Seems as though the new manager has a few things to learn here.

There are orders piled up in the system - they were there yesterday but I am on limited hours and can only do so much with the time I have.  Today is the end of month.  It will take a couple of hours to pull all of this, I’m guessing and then my time is even more limited as to how much of it I can get delivered before day’s end. 

Point is that he should have started pulling all of this stuff yesterday afternoon - I’m here until 2, here’s here until 3:30.  Phone calls will start pouring in as to when these orders are going to be at the job site and I, in particular, will be on the receiving end of some of those calls.  One particular salesman calls me everytime.  He’ll say “I was under the impression that this stuff was going to be there by such and such a time”, which is when I tell him if he would have called me first about times, I would have given him a much closer estimate of ETA than anyone else is going to give - I’m the driver AND I’m the dude pulling the orders.

Just a little venting, not mad or anything like that, but I saw all this stuff today still sitting there waiting - apparently for me to get into a whirlwind of activity and try to get all this delivered by today so it can go on this month’s books.

Forecasters still have today at 95 for a high - it must be humid outside cause it didn’t feel particularly cool this morning, the sky is overcast and they’re calling for a 20% chance of rain. 

A large portion of the main page’s newer entries did not show up on my computer screen this morning.  This company’s filters, if it doesn’t filter out the entire site, well it will filter out whatever “it” finds objectionable.  I refreshed the page twice, same effect.  I have no idea what is the content of the titles to those entries, or perhaps it’s going INTO those entries as well, I dunno.  And yes, the praise the Lord entry yesterday was in response to a title that had F this and GD that and all kinds of goodies loaded into the either the title of the entry or the visible portion of the entry when it’s the newest one on there. 

I make no apologies. 

For some reason I am cranky this morning, which may show in the words I am writing, dunno.  It never bodes well when I come to work cranky and then have to put on the cheery face for work.  Probably when I start moving and pulling these orders that state of mind will disappear.  I hope, anyway.  I think it’s cause one of the dogs banged into my bed last night while I was sleeping which woke me up and then, yes I cranked on that dog for doing such and made her move to her bed.  I have no idea why that dog was laying on the floor since she has her own bed of which she normally takes quite pleasure in.  One of the Danes frequently sleeps on that bed, too.  But, Duke never sleeps on that bed and I have never figured out why.

Duke does other things, though.  Such as yesterday.   There was a half a thing of Oreo cookies on the counter, when I came home yesterday, the packaging was laying all over the back yard.  Of course, chocolate is supposed to be bad for dogs, but I can’t imagine all that sugar being particularly good for them, either.  Lesson learned, either find a new place for the cookies or get a cookie jar. 

I was going to confront the tenant yesterday on the rent - he came through the kitchen where I was sitting and breezed on by into his room and I never saw him again.  I see.  Perhaps he was feeling the vibes, I dunno, but I am writing up a notice instead and will be slipping that under his door today when I get home from work.  Basically - pay the rent or find a new place to live for free, cause’ it ain’t happening here.  The guy is making almost $18 per hour, works OT and can’t pay rent?  No, and not only that, but because he is working so much and getting the money he must be getting, it irritates me that he hasn’t even offered a dime. 

My demand is for the full month’s rent.  No late charges, but definitely the rent. 

Probably more crankiness, but perhaps that’s not a bad thing in the case of a non-paying tenant who can easily afford such.

I’m offa here before I start pulling the stars out of the sky.

ben

That’s my dudism for the day.

I was looking at my finances and realized that if I don’t get the rent money from this ex-tenant who is back for a couple of months - for this next coming month, I’m going to start going down into the hole.  Seeing that today - sitting here running the numbers - motivates me to do the confrontation as soon as I see him. 

I have car registration that I have to pay by tomorrow - that’s $238, plus I owe Karen $100 from the past and she wants it this week - and that’s on top of normal expenses.  Hope beyond hope my dad sends me the same amount he’s been sending every month, it’s a lifesaver and I let him know in no uncertain terms my thankfulness for that help.

I was talking to our company’s ops manager today - he stopped in to see how the new boss is doing and train him on several things he doesn’t have a clue about - and asked if he had any clue when our regular hours would be restored.  It wasn’t a whiney thing, just a question.  He talked to me more today than I think I have ever heard him speaking to me in a personal conversation.

He’s a pretty cool guy, but he is hard to break through and actually get to know.  I think because of his position in the company that he does that on purpose, can’t blame him especially with all the bad news he’s had to give to people in the last 2 years about the pink slip blues.  He said the general manager HATED to have to do it, and he fought against it until there were no alternatives.  BUT, even when he took away hours, it was less than what other gm’s around the country have been doing.  Apparently, most or all other GM’s in our company around the nation have simply told everyone that they have a day off - every week. 

Well, I’m down 5 hours a week, not 8 hours.  It was nice to hear they are fighting for us and doing whatever they can in the face of corporate ultimatums to help us out.  It was a good conversation, really, considering I hardly ever see the guy and when I do, he’s always busy.

Anyway, the BIG news, tadadadaaaaaaaah:  High tomorrow?  NINETY-FIVE degrees!!! YoooooHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  Wish I was at a place right now where, when you yell, the sound echoes off canyon walls and you hear whatever you yelled being yelled back at you.  Whatta hoot!  It’s going to be very windy - I guess the wind is going to blow in the cool air and from what I can see, the temps are going to STAY down and nighttime temps are going to be very cool.  Meaning I can shut off the AC at night.  I wish I had evap cooling in this house, right now it would work very well and cost a fraction of what AC costs. 

Well, anyway.  I’m not really looking forward to a tenant confrontation, which is tops on my mind right now and I won’t be relieved of this until I get it over with, so there. 

OHHH, I just realized - changing the subject back - if it’s going to cool down and STAY cooled down, I can remove all of this stuff from the sliding glass doors that I have had there to keep the intense rays of the afternoon sun from baking this area where I’m sitting right now!!!! YoooHOOOOOOOOOOO again!!! 

Oh, the joys of BBQ’ing outdoors and just poking around outside doing stuff and airing out the house and letting the cool, fresh but polluted Phoenix air come in and air/pollute out the house.  Very nice, indeed. 

I digress.  Hmm, well anyway, I am going to clean up the love seat sofa and ottoman this weekend and see if I can sell it.  It’s very nice - a LazyBoy - rather expensive.  I don’t need it and it’s in the way, really.  If I can’t sell it - times are tough, who knows if anyone with actual money is going to want something like that, I will try a trade for things I need and see what happens. 

Like, trading for a printer, an outdoor table, whatever. 

That’s enough.  Take care, be good to yourselves and have a great evening!

ben

“This is the kind of garbage that’s generated from the extreme right against Obama, and it’s going way over the line”

So, blame conservatives on the “extreme right” for the Facebook poll that L&S was talking about in his journal.  Of course, all people that consider themselves on the right politically are in agreement with that poll (”Should Obama be killed?”). C’mon, let’s get real here, giving a political viewpoint in such a thing is just pure BS - normal people don’t walk around thinking about killing the President of the United States regardless of whether you agree with him or not.

And then there was the news blip of the honor student beaten to death in Chicago. I remember once, while visiting Chicago as a missionary - being dropped off in one of the worst parts of the city. I didn’t care at the time what happened to me - live, die - it was all good. However, I really don’t believe being killed at the hands of gangsters or thugs to be an appropriate way to exit this life.

Anyway, the streets were empty. There were literally no cars or people out there at all - excepting one individual who was running towards a housing project sector of apartment buildings who yelled at us to get off the streets. Why? Because there was going to be a shooting and we were all going to be killed if we stayed out there. The bus had already left, there was nowhere to go, I just started praying. That’s pretty much my life-or-death answer - shout out to the Lord.

How did all of those people know in advance that something was going to go down? Do the thugs give everyone a schedule of their intending shooting and killing days, places and times? No, I didn’t think so, but I never did get that question answered.

Then there’s the 14 year old boy who claims he has been kept in a closet for over 4 years and by police accounts, his entire body is covered with scars. This kind of thing continues to come out here and there over time. I pretty much believe that we are not living in a healthy society, there is far too much of this weirdness going on everywhere.

I don’t much care talking politics, so I am keeping a bit away from that, but, Iran is stating that at the talks scheduled this week they are NOT going to discuss their nuclear ambitions. Well that’s nice, then what IS there to talk about with them? Nothing else that I can see, excepting perhaps asking them about killing their own people simply because they did not agree with the results of the presidential election and so, the government saw fit to kill some of them. Nice. At least we aren’t dealing quite with THAT kind of scenario in the States.

Well, nothing like a little boost of knowledge energy in the morning before work. Hey, at least the ex has stopped shooting off one email after another about - her warped view of reality is what I call it.

Anyway, the work day is here and I must be - OFF TO THE RACES!!!

Have a great day, folks!
ben

I’m merrily trucking through the day this morning, made a delivery, went to a pipe manufacturer, then headed to the main branch downtown.

I was greeted by my “old” boss - who is now running things down there (probably the best manager I have ever worked for, not perfect but definitely easy to get along with) who said he had a bit of information for me.

Ohhh?  Seems as George (warehouse worker) came down sick this weekend and they think he has the Swine Flu.  Meaning anyone that was around him on Friday could conceivably come down with the same thing.  Yes, I was near George on Friday.  Of course, you didn’t think anything ELSE, did you?

I don’t know what the incubation period for it is - the time you are exposed until the time you basically are nicely illed - but I’m hoping that I do NOT have it.  George did the right thing when he started feeling sick - he went immediately to a doctor who made the diagnosis and started him on some sort of antibiotics. 

George is confined to his house for the rest of this week and his family has been told to leave the house - which they apparently already have - and not to come back before Friday. 

Wow!!  I had no symptoms today other than my normal allergy related junk which goes on forever. 

So - the teacher.  Well, he didn’t return my call this morning and I wasn’t going to wait until the 2cd of Never to get this thing rolling, so I called the Principal again and again, no answer, but this time I left a message.  I then called the District and talked to the Superintendant.  He said he would see that school’s principal today and would relay the message if the principal didn’t already call me back before then.

Later on, he did call me back.  He stated that the teacher had come to him this morning and admitted his infraction, that he done a stupid thing, on and on.  We went back and forth a little while, what it boils down to is that an automatic investigation is started and the man is probably put under a microscope the likes of the Hubble’s magnification.  The teacher then gave the principal all of my emails I had written him, he stated that I hadn’t asked a question, really, so therefore he didn’t think he needed to give a reply. 

Gag.  My letters were all about finding ways to cause Caleb to succeed in this teacher’s classroom and what can we do to ensure that happens?  Is that not a question?  The principal also stated he had gone through this teacher’s record - yes, I asked - and saw nothing on there - nothing at all bad actually.  Okay, I can believe this was a one-time deal, I really can, I hope it is.  I haven’t asked my son whether this has happened before, but I suspect the investigation will uncover if he has ever done this before or not.  A one-time deal - I can live with it, repeatedly doing the same thing over a span of time?  Unacceptable.

So, the teacher then writes me a reply.  It was an apology, said he’s only human, I can be assured it will never happen again. Pretty much the reply I expected.  I wrote him back and informed this man that I am a very goal-driven person and that my son’s grades have been placed at the top of my goals for things to get done.  I further explained to him that when I am in that mode, anyone that is supposed to be helping out that is getting in the way, I will kindly ask to get OUT of the way so that progress can move forward, and I further suggested that I was not fully convinced that he was actually helping anything.

Case in point was the fact that the principal told me this morning that the teacher frequently sees Caleb hanging out in the hallways before class doing nothing, when he could be in this teacher’s class getting some help.  The principal said that the teacher was going to write me a reply today and that he was going to offer that Caleb can come into his class room early.  I told the principal it’s probably the time between Rifle Team practice and the beginning of school, but if there is some time to get study in with his actual teacher, that would be great.

The teacher, in his reply to me today, said nothing about that.   When I wrote the teacher back, I informed him of what the prinicipal had told me, yet I saw nothing in the reply from you - the teacher - about this potential source of help. 

I also informed the teacher and the principal that Caleb had spent quantum amounts of time in homework lab before the test last week, attempting to prepare for the test.  I called the Homework Lab today and verified that he had spent over 3 hours after school in doing such.  I am proud of my son to at least be giving a very good try at this. 

Caleb barely passed the test, I was informed by the teacher, and that his overall grade right now is a D-.  Well, that’s better than an F, not much better, but at least it’s a passing grade and he will be able to participate in the Rifle Team competition next month, which I think is totally cool because Caleb is totally into that stuff and I was using it as motivation for him to do whatever he had to to bring up his grades.

Of course, I was using much harsher incentives as well - such as being grounded with no video games or TV or anything for that matter if a substantial increase hasn’t occured in the next quizzes.  Well, as bad as a D- sounds, one would have to consider his last 2 tests in that class since I inserted myself into his education is in the 60% range while the test previous to that was 23%.  That’s right, Twenty Three percent correct.  He has made an over 40% increase in his grades in  a short period of time, and though the grades are low, it’s a HUGE improvement and that’s exactly what I am saying to my son, instead of saying something about how dismal a D grade is.  He KNOWS it’s dismal, he’s TRYING. 

I am not letting up, of course, on getting him whatever needs to happen to get beyond this, but I am still going to encourage him that he his efforts are paying off and hopefully, eventually, he might at least bring his overall grade up to a C.

Enough of that.  I am eating a salad I made as soon as I got home from work.  I had not time to eat today, which kinda sucked.  This salad consists of various types of lettuce; tomatoes; onions; sharp cheddar cheese; avocado slices; and some very good blue cheese/chunky dressing.  On top of all of it, I made some bacon and crumpled it up into little pieces and dropped it all over the top of the salad.  Oh yes, it’s quite delicious. 

I also am getting the W-2 for 2007 sent to me from work.  They actually have a form you have to fill out and fax it into them, plus a $10 fee automatically deducted from your paycheck.  Well, I’m the dumb dumb that lost all of that stuff, I guess I should expect to have to pay for their time in getting it back into my hands.

Well, I’m gonna finish my salad : )

ben

I was reading this story just a minute ago and was wondering HOW that possibly could be a good thing?  Apparently, Georgia has some of the toughest sex offender rules/laws in the nation - including a blurp about not living, working or loitering within 1,000 feet of schools, churches, parks and other spots where children gather.

Amazing.  These people are actually directed by the state to go live in this particular area - a forest apparently - if they can’t find anywhere else to live that complies with the law.

I’m wondering how a sex offender living in a forest is a good thing?  Isn’t a densely wooded forest a prime place for someone of such thinking to be able to carry out their urges?  Ie: kidnapping and raping, you know, just a few minor things like that.

Tell you what, there are 5 of them living in my community.  2 of them molested young boys, another 2 are raping women I don’t know what the 5th did.  I take it back, one of the woman rapers’ house burned down quite a while back, he’s no longer there, no clue where he went (I can imagine some saying they hope he burned with the house, and though I have similar strong feelings, it doesn’t quite go that far).  They could just buy us all out and turn the entire community into a menagerie of rapists, pedophiles, serial sex predators and whatever else.  I’ll take the money and happily find a new home somewhere else : )

Actually, it’s quite amazing to see all the little X’s appear when I pull up a map on the internet that shows all the sex offenders living in my area.  What makes THIS area so wonderful for them?  If we had a law similar to Georgia’s, there would be NO sex offenders living anywhere near my house. 

I’m a little taken aback that we as a society still haven’t really figured out what to do with these people. 

Well, anyway, onto today. Work day starting in a few minutes, a few things in the truck routing system to do today.  I’m a bit revved up in waiting for a return phone call from Caleb’s teacher - I wonder if that phone call is going to come.  If it doesn’t before I get off of work, well they’ll be seeing me down there today.  I know the guy is in class - he already stated he’s there by 6:15 am and it’s almost 6:30.  Yes, I would expect this man to make moves to deal with this situation as I am the kind of person that can literally transform myself into a giant thorn and insert into appropriate location to become more than just an annoyance. 

Off to the races!

Have a great day!

ben

Again, the controversy having nothing to do with KCL.
I am referring to several emails I have sent out about one of Caleb’s teachers using the f-bomb and other foul language in a classroom and towards the teenaged students that are his to to teach.
I have not named the teacher, instead, I have asked from the principal, the district and the accrediting agency (yes, I tend to go overboard on such matters, but I don’t REALLY consider this overboard considering the nature of the infraction) what the policies are concerning such with teaching staff.

I expect my email box to have some replies to that tomorrow. I also FULLY expect this teacher to reply to my rather elongated voice mail I left for him concerning several things, not the least of which was his F usage in the classroom. This guy is studying for his doctorate - that is no small amount of edumacation this man has engaged himself in and so - am not out to wreck his career (in saying that I did not name the name of the teacher) but I will definitely attempt to do so if I find out that he is in the habit of doing such things in his classroom.

This man has yet to post the grades of the quiz that was given to his students on Friday. Okay, so it hasn’t been that long, I will be finding out Caleb’s grade tomorrow. It’s make or break for him - he definitely loves being a part of that rifle team and he’s a good marksman according to his sargeant - but the policy is any failing grade and they cannot participate (and yes, I happen to agree with that policy). If he fails, then I will be asking his teacher some very pointed questions since I have BEEN writing this man emails about what it is that needs to be studied in order for Caleb to get a passing grade on this quiz and therefore should bring his overall grade up high enough to at least have a D in that class.

Actually, if he fails I will be visiting the school after work tomorrow, and if I don’t receive a phone call from his teacher about this F crap in his classroom I will be visiting - in fact, I think I will just go ahead and visit his school tomorrow : ) Note that his teacher’s phone number and voicemail are listed on the high school’s site and note that his teacher states in his voicemail message that he will “be happy to get back with you as soon as possible concerning any questions you may have”. Yes, sir, I do have some questions. The more I think about this situation with a teacher telling a student to get the F*** out of his chair, the more agitated I become with it.

Time for BenB to calm down, now. 2 hours it’s bedtime, I don’t need to be getting all riled up about this before bed. I’ll be engaging in civility and respectful - but perhaps very blunt - dialogue tomorrow with whomever I may be speaking with about it. I have never had a problem with speaking my mind, but I have always tried to think things through first and make sure I am fighting a battle worth fighting AND that I am elucidating the argument in an informed (as possible anyway) and intellectual way.

EvilFury started an interesting topic today that others have picked up on and I already commented on on her journal, but I’ll join the club and list a few more here.

Things I love that others might not:
I have many times sat in a car that is sitting in the direct sunlight in 115 degree heat, windows closed and yes the temp inside that car is FAR higher than ambient temperature outside - to see how long I could stand it. Yes, I am a sick man - but only occasionally : )

If I’m anywhere near the mountains, I will hike off the trails and off for miles into one direction and then sit down and take in the sounds of the forest. I will sit there and meditate and pray and take it all in literally for hours before I realize the sun is starting to go down and I would like to find my way OUT of there before it gets dark. I haven’t done that anytime lately and I totally miss it - but - the nearest forest is - 100 miles away anyway.

I LOVE scalding hot coffee. It’s the only way to drink it. Whether at home or a convenience store, I will take that freshly poured cup of hot coffee and stick it in a microwave for another 45 seconds and make it burning hot. I don’t care if it’s 115 degrees outside, that’s the way I drink it -though cooler temps are approaching and I will enjoy it even more.

I also love food that is spiced to the point my mouth is on fire when I eat it. I never said I was a normal person, did I?

When I am in love with a person, I am a piece of goo. Literally. I will melt in that person’s presence and I will do everything I can - big and small things combined -to show that person my love -for her. I will spend my days thinking about her and what I can do to make her feel even more loved : ) I only say that because it seems society is all about short-term relationships in these days and I want nothing to do with that. My first and only marriage lasted 16 years, I am slowly working to the point to find someone I can and want to spend the rest of my life with. Is that abnormal? It seems so to at least some degree in these times we are in.

Things I don’t like that others might.

I don’t laugh just to laugh because there’s a whole group of people sitting there listening to a person saying something that is NOT funny. I will just sit there with an expresionless face. I will SHOW you that face - I can post a pic of me on here with that expression and I’m going to do it.

I do not always go along with the crowd - sorta the same thing as above. I have never believed in the mob mentality - people usually regret their actions in such situations. Well, I am usually headed in a much different direction than the crowd is anyway - I’m not saying I’m better than anyone, I just look at and perceive things differently I guess.

I do not much care for TV anymore and can go days without watching or hearing any of it.

As promised, my expressionless photo - I have a MUCH better one but it’s on a slideshow and KCL rejected it - WAHHHH. 

G’nite.

ben

Okay, so I am complaining about the weather again, what else is new.
The fact that on Wednesday, the predicted high is going to be 95. Isn’t Wednesday the first day of October? No, I think Thursday is. So Miss Nature is holding out all the way through September, basically before handing over the goods to us Sonoran desert dwellers: cool temps.

If it REALLY does get down to 69 degrees that night, I’m shutting off the AC and informing the tenants that if they want their rooms cooled, simply open the windows.

Today, I have a chore ahead of me. I have searched everywhere for that tax information and I haven’t been able to find it. The only thing I can conclude is that it is in the master bedroom closet and that it must have come out of the bag it was in - and yet I have a pile of papers to go through.

I would NEVER have thrown that stuff away - just not possible. I WOULD have possibly hidden it somewhere, but I have searched everywhere I could think of and then searched everywhere where I know I wouldn’t have put it but checked anyway - not to be found. It’s definitely worth the effort, of course - unless all that sorting turns up nothing and then, I’m going to have to go back to employers - again - and ask for that information - again. Well, heck, the IRS has that information, the taxes paid to employers, maybe I can just get it from them. Whey that don’t have for the year 2007 is the deductions for mortgage insurance, the write off on the house and whatever else I can get away with.

I’m guessing that when I turn in the 2007 form, they are going to file all the past year’s taxes that I didn’t file in hopes of finding monies owed so they won’t have to fork over the considerable amount of change they are going to have to give me for all the writeoff I have coming to me. Which is fine, they will owe me even more. I don’t suppose THEY will pay ME interest, now will they? No, I didn’t think so.

In fact, I’m getting myself mentally prepared to go get this miserable search over with. But, since I’m going to be going through all of that stuff, I’m taking a large trash bag with me and throw papers out that I don’t need. I’m pretty bad about that stuff, I tend to save everything “just in case”.

In case of what - that I need kindling to start a fire? I’ve always been bad about papers and stuff I receive in the mail. Well, heck, I think I’ll take a walk outside this morning and enjoy the cooler air just before the heat wave hits. I hate being stuck inside all day long, so I end up going out in the heat anyway - why not enjoy it out there while it’s still relatively cool?

Well, with that I’ve just filled my day up, might as well get some of this started.

ben

Yes, another conquest in the battlefields of dealing with giant conglomerations whose sealed-in-stone policies are not to be abridged by anyone - except for persisent, relentless people like me who will not take no for an answer.

Although, I must admit I wasted alot of time in getting the freebie today.

The story:

Directv calls me up the other day with an offer: 2 movies for the price of 1. Great, what’s the catch. Catch is that you pay full price for the first movie, they send you a voucher in the mail, you send it back it, it takes up to 2 months to get your account accredited.

This is a game companies play periodically or even frequently because, I’m guessing, more people than not don’t bother to send in the voucher. You didn’t get anything for free. Well, I’m not one of those people. I will send in the voucher - they’ve already sent the thing to me.

Okay, Mr. BenB, we have 3 days available and a lineup of 4 movies. One movie sounded okay, I opted for it, Saturday was cool starting at 7:00am, they told me, the movie would be on and it’s an all day ticket, so I can watch it whenever I want to on Saturday.

Today - Saturday - movie - not available. I call DirecTV. The man immediately tells me that was the outbound call center - yada yada yada. “Please get me a supervisor”. Spiel again, but this time I interrupt: Get me a supervisor, NOW, thank you. I always say thank you, even if the presentation is course since they are attempting to feed me a line of crap. He starts his spiel again - MANAGER, NOW, thank you.

I’m on hold 10 minutes, line goes dead. Call back. This time I didn’t bother with the first person, just get me a manager. Lady insists I give her my personal information and the reason I am calling. My simple response? I want to speak to a manager, now, thank you. She says her spiel asking all that junk, again. No ma’am, I already did that on the first call, I was hung up on, now just get me your manager, thanks.

Another 15 minutes - though this woman didn’t put me on hold, she just sat there with the sounds of other operators in the background talking rather loudly. I was redeeming the time, btw. I mean, it isn’t terribly difficult to hold a phone and wipe down counters, floors, washing machine, clean windows, water the plants. In fact, I got quite a lot of cleaning done today plus watered half the property while on hold. I refuse to just sit here and do nothing while on hold, I will redeem the time.

The supervisor finally gets on. He tells me the same crap. I simply stated that since your company did not follow through with what it said it was going to do, and since I have wasted an extremely large amount of time on the phone, I now want freebies. No sir, we can’t do that. Your manager, please. If your manager isn’t available, I’ll give you my cell number and that person can call me back.

I was shocked that this guy actually said I COULD speak to his manager, a REAL manager, not just a supervisor! That was another 15 minute wait. In fact, the guy handed the phone call off to someone else who kept coming on the line telling me it would be just a few more minutes. I was polite. I don’t get mad at these people, hardly at all anymore, anger really doesn’t accomplish anything and it also gives them legitimate excuse to hang up on you.

Manager gets on phone, the SAME story. I said unacceptable. Since I have now been on the phone for a total of 1 hour and 20 minutes, I expect BOTH movies for free, and WITHOUT having to send in voucher. She said impossible. I said fine, I want to speak with your manager, and oh, btw, you’re going to have to hang up on me. She said she wouldn’t hang up on me (DTV has a policy that they cannot hang up on customers, but they do it anyway, I know from expeirience, lol).

The line goes silent. I just wait, patiently, as I said, I was busy watering indoor plants, outdoor plants and scrubbing things all over the place. She finally says something after 5 minutes, I’m serious, for 5 minutes that woman just sat there, silent. She says: “well, Mr. B, is there anything else I can help you with?” Yes, ma’am, the fact of the matter is, you didn’t bother to ask me for a good call back number. She recites my home phone number. Yes, that’s my number, but that’s not a GOOD call back number. I give her the cell number.

After that, another 10 minutes of bantering back and forth about what customer service actually is compared to what HER version of it is. After all, I’m not asking for free equipment (though I have successfully negotiated that 3 times now with that company over a span of several years), I’m just asking for 2 free movies for the huge inconvenience considering THEY called ME about the free offer, not vice versa. Oh, I have gotten all kinds of freebies over the years that I have been with DirecTV - but it’s not easy to get it. It’s usually worth the time spent, today I don’t really think so. $10 worth of free movies for an hour and a half plus - not a good tradeoff.

But it was the principle of the thing, not the money this time, and I wasn’t budging. She eventually hangs up on me. I make the 3rd call, this time I figured I would deal with the incoming call operator who has basically no authority to do anything - and see where that would get me.

She recites to me, after I told her, that DTV has a policy that employees cannot hang up on customers. I know that, but this manager - Brenda in a Florida incoming call center, a manager no less - did exactly that, though I wasn’t rude or using foul language. Oh. Back and forth, she tells me the same thing everyone else has. I reply: “well, I guess you’re going to be on the phone with me a long, long time, because this cordless has a full charge on it and I’m not going to hang up”.

She stutters - and then says; “well, uhhh, hold on a second, okay?”. Sure, why not? I’ve already waited this long. 2 minutes later, she gets back on the line, says she’s crediting my account for 2 free movies, is there anything else she can help me with? No, but thank you very much!!

In the years that I have had DirecTv - which has some of the worst customer service that can be found in any industry, I have patiently worked my way into getting entire bills removed from my account, free equipment, free months worth of movie channels and a large number of free pay per views. It isn’t easy work - but in most cases, it’s at least $100 worth of freebies and that makes it worth it. Today’s - I beat that manager and their company so-called policies. They CAN over-ride the policies, but you have to get to the right person. Really, that’s true with any of these companies. You get the ‘right ear’ and they may very well do something for you. I offered to bet that manager that I WOULD end up with 2 free movies.

Lol. She didn’t accept the offer, of course. Still, another win under my belt, I’ll take it.

No, I’m not turning gay.
Lol.
Basically, over the last year and a half, I have received great consensus amongst fellow internet cave dwellers that I would be far better off in not renting out rooms to ladies considering the large amount of problems I have incurred with such in here and just keep it a guys-only thing.

Now that I finally have a house full of guys without the element of the female interspersion around, I can safely say that I am not fully convinced about that. Yes, I have had serious problems with certain of the female side of the gender in here - most notably the pole-dancer (yes, this person was an actual pole dancer I found after she moved in and a parade of guys was coming in here at night); Mary The Meth-Head - who also would have bouts of having a different guy come parading through here plus the added element of using meth. Which caused her to stay up all night long, making noise, bothering other tenants, getting in their face and basically making life miserable.

At the same time, in Mary’s case - she did all kinds of stuff around here. She may have been a waste-case, but she certainly had the lady’s touch when it came to decorating or doing things to make it smell nice in the house and especially that main bathroom. Regardless of her choice of lifestyle, she certainly had high taste when buying things. I got “dumped” with all of that work left unfinished out front - my entire focus had been the east, rear and west sides of the house while she was beautifying the front of the property and I will state here that she did a darn fine job of it. Her ideas - and the work she put into getting those ideas into reality - were nothing short of brilliant.

If it weren’t SO bad to have her living here, doing the meth, I would have never gotten “rid” of her because she definitely did not want to leave. She forced the issue - I was trying to think of some way to talk to her about rehab or something, probably wouldn’t have gone over so well but she definitely needs to get that chemical out of her life as it WILL eventually destroy it.

Mimi - well she started all that crap with Caleb, yes, but she did later apologize for it. She was not real happy living here so it’s just as well that she left. There have been others as well.

Certainly the last 2 ladies here were instrumental in getting things going towards keeping the main bathroom clean. Like to the point of implementing a schedule. I put up a notice that I left in there for over a week - the bathroom stayed clean for that week but now that the message is down, the toilet is looking pretty rank again. I guess to go ahead and thoroughly clean that bathroom again sometime this weekend, but I let it go this entire week to see what would happen.

What happened is the trash can is full - again - how much trouble really is it to take out a very small trash can and empty it? The marks in the toilet have reappeared I did not look on the sides of the toilet for urine stains because I was already offended by the appearance of the inside of the bowl. Would you want to sit down on a toilet that looks like THAT? I didn’t think so. Pretty much gross/rank.

The inside of the tub? I don’t use it. I wouldn’t use it, either, unless I wore sandals in there as I wouldn’t TRUST it. I’ll scrub the thing again this weekend, just because I don’t want it getting nasty. SHOULD I do all of that? It’s my house, yes, but don’t you think that tenants have no small part in cleaning up after themselves? I make this very clear in my Craigslist ads and I reiterate it when I am discussing with a person moving in: PLEASE help keep the place clean, ESPECIALLY the bathroom. I have enough other chores around here to deal with, that isn’t one I feel I should have to deal with.

I have come to the conclusion that every man, probably unless you’re gay, has come to since the dawn of time: Women, you can’t live with them, you can’t live without them. No diss on the fine lady folk here, of course, you are all undoubtedly perfect, lily-white angels : )