1. Whoever invented self propelled lawn mowers is awesome. I asked my lawnmower to give me three more months. Of course, it couldn't. Just like a stubborn child, it said ha ha!! Last Friday it crapped out on me. Of course, to make it more fun at my expense, it waited till I had done two passes across the middle of my front lawn. One that hadn't been mowed for two weeks, so it was quite long. So I had to go buy a new mower. And since I live on a sloped chunk of land, I splurged on the cheapest self propelled mower Lowe's had. And it's been wonderful. Well worth the money. Now, wherever I head to in the future, it will be a rented house. Just so I can use the mower.
2. Some people came and looked at my house last week. My realtor told me they are very interested, but need to find a bank that will do a zero down loan. Throw in the fact it's a manufactured home, and they have quite a challenge. Initially I was stoked about this news. Now, I'm starting to think it's not going to happen. Thanks to our friendly banks. Which led me to think about the banks. I find it truly amazing that the banks tanked our country's economy. Knowing full well what they were doing. Now, they have no interest in helping us recover. Five years ago, ten different banks would be lining up to give these people a loan. Now, no bank will probably even give them the time of day. And even better, rather than help people out who are doing their best to keep their word on their loan, they would prefer you walk on that loan than give you help in making it work. So today I was contemplating what it takes to be a person who sinks to this level of ignorance and greed. If I ever made it to the position of CEO of a bank (or oil company for that matter), would I forget that 99% of the people in this country make just enough to get by, if not less. Would I remember that not everyone lives a lavish lifestyle, pays $100 for a white under shirt, has a staff that caters to my every move, and enough money I could support my own school district. At what point do these people forget what it's like to be the other 99% of this population. I would hope that if I was put in some kind of position like that, I would remember.
3. While working in my yard today, I stopped for a moment. It wasn't a beautiful day by any means. But at least it didn't rain. It was still mid-60's, a little breeze. And I couldn't help but think, I love where I live. I could hear the birds chirping. The breeze made the air clean and nice. It made me appreciate the earth, and all its beauty. It saddens me I'm leaving here. But this place is not conducive to the single life. So I need to leave. So be it.
4. I wrote a few months ago that I was struggling with life, after the divorce and whatnot. It's amazing how one's mind can adapt and get better, once you make up your mind to do that. While I'm not 100% there, I am coming along. I still have my moments, mostly when I realize I have no one to come home to. But I know my life is still good. Even though I am a bit stressed with the house and looming move, I realize my problems are small compared troubles other people have. I tell myself to just hang tight for another few months, then I can move somewhere closer to town, where I can get involved in things, meet new people. But the good thing is, I'm good.
5. Now, I say I've been a little stressed out, but that might be putting it mildly. In the last three weeks, I have managed to yell at people from another general contractor working at Fort Lewis, yelled at numerous Corps of Engineers people, get snippy with my subcontractors, and be otherwise short tempered. A lot of it has to do with the fact that my superintendent took the better part of two weeks off right in the middle of a crazy mess of stuff. Not only that, but the other project my company is trying to finish up is getting dumped in my lap now too. I haven't handled it all that well. But I guess the first step is admitting it, right? Depending on who you ask, I'm either that crazy QC manager from Clement Group, or, according to my electricians, I'm awesome. Couple my outburst at the Corps people in front of my electricians, with the fact that I rode my motorcycle to work one day, and I'm bad ass. :-)
6. My elecrician foreman is a Chinese guy, that came here from Vietnam when he was 11 years old. He is a really funny guy, who thinks Asian's suck. You can tell the first word he learned here was the F word. The second one was the s word. Every morning when he comes into the office, we all yell "LU!", much like the gang hollered "Norm!" on Cheers. It makes Lu laugh every time. And it starts my day off right.
7. Silly me, I thought Paul Revere was warning the American people. I'm glad a presidential candidate was able to straighten that out for us. How much fun do you think Saturday Night Live is going to have with that one?
I'm still giggling about this :-)
8. Lastly, last week I was sitting in my living room watching tv. I decided I should probably make some dinner. As I was walking into my kitchen, I see a hooded sweatshirt bopping past the window (the window is about 5 feet off the groud). So I slowly walk up to see who's walking through my yard. I discover it's a woman, with her large dog running around her. She's slowly making her way towards the corner, then turns it. So I slowly walk towards the window so I can see what she's going to do. Then, she comes up to the window, puts her hands up on it, and presses her face against it to look inside. Of course, she looked right at me. Imagine that surprise! She jumped back and freaked a little, and immediately turned and headed towards the street. Apparently having a For Sale sign in your yard gives people the free pass to walk through your yard and peek into the windows. I guess the lesson here was, make sure no one's home if you're going to do that. :-)
Apparently I was quite thrilled with what I had been taught. Or I was secretly laughing at those pajamas. :-)
A common site on a Sunday evening, Dad lounging and catching up on last Monday's newspaper. He's always a little behind on his paper reading. And what better headdress than a furry little friend. Apparently Abe was getting smart too. Dad's always about teaching. :-)
Thanks for all you do Dad, hope you have a wonderful day!!