and watch. Apparently somebody quit and the foreman came over and asked which of us wanted the job. Jeff went first. Somebody else must have quit and I was hired. The next nine or ten weeks I remember as blur of pounding spikes and madly shoveling ballast, (gravel) in order to raise the rails. Up at four each morning to drive fifty miles in a broken down Corvette Convertible. Home by six, (home was a rented room in a college dorm) exhausted and repeat.
Found this on You Tube made about the same time we were so occupied. Personally, I think they are standing around too much. We'd a got in trouble. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r_cI3kYYhM
Mike n' Lisa's quest blog UA-20271220-1 ga(‘set’, ‘&uid’, {{USER_ID}}); // Set the user ID using signed-in user_id.
One month down since our return to South Texas and the temps are hanging around the mid nineties but the humidity is more than stifling. Were reminded that the "Real Feel" is more like close to triple digits. Anyway, I step out of our little Castle here and my glasses immediately steam over. Quite hilarious to the workers I'm trying to sign in. I keep trying to get Jerry Lewis out of my mind while playing it cool. What???. Anyway the grind continues. We had a few days off this month but picked up another gig for six weeks. Two weeks down and four to go before a break where we can go to town together, have dinner or expect some privacy or even a little freedom. Maybe even sleep together as Lisa has the bed at night and I claim it during the day. As I write this however, our life is nothing compared to the average oil worker. Folks that checked in sixteen hours ago are still working. In the intense heat and humidity these guys have been working sixteen hours in full PPE consisting of Steel toed Boots, Flame retardant coveralls and hard hats. Their work week varies. Some guys work six twelve hour days with three off and some much longer. Yeah they make a lot of money but seeing the exhaustion on their faces when they are leaving, man they earn it. I have to admit though we could be in a less picturesque location.
.
Not sure it was ever mentioned before but the job consists working out of your own rv as an independent contractor as a low level security officer that you are required to be licensed for by the State of Texas. The contractor company provides a trailer that consists of holding tanks for sewer and non potable water and a Diesel generator that runs 24/7. The ramifications of this means unlimited power for ac microwave etc. Long showers if you so desire and a free parking spot that does not cost between twenty and sixty dollars a day. In addition, the pay is for 24 hours seven days a week. OK, the hourly is not that great but the monthly take home isn't bad. On a slow gate your time is your own other than somebody has to be awake both night and day A Frac operation is much busier and pays better. Food is the biggest expense and you might have to go anywhere's from ten to fifty miles to get it. We are both quite the accomplished chef's for the simple meals we prepare.
There has been a rumor promulgated by several internet blogs that a gate guard was either injured or killed recently run over by a truck. Certainly plausible to us who work day in and day out a few feet from these moving vehicles. Just a few short weeks ago we also learned of another guard who was beaten and robbed who worked for this company. That incident occurred near the border. what Lisa and I, as well as others believe in all liklihood this cash cow will not last forever. Our presence here might prevent some theft and accountability for some damage that might occur, we are but a holdover from old agreements between landowner's and the Energy companies. Therefore we will ride it to the bitter end. Word is technology (license plate recognition) and insertion of guard shacks will replace the RV.
The news right now is reporting that a guy, swimming at night (Dumbass) was bitten (not eaten) by an Alligator. This place is only 35 miles from here. Something else to worry about if we wind up by a body of water.
As an aside, the news is also reporting, with video, a Great White snagging a chum bucket from a fishing boat. This didn't happen here but recently Great Whites were reported to be off the Gulf coast of Texas. I was going to buy a kayak to fish with but the picture in my head of that huge shark rising to get the chum bucket keeps turning into a Kayak. Not that I'm (Squack), a (Cluck) Chicken (Brrrruuuuuck).
In just minutes a beautiful picturesque scene evolves from this...
To this.......
To this.
A nighttime view from the window of our neighbors. The donkey introduced to us as "Al Gore", no relation of course, by the landowner is not around right now. And since it rained frickin buckets yesterday part of the road is washed out. Though we seem to be pretty water tight, I have to tinker with stuff almost daily to keep everything running. Last week we had to disassemble the A/C to run a toothbrush over the coils and remove tons of dirt that had gotten by the filters. I just replaced two lights and removed the front window to replace the caulking. More electrical stuff needs attention. Escapee's has a reportedley good RV Doctor class that I need to attend.
And a nighttime view of the rig about a half mile away. Note the slow neighbor getting across the road.
The first time I saw the exhausted worker's leave I was reminded when I was but 21 years old and living in Boise. I'd made a new friend Jeff, my new room mate for the summer and we had decided to try and get a job with the Railroad. After a few calls, we were told to drive to a remote location approximately fifty miles away and talk with the foreman of an"extra gang" of "Gandy Dancer's". When we got there, we were told to wait at the side and watch. Apparently somebody quit and the foreman came over and asked which of us wanted the job. Jeff went first. Somebody else must have quit and I was hired. The next nine or ten weeks I remember as blur of pounding spikes and madly shoveling ballast, (gravel) in order to raise the rails. Up at four each morning to drive fifty miles in a broken down Corvette Convertible. Home by six, (home was a rented room in a college dorm) exhausted and repeat.
Found this on You Tube made about the same time we were so occupied. Personally, I think they are standing around too much. We'd a got in trouble. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r_cI3kYYhM
Mike n' Lisa's quest blog UA-20271220-1 ga(‘set’, ‘&uid’, {{USER_ID}}); // Set the user ID using signed-in user_id.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Texas Thunderstorm set to Pachebel and stuff
Summer seems to be kicking into high gear in South Texas. After a couple of days off it's back to work. Have to make a few bucks to retire the ageing Bronco. Old girl just turned over 185,000. Has been abnormally reliable given her age. Humidity is running about eighty to a hundred percent but the crazy weather hasn't for the most part hit us yet. No more fishing for at least a month.
The night before last I video'd a light show put on by Mother Nature that blew by to the West of us. Then I set it to Pachebel. Long ago I learned that even though you might be recording something far away, the audio is recording right there and the background motor, television and/or other embarrassing sounds whatever might cause one to wonder, are no longer there. Turned out kind of nice
This was another photo op that dropped in my lap. A tour boat believe it or not. Arrrrrhhh.
And, Lord I tried to take pictures of the sea turtles that were popping up around me. These should be at the end. Kind of like trying to take snapshots of jumping fish.
Our experience with the homeless guy pulling the knife from his belt thinking that he was about to be attacked a few months ago has stayed on my mind in one way or another.
I have included the above idyllic photo of where we were a year ago last Christmas for a reason. This is Magnolia Beach located about ten miles outside Port Lavaca and where we stayed for about five weeks. I posted this pic because it was December, 2012 and this day was one of the few tolerable ones because most of the time it was stormy, rainy and cold. On Christmas of that year we endured a night of fifty MPH winds. It was the highest winds of that year verified by weather data. I included a video of the entire side bulged in that night as it came close to tearing our little shelter apart. But the popup, a 1983 Coleman long gone now held together like a Champ. That was the main event but there was a larger story there I wanted to write about. Magnolia Beach is a little known Boondocker's paradise. You are allowed to camp there as long as you like, whenever you like for free.
And as such it is also a magnet for the homeless or nearly so. When we were there on one end were several modern self contained RV's whose occupants pretty much stayed to themselves and who were taking advantage of the free campsites for the short term. On the other end, where the only public restroom existed was where everybody else crammed together. Because we needed the use of the facilities as well, we spent the five weeks crammed in with a number of folks like ourselves, but with a much sadder story. There were a number of people who had shelter of some form or other but had to share a restroom. On the guys side this consisted of one toilet and one urinal. It's pretty daunting climbing out of bed and stepping out into thirty or forty mile winds whistling off the ocean with a wind chill of zero or below. Sometimes waiting in line in the dark to get your turn at a bathroom with a third of the wall open and the wind whipping dust, sand and other debris around.
Among the people in that small community we came to fit in quite well with was an 80 year old Korean War veteran and self styled Missionary. Parked next to us, he lived in a newer van but spent his nights huddled in an old sleeping bag that barely accommodated him as the van was chock full of useless bric a brac. In fact this bric a brac thing was the common element of all the folks in that little community. Not a lot unlike the folks you see pushing the shopping carts full of their "treasures" Virtually nothing that was useful or assisted his lifestyle in any manner as he was living it. He just slept amongst it.. Lew faithfully walked two miles a day, would visit briefly but almost all of his time was spent sitting in the drivers side of his van, reading his bible and staring out at the Ocean. Another, hulking guy (yes he looked hulking even to me) scary looking guy with few teeth, long hair and beard and I would probably guess a veteran was parked on the other side. The scariest thing he did was every morning he walked the beach looking for sea shells. Otherwise just a quiet unassuming guy. Also living in and spending most of his time in a Van, though much more ancient than Lew's. And on the other side a couple driving an ancient Ford Pickup with no muffler and plywood box built on the back. They had traveled well over a thousand miles to get to this spot. But when he started the old ford up, it was obvious that a rod was knocking and the engine didn't have far to go. For the life of me I don't think they had any intentions of going anywhere else. They never talked about it the five weeks we were there anyway. I think they intended to stay there as long as they could. He went by the moniker of "Mr. Bill" probably in his early sixties and sported a leather cowboy hat. I don't recall the name of his travelling companion. We tried to guess the nature of their relationship because Mr. Bill, night after night slept in the cab of the old truck. His feet on the dash while she slept in the back in the plywood box with a canvas cover serving as a door. There didn't appear to be any intimacy there. I looked in the back on one occasion and it was the same sad story. End tables. A couple of electric lamps and boxes full of stuff. Again nothing useful to their current situation. When it rained, to keep the back from leaking he fought with the weather to try and tie plastic Viscreen over the top. I helped him on one occasion wondering why at some point he just hadn't solved the problem with a four dollar tube of caulking and some exterior paint. Seriously, the thought had probably never occurred to him. This backward solution was probably learned and he likely dealt with other problems in his life in a similiar ineffective manner, learned from who knows where. Though when talking with Mr. Bill, he was almost articulate and I learned that he was an avid reader of paperback novels, the dash of the truck stacked with them. He also made some extra cash selling home made walking sticks for ten bucks, or whatever amount you had. They cooked on an old camp stove huddled out of the wind by the tailgate of the truck. No place to get out of the weather but in the cab of the truck. You sure couldn't get dry in the bathrooms. Anyway, there were others who would come and go but these were the mainstays. There was also an older gentleman sporting a foreign accent who came down just to visit and though actually pretty well off he would also sit and visit for extended periods. Omer, who we learned his name to be sometimes showed up outside our trailer in the wee hours whacking on the side to wake us up. Old guy humor I guess. Omer was eighty five years old and had traveled constantly since his wife had died thirteen years earlier.
In such surroundings Lisa and I tend to keep our former occupation close to the cuff. No sense in rousing some kind of bizarre reaction from folks who know more about PO's than any other segment of the population. Keeping in mind the other homeless guy with a knife. But with these folks, and Mr. Bill's travelling companion, a woman in her fifties who liked to share that she thought she had pancreatic cancer, we did try to impart some info that we thought might be valuable. Or Lisa did anyway. Things like food banks, food stamps and SSD. As far as we could tell, she and Mr. Bill lived entirely on his meager social security check. Her child like mind just didn't grasp it and like a lot of mentals, she would have neither the know how or patience to initiate the process. You see if they don't show up for evaluations or appointments, they just fall through the cracks. She and Mr Bill were happy living on canned soup, stew whatever. With all of them malnutrition seemed an issue along with and probably exacerbated by dental issues. At night after the bars closed, locals drove by, sometimes several times blowing loud horns for the purpose of harassment. Drunks stopped at the restrooms and screamed obscenities at them. Well, I guess us too.
But our life was nothing like theirs. We had dry quarters. We had forced air heat, a good bed, good food and a generator that allowed us to run a space heater, coffee maker, television computer etc. We snuck off to where we knew we could get internet and long hot showers. We could afford to eat out a couple of times a week or go shopping. And though we lived fairly harmonious with these folks, we knew it was just for the short term.
After one of these trips and after our harrowing night, we returned to surprisingly find that some vehicles had been repositioned to protect our little popup from the wind. It was a sweet gesture. During the entire five weeks nothing was taken or stolen. In fact we took turns looking out for each others stuff. They were long past drug use and the only person consuming alcohol was me. Before we left, Lew came over and forced a couple of cans of food on me. I accepted more to not hurt his feelings. And when we left, Lisa and I didn't have feelings one way or another. I vaguely thought that we had just lived through some kind of social experiment. What did hit home with me was the meager manner and the lack of adequate tools the homeless have to cope with everyday life. And the trade off is harsh if you consider just the weather, Mr. Bill and company were rarely out of it. And yes South Texas can be temperate in winter, it can also be damn cold and miserable. Then there were the nightly drunks But our stay was also pleasurable in a way because they were in fact good company.
My Dad has said a lot of things that at the time were meant to be profound but I just didn't get it. Some of those statements have come to fruition. And one that comes to mind is that he has said many many times. "In this country, it's a crime to be poor".
"We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unloved, unwanted and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty." Mother Teresa
Mike n' Lisa's quest blog UA-20271220-1 ga(‘set’, ‘&uid’, {{USER_ID}}); // Set the user ID using signed-in user_id.
Friday, June 6, 2014
Just when I thought...
I am writing this hoping that the HTML code of the pic of the Tarantula that was hiding underneath the hose Lisa picked up will work on this post.
For the past several years, I, and now Lisa have for the most part been sufficiently secure as to enjoy control of our our own fortunes in that we are not usually subject to influences that place us in dumb situations. Like when I was twenty years old and working for the railroad in Wyoming. A huge fire broke out due to some random sparks caused by a Welder. The foreman, willing to sacrifice us for his job, ordered us to get in front of the fire to try and put it out. Myself and the other "gandy dancers", what they called guys who worked on the rails took one look at the advancing flames and refused. It turned out that fire got pretty big and that decision averted suicide. I had really started to take the status quo for granted until karmaic (that a word?) forces prevailed. See our next duty station was determined by the collaboration of two interesting Darwin experiments. (Actually two dudes of dubious mental capacity) In short our equipment was placed not twenty feet from a very busy 70mph road. I won't go into all the frustrating details but when I complained, one of the guys told me wouldn't "do no good" these orders were right from the top. This surprised me because Conoco generally prides themselves for their emphasis on safety.
I told Lisa one night and then we were moving or quitting. I figured the odds would be with us that we would survive at least one night. Though earlier I had cringed seeing a tractor trailer rig stray into the barrow pit farther up the road. That guy would not have missed us by much. Truck drivers here work around the clock and I get the feeling about some, not all, but drug tests are few and far between. Then, while we were there scratching our chins, a worker rolled up, took notice of our situation and said he was shutting the whole operation down if he had to in order to get us moved because our positioning was ridiculous. Uh huh I was nodding my head getting excited. I was still a little PO'd at myself for allowing us to get in to this pickle, again. Anyway Conoco has this neat rule that if any man on the rig of any company or position sees anything unsafe, they have the authority to shut down the entire operation without fear of reprisal. Although I don't think that extends to us. Check out pics of our insane spot.
Our new ally meanwhile told us that he would make a few phone calls. In the meantime, in reference to the guys who had placed us here, he imparted such intellectual properties such as "Dumb as an Owl Trap" and other tasty tidbits that I was mentally noting for future use. Texans are so creative and in my finest road rage episodes "dumbass" just gets too overused.
Turns out he was the "Company Man" . Calls were made and we were moved the next morning. We gets our ironies where we finds them
"We can't stop here, this is Bat country"
Hunter S. Thompson
Watched another 48 hours, Sixty Minutes, Dateline etc. Ok, it doesn't happen every time or in any predictable pattern, but. All I can say is that in memory, there have been too many times when an element of the story is that a sensational case (to the locals anyway) is resurrected in some fashion after somebody else gets involved. New prosecutor or Police Chief whatever. Suggesting an election year. Hmmm. Wonder if anybody else sees this. Do sensational cases only get solved during election years?
Anybody watching the news and seeing all the posturing going on would have thought that the problems of the Veteran's Administration were just discovered. But some are reporting that Congress has been aware falsified reports since 2010. Facebook postings of the mistreatment of veterans has been going on longer than I can remember. But now politicians are in lock step walking up to the podium to voice their outrage. Maybe I'm just being cynical but it seems suspicious to me being that this is an election year. Certainly I'm sure some could have been working behind the scenes, maybe working for the betterment of the veterans rather than the publicity. I guess I could hope. But could they have picked a more vulnerable population? It seems a politician sees his job different than the rest of us. That being to facilitate his or her reelection at any cost.
"Yesterday's weirdness is tomorrow's reason why"
Getting updates from my Daughter on the kitchen floor project that she and the new renters are doing. Our renters damn it. Everybody stay away. Anyway, the kids have an awesome adventure ahead of them this summer. More on that later.
Job ends in a couple of days. Though it is summer and hot, we are probably heading to the Coast in the hopes of doing some fishing. Like most middle age guys, yes I'm still middle age damn it, I mentally go over the status of my little sphere of this planet. Not my kingdom as I am often reminded. But my peeps. those I feel responsibility to. And I look over the short term weather forecast. And everything looks good for a couple of days. And for now folks that is as good as it gets.
"Good people drink good Beer"
For El you ol Dawg
Sunday, June 1, 2014
I'm doing the Night shift again.
Back working again. Funny, I was able to "retire" several years ago but it didn't work out to well. So working the night shift. I rather like it. I like seeing the critters that seem to only come out then. Deer, Armadillos, fox, Bobcat and Tarantulas. I get a lot of time for reflection and I get to see the stars and the Sunrise. I get to have coffee and maybe breakfast with my wife in the morning. Sometime the scenery is kind of cool. Sometime's it's bland Sleep and start all over again. It's all good. Don't think I would have it any other way.
Returned to Texas ten days ago, sweating a little that because we were back later than we said we'd be. (Helped ourselves to a little more vacation you see). We were a little unsure if our employment was still an option. But, back one day and recieved a call asking if we were available for work starting that afternoon. Since the work site was some 150 miles away, we begged off and arranged to be there by 730Am the next morning. And here we have sat, or more accurately stated: stood up, sat down, in and out the door trying not to get blinded by the dust, runover by a frac trailer or break a leg on the stairs. This schedule is a bit grueling with Lisa and I pulling 12 hours each with not a lot of sit down time. We sleep ten feet from the action with noisy Diesel rigs going by 24/7. Last night one broke down blocking the gate. Soon we had some twenty guys and eight other rigs stirring up a helluva noise. Lisa didn't miss a zzzz. We have also had couple of tornado alerts and have been blessed with easily between three or four inches of rain. The creeks and rivers have been running above flood levels and for a while, every time we went anywhere involved driving through two feet of water running over the road. Because of all the wet at night, it has been, well described as a "Bug O Rama". Really, really a lot of Bugs. The Creep factor is at double digits except for the Tarantulas. So long as one doesn't run up my leg or over my foot, I'm good. I actually get a bit of a kick out of them. Big Badass Spiders.
So as one might expect, I have been mulling over this whole turning Sixty thing. Just as I am sure that everyone else has around my age. I've kind of concluded that if there were any kind of taps to be played for my youth, it should have happened ten years ago when I turned fifty. I'm not gonna quote any media here, but in general I get it that life doesn't just go on and on and on. Nor do I think me or anybody else really wants it to. I think I read somewhere that some 4 billion people have lived and died on this planet before us. So it's not exactly a new thing if ya'll know what I mean. And certainly seeing this close to home in that a couple of folks that I knew rather well have recently passed before their time. So I'm thinking I'll just take a chapter of wisdom from all the other folk that have lived this long and more. I can't be sure of his age but I think my grandfather on my mothers side was eighty or better when he remarried. And that lasted nearly ten years. I was a pall bearer at the funeral of my grandfather on my father's side. He lived past a hundred. The trick of it all seems to be pretty simple. Just keep living til you don't. And Wine, better Wine than I have been drinking. And a good Micro.
" Total abstinence is so excellent a thing that it cannot be carried to too great an extent. In my passion for it I even carry it so far as to totally abstain from total abstinence itself."
Mark Twain
Read about another great fighter from the Seventies died. Saad Muhammed. He was about my age. Most of the great ones that I remember have already died. Greg Page, Ron Lyle, Ken Norton, Joe Frazier just to name a few. I didn't have many fights in my short amateur career, but I did get hit pretty damn hard. Damn you Rory and Matt!! Speaking of legendary fighters, a super tough super nice guy that myself and compadre's occasionally reminisce about, Earl Shields is alive and apparently well in South Carolina.
"I have spent most of my life worrying about things that have never happened"
Mark Twain
Has Joe the Plummer had his fifteen minutes of fame yet? As a former card carrying member of the NRA I'm even offended at his open letter to the father of one of the young girls killed by the Nut in CA. Let the father grieve any way he needs to. If he takes up a cause so be it. But spurring attention to yourself on such a tragedy. I have about as much respect for you as for the Westboro Baptist Church. Nobody is going to come and take your gun. Now ur house, identity, car, retirement etc. Those are probably up for grabs because you can't think past your gun.
"There has been only one Christian. They caught him and crucified him–early."
Mark Twain
I feel a need to explain something. I was a bit shaken up by my recent Bank snafu. The whole drama has dropped my FICO score about 60 points and I was not late on any payments. In fact, I had paid them off to a 0 balance. The Bank by the way is Iberia. From all accounts one of the better banks. I had aquired a 10 percent fixed rate and have had the card for several years, making the payments each month through my other bank's bill pay service. An arrangement that has worked flawlessly as long as I have had the Card. The problem started innocuously enough. Out here in Texas, I don't have regular mail service. But we had decided to pay the card off completely, it had a balance of about 1500 bucks on it because we had decided to use the Card in Europe. I also sent a next months payment, kind of just in case scenario.
So, here goes. Upon receiving the mail, there were three envelopes containing three different replacement cards. Just like the ones everybody receives annually if you have a credit card. A bit confused I called customer service and asked which one I was supposed to use. They explained the most recent one and destroy the others. Okay cool. Now remember I had already in theory paid the card off. I didn't see anything that said that the old account was closed and payments were to be sent to a new address. Now understand, they still received the money it just went into a closed account. They transferred the old balance to a new account associated with the new credit card.
At the last minute before leaving I made a quick check to make sure the card had a 0 balance. Then I learned that a new address had been set up and also that the funds had not yet been applied. The customer dude said no problemo, all of the payments to the old address were being forwarded and should only be a few days. Cool. I sailed out of the country and two weeks later was in Europe. Plenty of time right. Figuring after expenses we still had almost two grand to live on. Wrong, the card was declined twice. Now after figuring out Skype, I called customer service and talk about a new paradigm. (that means reality) I had maxed it they said and they had no record of any payments. They said I needed to take care of this and offered to refer me to the credit dept if I needed more credit (giggle). Dick. Like any company ever would extend in those circumstances. So I did what everybody does, "I want to talk with your Sup". She was even worse. And she also denied I had sent any funds because they had no record of it. Luckily, the Bill Pay folks at Idaho Central got involved and politely reminded them that they had my money and should send it back if they were going to be such assholes. Then, and only then did they admit they had received the 1,577.00. However it was in a closed account. I said transfer it. She said that was not their policy. About this time Vikings and battle axes were dominating my thoughts. I was close to losing it. Finally the customer service dude said he would ask. Ok, two days later flash ahead. The guy lied, go figure and never asked and all was as it had been.
And nobody had offered to refund my money yet. I had tried sugar, honey etc and I get no pleasure out of making a guy's life miserable who I'm sure makes no more than ten or twelve bucks an hour, but dude, do you really have to be somebody's evil minion? So I talk to a Sup again. Yes it really has to be the same one. I gaggle and gasp through my shpeil which really has to be about the 40th time I have done this, literally. She keeps threatening to hang up. Finally ends with "I will ask but they won't do it". Long story, I know. To shorten it up, another week goes by. (by now I am back from europe vaycay) the bill pay folks get involved and as a resolution agree to mail me a check. I asked for certified, even offered to pay for it. Right, they refused Ten days later and some nine weeks later I get my money back. I had received various statements saying how, to get my money refunded it looked like a loan. And remember the maxed out credit card? Yep, there's the -60 points on the FICO. And finally the epilogue. I decide to go ahead and get one of those cards to transfer the balance. No problem, hasn't dropped by sixty points yet. Call to get balance and remember she said "they wouldn't do it"? They did. The **$&#'s paid me twice. Like the guy who get's the thousands of dollars accidentally put into his account and spends it, he gets arrested. This really is the same scenario. So two and a half months after this whole thing started, it is still half a mess. Later.
"It's too bad stupidity isn't painful"
Returned to Texas ten days ago, sweating a little that because we were back later than we said we'd be. (Helped ourselves to a little more vacation you see). We were a little unsure if our employment was still an option. But, back one day and recieved a call asking if we were available for work starting that afternoon. Since the work site was some 150 miles away, we begged off and arranged to be there by 730Am the next morning. And here we have sat, or more accurately stated: stood up, sat down, in and out the door trying not to get blinded by the dust, runover by a frac trailer or break a leg on the stairs. This schedule is a bit grueling with Lisa and I pulling 12 hours each with not a lot of sit down time. We sleep ten feet from the action with noisy Diesel rigs going by 24/7. Last night one broke down blocking the gate. Soon we had some twenty guys and eight other rigs stirring up a helluva noise. Lisa didn't miss a zzzz. We have also had couple of tornado alerts and have been blessed with easily between three or four inches of rain. The creeks and rivers have been running above flood levels and for a while, every time we went anywhere involved driving through two feet of water running over the road. Because of all the wet at night, it has been, well described as a "Bug O Rama". Really, really a lot of Bugs. The Creep factor is at double digits except for the Tarantulas. So long as one doesn't run up my leg or over my foot, I'm good. I actually get a bit of a kick out of them. Big Badass Spiders.
So as one might expect, I have been mulling over this whole turning Sixty thing. Just as I am sure that everyone else has around my age. I've kind of concluded that if there were any kind of taps to be played for my youth, it should have happened ten years ago when I turned fifty. I'm not gonna quote any media here, but in general I get it that life doesn't just go on and on and on. Nor do I think me or anybody else really wants it to. I think I read somewhere that some 4 billion people have lived and died on this planet before us. So it's not exactly a new thing if ya'll know what I mean. And certainly seeing this close to home in that a couple of folks that I knew rather well have recently passed before their time. So I'm thinking I'll just take a chapter of wisdom from all the other folk that have lived this long and more. I can't be sure of his age but I think my grandfather on my mothers side was eighty or better when he remarried. And that lasted nearly ten years. I was a pall bearer at the funeral of my grandfather on my father's side. He lived past a hundred. The trick of it all seems to be pretty simple. Just keep living til you don't. And Wine, better Wine than I have been drinking. And a good Micro.
" Total abstinence is so excellent a thing that it cannot be carried to too great an extent. In my passion for it I even carry it so far as to totally abstain from total abstinence itself."
Mark Twain
Read about another great fighter from the Seventies died. Saad Muhammed. He was about my age. Most of the great ones that I remember have already died. Greg Page, Ron Lyle, Ken Norton, Joe Frazier just to name a few. I didn't have many fights in my short amateur career, but I did get hit pretty damn hard. Damn you Rory and Matt!! Speaking of legendary fighters, a super tough super nice guy that myself and compadre's occasionally reminisce about, Earl Shields is alive and apparently well in South Carolina.
"I have spent most of my life worrying about things that have never happened"
Has Joe the Plummer had his fifteen minutes of fame yet? As a former card carrying member of the NRA I'm even offended at his open letter to the father of one of the young girls killed by the Nut in CA. Let the father grieve any way he needs to. If he takes up a cause so be it. But spurring attention to yourself on such a tragedy. I have about as much respect for you as for the Westboro Baptist Church. Nobody is going to come and take your gun. Now ur house, identity, car, retirement etc. Those are probably up for grabs because you can't think past your gun.
"There has been only one Christian. They caught him and crucified him–early."
Mark Twain
I feel a need to explain something. I was a bit shaken up by my recent Bank snafu. The whole drama has dropped my FICO score about 60 points and I was not late on any payments. In fact, I had paid them off to a 0 balance. The Bank by the way is Iberia. From all accounts one of the better banks. I had aquired a 10 percent fixed rate and have had the card for several years, making the payments each month through my other bank's bill pay service. An arrangement that has worked flawlessly as long as I have had the Card. The problem started innocuously enough. Out here in Texas, I don't have regular mail service. But we had decided to pay the card off completely, it had a balance of about 1500 bucks on it because we had decided to use the Card in Europe. I also sent a next months payment, kind of just in case scenario.
So, here goes. Upon receiving the mail, there were three envelopes containing three different replacement cards. Just like the ones everybody receives annually if you have a credit card. A bit confused I called customer service and asked which one I was supposed to use. They explained the most recent one and destroy the others. Okay cool. Now remember I had already in theory paid the card off. I didn't see anything that said that the old account was closed and payments were to be sent to a new address. Now understand, they still received the money it just went into a closed account. They transferred the old balance to a new account associated with the new credit card.
At the last minute before leaving I made a quick check to make sure the card had a 0 balance. Then I learned that a new address had been set up and also that the funds had not yet been applied. The customer dude said no problemo, all of the payments to the old address were being forwarded and should only be a few days. Cool. I sailed out of the country and two weeks later was in Europe. Plenty of time right. Figuring after expenses we still had almost two grand to live on. Wrong, the card was declined twice. Now after figuring out Skype, I called customer service and talk about a new paradigm. (that means reality) I had maxed it they said and they had no record of any payments. They said I needed to take care of this and offered to refer me to the credit dept if I needed more credit (giggle). Dick. Like any company ever would extend in those circumstances. So I did what everybody does, "I want to talk with your Sup". She was even worse. And she also denied I had sent any funds because they had no record of it. Luckily, the Bill Pay folks at Idaho Central got involved and politely reminded them that they had my money and should send it back if they were going to be such assholes. Then, and only then did they admit they had received the 1,577.00. However it was in a closed account. I said transfer it. She said that was not their policy. About this time Vikings and battle axes were dominating my thoughts. I was close to losing it. Finally the customer service dude said he would ask. Ok, two days later flash ahead. The guy lied, go figure and never asked and all was as it had been.
And nobody had offered to refund my money yet. I had tried sugar, honey etc and I get no pleasure out of making a guy's life miserable who I'm sure makes no more than ten or twelve bucks an hour, but dude, do you really have to be somebody's evil minion? So I talk to a Sup again. Yes it really has to be the same one. I gaggle and gasp through my shpeil which really has to be about the 40th time I have done this, literally. She keeps threatening to hang up. Finally ends with "I will ask but they won't do it". Long story, I know. To shorten it up, another week goes by. (by now I am back from europe vaycay) the bill pay folks get involved and as a resolution agree to mail me a check. I asked for certified, even offered to pay for it. Right, they refused Ten days later and some nine weeks later I get my money back. I had received various statements saying how, to get my money refunded it looked like a loan. And remember the maxed out credit card? Yep, there's the -60 points on the FICO. And finally the epilogue. I decide to go ahead and get one of those cards to transfer the balance. No problem, hasn't dropped by sixty points yet. Call to get balance and remember she said "they wouldn't do it"? They did. The **$&#'s paid me twice. Like the guy who get's the thousands of dollars accidentally put into his account and spends it, he gets arrested. This really is the same scenario. So two and a half months after this whole thing started, it is still half a mess. Later.
"It's too bad stupidity isn't painful"
Not Mark Twain but should have been
Mike n' Lisa's quest blog UA-20271220-1
ga(‘set’, ‘&uid’, {{USER_ID}}); // Set the user ID using signed-in user_id.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)