Four days of work and I'll be on vacation until the 6th of Jan. I need a vacation. This weekend went by so fast it almost didn't even feel like one at all. But in the name of making more money while I can, I'll be working 14 hours a night to make as much as I can. I can't help but wonder how it will go when I have to interact with the supervisor I had words with Friday. I wonder what will become of the situation. Nothing can change it now but I hope he realized his wrongdoing. I don't like tension in the workplace at all but I won't be talked to like that either so he needs to come to terms with that.
This is not a journal! Or a diary!
- Thread starter jc972
- Start date
It's been an eventful week to say the least. The wife's friend's daughter, Kimmy, is staying with us until some time in January. Turns out her parents went to Europe to see a family member that's stationed there. And they will be there for almost a month. She has been here for almost a week. She's a great kid and all but I get tired of the constant questions. When she first came here we told her she could stay in the spare bedroom. No big deal. But there's a bunch of old pictures and awards and whatnot from my firefighting days hanging on the walls, as well as both of my helmets. She has asked every question imaginable about what I did in those days. Friday, she went to the factory Christmas party with my daughter and myself, they got to see all the machinery and they had a big dinner for everybody. It was ok i guess. Her mom told us she could go out on the weekends if it was cool with me and the wife. So Friday night came and she asked if she could go on a date with a boy she hadn't known very long. I said "Ok sure. But I have to meet him first." So he came to get her and he came inside and introduced himself, seemed like a normal teenage boy, friendly enough. His parents had just got him a new 4 wheel drive SUV and he wanted to show it to us. I made sure Kimmy had her cell phone and told her "It's 7 now, be back at midnight, if you need me or if he takes you somewhere you shouldn't be, call me. Ok?" She agreed. I walked around to where the boy was and said "Have her back at midnight. No exceptions. And don't go to the Soaks." ("The Soaks" is 5 miles from a paved road and dead-ends at the lake and it's like "lover's lane" and where people go to get drunk and try out 4 wheel drives, it's right next to the lake and there's a lot of mud pits, also probably where 75% of the county's population was conceived. That was years ago, now it's where people make meth and rob other people and all kinds of bad stuff.) So with Kimmy on her date and the kids in bed it was time for some "mommy and daddy time". ... Until about 11:30 when my phone rang. It was Kimmy. She was sobbing and crying, saying they were in the soaks, and his new SUV was stuck in the mud and had been for a couple hours and she was scared. I told her to calm down and I'm on my way. I got dressed and called one of my cousins, who is a Sheriff's deputy, who, thankfully, was on duty that night, and told him the situation and where they were and asked if he could find them and keep em safe until I got there. He said he'd be glad to. So I found some heavy chains and a flashlight in the garage and put them in my old truck and headed out to fetch her. It was cold enough that I needed a coat that night. I was halfway there when the cousin called and said he found them and they were cold and muddy and scared but they were safe. Thank God. And so that's what I arrived to find, a cold, muddy, crying, Kimmy. (They were both covered in mud from trying to push his vehicle out of the mud.) And a brand new SUV buried up to it's axles in a mud hole next to the lake. After helping her into the cab of my truck and turning on the heater, I had a talk with her date, for taking her there and for being a bone head and getting them stuck and out of gas! Some meth addicts could have robbed them or worse! I made him get the chains and the 5 gallon gas jug out of my truck and gas his vehicle up and hook up the chains where it wouldn't rip the plastic bumper off. Then we hooked them to my truck and I pulled his SUV from the mud hole and made sure it was road-worthy. I thanked my cousin and so did the boy. I headed out first, with the boy behind me, and my cousin the cop behind him. All the way out to the paved roads where we each went different ways. By the time we were headed out, Kimmy had taken off her now mud soaked tennis shoes and socks and put them in the back of my truck and rolled her pants legs up to her knees. I asked her why she did that and she said she didn't want to get my truck dirty. She was still crying so I pulled over and told her that I wasn't mad and she wasn't in trouble and everything was alright. I told her that I was just worried and didn't want anything to happen to them -mainly her. All she could do was cry harder and lean over and hug me. When she finally calmed down I suggested we get her a different pair of shoes from her house and maybe go grab something to eat before heading back home. So we did. When we got to my house she walked straight into the shower while I put my chains and stuff away. When I came in I took a shower and changed and we sat in the living room eating cheeseburgers and french fries. I told her that place where they were ain't like it used to be and that people can do bad things to others and she is my responsibility until her parents get back. She said as soon as they got there, the vehicle got stuck but she thought he took her there to do what teenagers with raging hormones often do and she was just about to call me when they got stuck. Finally I made it to bed. I'm just thankful nothing happened to those two kids.
I'm sure he's a good boy, and I took my share of girls there back in the day. Can't blame him for that. He just don't have the rig or the experience to venture off in that place. I didn't tell him that, of course. No need to insult that fragile teenage ego lol.
Sinus problems, ear aches, vertigo, body aches, cold chills, and a headache. Laying down on my bed (Fully Clothed) seems to help but Kimmy insists on me drinking her god awful home-made tea and she has been sitting on the edge of my bed all day holding a heating pad on my head. I know she means well but, good grief! Back off, kid! If she would get out of my bedroom I could ditch the clothes and be comfortable! The poor kid has been bringing me aspirins and glasses of water and her awful tea all day. I know she just wants to help but I don't need a nurse. She found a crime novel laying somewhere in my bedroom and has been reading it aloud for several hours now, she told the wife that sick people get better when someone reads to them! Ugh! 
h: And perhaps the worst part is that the wife came in when Kimmy had to take a bathroom break and she was getting quite a laugh out of the situation. She openly laughed at me! She said "Your nurse is awesome! Well, she tries anyway so be nice to her! She's taking such good care of you ha ha ha ha". And she walked out laughing, all the way! Well, I took my laptop in the bathroom with me to write this. I reckon it's time to go back to bed. :kickingmyself:
h: And perhaps the worst part is that the wife came in when Kimmy had to take a bathroom break and she was getting quite a laugh out of the situation. She openly laughed at me! She said "Your nurse is awesome! Well, she tries anyway so be nice to her! She's taking such good care of you ha ha ha ha". And she walked out laughing, all the way! Well, I took my laptop in the bathroom with me to write this. I reckon it's time to go back to bed. :kickingmyself:
GraybeardGhost
Well-known member
I'm sorry, JC, but :lol:
I guess that's what you get for rescuing damsels in distress. As they say, no good deed goes unpunished.
Hang in there, man, and try not to lose your patience. She's sure to get bored playing nursemaid eventually and find something else to do. Hope you feel better soon.
I guess that's what you get for rescuing damsels in distress. As they say, no good deed goes unpunished.
Hang in there, man, and try not to lose your patience. She's sure to get bored playing nursemaid eventually and find something else to do. Hope you feel better soon.
I fell asleep and shortly thereafter woke up to find that she had went to sleep at the foot of my bed. After laying her on the bed and covering her up, I'm enjoying watching a movie in peace in the darkness of the living room. I'll likely go sleep in the guest room later. Finally the headache stopped.
Yesterday the wife started to town and she called me and said the car quit on her on the highway. So I was headed to my truck to go fetch her when she pulled in the driveway. It mysteriously decided to start. So I got the hood up and started checking stuff on the engine. Let me just say that I'm not good at working on cars made after the early 90's, with all the electronic junk and fuel injection stuff. So I pulled the spark plugs out and the coil packs off and tested them all, all are good. Fuel filters are good. Numerous sensors and relays are good. Turns out the #3 fuel injector is bad. And if I replace one, I might as well replace them all, which I don't want to do. So I went to town and found a Chevy Suburban 4x4 I'm going to try to buy. Always money money money. I curse the day they stopped making cars with carburetors! I can rebuild them and tune them and make them work when I have no idea what to do with fuel injectors. I've tried reading books on fuel injection systems and what makes 'em tick but I'm more caveman than connoisseur so I find it boring and give up on it. And I understand the old style mechanical fuel injection but this new stuff with it's electronic pulses and sensor codes makes me want to take a hammer to it all. I just want to crawl under a rock sometimes.
I learned today that my great uncle has thyroid cancer and it might be inoperable. He found this out because they did a test to see if he has lung cancer again. Which he does. He lost one lung to cancer in 2005 and he is 76 years old. He told my grandfather that he don't want any more cancer treatment and that he has come to terms with his fate. My grandfather called me to tell me about it and he was crying. He never cries. Ever. So I went to his house to talk to him and try to calm him down. This is his favorite brother. They've always been there for each other, they'd do anything for each other no questions asked. They were always close and he has two daughters that are close to my age and we grew up together. He is one of the absolute best people that I know. Like when I was a year old, my mom divorced my abusive father who then threatened to kill mom and me and burn the house down with us in it. My great uncle found out about the threats and told my grandfather that he would take mom and me across the country and keep us safe for as long as it took, all mom had to do was say the word. That's the kind of man he is. And now he's pretty much going to die. I don't know really what to do. When I got back home this evening, a friend of mine was here wanting to talk. She is 6 years older than I am but we've been friends for like ten or eleven years and we used to be really close. She heard about my great uncle being sick and wanted to come talk. She's sweet like that, caring. Anyway she brought three of her kids and we had a nice visit, her kids like to set with me and look at childrens books. She also brought me some apple brandy, her dad makes the best brandy in the county so that was a nice treat. I have to say, I've never seen her happier. She's on her third marriage and I think she's finally happy and I'm happy for her, she's a great girl. I enjoyed seeing her and her kids and my wife absolutely adores her children, they're all very well behaved. It was nice to come home to that after the bad news anyway.
Here is a neat party trick to try this new year's eve.
How to Escape from Real Handcuffs - Secret Tip! - Scam School - YouTube
How to Escape from Real Handcuffs - Secret Tip! - Scam School - YouTube
The next door neighbors invited us over to celebrate the new year earlier. I didn't want to go at first but the wife and Kimmy insisted so we went. The husband just bought his wife a new BMW M5 and we took it for a ride and Kimmy wanted to go with us. He kept insisting that I drive on the way home to see if I liked it, and I really do like it! I had never driven a BMW car before but going down the highway at 100 m.p.h. was a very smooth ride and I love that it's a manual transmission. It was a rather enjoyable evening and I'm now glad that I went. Turns out the guy loves cars and motorcycles so there were no gaps in the conversation. After we got back, we had drinks and it was nice. It helps that the neighbor and his wife are the same age as us and they have a daughter the same age as our daughter so we had plenty of conversation topics. They seem like good people. Well, happy new year, everyone
Today I got up and the wife met me heading for the bathroom and she says she needs a new car and she wants me to go find her one. So I get cleaned up and get dressed into nicer clothes than I normally wear. I asked her if we were all going or what and she said they wanted to stay home where it's warm. Kimmy said she wanted to go with me to test drive cars so just the two of us went. The old lady said she didn't want a brand new car, but a gently used one. Ok. I can do that. Kimmy commented on my clothes and the wife told her "Yeah, he'll dress to impress and you watch him with those salesmen, he can talk the ice cubes out of his drink." With that we went to town. I waited for most of the people to leave the car lot and when they were gone I looked at several cars, and drove a few and then we went into the sales office to negotiate on the price. They offered me a low interest rate, a pretty good one. I told them I'd be back by friday and that I thought I could get a better interest rate at my bank. I got my jacket and as I opened the office door for Kimmy to leave the salesman said "Wait! I will knock some off the price and throw in a service plan!" So we agreed on some terms of the sale but I still declined for the dealer's financing. On the way home, Kimmy said she had never seen her father try to bargain the price of anything, he just pays the asking price. I told her that almost anything for sale can be negotiated for a better deal. I told her that I've never bought a car without haggling. I did the same with my house I bought. She was amazed that people actually do this. I told her it's not confrontational, but I hear how much a vehicle is and I make a lower counter offer, then usually, a deal was figured out. We got home and I told the wife I found her a car and the whole thing and Kimmy asked if we could go out for dinner so we did. We went out for steak. Luckily the restaurant was mostly empty. All in all a pretty good day.
ImNotMyIllness
Well-known member
Nice job! You seem pretty stable. My life is a mess. I couldn't finance a stick of gum right now. I'll turn it around though.
Last edited:
It took me a long time to get to this point financially.
ImNotMyIllness
Well-known member
:thumbup: That says a lot about you!
Says I work a lot of overtime to get rid of the credit issues from a few years ago. But still, it all depends on the interest rate I can get at the bank.
The quickest way I've heard of to build up credit is with like a BP gas card or a Shell gas card. Put gas in your car with it and when you get home cut them a check for it and put it in the mail. For the last 3 or 4 years I've not missed a payment or been late with a payment, that really pushes a credit score up.
So the bank wouldn't come down to the interest rate I had in mind on the car. Our second choice in case the deal fell through was a chevy suburban. So I bought it today. It's a nice car, big enough for all of us to ride in with plenty of comfort. Luckily it was so cold today there wasn't many people out doing business. When I left the house I was wearing a heavy shirt and a coat and gloves, I think it was like 10 degrees. Then the sun came up but it didn't get much warmer.
Today we had our older son's 4th birthday party and several people came. It was nice, the people that came here brought their kids and all the kids had a good time it seemed like. Around dark, the neighbor came over and asked me to help him put a new engine in a car in his garage so I helped him for a couple hours. His wife brought us tuna sandwiches and they were good. Later we took the wife's new car for a ride and they liked it. His wife is a sweetheart and she is real easy to look at too ha ha. They stayed at the house for a little bit after we got back and we had a nice visit. They're cool people, like down to earth and easy to be around. I had to go get some kerosene in case the power goes out with this cold weather coming in. Now, with everyone else asleep, I can relax for a while.