Baby Baby...

Jen has Clay now, and I'm not sure which one of them is more entertained by the notion.

I'm pretty sure it is Jen, although Clay seems really entertained also.

Dinner is Served...

Jen made pork chops, cheese tortellini and a big salad for dinner tonight. Though I think they should have been clasified as pork steaks. They where at least 2 inches thick, making almost 3 pounds of pork. They where yummy.

The salad and pasta where good to.


Mmm...

Dinner Tomorrow...

Jen: We're having pork chops for dinner tomorrow.
Me: Cool I like pork chops, what are we having with them?
Jen: I don't know, haven't thought about it.
Mike: Steak! We should have steak with our pork chops. It would be neat to have two meat products for dinner.

Things you don't see every day...

As I pulled onto the expressway this morning, around 8ish, on my way to work I saw that oddest sight. In the middle lane, coming up fast in the mirror, was a mini cooper. Now, spotting a mini on the road isn't really an every day event, but it's not really that strange either. What made this the strange event was that as it passed me a second mini came up behind it. And one behind that, and one behind that, and that one too. In fact, I got passed by 10 cooper's right in a row.

They all had Michigan plates and all had diffrent expiration dates. Or at least the last 6 did, I didn't count the first four because it hadn't accrued to me. 10 mini coopers, doing 65 in the fas lane.

Patches...

This is our insane cat, attacking a small little light.

Happy Birthday Audrey!!!

Yea, I'm late. But I'm also not well informed.

American's Can't Drive.

I've come to the conclusion that the vast majority of American's can't drive. This realization has slowly built up over the years, but it's come to a head in the last two days. Yesterday started it when the van in front of us in the roundabout on main street came to a complete stop. Mind you there was traffic backed up in all directions and a school bus in the roundabout and this dill weed came to a complete stop in the middle of it. Stopping all the traffic in all directions.

If that wasn't enough to complete it, today I witnessed a right hand turn from the left lane across 3 lanes of traffic. This was executed on a green light with all lanes full in both directions.

There was an accident on Southfield freeway blocking two lanes on the way home. Just before the ramp to the lodge. You could see the flashing lights from a mile away. There is no reason not to know it was there. Yet there where about 30 cars that just had to stay in the left two lanes right up to the fire truck, then cut people off to get in.

On another note I spent most of today driving around trying to collect the parts to fix the 350 tomorrow. I get to put in a new fuel tank and fuel pickup, assuming it's not raining. I also have to reattach the front bumper (Don't ask, all I know is it was Tim's fault.) and fix the trailer lights. About the only thing we got accomplished today was wiring up the flashing light to a switch in the dash. Which he's been complaining about for as long as I've worked for him.

At least there is work for tomorrow.

Useless ass stipid Meijers.

Jen's Mom and Dad gave me some money for paneling their living room, which I immediately went out and spent on the last three Star Wars movies to complete our collection. I bought the not so special edition boxed set. Jen and I watched Star Wars and Empire last night and this afternoon. When Cam came over to do his laundry we sat down to watch Jedi, which is my favorite of the six movies.

Right about the middle of the 'speeder bike' scene the disk froze up. Upon examination you can clearly see the warp in the disk. It was a bad burn, and because Meijers is useless I can't even take it back tonight. There stupid ass service desk closes at 11. What kind of lame ass shit is that, if your going to have a 24 hour store why wouldn't you leave the service desk open 24 hours.

If I get another copy tomorrow and it's bad too I gonna freak out because it'll mean that all of Meijers copies are bad.

Almost to the point of exploding...

Jen made some more potato soup for dinner tonight. I think that it was even better then the stuff she made Saturday night. It was just as creamy but had a slightly diffrent taste to it.

And the true test of anything that gets made in this house. Mike ate a whole bowel and 4 pieces of bread with out complaint. Not even a "Do I have to eat it all?" He just hunkered right down and dug into it. He's currently at the table finishing his milk.

Mmmm...

Soo Full...

Jen made some creamy potato soup for dinner along with some bread bowels.

I do believe that it is the best potato soup I've ever had, including the Bennigan's stuff. I'm so full I don't think I can move.

Mmm.. soup..

Long Week..

This week seems like it's dragged out for ever. Aside from the fact that it's my first week back I've also been helping put the panneling up on the walls of Jen parents living room.

Tuesday and Wednesday I worked full days and then came home to work on the living room. Well, Tuesday we just went up and bought the stuff and took it to her parents so it had time to acclimate to the house temperature. Wednesday Jen, Cam and I went over to move everything out of the living room and start the prep work for Thursday. Thursday was the hard day, after leaving work early Jen and I headed over to her parents house. We stopped for breakfast on the way and managed to get there around 12:00. We where there until Midnight putting up the paneling. We had miss counted and where two short so we didn't get finished on. Yesterday we went back to home depot and bought more panneling, it is currently 'acclimating' right now, we will be putting it up Sunday along with the moldings.

The living room is starting to look nice, and once the molding is up it should look great. It is a lot brighter then the paneling that was up.

I've started reading 'Empire' by Orson Scott Card. I started it at about 6 last night and I'm over half way through it. It's a good book, though I think that it will get black listed by the 'right wing'. Read it and you'll understand.

And the work starts...

It's almost 9:30 and Jen and Mike are not home yet...

I called Tim around 9:00 last night to see about work, he told me that there was indeed work for me today. So I had to be up early to get to his house around 8:00 for the work. Which turned out to be detailing his lease trucks so he could take them back at the end of the month. He's paying me 15.00 and hour cash to do it so what the hell. During the course of the day he got a few phone calls about this and that. Me detailing the trucks turned into me having to pick up a trencher and silt fencing for tomorrow. We have roughly 10,000 feet to put in before the end of the week. Which isn't bad, 4 people can do about 4-5 thousand a day. As long as the trencher stays ahead of them. Which is my job, I get to do the trenching because I have the equipment experience. Yeay me! Down side to that is that I have to be on the job site by 7:00am tomorrow to get started, so I have to be out the door by 6:30. 10,000 feet of silt fencing will quickly double as it normally does. So we're probably look at work all week until Saturday. Next week his real works starts, what we are doing this week is just last minuit stuff, he has real work already lined up.

Of course now we have the added problem of the trucks. They are leases and need to be turned in. I will be on the trencher for the rest of the month most likely so he has to find someone else to detail them. You'd be amazed at how hard it is to find someone willing to detail a few trucks for 15.00 an hour cash. At least someone who is willing to take their time and do it right. It's funny because you could probably waste 8 or 9 hours doing it and as long as they where clean he'd be happy. He even went out and bought all the cleaning supplies and a brand new 6.5hp wet/dry vac for me. And, as I spent enough time around Terry with his raving about cleaning supplies I got 'the good stuff' so to speak, none of that Armor all crap. 45 dollars worth of cleaning supplies to do two trucks, and no one to clean them now. Ahh well, such is life.

The way things worked out I didn't get done working until 5:30. Which was okay I guess because it gave me 9 hours for today. Not sure if I mentioned it but for the first couple of weeks he's going to be paying me cash, until he can get the payroll stuff up and running. He needs to pay them off from last year before he can get them going this year. He's set aside enough money to support payroll for three of four weeks, but not enough to foot the 30,000 bill he has for the payroll company. We could do with two or three weeks of taxless money to get back ahead. Even if we get a 1099 at the end of the year and end up paying the taxes on it. It'll at least let us move into a less debt bracket.

After getting home we headed out to Jen folks to drop of Mike and then up to the Home Depot in Howell to pick up some paneling for their living room. Paneling it's self is not heavy, but after moving it two at a time from the self to cart, cart to car, car to house it gets heavy. I could have done one at a time, but that would have been 12 trips through the mud, and by the 12th I'd be layed out dead. Somewhere in there we stopped at Taco Bell for food. Mmmm Taco Bell.

Jen's Dad once again loaned me the use of one of his vehicles. I don't know what we would do with out her parents, they have bailed us out so many times. YOU GUYS RULE! Anyway, Having taken the Neon back home to shower I've now been sitting on the couch waiting on them the get home. Patches spent the first ten minuets or so headbutting me so I'd pet him and is now sleeping on the couch pressed up against my knee...

Tomorrow should be fun.

Oh, and if anybody out there knows someone looking to buy a 7 and 1/2 foot western plow, a cherry picker or a Cockatoo let me know. I know it's a strange mix, but that's my family for you.


It's 9:50 and still no Jen.

And then...

Just got off the phone with Uncle Time for the second time today. I had called him earlier in the day about work but he was at the movies and couldn't talk. He does not have any work for tomorrow, he has to call the people his job is for tomorrow. He is hoping that they will let him come in on Wednesday and start working. Assuming the weather stays warm he should be able to.

He said that he has some work I can come do Tuesday, some work on his lease trucks so he can turn them back in this month. They need to be detailed, and some basic services done on them or he'll get charged a ton of Money.

Beauchamp Lawn and Landscape here in Brighton is supposed to be hiring, I'm going to go up there tomorrow and put in an application. Maybe they will have work for me, or something I can do, assuming it does not require a valid drivers license.

Tim will let me borrow a truck as soon as he gets the fuel filter on his 98 truck fixed. The one that is in it is bad supposedly, though I think the guy he's using for a mechanic is just trying to milk him for more money. Maybe I can convice him to let me change the filter and get it running.

Mustachecicles

Had to take Mike out to the bus at 7:30 this morning, it as so cold that my mustache froze solid after being out side for less then 5 minutes. There are no clouds in the sky so I'm hoping it will warm up nice today. According to weatherbug it's supposed to be 50 by the end of the week. That will be nice, I hate working in cold weather, especially weather that makes my hands hurt just being out in it. I need a good pair of gloves for next winter. A nice warm thermal pair to go with my Carharts.


Jen, Cameron, Mike and I watched Flushed Away last night before Mike went to bed. He had gotten it for his birthday from Grandma and Grandpa, It was produced by Dreamworks and Aardman Pictures. For those of you who don't know, they are the makers of Wallace and Gromit. And for those of you who don't know who Wallace and Gromit are, quit reading my blog you are obviously not any person I know. At any rate, it was a very funny movie, so funny in fact that it made me laugh out loud through most of it. It was full of puns and bad jokes. As well as poking fun of the French, Americans and English. I would reccomend it to anybody that is looking for a good flick to pass some time.

Other then that we've been playing Star Wars to pass some time. We where both in bed by 10:30 last night Jen was asleep pretty quick, while I got to lay awake and listen to the neighbors for a good half hour. She can be pretty loud when the mood strikes her. Loud enough that it's a wonder nobody calls the police on her, I'm sure the people on the other side could hear her to.

HAPPY

BIRTHDAY

MIKE!

Legos + Starwars = Bad...

Mike's grandparents got him Lego Starwars II for the PS2. Mike and I started playing it about 6:30 and played until 8:30 when he got ready for bed. After that Jen and I started playing. It's now 7:30 in the morning and it is paused in the bedroom until Mike is off to school.

It's not an overly complicated game, and in fact it is impossible to lose in the game. If you die you respawn in the exact sames spot, and you have an unlimited number of lives. There are numrouse things to unlock in it as well. It plays through the original three movies. Jen and I have made it to Empire Strikes back, the part where Luke is trained by Yoda.

Lego Starwars

Workalicous!

Got a call from Uncle Tim on the home phone today, which was weird because he didn't have the number. He had to call my Mom to get it.

At any rate, he's got work lined up and is ready to start Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. It's silt fencing which I dislike almost as much as sod, but it's work none the less. He even has his payroll company payed off so I'll be able to get checks too!

If I don't hear from him by Tuesday night I am supposed to call him.

It almost makes me happy to be able to work again.