It's Saturday...

Yesterday I was working when I got a call from Ms. Doris. She asked if I was in the area, I said no, she had popped a breaker and she couldn't reach it and didn't have electricity. Luckily Chad was nearby so he ran over here during his lunch break to take care of it. Then when I got home she called me and asked for me to come look at something. The dern dogs got into a big fight and it scared her so she tried to break it up. She wound up getting bit or scratched on her foot and she pulled some back muscles heaving the biggest dog out the door. I got her sitting up in bed and I Shanghai'd the new dog Lucky. Lucky is over at my house now.
Megabyte and Spot have told Lucky where he stands in the pecking order. He slept all night with no accidents (Ms. Doris says he's not housebroken). It may be because I get up real early that the dog didn't have to try and hold his pee. But there are no messes this morning. I think I'm going to hold on to this little bugger until arrangements can be made to give him back to his owner. He's a cute little guy, but I really don't care much for small dogs. It is a quick and dirty solution to her dog-fighting problem, though. Just remove the antagonist.

Last job of the day I had to extend that stupid ladder as high as it would go and lay it on the span. That wasn't too bad until it was time to take it down. I got it unhooked and standing vertically, then I released the catches and let it collapse down. Then I went to walk it down. You have to move fast at this point because it is a controlled fall. You have to get to it's balance point quickly or the feet will kick up and it will see-saw over your head. I was walking on treacherous ground so I didn't get to the balance point quickly enough and it started to fall into the road. I bent myself backwards to reach for the balance point and control it down but it hit me on top of the head and my arms were too tired to physically lift it off my head. I think I'm about an inch shorter than I was before. It hurt my back, elbow, wrist, and my head. I didn't drop the ladder though.
That stupid ladder is going to give me gray hairs. I was sore yesterday evening, but I feel ok now, my wrist is the only thing that hurts. Stupid ladder!

I've got one more day of work before I get a day off. Shoot, by the time a day off comes around I need it. I got a 100% on image inspection yesterday. I found out that my hardhat expires in a month. I said "Hardhats have an expiration date?" The inspector said it was good right now, but I won't pass the next inspection with it. Apparently they are only good for 5 years. Who knew? So, I'm going to buy a new hardhat this month. White, with no stickers or embellishments. Gee, they take away all the fun. I was wanting to glue dreadlocks underneath my next one so it's like a wig and a hardhat all in one...

That same last job that I fought with the ladder wound up being fairly labor-intensive. I had to relocate the aerial to a place on the house that was closer to electricity and it had it's cabling painted over on the side of the house and it was very messy. I pulled it all off the side of the house and left scarring in the paint but I changed everything around to the way it should be. The verdict is still out - will the customer try to put a damage claim on me for pulling paint off the house or will she accept it and just have it touched up? The house had been recently painted, but they gobbed the paint over the cables and connectors and I had to peel them off. Some of the cables were cut underneath the house and had to be pulled out, really it was the only way to sort out which cables were good and needed to be made live and which were dead-ends. I spent 'way too much time trying to do a proper job.

Anyway, gotta run through the shower now and go knock down another day.
You have a great day.
MsAmber

So, yesterday was hard but fun.

On Sunday morning I saw the landlady's three dogs headed for the road. Here she came, hobbling down the driveway, tears streaming down both cheeks, trying to chase them down. I went and gathered them up for her and spent some time with her to try and calm her down. We drank coffee while I did my laundry and I started formulating a plan. She has pain medication that she takes in the morning, and it takes her a couple of hours to start getting mobile, meanwhile the dogs need to go out. Also, her first step beneath her door is dangerously low - I mean nearly 18 inches below the threshold and she's had a stroke. I've worried about her falling out the door but didn't know what I could do about it.
Well, I thought I'd tackle what I could, so I bought some treated 2x4's and vinyl lattice and worked all day building her a little fenced-in yard. I skirted one side of her house and fenced across the front and I even made a cool little gate. I had asked Chad to look at the stair-problem. When he got off work I was just finishing the fence and he jumped in and moved the stairs away from the house and built a deck at the perfect height beneath her door. Now she has a transition point between her door and the steps. That solution is perfect, and I don't have to worry about her falling. You should have seen the old lady dancing with joy on her little deck. She was so thrilled with the deck and the fence. Now this morning, all she has to do is let the dogs out the door and forget about them while she makes her coffee and lets her pain medication take effect.
I'm not a fence builder, but I think I did a pretty cool job. It looks good. But mainly I'm impressed with Chad's solution. I would have never thought to do it that way. Ms. Doris and I were both flabbergasted that he pulled such a great solution out of thin air. Pretty efficiently too. It took him all of an hour to get it done. I struggled all day with my fence project.

It was all worth it, now I don't have to worry about the old lady during the day.

I gotta go to work now, you have a great day.
MsAmber

Some Days...

Some days I think my job is easy-cheesy. Othertimes I'm so aggravated I could just spit.

Some days I like who I am and am happy. Othertimes I feel like an alien gypsy who nobody understands.

Some days I'm tired or subdued. Othertimes I'm overly cheerful and chatty and I drive people buggy (especially if they are not "morning people").

Some days I like my house freakishly spotlessly clean and organized. Othertimes the dishes may go a week in the sink or until something green starts growing, and the doghair is so thick around here that you could knit a sock with it.

Some days I feel feminine and paint my nails and shave my legs and put on makeup and stockings. Othertimes I look like I'm trying to be a messy skateboarding mechanic.

Some days I wake up and I'm not in pain. Othertimes my lower back and hips ache or I have a perpetual pinched nerve, usually in the left leg.

Some days I'm confident and cocky. Othertimes I'm so riddled with insecurities and acute remembrances of mistakes past that I more than pass for humble.

Some days are like today.
Wish it would rain some more, since I'm home now.

I have a sore throat and I'm feeling kinda blah. I'll probably go to bed early, I promised to fix a little fence tomorrow. Landlady needs it done, and her wish is my command.

Have a good Wednesday.
MsAmber

Happy Friday.

Ok. So I worked all day yesterday with a big ol' price tag hanging off the back of my khakis. $29.99 original price marked down to $9.88 it said. I did not discover this until I stopped at a gas station to use the restroom around 3. Now I'm wondering why nobody said anything. Lol.

Landlady's son is back. Dern Tweaker. Bummed three bucks off me again. He told his mother that he doesn't know why she likes me, I'm so rude. He's been borrowing my gas can to mow the lawn, but when I'm home he's too afraid to come get it. Yeah, that's right, you just keep on truckin' buddy boy. I'm glad he thinks I'm mean and rude. That will keep him at bay. He was irritating me by knocking on my door every evening to borrow something: Advil, cigarettes, money, etc. And borrow isn't the word, it's not like he's made any effort to repay. No job, lives with his mom, gets drunk and talks random shit. His only redeeming value is that he mows the lawn. Dern tweaker.

Met a customer and his son yesterday. The son reminded me so much of Benjamin at that age. Cub scout, curious and well-mannered, athletic. He showed me his pine-derby carvings and they were magnificent. He made one look just like his Dad's bucket truck, complete with bucket. It was very cool. The kid's name was Austin. It's rare to meet a boy who is so much like Benjamin, it made my heart ache. I wish I could see Ben again someday. I'm sure I will.

I slept like a log last night. I crashed at 9, after I ate a pb&j sandwich with a glass of milk.

I wrestled with Chad in the yard yesterday evening. Now I'm a little sore, think I tweaked my elbow and bruised my hip. But I almost had him... yeah right.

Mock Scarlett O'Hara voice:
"Ah will neva... eat turnips again!!!"

Ha ha ha ha haaaa.
You have a groovy day.
MsAmber

Back to a 5 day workweek.

Yep. Now we're off on Sunday and Wednesday. As much as I regret not having two days off in a row, I'm kinda glad that it's two days on, one day off, three days on, one day off. This will help keep me from getting so tired. This job takes so much energy that I can't imagine I have the stamina to keep it up for 5 days straight without killing myself.

I had a banner day yesterday. I put on my new size 6 polka-dotted skirt with pink blouse and pink shoes and went and had breakfast at Mel's diner. I was a people-magnet. Everywhere I looked there were people looking at me or smiling at me. Everyone said hello, or good morning, or nice to meet you. I went to Alty campers to get the screws put in the ladder rack and the guys there were falling all over themselves to help me, I even caught a couple of them out of the corner of my eyes checking me out. I went to Perry to check my mail and I had a $10 gift certificate for Target sitting in my mailbox. Then I went to Daiquiries Supreme and shot a few games of pool and totally kicked ass. Everyone - ladies included - told me they loved my dress. I did not clean house or work on my truck yesterday. I just went out and looked around. I had a great day.

Well, it's back to work and reality today. But I'm still glowing about yesterday.
I should have bought a lottery ticket.

You have a groovy day.
MsAmber

Tuesday already.

Good morning Hyper. Yes, I cleaned every part of that carb. I used 5 cans of carb cleaner and toothpicks and I think I got every orifice, journal, and hidden air-flow pocket I could find. I'm pretty confident that I got it all clean. Another thing: When I dropped the fuel tank it was full of rust chunks so I cleaned it with water and dumped it over and over again until nothing rattled. I got a bucket-full of rust chunks out of it. I cleaned out the screen with gasoline and a toothbrush, and changed the fuel filter. I set the tank out in the sun until it dried completely before I put it back on. Then I replaced all the fuel hoses. It may be that I didn't clean the fuel tank well enough?

I had a good weekend. I'm going to stop bragging about my weight loss after this one note: I went to Goodwill to buy khaki pants for work. I was thrilled to find that I am a size 6. I can fit into size 5, but they are a little too tight for work. But I'm definitely a comfortable size 6. I've gone from size 12 to size 6. Wooo Hooo! Hard work is paying off. My guess is that I've lost 30 pounds of fat and put on 8 pounds of muscle. Damn, I look good naked. Even my ankles and wrists look different. I had no idea that there was a good body hiding under that.

Well, I have to get off to work now. You have a groovy day, daddy-o.

MsAmber

Saturday again?

The carb rebuild:
I got it all put together and installed on the truck, but when I cranked the truck it filled up with gas - and I do mean filled. So I figured that I might have screwed up the float adjustment. I took it back off and re-set the floats. Put it back on the truck and now it seems as though it doesn't get enough gas. Aaargh.
Besides, I was interrupted several times during the rebuild. I got mad.
As far as I can tell the carb is good. But something is hosed up and I don't know what the problem is. I'm taking a couple days' break from it while I work at my job and I'll tackle it again when I'm fresh. Sure was a lot of springs, valves, and orifices.

Had a nice little phone call from Trans-Tel. Mr. Samples and Mr. Duncan called me and inquired how I was doing and asked when I'll be ready to come back to work because good help is hard to find. That totally made my day! I needed a pick-me-up at the time and it was good to feel wanted. They also want me to send a bag of crawfish to Trans-Tel.

I got very, very mad at Nate and went into the office to tell him to his face that he's a jackass! I said my piece and he listened. Then he sat back in his chair and started laughing. He told me not to worry about being mad at him. He's a big boy and he can take it, that he's not upset about it, and he knows he's a jackass.
Alrighty then.

Otherwise, all is groovy. Speaking of groovy:
I installed cable for an old man - a WWII submariner. I said the word "groovy" a few times without even thinking about it. After the install when I asked him if he was satisfied, he said "Yep, everything's groovy." I laughed and told him I've been waiting all day to hear those words from him. It was funny, situational humor. He had quite the cool collection of hard hats from all over the world. Impressive man.

You have a groovy day!
MsAmber

Carbuerettor Rebuild today.

Work has picked up. It's getting harder to keep up. Six or seven jobs a day, on the run the whole time.
Gosh I feel old.

The official number is 22. Yep, I lost 22 pounds on the "work like a horse and eat once a day" diet. I really need some new pants, all of mine are too baggy. My shoulders, arms, and face are very tan, but my legs are white as a ghost. Also, I am so chewed up by mosquitoes. I betcha I have 20 bites. After I shower, I'm going to get out the anti-itch cream and count them. It's my own fault, really. I leave the door open a lot at dusk and dawn and that's like an open invitation with a neon sign to come in and dine.

I went to bed at 9:00 last night so I automatically woke at 3:30 this morning. I have a lot to get done today. I already started doing the dishes which have been piling up in the sink for a week. I was out of clean coffee cups this morning.

I have to change my bed, run a load of laundry, finish the dishes, and rebuild the carbuerettor. I should probably shower and brush my teeth first.

Well, I gotta get moving.
You have a great day.
MsAmber

I bought a truck. Well, sort of...

I got a good deal on a "fixer-upper". It's a little 1989-1990 Toyota pickup, baby teal blue, five-speed manual transmission. Soon I'll need taillights, windshield, passenger window, and a tire. A little bit of re-assembly to get it running, then one little project at a time to fix it up. I'm hopeful about it - the dash is fine, headliner, floor mats. It's got a couple of little dingers in the body, but the cool part is the odometer says 030000.3. Yeah, seriously. It has not rolled over a million, which is what it would take to get that leading zero. Toyotas are famous for going 250,000 or better. This has a little 6 cyl, and it ran before it was parked. It has a carburettor instead of fuel-injection. I am going to buy the repair manual first thing. I don't really know much about Toyota, but it doesn't look that complicated.
It will be delivered here (towed) by the end of the week.

I got my wringer washer, and scraped it down with a wire brush and hit it with a sanding block. Then I painted it with two coats of rustoleum white primer, then two coats of rustoleum antique white gloss. It's gorgeous and functional.
I've done two loads of laundry in it already.

My little garden is sprouting. I have beans, lettuce, chives, and radishes. In the little starter cups I have 36 banana peppers and 36 cantaloupe. That's only the stuff I have sprouted... Will let you know as I go.

I'm cooking a little dinner right now and kinda watching the news, so this is brief.

You have a great week.
MsAmber

Sunday, May 3, 2009

News Update:
Angelina went belly-up last night. Alpha is still doing fine though.

I've had a freakin' hitch in my neck and shoulder for two days. I'm so stove up I can hardly move and I keep having sharp, painful muscle spasms behind my shoulder.
My handsome, long-haired, shirtless, carpenter friend came over and moved some heavy stuff around for me and put my arm in a sling (looks cool!), and put a wet washcloth in a ziplock baggie in the freezer for me. He told me to alternate cold compress and warm compress. Maybe I'll be able to move my neck by the end of the day.
Handling that stupid ladder yesterday with a hitch in my neck and a weak arm was freakin' dangerous. I'm lucky I made it through work yesterday - I felt like crying a couple of times. I had a fairly bad day yesterday, glad it's over and I have two days to get my arm back working before I have to do it again.

A cool weather front is moving in today. I'm glad. I have both doors open and the windows, to allow some cool breezes through here. It feels to be about 68 or so.

The dogs are doing wonderful. I worked 14 hours yesterday, and both boys managed to hold-it. I hate to make them go that long, but some days just keep on draggin' on. I worked until 9:00 p.m. yesterday. I love my boys.

Dang, the cold compress has worked wonders already, in just 10 minutes I can move my head to the right. The left still needs some work.

I'm finally buying a wringer washer. The laundry around here is getting out of hand. The fella is going to deliver it this afternoon. I'm so excited!
I can't wait.

You have a great day.
MsAmber

It's Thursday Morning at 6:00 am

I'm ready for work. I've been sleeping real heavy and waking up with a headache for the past 3 mornings. I think it's sinuses. Still, it's aggravating to wake up with a headache. I'm going to try turning off the fan tonight.

Image inspection this morning. I have to be to work at 6:30. I'm ready, got the truck organized and washed and I'm wearing khaki pants and company shirt (two sizes too big).

Speaking of two sizes too big: I've lost a lot of weight in the past couple of months. All my pants are falling off and when I put the belt on to hold them up, they pucker all around. I look like I'm wearing a circus tent. I need new jeans soon. It's uncomfortable wearing baggy (I mean really really baggy) pants.

There is an ongoing joke. A friend told me I have an "onion butt". I said "What?" He said "Onion Butt. Because every time I see it, it brings a tear to my eyes." I laughed about that. Then I told the boss about it and we had a good laugh. He told me yesterday that I need to eat more, that I'm losing my onion butt.
Okay, so it's a corny joke. I thought it was one of the most unique complements I have ever gotten.
Miss Penny came out to the shop and announced that she had to leave early that day and asked the guys if they all had their "big girl panties on" today.
I guess my little euphemisms are contagious. It's funny to hear that coming from somebody else's mouth.

Well, I gotta go get inspected.
Have a great day!
MsAmber

My new attempt to keep fish

The little fishbowl had started growing algae along the walls, and the water-lily is growing fine, so I thought I should try again at fish-keeping. I bought a Betta and named him Alpha, and I bought a rubber-lipped baby plecostomus named Angelina. Alpha and Angelina have been here for 4 days and appear to be doing just fine. So far....

I have to clean out and organize my company truck today. Image inspection again tomorrow. I have to attend a 9:00 meeting this morning and gather any materials I'm missing, then I'm going to come home and organize and wash the truck. I've already made lists of what I'm needing, so I should be fairly efficient:
Ground wire
fast connect kits
HD cables
2-way splitters
purple tags
expanded filters
RG11 strippers
compression tool
and put my 4 cones back on the truck.

I took the boys for a walk when I got home yesterday. They've both lost their minds: they don't remember how to walk together. Good grief. I need to practice with them more. This is a busy road with no shoulder and 6' deep ditches. No place to dive out of the way if a car was going to hit you and the dogs have forgotten how to heel. I guess it's my fault - I haven't taken them both for a walk in about a month. I'm supposed to get a little fence built around soon so that we have a perimeter and a yard. I'm daydreaming of a little 4' picket fence, but I'll probably end up with t-posts and some wire fencing. It'll look good though, I'm planning on decorating up my little plot of land and making it look real homey. All the kitsch I can stand.

Well, I need to take a shower and get ready for the meeting.
You have a great day.
MsAmber

Had a gully washer last night

and I slept like a baby through it.
It's still raining now, and I hope it doesn't do it all day while I'm working. It's a bear to set up the ladder in mushy mud and keep my feet clean when I go in and out of people's houses.

I have a tad-bit of a headache this morning. I woke up early, but I think I want to go lay down for another hour. That will only make me rush to get ready, so I'm debating it.

Yep, I'm going to lay back down.

Have a great day.
MsAmber

What's happening to my app?

Just a couple of months ago I celebrated my 14,000th day of life. I see today that it says I have been alive for 14,362 days. What????
It has not been 362 days since I rolled over 14k.
Now I have to go find the darned app site and see what went wrong. Did something change my birthdate?
Oh fuss and bother.

I got the electricity on today. Yayy! Then I turned and tilled up a little cold garden patch by the fence. That little garden is for lettuce, radishes, chives, and green beans on the fence. I got four rows about 10 feet long and two feet apart. It may be a little crowded, but it'll be good and shady for my cool-weather plants. I started the banana peppers and cantaloupe in a little greenhouse. 72 plants. I still have cucumber and squash to plant also. I need to make mounds for them. Yeah,a gazillion of them, one foot high by three feet across. It's going to look like an alien landing pad around here until the plants cover the mounds and it looks like a garden... (chuckle).
Mounds!

Boy, the wind is something else today. Really glad I'm not working on that ladder today. It gives me the willies when the wind is blowing.
I'm also thrilled to be back on my blog. I missed it.

You have a great day.
MsAmber

Good Morning.

It's Monday.
Hopefully today I can get the electricity turned on. I'm not driving up to the shop unless I'm needed by the buyer of the truck to go and get the campershell. I have gardening to do on my day off.

I've been looking through the Auto Trader and I don't see any hopefuls yet. Since my routes take me around to all the different towns and neighborhoods, I'll just keep my eyes peeled for a good deal. I'm not ready to jump into another vehicle yet anyway. I need to take my time and find the best truck I can for the little money I have.

I see a bad wreck on Talladega Racetrack is on the news. Apparently an airborne racecar hit the fence and shrapnel hit the crowd and injured quite a few people.

I need to put an ad on Craigslist to rent out the other RV spots near me. I told the landlady we would get this place filled so she can afford to live here and not need to sell the place.
Speaking of my landlady: Ms Doris is such a cool old gal. She used to be quite the looker in her day, and we seem to have a lot of sensibilities in common. I threw down a little extra for getting the lawn (field) mowed and I think she and I will be great partners in keeping this place looking great and keeping the new tenants from trashing out the place. I'm going to hate having neighbors, but I'll deal with it.
I'm getting used to seeing a green field with clover flowers out my window.

It appears as though I've picked up a new reader. Welcome.

You have a great day.
MsAmber

Okay, I kicked butt this week.

I sat down with my calculator and set some numbers in stone. I decided my bank account needed a blood-transfusion, so I got a piece of posterboard and I wrote:
FOR SALE
DARN GOOD TRUCK
'84 SILVERADO C-20
BIG BLOCK 454

And I went and stood on the side of the road off Johnston St with the truck parked behind me picturesquely.
Day 1:
First place I parked at and stood for a while I had three inquiries, then the manager of the lot told me I had to move on (nicely, though). The second place was an old gas station that now hosts a computer repair business. That guy didn't mind. I had a lot of hopeful inquiries, but no serious bites.

Day 2:
I got up early and had my coffee so I went to the Home Depot parking lot off of Ambassador Caffery and held up my sign for a few hours, got a lot of inquiries and people took my number. Then Nate called and asked what I was doing, I told him I was selling my truck. He asked if I wanted lunch, I said yes, and he told me to meet him at the Golden Corral buffet at 12:30. I got there at 11:30 and went out to the street with my sign. I sold the truck AND had a good meal.

So, I'm making April's RV payment, May's RV payment, cellphone/internet payment, electricity deposit, loan repayment, May's rent, and RV insurance for the year. I set X amount aside for buying another old "project" truck. I would really like to find an old Chevy Suburban with air-conditioning. Now that I'm caught up, I can live off my income. Getting caught up was a bear, I was in emergency mode! But I pulled it off in just 2 days. I celebrated with an Arby's roast beef sandwich, curly fries, and a Dr. Pepper.

A friend just gave me a bicycle, so I'm going to spend a little bit of money to fix the tires and make it road-worthy. I have the company-truck as my transportation, but hey, like my friend says: "If you've got the time, isn't everywhere walking distance?"

Then my work-week started and I worked some big ugly jobs, so I know my paychecks are going to start looking better. Thursday was big, Friday was hell, Saturday went good.

I slept 9 whole hours last night without even trying. I went to bed at 9:30 and woke up at 6:30. I went to Wal-Mart and got dogfood, shower gel, garden seeds, dish rags, soy milk, lotion, bratwurst, hot-dog buns, and a two-liter of Welch's Grape Soda.
The two days that I was standing by the side of the road, I got such a sunburn on my face, neck and a really obvious farmer's tan stripe on my arm. The burn on my neck/shoulder curve is really blistery, brown, leathery and hideous: thus, the lotion.

All in all, it's been a good week since last I blogged. I'm minus one truck, but it's ok. I'll build me another one. The important thing is: I have my internet back on.

Have a great week.
MsAmber

I know it's been a while...

Yeah, it's been over a week since last I blogged.

Money is still real tight. I had to replace the starter in the truck yesterday, that pretty much ate up my gas money for the coming week. Getting the electricity turned on may just have to wait another couple of weeks. I'm racing to see which happens first: that my cellphone gets shut off or that I can make a payment on the trailer. If the money comes up for the trailer first, then I'll pay it and my cellphone (and internet) will get shut off for a little while. Ya'll just bear with me. More bills than money, but I'll get caught up eventually. I sure could use a winning lottery ticket right about now, but I understand you have to play to win and I can't even afford that.

Food or gas? The neverending dilemma.

Freakin' truck!

Have a great week.

MsAmber

Yesterday was rough.

I had two jobs to start out: a 10-12 and a 1-3 (that's the service window, the time I must show up). So I waited around the office for a while, then I went and put some gas in the truck. Since my jobs were in Kaplan and Abbeville, I decided to start driving toward those towns. Nate called me back to the shop. He put two 8-10's on me at a quarter to nine, and they were 37 miles away in Jeanerette. I raced down there and started my first job. It required a wall-fish. Really, I should have replaced the whole aerial drop because it had two barrel-connectors on it. Then the phone calls started: "Are you done yet?", "Are you going to make your next appointment?", "When are you going to be done?". I'm in a hot 3-foot tall attic, drilling and fishing, and my phone just kept on ringing. So I got a little snippy with Penny. I was late to every single appointment yesterday. My whole schedule was off and there was no room to breathe. I got a lot of points yesterday. I had new aerial install, a wall fish, a transfer of service with data/phone, and a data/phone install. One of my customers had a bad computer and wasn't home to instruct on his new connectivity so I opened a browser and put it on google.com and just left it. I'm sure he'll call for service because he won't know how it works.

I've asked Nate not to give me two 8-10 jobs at freaking 9:00. It sets off my whole day. I can't catch up afterwards. He said I should have rescheduled my first job because it was a wall-fish. I'm used to just doing the job until it's done, then move on to the next. What's the point of rescheduling? I have to climb the pole on each job to put new fittings and tags, that takes me a few minutes with the extension ladder. The company thinks it should take 20 minutes to install phone. Let's see:

Drive up and make contact with the customer.
Look over the job to determine where to put it - with cable/phone/electricity nearby.
Call dispatch to put equipment serial number on account.
Climb pole and check signal level, change tags and fitting.
Open house box and change fittings, check ground and tag it.
Install MTA and backfeed dialtone to jacks.
Disconnect house from Ma-Bell at demarc.
Call Dispatch again to check signal levels and receive call-back.
Do paperwork, customer education and signature.
Pack up ladder and close out job on phone.

...And you want all that in 20 minutes? Just calling dispatch takes sometimes upwards of 5 minutes. I go through all my dispatcher's phone numbers, then I may sit in queue for 10 minutes, which doesn't leave my hands free to do the ladder work.

This is one job where I'm not going to be a Superstar. My jobs will be done to the best of my ability, but it won't be blazingly fast. There should never be the kind of pressure put on me like there was yesterday. I am a short-old-woman. That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it.

Anyway - I may be PMS'ing also. I just don't want any more repeats of yesterday's schedule. That was rude. And my back aches this morning.

Gotta go get ready for another day of fun, fun, fun!
You have a great day.
MsAmber

I didn't just hit snooze.. I turned it off.

It was cold in here this morning. So, instead of hitting snooze, I turned the alarm clock off. Now it's 6:30 and I'm late. I haven't even showered yet and I'm usually out the door at 6:45...

It rained all day yesterday. Especially while I was up the ladder. I'm getting better with the ladder. Not shaky at all. Still not fond of the derned thing though.

Stupid dog has half an acre to run around in and still he goes straight for the street. I had to run out there and kick his ass back home. Dummy.

Well, gotta get moving.
You have a great day.
MsAmber

I got moved into the country.

Yesterday I pulled out of Rinea's yard. It was a little tricky backing out of her backyard. I found a place in the country for $125.00/mo but I have to turn on the electricity. I called Swepco and there is a $165.00 meter deposit. Urgh. So I guess I'll do without for a week. They ran me an extension cord so I can have electricity at night. During the day she'll unplug me so she can do laundry. At least I'll have my coffeepot for in the mornings. Talk about timing: I ran out of propane last night. Must get it filled today.

I got a 100% on my image inspection yesterday. Nate is pissed off because everybody was given a whole day to get ready and still they weren't in compliance. So, I have to attend an ass-chewing meeting this morning. Total waste of gasoline.

Last night I went to bed when it got dark. The dogs started barking and then: knock knock knock on my door. So I answered it. My landlady's son wanted to know if I had $7.00 for a pack of cigarettes for his mother. I said no, I don't carry cash. He told me not to mention it to his mom that he'd asked. I went back to bed. My phone rang. It was my Dad. I spoke with him for a few minutes, and knock knock knock. The landlady's son wanted to know if I would roll them a few cigarettes for tonight. 4 for his mother and 1 for him. I let him in while I got out my can of tobacco. He was grinding his teeth and jabbering on and on about dogs he found, the death of his dad, going to jail, being a model in California, being an offshore worker, etc. I told him I could hear his teeth grinding and that he better cut out the "shit". He knew exactly what I meant and swore that he hasn't done any drugs in 6 years, and he's only done coke twice in the past 8 months. (Yeah, right.) He told me he usually dipped copenhagen and he's jonesing, so I gave him my spare can (I like to dip sometimes...) I ushered him out the door then called my Dad back to finish the conversation. I'm going to run into him every day that I'm here, so I will be sure and establish with the boy that it's inappropriate to knock on a lady's door after dark. He's a little on the rough side so I need to tread lightly with him until he respects me. It's a little ooky trying to stay friendly (but not too friendly) with a tweaker. I don't want to come home and find all my stuff stolen and my dogs hurt, which is a distinct possibility if I establish enmity with him, he will feel justified in stealing from me to meet his needs.
I understand now why the rent is so cheap and the lots are vacant.

Don't worry, I've handled worse. I just have to be courteous but stand-offish. I've established my safety-net and if things get too rough, I'll simply move again.

You have a great day.
MsAmber

I went to bed early

I have to go to work early this morning. 6:30. It's really not a stretch for me, I go early every day, but I do need to get moving.

I heard it was supposed to rain today.

Have a great day.
MsAmber

Sparkle sparkle...

It's a Monday again. I made it to another payday. Any day now I should start seeing the fruits of my labors. Any day now...
Gosh I hope it's today.

First off: I'm going to buy milk, bread, cheese, dogfood, and toilet paper. Then I'll see what's left over for bills and gasoline and portion that appropriately.

My tummy is acting all crazy today. Howling and moving around. I feel like I have two ferrets in there fighting. A little bit of a tummyache. I have to go to work today just to get ready for an image inspection tomorrow morning. It shouldn't take too long, I've already cleaned and organized my truck. They are supposed to have the rest of my company issued tools today and some company shirts for me.

I got most of my laundry done, so I have plenty of clean clothes. Everything is coming along just fine. Slowly, but fine.

Oh yeah, and the truck's starter acted up for the first time Saturday. I crawled under the truck and tapped it a couple times and then it worked. If I remember correctly, that's evidence of the bendix sticking. The good news is that it didn't just go out completely: I'll still be able to convince it to work and that buys me enough time to save up for a new one. Starters aren't very difficult to replace, and fortunately aren't all that expensive either. This will be a brand new truck someday at this rate.

Well, I'm going to get dressed for work. If it works out that I have a little time at the shop, I'm going to wash the truck today. If not, it will wait until Wednesday.

This coffee sure does taste good this morning. Mmmmm.

You have a great day.
MsAmber

Rain.

Experienced some intense gully-washers for the last two nights. Good hard rains accompanied by thunder and lightning. So wonderful for sleeping. I slept like a log last night.

Gosh I'm getting tired of fish-n-rice or beans-n-rice, or peanut butter sandwiches. I need some real food in my gizzard. Like a pork chop with green beans and mashed potatoes... mmmm. After my peanut butter sandwich last night, I dug around and found a can of peaches. I opened that and ate the whole thing. It was a nice surprise.

I got my first 360 yesterday. My inspection report said I didn't change the fittings, change the tag, and the grounding tag was painted over.
I pulled my work order and remembered: Oh Yeah. I was rushed through this job by the customer because she had to go pick a kid up from school, so I checked her signal levels and they were +10.7, and I installed her MTA and phone. She already had HD cable installed. I did not have access to her backyard, it was padlocked.
I got busted for taking a shortcut, so I will be backcharged.

Oh well.
You have a great day.
MsAmber

Yayy. The truck really does run good.

Now we'll see if I improved my gas mileage with that little repair.

I finished my three work orders timely yesterday, so I was given two more troubleshooting tickets. Those were really cute. An elderly lady plugged her phone into the wrong jack in the back of the modem. Easy to fix. She was so embarrassed about it. I like troubleshooting tickets. Give me more, please.

This morning looks beautiful, but I know (or hear tell) that it's going to rain today. I might just have to open up the house and turn off everything electrical and just enjoy the rain. Maybe it will rinse the pine-tree pollen off my truck. I have a layer of green pollen all over the truck and can't afford to wash it right now. Besides, it's fixin' to rain, right?

I'm soaking a pot of red beans for supper. I have no meat to go in them, but that's ok. Red beans and rice. Mmmm mmmm good.

Besides the cacophony of the blackbirds swinging on rusty swingsets, there is an owl around here who I guess is practicing his hooting. He sounds so cute, kinda like a baby rooster practicing to crow. One thing about this place: there are plenty of birds. Four blackbirds are perched in the fig tree right outside my window. I think they feel sorry for me in my cage, they are looking at me through my window. Very curious about me, I think.

My back aches a little this morning. I'm glad to have the day off. My tummy is rumbling, it's making a lot of noise like a thunderstorm in the distance.

Well, I gotta go.
Have a great day.
MsAmber

The truck runs just fine

Whew!
I looked at the vacuum schematics and found where some important (I think...) vacuum hoses had been sealed off. I bought some tubing and re-ran most of the hoses, and replaced the base gasket. She fired right up. What a relief. I drove around the block a few times. Here's to hoping she fires up this morning. Well, actually, I won't know until this evening. I have the company truck to return.

I bought coffee yesterday, so to celebrate I made a pot yesterday evening. Like a dunderhead: I drank it all. So I spent most of the night staring at the ceiling.
Think I'll learn my lesson? Probably not.
It's funny being me.

Well, the house is clean, the truck is fixed, I have coffee, the company truck is organized. It looks like I'm ready for another week of work. The only thing missing is clean laundry. Oh well. I'll live.

You have a great day.
MsAmber

Monday - workin' on the truck

Saturday was a long hard day. I loved it. I did 5 good jobs on Saturday (or was it 8? maybe 10?) I cleaned out and completely organized my company truck yesterday. That took most of the day.

Today I get to finish the carburettor on my truck. Yayyy.
Here's to hoping I get it done right the first time!
Wish me luck.

MsAmber

Is it really the First Day of Spring?

I had jobs to do yesterday. I crawled under a trailer and did a full rewire. Laying on my back in the gravel reminded me of my sunburn. Thanks. Nah, it really wasn't bad. I enjoyed my day yesterday.
I finished my early jobs so I called my 5-7 job and asked if I could do it earlier. The guy said he'd meet me there after noon. Cool. I got there and did the pole work and tagging before the guy showed up, then I wired up his whole trailer. It was groovy, and I got done and was back at the shop by 2:30.
Since there was no-one else around the shop to ask for a ride, I started walking. It was sunny and the birds were singing. Traffic was a bear. I stopped at Autozone and asked about the part. Couldn't be found in their automotive bible, so therefor it must not exist, even though I have it in my hand...
I stopped off at a brake shop and asked if they could flare the tubing. The first guy was clueless and tried to tell me that he doesn't know anybody who can flare tubing. I gave him my famous one-brow-up look and said: "..and you do brakes?!" So he went back into the shop and asked the mechanic. Yes, the mechanic said he would do it for me, so I left it with him. Man, I can't believe how many people have no freaking clue! I've been told three times that nobody knows anybody who can flare tubing. So I went to a brake shop where I KNOW they flare tubing, and the front desk guy tries to tell me no. UnFrackingBelievable.
Maybe I'll buy the tools and advertise myself as "The Only Tubing Flarer In Lafayette (Apparently)" That'll get some attention.

Ah, what a hoot!

You have a great day.
MsAmber

C'mon Coffee!

My computer has been doing weird things lately. Like when I'm logging in to a secure page and I get my password halfway typed and the cursor jumps back to the username field and I finish typing my password in the username field. Not just once, but every time I go to my online banking it does this. I have to backspace out the extra characters and start all over on the password. Then, just a moment ago I hit enter and it told me that my blog had published correctly. I had to edit my post to finish this entry.
Sometimes left shift key doesn't work. I try to capitalize a letter and I have to do it three or four times before it takes. It's a USB keyboard plugged into a docking station, so I kinda understand if it hiccups now and then. I'm not tempted to believe that the keyboard is causing all these problems, although I do use my keyboard almost exclusively, I rarely use the mouse. I'm old school. I learned computing when we had no mouses and Wordperfect had four-level function keys. I am determined to find the keyboard shortcut for almost everything.
Maybe... I just type too much and I've used it up. Yeah, that's it.

I'm still cold-turkey off the cigarettes. I felt like having a meltdown yesterday. I turned in the old truck battery for the core charge and bought the base gasket for the carburettor. As I was removing the carburettor from the truck, I twisted off a metal vacuum line. It goes from the back of the carb to the brake booster. I called around to see if there was a co-worker in the area to take me to the parts' store. No luck there. So, the truck is down. I called Nicole for a ride to work this morning. Gonna try to get to take the company truck home today, since I can't walk to the damn parts store every time I need something. I also mowed the lawn yesterday and got quite a sunburn on my shoulders on top of being aggravated at my truck.
I never wanted a cigarette so badly in my life.
I turned on my air conditioner to cool down, fed the dogs, and put Pirates Of The Caribbean in my DVD player (I figured something funny would help?). I wound up going to bed halfway through the movie. I just wasn't that into it.

Well, I gotta run through the shower now.
You have a great day.
MsAmber

The chill has subsided

and the rain has stopped.

I don't think I took my jacket off once yesterday.
I found a lady who will dye my hair back pink... when I can afford to get my hair done again. That's going to be a while, though.

Yesterday's paycheck was disappointing. It's my last "training" paycheck, then I will start getting "production" paychecks. Only one day of training on it. Damn. I nearly had a cow. It won't even cover my gas this week, much less smoking or eating. (see where my priorities lie?) I put $5 in the truck, and I suppose I'll just limp along like that this week.

Incredible that a person can work so hard and yet still struggle to pay her tiny little bills. If people don't believe we're in a recession - just send them to me. I'll smack them around a little bit and make them believe it. Heck, just send anyone to me to smack around a little bit. Maybe I'll feel better afterwards.

Smacker for hire! Cheap! Just $5 per smack!
bulk discounts available, some restrictions may apply, author is not responsible for location of smacks, offer not valid in Alaska or Hawaii

At least I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. That's good. My money situation should be set straight by the end of April with all back debts paid. I can see it on the horizon - I just have to get there.

The lead tech with the bad attitude stepped-down yesterday. I was sympathetic, but happy inside. He really didn't have the "wit" (Whatever It Takes) mentality to be a good lead tech. I was hoping Nate wouldn't ask me, and I'm glad he didn't. I just want to be a technician. I've had enough stress and responsibility to last me a while, and it doesn't pay well enough to embrace the stressful lifestyle again. Besides, my crews were usually put together for me and I already had the position of authority. It would be very difficult indeed to get hired and rise to the position within an already established crew. These guys are a little rough around the edges and they like to buck authority at every turn. Wearing improper clothing and neglecting company property is just the beginning of the issues(drive it like it's rented). I'd have to break my foot off in some asses right off the bat! Not a position I want to be in. Nope, I'm happy to be a flunkie right now. Easy cheesy, go home and don't worry about a thing. I sleep very well at night, thank-you-very-much.

Crap! It's after 6 and I still need to shower.
You have a great day.
MsAmber

Still raining.

Can you believe it's still raining?
It rained Saturday, Sunday, and it's raining right now. A full downpour.
Gosh I'm gonna get wet today!

I have a raincoat - somewhere. I need to find it. I thought it was behind the seat in my truck, but it's not. I'm seriously gonna need that bugger today.

I didn't want to watch anything on television last night, so I got out my Foxfire book and read about animal care and hide tanning. I find it interesting how the old people used to turn their hogs out to run wild in the woods. I also read some old hunting stories and stories about hunting dogs. I got a kick out of one:

"...And Oscar said he had a dog one time that you could just blow your horn and he'd come up. He'd know you was going a'huntin' when he heard the horn blow. Said he'd come up, and you could take your board (to stretch the hide on) and just hold it out there and let him look at it, and said he'd go off into th'woods and he'd catch you a possum that'ud just fit that board.
"But said he lost th'dog one day, and he didn't know what in the world come of his dog. He never had done that before, and he always come back home; but he said this time he hadn't come back and he didn't quite understand.
"And he heard his wife a'talkin' in there tellin' about so'n'so that had come over t'their house t'borry an ironin' board. And said she went and got th'ironin' board and brought it out there, and they'uz standin' at th'door talkin' - she had th'ironin' board up on her hip just standin' there talkin' t'th'lady - and said she looked out in th' yard there and that dog'uz actin' kinda funny. Said he'd look around, and look around. then finally after awhile she said he just went off up thataway. Said she didn't think anything about it. But he never did come back.
"And Oscar said, 'you know, only way I ever figgered out - that dog never could find a possum'uz big enough t'fit that ironin' board and he's still a'huntin'."


This story just tickled me. I stopped reading and had a good laugh. My next chapter is on Summer and Fall wild plant foods. Canning and preserving.
I do love my Foxfire books.

It was nice to sit and read while listening to a rainstorm last night. I really enjoyed it.

You have a great day. I gotta get ready for work.
MsAmber

What a week.

It's rainy and cold here. Man, I thought spring had sprung and I was getting used to the warmth.
I've learned that guppies are cannibalistic. I had bought a yellow one, orange one, yellow with spots, and orange with spots. They all ganged up on the yellow with spots and I kept seeing his tail fins getting shorter and shorter. Finally they chewed away his entire tail fin and he laid on the bottom, unable to swim, for a whole day until he died. I scooped him out and threw him unceremoniously away. Damn Cannibals! The little pigs are getting plenty to eat: shoot, I feed them twice a day. I'm so distraught now, I don't know how I'm ever going to look at them the same way again.
Damn cannibals!

Seriously.

I got an invite to be Jas Rutherford Miller's friend on facebook a long time ago and since I didn't recognize him or have a facebook account at the time, I just deleted it. Then the other day I got an invite from my niece to facebook, so I signed up. There was a pending invite from Jas Rutherford Miller, so I accepted. I read his profile - he's a musician in California and he has over 800 "friends". I browsed through and saw a lot of cool names like Will Smith; Arlo Guthrie; Liv Tyler; Bruce Willis; etc. I thanked him for the invite and he responded with a thanks for helping him with his cable.
I've been racking my brain trying to remember if I ever met this person. He has friends in Oklahoma, as do I. Where do I know this person from? When did I help him with his cable? Strange. I do have a tendency to purge things from my brain, so it's not a complete surprise to me that I might have completely forgotten someone, but he doesn't look familiar at all to me.
Oh well.

A Bluejay just stopped on a branch outside my window and gave me a full appraisal. He cocked his head and looked me up and down for a few minutes before flying away. Or maybe he just saw his own reflection... looked like curiosity to me.

Yesterday Leon called me and asked if I had a tow rope. I said yes, so he told me that the new kid, Travis, had slid into a ditch and would I go pull him out. I drove up Ambassador Caffery to I-10 and got lined up to pull him out and a police officer pulled up and told us he couldn't let me tow him out. It is the interstate. I tried to argue a little, that this was the entrance ramp, not really the interstate, but the officer insisted. So we waited for an hour in the rain. The tow truck finally showed and the charge for pulling Travis out was $140.00. If Travis didn't come up with the money before it was done, the driver was going to take the car. Yeah, that's the purest definition of highway robbery I've ever seen. Travis called his brother and got the money, but the tow truck driver totally screwed up his exhaust. Plowed the tailpipe into the dirt by about 4 feet and bent it completely under the car. So, Travis has to pay for a new exhaust also. In retrospect: I'm glad I didn't attempt the tow myself because I wouldn't want to be responsible for the exhaust pipe plowing into the dirt like it did. But come on, $140 to pull someone out of a ditch?

I was cold and soaked to the bones when I got home, so I took a hot 3-minute shower (which is how much hot water I have) and made a cup of hot cocoa and snuggled up on the couch with a plush blanket. I tried to watch a DVD but started yawning about halfway through and went to sleep. It's cold in here now, but I don't want to waste the propane. I have my little electric heater on low to bust the chill out. I can't turn it up too high or I'll pop the breaker. I'm running off a 20 amp breaker on the same circuit as a deep freezer. Even my hairdryer pops the breaker if the deep freeze decides to kick on.

Well, I've got dishes to do and a floor to sweep.
You have a great day.
MsAmber

Why I haven't blogged

I had nothing good to say for the last couple of days. Frustration.

I FINALLY got my company truck yesterday and I went out and did three jobs. By myself! Wonderful. I had a good day yesterday. All of my jobs required work on the pole, I hoisted that ladder like a professional. It wasn't so bad, and I'm not too sore today.

I am, however, getting ready to start my period. Based on how my back feels, it will probably be today. Congratulations everyone: for surviving me during a fierce case of PMS. And kudos to me: for not getting a gun and going postal this week. Yayyy.

After my last Tetra committed suicide and leaped to his death from the fishbowl, I decided to try Guppies. I'm happy to report that all 4 guppies have survived this week. No suicide attempts. I have decided that I am a guppy girl. They look pretty, have tolerance for temperature fluctuations, eat like pigs, and stay in the bowl. Yep. I like guppies.

The house is a mess. Mainly the floor and some dirty dishes in the sink and dust on the desk, but still, it's a horrible mess. My back aches and my tummy is cramping, and I wish I could just close my eyes and have it all clean itself up. I have yet to find a way to dump my blackwater. I called a porta-potty place, and I may just have to pay to have them empty it this once, that will buy me a couple more weeks until I have to purchase a 30 gallon dump tank or manufacture something that will do the job.

Well, I gotta run through the shower. You have a great day.
MsAmber

Yesterday was so obtuse.

It was one of those days where nothing goes right.
I was rushed through my jobs, every job had difficulties built right in. My co-worker was a panic-monster and she played brain-rattling music at an earsplitting volume whilst driving like a maniac - constant quick lane changes and acceleration/braking. I'm feeling quite belligerent today. It was a long day yesterday. I put in a full 12 hours. I will not - repeat - will not have another day like yesterday. I feel like my experiences yesterday put me in "kill" mode. If there is such a thing as setting the mood to switch people into aggressive kill mode, I found it. I'm downright homicidal this morning. Katie, lock up the guns!

Then, this morning, I looked at my finances. They are quite morbid also.
Is this a conspiracy to drive me insane?

Well, I gotta run through the shower and go to work.
Joy, joy.
You have a great day.
MsAmber

Wednesday Morning

Well, my new company truck is ready to roll. Got the new ladder rack installed.

I got the exhaust leak on my personal truck fixed, and found out that I'm sucking air from the gasket under the carburettor. Tightened it down, but I'm going to need a new gasket. The transmission is leaking a little around the pan also. The truck sounds real good. Found two vacuum leaks and plugged them, maybe that will fix the cold-start and idling problem. Will find out this morning when I fire it up cold. I really just took it in to get the oil changed since I'm 2000 miles overdue, but since I had a captive mechanic; I used the time to have him look over a bunch of stuff for me. (I'm so sneaky sometimes.) It's overdue for the inspection sticker also. Need to get that done before I get a ticket.
I rebuilt the carburettor on the lawnmower and it runs perfectly. Just needs an air filter now and it's ready to roll. I may tackle the rebuild of my truck's carburettor also. It's been a number of years since I rebuilt a quadrajet, but I think I still remember how. I just need a picnic table and some peace and quiet on a sunny afternoon. I can't have the truck down for more than a day, so I'd have to remove it, rebuild it, and replace it in one day. I remember it took me two days last time, but that was the first time I'd ever done it, and setting the floats was tricky. No room for mistakes this time.
I don't have to be at work until 8:00 this morning, but I went to bed early so I'm up early. I'm just sitting around drinking coffee. I'll be nice and tanked up before I get there.
You have a great day.
MsAmber

Weird.

I paid my Sprint bill over the phone like I usually do. Something strange is going on there. I used to pay $120.00 month for my air card and my phone bill. All throughout the month of January, it said I had a negative balance - meaning they owe me - of $60.00. I paid $120.00 on the 30th of December. Then it kept saying that I had a negative balance, and just now my bill was $74.00 due on March 4. What happened to January's bill? How did I get a credit? Why has my bill dropped significantly?
I don't get the paper bills, I have them sent to my Dad's house. I should probably ask him to send my mail to me here so I can see what's going on with Sprint. Not that I'm complaining; it's a wonderful thing to have a lower bill and to skip a month, but I don't understand how it happened: that's what's bugging me. I was thinking that maybe I airheaded out and paid Sprint twice in December. I do crazy stuff like that sometimes. (rarely).

Yesterday I actually got dispatched to jobs. My first one was a reconnect aerial and my second one was a trailer, which needed recabled inside also. I don't understand why our uniforms are light colored pants when we crawl under trailers and get dirty. We should wear dark brown or black pants. But it was fun. I handled that ladder just fine. It was all the way extended on a pole, and then I had to reach, and look into the sun. It always bugs me to be on a fully extended extension ladder, but soon it will just be habit. I can't wait. My shoulders were sore last night, so I went to bed early and put the concussive massager on my shoulders. I fell asleep with the massager on. I missed a lot of phone calls, didn't hear a thing.

I got the needle valve and seat for the lawnmower. As soon as it's warmer and/or I have the time, I'm going to rebuild the carburettor on the lawnmower. Spellcheck doesn't know how to spell carburettor. Therefor, neither do I. Carburettor, carburator, carbuerator, carbuerettor. Nah, nothing looks right except the first one. Eh, what the hell. You know what I'm saying anyway.

I gotta run through the shower now and get moving.
You have a great day.
MsAmber

It's Monday!

...and it's March.
I feel that spring is right around the corner.
I'm ready for spring. Gardening and playing in the dirt.
I'm going to fix up the shed and see if Rinea will let me store some stuff out there so I can empty out the back of my truck and take off the campershell. It's best for hauling dirt and stuff. I really want that shell off for a while, anyway.

I had a good dinner last night. I made a steak, mac-n-cheese, boiled okra-n-tomatoes, sliced kumquats with a sprinkling of sugar, and pink lemonaid. Oh it was delicious. I read an article yesterday that said drinking lemonaid with dinner was a good thing because it stimulates the digestive system and regulates acid production. I didn't know that, but I feel like it really works. I've been drinking pink lemonaid with my dinners for a couple of months now and I haven't been bothered by my stomach. I just thought I was finally getting better and the ulcer problem is going away. I may have stumbled upon a permanent cure for my stomach issues. It made sense. Usually tomatoes kill me, as does peanut butter; salsa; cayenne pepper; soda; iced tea; greasy foods; etc, etc. A person who lives with constant stomach pain and suddenly finds it relieved is a very grateful person indeed. But still I'm leery. I don't know when (or if) it will pop up again. The article extolled the benefits of and listed 15 uses for lemon. It cures halitosis, eczema, bunions, insomnia, thirst, acne, the common cold, viruses, tonsillitis, whitens the teeth, sharpens the mind, and it's a pretty color too! ha ha haaaa.

Anyway, that was fun to write. I've got to run through the shower and get ready for work. You have a great day.
I know I will.
MsAmber

I got to play small-engine mechanic again.

I had fun yesterday. I took apart a lawnmower and got the engine un-seized, fuel cleaned out, oil changed, everything greased. Then I discovered that the needle valve was clogged. Of course I damaged the valve seat in the process, but I got the mower running. I need to get a carb-rebuild kit, or just a needle valve and seat. I bought a new fuel hose for it. I would like to scrape off the rust and hit it with some rustoleum also. I went around looking for a valve seat and couldn't find one anywhere. The one small-engine repair shop closed at noon. I'll catch them this week and see if I can't get one.
The mower sat outside for a few years. Yeah. Rust city. Smelly water in the tank and the oil was as thick as tar... Gross.
I had fun though. I just love a puzzle.

The dogs are doing wonderfully in their new home. I moved across town to a nice housing district. Inside a fenced-in yard. The boys don't have to be tied up any more. They were getting used to it, but now they are thrilled with their freedom. Spot doesn't carry-on like he used to. I've pretty much put the kibosh on his barking.

Yesterday got real windy, and the temperature dropped to cold last night. There is a little frost on my northern windows this morning. Glad I refilled my propane tank on Friday. The other tank went empty on Saturday morning. Talk about timing...

My new friend/landlady and I have a lot in common. We won't really get a chance to bond until probably next weekend or so. But we both have a creative spirit, we are both in survival mode, and we like naturalistic and aesthetic things. We've got some gardening to do... woo hoo.

There is a tree full of ripe kumquats outside my window right now. I'm going to look up some good things to do with them. Waste not... want not.

You have a great day.
MsAmber

Brick Walls.

I seem to have a propensity for finding and hitting my head against brick walls. I'm not necessarily paranoid: the world really is out to stop me from doing what I want. Some companies won't call me back, and I naturally assume that it's because I'm a woman. That's not my imagination, it's (unfortunately) a reality in this business. When I opened my checking account, they offered me a line of credit for overdraft protection. I declined: saying I would never need it. Now, I ask for a small personal loan and they reject me, citing the bankruptcy in 2003. I inquired about a pink-slip loan on the truck-title and it was rejected because the truck is too old.
I partially feel that this is God's intervention. He doesn't want me to pursue the loan avenue, but to continue to make it on my piddling little paychecks. I don't disagree, but it would sure make things easier if I could catch up on my bills with a small loan that I could make payments on.

At work, the silly truck still isn't ready. Three weeks' worth of training pay. Gosh that just kills me. Nobody can make it on training pay.
Again, God just wants me to work it out. No pain, no gain. Struggling is good for the soul, and poverty looks real good on me; I'm losing weight from eating rice with fish and drinking black coffee or Koolaid.

Today is my 14,000th day of life. That's a cool mile-marker. I'm going to have a good day today. I really shouldn't worry so much about money. It's JUST money. They'll print more. Keep working, and things will work out. My DailyOM sent a timely message today:

Bad days contribute to the people we become. Though we may feel discouraged and distressed on our bad days, a bad day can teach us patience and perseverance. It is important to remember that your attitude drives your destiny and that one negative experience does not have to be the beginning of an ongoing stroke of bad luck. A bad day is memorable because it is one day among many good days – otherwise, we wouldn’t even bother to acknowledge it as a bad day. Know too, that everybody has bad days, you are not alone, the world is not against you. Tomorrow is guaranteed to be a brighter day.

Okay, well that's about right. I must agree and keep on "persevering".
You have a great day.
MsAmber

Fat Tuesday.

Final day of Mardi Gras is here.
I've got to go take a look at a place to move my RV this morning.
Also, since we haven't made it to any of the parades, we are definitely going to find one today.
Gotta go.

You have a great day.
MsAmber

Awww. Monday already?

But Mo-om, I don't wanna go to school!

Actually, the schools are closed. Most of the restaurants are closed. This is still Mardi Gras. Monday and Fat Tuesday are the big days. We still have to go to work, though. I wonder if the truck got the ladder rack finished?

A guy in Opelousas will set up another RV parking spot for me. I need to go look at it and see if I want to stay there. I should call him today and do that. I've been looking for a permanent place to set up and live. Opelousas is north of Lafayette, about the same distance away as Abbeville is south. There is a real lack of RV parking in Lafayette and I really need shade. I can't put this thing on an open parking lot in the summer- it would be too hot.

I took Tony on a driving tour yesterday. We went all the way across the Creole Scenic highway and I showed him all the damage from Rita. Had the darnedest time finding an open restaurant for dinner. Everything closes on Sunday. Not just this Sunday during Mardi Gras, but every Sunday. This is a very Catholic area. You would have to experience it to know what I'm talking about. Even the smallest towns have two Catholic churches. Usually one for the wealthy, and one for the rest of us.

Well, I have to get ready for work. Hopefully today is payday! Yay.
Have a great day.
MsAmber

Mardi Gras - Country Style

Tony came down to go to Mardi Gras with me. We looked through the local papers and found that St. Martinsville was having a traditional Grande Bouchiere (butchery). So, we went. There was food and live music, and a live pig which was publicly slaughtered (eww, gross). There was dancing and drinking, I took a bunch of pictures. I saw a couple of people dancing that just tickled me to death, so I took their pictures and asked them for their email address. I've already received a "thank you" reply.
Today we are going to find a parade to get beads!
I'm glad Tony came down. I wouldn't have made it to any festivities if he hadn't. I don't have the gas to waste. The lady who I sent the pictures to invited us to go to Henderson tonight for dancing. We just might do that, but first I have to convince Tony to get out there and dance. I'm fairly shy, but he's worse.
When we got back to the trailer at 6:00 pm, it started to rain. Perfect timing.
I cooked boudin for dinner. Oh that's some good stuff. Pork sausage with rice stuffed in a casing. You just boil it. We figured out that you can just squeeze it out of the casing onto bread and spread it like deviled ham and make a sandwich. You are supposed to be able to eat the casing, but for some reason I chewed and chewed and couldn't break it down enough to swallow. So I decided just to eat the sausage out of the casing. Works for me. I had no idea it was so good. I also ate fried alligator at the St. Martinsville festival.

Yesterday we took the dogs on the nature trail. Everything was going fine except that I had to keep untangling the dogs. They are on separate ends of the same leash. So finally I just took Megabyte off the leash and let Spot drag the leash around. That worked good until Spot decided to run and play a little game of "can't catch me". I chased his scrawny little butt all the way back to the trailer. I couldn't even get close enough to step on the leash. Little Shit!
From now on: they are staying tethered together. At least Meg minds, so he can keep Spot from running off.

Well, gotta get ready to head downtown for the parades.
You have a great day!
MsAmber

Had a dialogue with the boss.

I asked the boss for some time and I drew my diagram of the alarm/dialtone/backfeeding issue. He actually listened. Wow.
He told me that the guys admitted that they didn't understand the instructions given before about backfeeding, and asked me to give a little class on Wednesday.
My Pleasure! That makes me so happy that he understood what I was trying to tell him. I was so worried about being shot down that I almost didn't speak to him about it. I'm glad I made myself do it.

Well, it's officially Mardi Gras weekend. I didn't get paid on Friday. Some stupid little problem at corporate. They fired their payroll company and decided to issue checks which will be fed-exed to the office by noon on Monday. This put a hurt on everyone, but it really messed me up. I don't have any gas in my truck and no money to do anything at Mardi Gras. At least the parades are free. I asked the campground host if I could borrow a bicycle. He's looking for one to loan me.

I have plenty of rice and coffee though! lol

Have a great weekend.
MsAmber

Yaaay. It's Friday.

I did four jobs yesterday. I wasn't fast. The first job was running a two pole span, then afterwards a big big house with phone. The big house with phone is the one that gave me the most challenge. The thing that concerns me is that we aren't doing backfeeding with alarms correctly.
The alarm jack is designed to bring in dialtone on the r/g pair and then send it through the circuit board and feed it back out to the bk/y pair to feed the rest of the house. We put a modem in a bedroom and feed dialtone onto the pair which is out of the alarm. So essentially we are sending dialtone after the alarm instead of before it. It seems to work, and the alarm test comes back fine, but I know in my addled little brain that it isn't correct. I wonder how it will affect the alarm in the future? What side effects will it have? I'm speaking of houses that are wired 'daisy-chained'.
I think I will have a dialog with an alarm technician about this.
Maybe I will apply to an alarm company for a job to work for a while when I'm done playing with cable tv. The problem is: I can't prove that it will affect the alarm negatively, and the technicians I work with can't grasp what I'm trying to explain, and in their opinion it works, so why am I "overthinking" it?
I must research this a little more. I can't even go to my boss over this, he wouldn't listen, and there really isn't anything he would do about it anyway. I would simply be frustrating him (as I seem to have a knack for).
When I go to the alarm company, I won't tell them who I am, I will simply ask for an engineer and then a white board to draw on. I will explain the situation and ask for his opinion.
Yeah, maybe I will stay out of trouble?
Then again, maybe I will stir up a hornets' nest. That could be fun too, and there's no shelter for the fallout.
Ah.
Have a great day.
MsAmber

It's Thursday. One more day.

...till payday.

I've got to rant a little. It's not really my style to publicly complain about my boss but this one's a real gem.
On Saturday, my day off, he called and asked me to come to his office. I drove to the shop, thinking it was important, and found that I was there to pick up my two roses that he had bought for us female employees for Valentine's Day. So, it cost me $6 in gas to pick up two roses. This guy doesn't even know how I feel about roses, and it cost me a full round trip's worth of gasoline during a time when I can least afford it. Yesterday, Wednesday, is usually the day off except soon we will start working on Wednesdays. We all had to come in dressed for work just to attend a meeting and get the serial numbers off our company-issued tools. Then go home. Every morning that we DO have work, we must arrive at 7:30 and wait, and wait, and wait until we are dispatched. Usually not leaving the shop until between 8:30 to 9:00 to go do our tickets. It seems he has no regards for our time.
I was in "training" for the first week. Basically there is no training. Just ride around and work with somebody to see how it's supposed to be done. Paperwork and such. My truck still isn't ready to roll, so I'm on my second week of "training". Besides it's killing me financially - I've spent as much on gas as I have earned - I signed a contract stating that if I don't work for them, I owe my training pay back to them. I've signed so many things explaining their fines, penalties, and reasons to take money away. Then I'm told that the handbook is for the Atlanta employees. They don't do drug testing, the pay scale as described is for the Atlanta employees, we are on the "point" system: but there is no document to explain what the points mean as far as pay. Our best techs are making only about $700/wk and our weakest techs are making about $300/wk.
I've been yelled at twice by the boss for nothing. I told him that the truck I have been issued is 6700 miles overdue for it's oil change. Later I mentioned it in front of his boss and he yelled at me that I've told him that already. Well, that was last Friday and the oil still hasn't been changed. Yesterday during the meeting, I asked where Jherric was and he yelled at me that he "doesn't need any help", and looked me straight in the face and repeated himself again - loudly.
I was still so mad when I went to bed last night that I had all kinds of violent dreams. Not only is yelling at me inappropriate and disrespectful, but I haven't actually started working there yet. I'm still just hanging around waiting for my truck.
I guess I'm used to working with professionals. People who can eloquently get their point across. This guy's gonna drive me to drinking. He's a big, random-headed bully, that's what.

Well, I've got to run through the shower.
Have a great day.
MsAmber

Wednesday in Lafayette

They put a new windshield in my Ranger (company truck) yesterday.

I rode with Leon and we got our jobs done just fine. There was no ladder work, it was two apartments and a great big house. Pretty easy day, except for the waiting.

Gosh, I can't wait for Friday - payday. I'm so broke I can't pay attention. Though I'm sure this first paycheck will be quite disappointing. Minimum wage X 44 hours.

I made fried potatoes, eggs, bacon and toast for dinner last night. Invited over my new friends. They are a transient couple in a tent two spaces down from me. They walked in carrying their tent. The guy goes to the day-labor place every morning at 4:00. I don't have much, but I'm willing to share what I do have. Tonight I'm making sloppy joes and cool-aid.

It's time to run through the shower, I gotta go.

You have a great day.
MsAmber

Ah, it's Tuesday.

I got my new company truck yesterday. It's 6,700 miles overdue for it's oil change and the ladder rack is broken. I got it all organized and put my tools inside. I'm ready for some tickets! I got a Blackberry issued to me also.

I was wondering which truck I would get, and then yesterday they fired a kid. Apparently on Saturday, he got into an accident in one of the other trucks; that sealed his fate. I always feel bad when somebody loses their job. He was a nice kid. So I got his Ford Ranger and phone. It's shorter than the rest of the trucks, so I won't need a ladder to reach my ladders. Ha ha ha.

I exchanged my Tom Tom for a new one that has a pre-loaded map. I'm just going to use it this way until I can take my laptop to work and hook up to the network to download the newest map. I attempted the download three times with my Sprint Mobile Broadband (broadband my ass), and each time the file was corrupted. I still need the newest updates, but it will have to wait. I need the GPS working now.

I gotta finish getting ready for work and walk the dogs before I go.

You have a great day.
MsAmber

I bought my Tom Tom . . .

I was downloading the newest maps of the US and Canada. It had 16 hours left to go and I went to bed. Sometime in the night the power went out. I am hoping that it has a "resume" feature, otherwise it will take 26 hours and start all over.
So, I need to get off this computer and let it do it's thing.

Have a great day!

MsAmber

Urg. It's Saturday and I gotta go to work.

Please don't make me go to work today...

I had asked Nate about letting me have today off to take care of some business, since I'm still just a trainee and I have no real responsibilities. He never answered me. I just called in and left a message. If he really wants me to come in, I will. If not, I won't.

Hey, it's Valentine's Day. I'm going to go buy a GPS today and do my laundry. (That is: IF I have the day off.) I also have to find the campground manager and force him to take my money. (yeah, right!) I should also check the fluids in my truck today. It was running a little hot when it was dragging the trailer up here.

I stood up from the bent-over position next to a door-knob, and somehow I got my hip caught under the door-knob and it bruised me pretty good. I'm still not sure how I could get my hip (butt) under a door-knob, but I assure you that's what happened. Hurt like hell, it did...

The attitude I'm getting at work is that I have been labelled: "Cool, for an older lady." The boys have warmed up to me pretty good, and they've been fairly receptive and helpful to me. They are all good boys. A little rough around the edges sometimes, but I see good in all of them. There are no poison apples in this bunch, which makes me feel better and not so intimidated. I'm used to being a project manager and a teacher, now the kids are teaching me. It's cool. I like it. I told them to talk slowly to me like I'm a foreigner, because I need to tune my ears to the french accent. They laugh about that. One of them has been to Oklahoma before and he exclaimed that he couldn't deal with that place.
On that same note: besides the accent being so heavy, I've noticed the cadence of speech is like reading run-on sentences. You can't tell when one sentence has ended and the next is starting. I'm having quite the time learning to listen.

Well, I gotta go run through the shower.

You have a great day. I know I will.

MsAmber

A good day.

I had a pretty good day yesterday. I went to work with Jherric, he's a nice young kid who had the highest score on his QC's (quality controls). It got real interesting at our last install which had a huge ant mound inside the pedestal, and the undersides of the trailer were torn up and there was garbage underneath. I got filthy. Jherric got stung by a yellowjacket on the back of his head. It was a funny way to end the day. We cracked up and just had a good time working all day.

I was feeling a little crampy all day, couldn't figure it out. It's not my time of the month... or is it? Yep. It is my time of the month. Two weeks early by my calculations. I guess hard work brought it on. It also explains my grumpy demeanor.

Jherric was also nice enough to compromise on the music selections. He played Reggae all day. We started out listening to Ludacris, and I mentioned that I have a hard time making out the words, so he changed the cd to reggae and we listened to that all day. That was sweet, and pretty cool in my book. He's got a daughter on the way next month, I must remember to send his wife a baby present.

Gosh I still have a hard time with the extension ladder. Carrying it and setting it up and taking it down. They are damn heavy. It's going to take me a while to build my upper body strength. I got up on the line and changed out the connector, added the tags, and torqued it back on. I wasn't shaky, so that's good. Isn't there some other cheap alternative to a 28 foot extension ladder? No, climbing gaffs aren't appropriate, most of the connectors are three feet from the pole on the span. I wouldn't be able to reach. I just hope the messenger wires are strong enough, and the hooks in the poles are in good shape.

My my my.

You have a great day.
MsAmber

I got moved to Acadiana

Rent was due at the Abbeville park, so I had some decisions to make. It cost me $10/day to stay there plus $16/day to commute. By moving up here it will cost $13/day rent plus $5/day commute. So, I just saved $8/day or $48/wk.
Now I need to buy a GPS. I need a good deal on one. The cheapest one I can find, actually. Maybe the pawn shops would be a good place to go. I'll look. I understand I can buy a TomTom 1 for $128 at Wally World.

The dogs have been doing real good while I'm at work. They hold it all day. I need to decide when is a good time to start closing up the house and running the air conditioner versus letting the breeze blow through. I don't want them getting overheated in here, but it's not quite hot yet.

Spot had his first seizure on Tuesday night. It was very odd and worrisome. His seizure is like a full body cramp. His body was so tensed up and he was hard as a rock, like rigor mortis, and it lasted a full 5 minutes. Afterwards he shivered and shook, I just held him and petted him. The only information I can find on doggie seizures is epilepsy.

I gotta get ready for work.
You have a great day.
MsAmber

Putting in some long days.

This company is confusing.
It's not a 7:30 to 5:30 job. It's 7:30 till whenever you get finished.
I went with Jake yesterday and we did 6 jobs and got finished at 7:15 pm.
The work is not all that cerebral, but it is physical. I desperately need a GPS if I'm going to find my way around this new town. I'm still worried about my capability of handling that big extension ladder. I need to lift weights or something. I just don't have the leverage to pull it back when it's fully extended, especially in the wind.
I found out that we generally work Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and have Wednesdays and Sundays off. Until this week: now we are working Wednesdays and only have Sundays off. A six day work-week. Dammit. Did I mention that I'm not a 19 year old boy any more?
The one thing I'm going to have to get used to is not letting the customer talk me out of any work that is not billable. This work is also not for perfectionists like me. I need to have a dialog about that with the boss. It's ok to have the cables laying on the ground under houses, instead of securing them up like we always had to do in telephone work. I'm told that my work is supposed to be quick and dirty because I get paid by the job and I need to be fast.
That was one of the things I hated at my last job. I was forced to lower my standard of work at a couple of places and it irked me something fierce.

I called Tayla and made sure she was ok. I saw on the news that a tornado tore through Lone Grove and killed 14 people. So I called her at 6:45 this morning to make sure she got out ok. She went to her Mom's, so she's alright.

I gotta go to work now.
Have a great day.
MsAmber

Darn the extension ladders.

Ah. Yesterday was a long day. Didn't get done until 9 pm. I found out that the majority of these service calls I am to use a BIG yellow extension ladder, and hook it on the span. Yep.

I haven't done much work on extension ladders since my fall. I've done some, just to try and "get back on the horse", so to speak, but not extensively. Those muggers are a bear to move around. They weigh probably 80 pounds and they are huge. (sigh)
I'm going to get quite the workout moving it around and setting it up and taking it down, not to mention actually having to climb it while it is hooked onto spans of cables. Yeah, this is going to be fun.

This company has some strange ways. They don't issue a gas card. They act like they don't trust their employees. Currently there is an issue because they need to change the locks on all the truck beds - they are all keyed the same. Apparently that's a big deal, because techs steal from each other. This is a completely different culture than what I'm used to. I'm used to trust, and responsibility. All the trucks are new, but most have big dents and dingers in the bumpers or sides. They are being beat-the-hell-up.

Hmmm.

Have a great day, I gotta go to work.
MsAmber

I'm going to work!

Oh yeah, I'm going to work today!

I had a headache, so I took the benadryl with sinus headache stuff before I went to bed. It not only kicked my headache, but I slept like a baby.

Here's to hoping that Spot can handle himself during the day while I'm gone.

Got to run through the shower and get ready.
Have a great day.

MsAmber

What a night.

Sharri and I went out last night, and I ate raw oysters, stuffed shrimp, and a stuffed catfish roll. Really good stuff. I was so full, I could barely waddle. As soon as I got home I went to bed.

I had some of the weirdest, most vivid dreams last night.

I dreamed that my ex-husband came out of the bathroom completely naked. He put his hands on my shoulders and told me to sit down, he wanted to talk to me. I sat down. He squatted down in front of me - totally naked - and I was trying not to look. Because, you know, we're not married anymore. I was embarrassed and kept averting my eyes, and I have no idea what he was saying because I was so distracted by trying not to look.
Weird, huh? It was so real, that I woke up thinking he was here. I actually felt his hands on my shoulders and smelled Irish Spring soap.

I guess that's why the old timers tell you not to eat seafood before you go to bed.

I just got a picture message from my friend Mark, it shows a huge fire under a lot of trees and the subject says: "Help!" It's a great picture. I'm not sure how I could help. Blow on it maybe?

I've got to get dressed and go to the store. I need a few things.
Lunchmeat, bread, cheese, chips, potatoes, canned dog food, and TST for my septic.
I'm going to pack my lunches this week. Since I'm only making minimum wage for the first two weeks, I've calculated that it will cost me: 2.5 hours/day for gas, 2 hours/day for my lot rent here, 1 hour/day for taxes, which will leave me with only 2.5 hours/day for pay for the next two weeks. Yeah, packing my lunch is a necessity right now. I have to pay for Meg's dental care and my insurance is due again the first of March. Money will be tight, but not impossibly so.

Okay, got to get moving.
Have a great day.
MsAmber

I found a J-O-B.

Yesterday Atlantic Cable called and scheduled an interview for 1:00.
Then JB (the electrician) called me and said he has a cabling job for me on a weekend.

So, it looks like I've found an "in". I'm staying in this area after all.

I start my new job Monday morning at 7:30. I have to be in "training" for a couple of weeks at minimum wage, to learn how they do things and paperwork, but it's going to be fun. I'm going to be doing residential work again. I'm a little worried because of the energy level I will have to expend. This is the kind of work that I used to say: "I work like a 19 year old boy". Then a few years later I'd say: "I'm not a 19 year old boy anymore". Now I have to say: "I'm worth 2 19 year old boys". Yep, time to quit smoking if I'm going to keep up. It's all good. I'm in pretty good shape now, but I'll be in great shape by the end of the summer for sure!

My truck insurance has gone up $48.00 per 6 months. I called them and fussed about it, since I've never had an accident or made a claim and my truck is old, I don't deserve the rate increase. According to them: insurance rates in Louisiana are some of the highest since they've had so many claims to pay out. Well, what kind of sense does that make to have the highest rates in the poorest state? That means that people are going to start running without insurance because they can't afford it. I really wish the insurance companies would take a long walk off a short pier. At the very least, since insurance is mandatory, you should be able to write off your premiums on your taxes. I pay $908/yr on the trailer and $780/yr on the truck (minimum coverage). That's highway robbery!

It's that magical time of the morning when the sun comes up and the birds are singing. This morning there is no mist and I see a few clouds up above, but it's starting to get daylight. This is what time I must leave for work starting Monday. I'm going to miss sitting here watching the sunrise.

I will start looking for a place to park this rig in Lafayette. There aren't many RV parks in Lafayette, and most of them are booked up through the 23rd because of Mardi Gras. I might just stay right here for another month. The problem is that I have a 50 mile round trip just to get to work and back daily. That's a lot of gas in my truck, actually it will be about 8 gallons a day. Yeah, really. Wish I could write THAT off on my taxes.

I just had a thought: an invention. For mail carriers and utility workers and others who are at risk for dog bites. A protective sheath for the calves that send out an electric shock if a dog bites you. Like a neoprene sleeve that you pull on over your calves, under your pants. When it's punctured by a salivating dog, it will zap the shit right out of the dog.

Okay, it probably wouldn't work. But the idea of it just makes me laugh, imagine the surprise on the dog's face when it realizes it just bit into an electric eel.

You have a great day.
MsAmber

Good news:

I got my check today. Woo Hoo.
I made my trailer payment, I have two full tanks of gasoline, and I've done all my laundry (except the sheets and towels), and I'm ready to r-u-n-n-o-f-t.
I'm still going to hang around here until the 11th, but I'm feeling good about it.

Poor Spot was coughing all morning - starting at about 4:00 am. I took the boys for a walk at 6 and he's settled down now.

I've sure got the toots this morning. I'm just about ready to tune it up and play a fart song. Wa ha ha. (We all know how much I like fart jokes.)

Today I shall shampoo the carpets, change the sheets, and get kosherized for the Sabbath. There's not much left to organize, I've just about got all my ducks in a row finally. It sure would be nice to win the lottery, but unfortunately you have to play to win and I'm not spending any money...

Use it up,
wear it out,
make it do, or...
do without.

I like my life. It's a real hoot (or is it a toot?).

I borrowed the movie: Team America, World Police. It's a puppet movie and it's rated PG13, but it probably should be rated R. Gosh it was hilarious. There was a puppet sex scene that just killed me. I laughed so hard that coffee came out my nose.

It's so beautiful here in the morning. My desk faces East and I get to watch the sun come up through the trees, while I blog with my cup of coffee to my right and my ashtray on the left. The window is open and the curtains are pulled back. It's perfect for stimulating the imagination or giving one a sense of belonging with nature. The birds are singing just for me at this hour. I don't see anyone else usually, maybe a stray dog walker here and there, but mainly it's just me. The squirrels are playing 'round and 'round the trees, and everything is surrounded by a light wispy mist. I think I shall always try to make this window face the East from now on. It has brought me a lot of pleasure. It's also probably the reason that I'm blogging so much, I enjoy sitting here in the morning now.

It's supposed to get near 70 degrees today, I'm opening up the house to air it out and enjoy the day.

You have a great day.
Toots.
MsAmber

Could you hear my nickles screaming yesterday?

I ran out of propane and used up all my charcoal, so I counted out all my change. I had $16.95 (not including pennies). So I went to the propane place and the price for a 30# tank refill was $24. I asked the man there if we could just fill it halfway, because I have no heat and I can't even cook. Another customer who was in line asked the guy how much more I needed and he handed the man $10. I looked him straight in the eyes and said "Thank you, very much." Then I had enough change left over to buy a dozen eggs and a half-gallon of milk.

Gosh I hope my check comes in tomorrow. I'm doing alright. It wasn't the end of the world to run out of propane, but I'm very grateful to the stranger for helping me out.
That was really cool.

I emptied out and wiped down the cupboards yesterday. I made a couple of half-shelves and reorganized all the food. Then I sat down to check my email and a woodpecker flew in the door. I had to catch him before he hurt himself slamming into the windows and walls. It sure was a beautiful bird. I caught him up and let him out. He didn't sustain any injuries, thankfully.

It's so nice to be warm finally. It was 52 degrees in here this morning, so I got dressed in my longsleeve shirt, jeans, socks, and shoes. Then it dawned on me: Hey, I've got propane, turn on the heat. So I just did. It took all of 10 minutes to get it up to 65 degrees in here. Now maybe the electric heater can keep it that way. It dipped down to 30 last night, so I guess the electric heater did work it up about 20 degrees or so.

Spot still coughed most of the night. He's sleeping peacefully in here now. I wonder if it's the cold that sets off his coughing spells. It's settled down now that it's warm in here. Hmmmm. Interesting. Either that: or he's just coughed out for a while. Poor boy. He stuck to me like glue yesterday. Had to be touching me or watching me every moment. He didn't bark at passing vehicles either.

Well, I'm gonna get productive.
You have a great day,
MsAmber

Almost done organizing...

Today is the pantry. Maybe the closet also.
It's cold in here today, so I have both electric heaters running. I popped the outside breaker once already this morning, so I have to keep them both on low.

Spot is coughing this morning. It started at about 4:00 am. He coughs until he pukes then he settles down for a few minutes and then starts back up. Interesting though, when I took him out to walk, he didn't cough. He is only coughing while inside the trailer. I don't know what his problem is... but I'm glad Meg isn't doing it too.

I read in the news that Myspace and the Attorney General corroborated to match up the sex offender registry with Myspace accounts and 90,000 Myspace accounts were shut down. There are 170 million people with Myspace accounts and 90,000 of them were registered sex offenders. I think that calculates to 1 in 2000 pages. Mind you: that only includes Registered Sex Offenders. Most sexual predators have yet to be caught or incarcerated or registered. These are just the guys who have been caught in the past and done time for being a sexual predator. I'm betting that less than half of all the sexual predators have actually been caught and registered. That's a conservative figure, so you can extrapolate from that a number nearer to 180,000 sexual predators on Myspace. Yeah, scary. I'll bet I've run into several and didn't even know, what with games like "buy your friends" and "Mobsters" which make you have contact with people generally outside your circle. Also, having a public profile makes you searchable by anyone. "Hmmm. Let's look for a female, age 18, in Guyman Oklahoma..." (Knowing that all the little girls like to change their ages so they can have public profiles.) It's not just a risk for little girls either. Most adult women throw caution to the wind because they are confident that "it won't happen to them".
Okay, I'm done with my rant. I just got a little spooked when I read the news and saw the numbers. It's all a numbers game and the odds are getting worse every day.
How often do you roll a 6?

It's cold outside, but the sun is shining, so I just pulled back the curtains to let the sun shine in, maybe it will help it warm up in here. It's 58 degrees inside. I've already showered, blow-dried and put on makeup. I'm bundled up in a long sleeve shirt with a sweater.

You have a great day.
MsAmber

Dang, It's chilly this morning.

I sure made a mess in here yesterday.
I started out cleaning under the bed. I have that green tupperware tub I was telling you about - full of miscellaneous gels, lotions, hair potions, and old prescription bottles, etc. I sorted that out, then I pulled everything out of the cabinet under the sink, and sorted that stuff. Then I pulled everything out of the hatches that line the ceiling in the livingroom - made some files and sorted everything into files. Well, almost everything. I have a file for: dogs; camper; truck; insurance; taxes & credit reports; and instruction/warranty manuals. Everything else is piled here on my desk. I have certificates, Bicsi correspondence, IBEW correspondence, old invoices, security clearances, timesheets, cheat sheets, old notebooks, clipboards, empty folders, and other non-fileable junk. (sigh)

I'm not done yet... I do intend on getting completely organized. It's the least I can do since I'm not employed. I have "collector" t-shirts taking up precious drawer space. I might go guerrilla on my clothing today and take out the unwearables. I really need to clean out and wipe down my pantry also. Since the sun is shining I also need to string my clothesline and wash my delicates. Now that I have my day planned out, it's time to say goodbye on here and get to it!
Goodbye.

You have a great day.
MsAmber

I've made a decision...

Abbeville isn't going to work out for me. I'm moving the rig to Baton Rouge.
I've applied at 5 different companies in the Baton Rouge area and I feel that it has the best prospects.
I'm going to hold off until the middle of next week and probably hitch up on Wednesday, Feb 11, 2009. Baton Rouge is not very far away from Abbeville, but it is considerably more populated, and I see a lot more help-wanted ads, especially in the technical fields. Shoot, it's only 60 miles from Lafayette. I can handle that. Now, to find an RV park to move into.
I have a lot of research to do, so this is a short post.
More tomorrow...

You have a great day.

MsAmber