Vincent The Dragon

So for the holiday we went to the Zoo, it was a lot of fun.
Then we went to see Piranha 3D! GNOM NOM NOM!

it was a funny gore fest
(^_^)
It was nice to spend time with my Mate

some times it just feels like it not worth chewing through the straps.

I can tell the stress of life is taking it tolls on my outlook on life.
I can blame it on being less than a month away from my next remicade treatment but thats a lie.

i am setting outside in the dark trying to see the keys, having a drink and a smoke.

Finances are not getting better, they are getting worse. this month i need to come up with $380 for cobra and $750 to start the high risk insurance i have no other choice but to get. While i enjoy the challenges i have before me at work, and the accomplishment of fixing weird issues we seem to have; it's very stressful to know at the end of the day i can't make ends meet and i can't afford to have the things i want like a house or a newer car. I worry that because of the seemingly constant barrage of issues the boss will not keep me on as manager after my 60 day trial and i will go back to just being an over worked and over extended technician. Will wants to do so many things, and i want them too but i have to keep saying no because we can't afford it and so i wonder how much longer he will keep putting up with me and having to live in the same house as mom. What happens when my 13 year old truck with 335000 miles kicks the bucket? What am i going to do when i simply can't keep the credit cards from increasing because i have to eat and pay insurance? I wish for easier times but know they will never come. I turn another year older this month and fear of becoming a bitter old man who had glimpses and touched upon happiness only to have it taken away of destroyed by my own doings.

I have accomplished a lot, been through more than my share of strife, had a share of good times happiness and sorrow; yet i feel small against the deluge of life. How long before it breaks me down and pushes me somewhere i don't have the will or strength to come back from?

well..work is still crazy but i am not staying late and working all weekend on shit...it can wait.
The new guy is slow going but is learning and will do just fine.

Past two weekends have been spent working on the floor in the business room.
The sub floor is down and so is the luan. The trim around the window in there is up but needs a little sanding and touch ups.

New the floor leveler/patching compound goes in the seams and gets sanded before laying down the adhesive and the tile.

For the most part all the "hard" work is done.

Money is a problem again...Cobra insurance is going up, i need $550 at the beginning of the month then i need $750 next month to start up the Kentucky Access health care i have no choice but to get then figure out how to make the $450 a month premium payments.

Meanwhile, Will stopped working at the place he was and is now working for a direct TV place behind the phones. It doesn't pay as much but the hours are better for his school schedule and there are more of them. So far he is doing just fine with school and i see no reason for him to falter.

Work is crazy stressful.
Dealing with learning the machines, dealing with undocumented modifications done by band-aid technicians no longer with the company. Dealing with a parts and stock machine area in a total mess....

Well, at least i hired a Tech. He starts Monday and i really got a good feeling about him and his abilities.

We started a new project this weekend...ripping up the nasty carpet and floor in the business room...YUK was it nasty. I worked VERY hard, with the help of a friend. We have the old floor and carpet gone, new sturdy floor plywood all down. Next is to paint the walls, finish the trim around the window, then Luan plywood goes down, then composite vinyl tile.

The house is a mess with all the contents of the buisness room in the living room

Will is with me this time as i get the magic juice.
So lets bring things up to date.
New guy i let go Monday, he did not take it with a professional behavior.
Work is stupid busy and it's hard for me to find time to do the manager stuff i need to do.
I come in early and leave late, 10-11 hour days running at 110% are getting old.

The party was great! Will enjoyed himself and was well received in the furry community. I got a little drunk but not all *blarrrgh* like i did before. We found a really nice and OMG sexy Cheetah that followed us home (*^_^*)

Will's car decided to have an issue Tuesday. One thing i truely hate is lazy work.
Some one has taken this car apart and put it together lazy...the power steering cooling line was not put back into it's holders and then wired up into place with a fucking coat hanger. It's been contacting the AC pulley and wore a hole into it. This is not a replaceable part as it's a rather long custom bent pressure tube. We thing i can cut out the bad section and splice in some new tubing with some compression unions...we will see.

Thank you Hunny for coming along.

well..my first tough job as manager is to fire the new guy. he is not going to work out and it's hard because he is a god guy. He just lacks the ability to take stuff apart and actually put it back together. That and he shows his frustration to the customer; cursing in front of them is not acceptable behavior. If I had more techs he could grow into the job but we simply don't have the time or people out in the field for him to learn. I need a tech that can hit the ground running. We will daily see odd equipment that one never has seen before on a daily biases and i need someone that can learn how the machine works as he is taking it apart and be able to put it back together. I had new guy take apart a WJ150 base 5 times in the comfort of the shop and he can't re-assemble it and he strips screws and forces things to fit.
This is going to be hard for me, but it is the best solution for our company, and for me.

ATM i am in a hotel in Lexington getting ready to go out to eat with Will then we are going to a party hosted by one of the members of kyfurs.com. Some much needed R and R but i still can't keep my mind off of what i need to say to new guy and how to continue to instill confidence in the bosses. After I told them how new guy is doing this week, it was them that told me to go ahead and pull the trigger on him, but still...

well..the flu did burn out.

Works is still busy, but we have a new Service Manager...me!
I am promoted, and i have my first technician to manage starting monday.

Did some work on Will's car. I got one window functional and diagnosed the AC issue. It's a two fold problem, the drivers side blend door is warped and not sealing well thus letting warm air pass; it's a known issue for this model. Also the blend door actuator motor is borked. I removed the motor and have the door set to AC only which will help.

Next on the list of things to do for the house is rip up the nasty, smelly floor in the business room and replace it with vinyl tiles. This means pulling up the wood sub-floor.

Ow, my back hurts

Last night i felt bad..i mean doubled over in pain with uncontrollable shakes bad...Went to the ER at about 2am.

FYI I am NEVER going to the ER in Henderson again, that hospital just sucks...no poking around on my gut, no blood test, not much other than..Oh yeah, you have Crohn's but you know there is this bug going around so here is some Lortabs now go away.

Well. that was at 4am, so i stayed home and let it burn its self out, more or less. I still feel a bit icky but it must have been tummy flu.

Sooo..for our 7 month anniversary we went and seen Eclipse.
The Wolfs are sexy, I want one to hold and pet and purr on.

And really, things would be easier on the girl if she just decided not to choose between the Wolf and the vampire and just have a three way. This would also prove amiable to getting the Vamps and the Wufs to like each other more.

(^_^)

In other news, I am now the only service technician at work as the other one quit...meep...

So, me and Will went down to Kentucky lake area to be at the Cadiz 4th celebration with his family.
Had lots of fun swimming in the lake, grilling out and hanging with his family.

The temperature was nice.
Lots of cute guys to ogle.
The band was horrible.
The fire works were nice.

We got only a little sunburn as i remembered to wear sun screen this time.
All-in-all we had a very nice time.
(^_^)

okay...if you drop a car on your cell phone...

no, really, me and Joe managed to get my phone inside the jack we were using on a car and then smurshed the phone with it...Actually..surprisingly...after I unbent it from the nice U shape and put some tape on it to hold the battery in; the damn thing still worked..mmm...mostly, parts of the keyboard were busted.

insurance?...no (-_-)
Upgrade? ... no (-_-)

so...i had to eat the cost of a new phone, I got a Palm Pixi Plus
...lets try to keep thins one longer than 4 months...Mmmkay?

Okay...so here is the thing...it's friggen hot outside. AC in the truck is usefull.

Problem...it blows hot air, or on max AC only kinda blows cool.

It's something I have been putting off for a while to fix.
I tried adding refrigerant but that did not help. The AC system all seems to be working fine.
I replaced the temperature selection switch..no go..

Some internet research .. common problem.
Cause..the plenum blend door. Aparently it breaks..Why? It made of plastic and not well constructed.
Whats is it?...well...the plenum is the big plastic thing your air vents all run too, there is a heater core and an AC core in it. The blend door opens and closes the space between the AC and the heater core.

How to fix it...well...the small plenum assy is like $400 or more from Ford and to remove it you have to pull the heater core (not to bad) and the AC core (requires special tools and removing all the refrigerant from the system) AND pulling the entire dash board out...bad!!!!

okay..so..you can buy a nice replacement that will never fail for $120 and to replace it..you stand on your head and drimel out the bottom of the plenum; put the new on in and glue the plenum back together.

Sooo..i drimeled out the bottom of the plenum (yes, there is now a large hole under the dash of my truck). I epoxied the broken piece back on the door and when its dry, I will drill a hole and cut a ridge for a nice metal band so this part never breaks again. Slide the unit up into place and fit the bottom of the plenum back into place, Once I know the movement of the door works nicely I will back fill the cut out piece with epoxy and it should last forever.

Cars are NOT efficient machines, A heater core gets hot even if the single valve it uses is closed because the other side still has engine coolant. Even if there were two valves it would get hot through the valve. A better way, I think, is to not have a heater core at all and just use an electric ceramic heater that would positively be off unless needed....less moving parts, better heat/cool control...Stupid car engineers...

news is news though right?

good - I put the last piece of soffit vent up, the outside of the house is now finished.

Bad news - Will moved out...We are not splitting up, but he needs to get some life things in order and i can't afford to pay both our ways through life. He moved back in with his family. (-_-)

In the chair again getting my Remicade....

Will starts a new job today; I hope things all go well. Money issues are stressing us both out and its also pissing me off. We don't spend money on things we don't need or waste money and yet we have to worry about having enough money to eat with.

Not much else going on really.
Been here an hour and still waiting for I.V. Therapy...nice to know I get top notch service for $4000 a pop.

a rant, more or less..
Soo...the company i finally found work at doesn't offer a group health care, lots of small business can't afford to do so. What they do is use a local company to shop for personal plans then give us a partial reimbursement.
Well..guess what? i am un-insurable because i have Crohn's.

I am told my options are...Find a job at a place that has contractual group health care policies; become un-employed or buy government health care at a minimum of $500 a month (which i can't afford).

Thank you USA, please bend over for the rape stick.