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