I wrote about it a while back but today, I finally sent the 31k payoff check and depending on how slow the post office is, I own the truck!!! And to celebrate that (not really) Sandy and Shelly took it to Erie, PA. This means the first time the truck is out of state under my ownership and I’m not even in it. Sigh…

But the good part is she’ll be bringing the extra tank back adding an extra 50 gallons to the capacity giving a total of ~80 gallons and around 800 miles hauling the RV. Part of me really wants to put in a true transfer tank and I could get a 100 gallon for about 1k, but I already own this one and the pump makes sense if I’m going to use it to fill up equipment at a job site.

And with Sandy and the truck in PA, I’m left to my own devices for the 4th of July, lord help us all:)

I’ve begun looking for property. This is a rather daunting task. The old saying that it’s all about location, location, location is rather true. But my needs are simple. I want to find something in Erie or surrounding location that I can put a Bardominium on with a studio and garage.
The premise to this property is northern storage for the RV/Truck with a studio apartment setup. Ideally in the middle of nowhere but, I can see doing this in town also if the property and tax rate presents itself.

While I do want property in the middle of nowhere, I think that is better served in WV, KY, VA because that’s away from everything. While the north property will be around family and friends and for summering to be away from this ungodly heat…

This is the barndo concept I’m thinking of:

• Some horror out of Ohio where a dad killed his three sons.
• Russia now has it’s mercenary faction gunning for the military.
• Bunch of people drown trying to get from Africa to Europe.
• The Titanic claimed another group of rich people.

It’s the last one that has me and the rest of the world captivated as death and destruction is so ubiquitous for the most part, but it’s so much more interesting when it happens to people that have it all. We got to see what 250k will buy you for a trip to the Titanic wreck site, and hubris punished with instantaneous death.

My take-away on it is this: If you have a billion dollars, you have to employ someone who is in charge of making sure you stay alive. This should (ideally) be someone who can either A) speak legally on your behalf or B) have prescribing capabilities, in either case it’s rather imperative that your conversation with them be protected and completely candid. I’ll keep that in mind when I make my first million…

It was actually a really nice spring in Texas, there was ample rain and the temperatures were mostly moderate. That would appear to be over and coinciding with the calendar solstice, the heat is on. And its not just the heat, it’s the humidity, the fox affiliate called it disrespectful humidity, that about covers it.

I am happy to say that the new windows are allowing the HVAC system to hold it’s own against the heat.

So as I was peeking at finances this weekend one account actually grew to more than a loan account meaning I’m paying off the truck this week. I would be paying it off today but it’s a federal holiday. So tomorrow I’ll head over to BOA and end my 8-month relationship with them. Nothing against them but they’re nothing special either so I don’t see any need for their services beyond possible future loan services.

With the truck paid off the search for land can begin in earnest as they’ll now be cash available for the purchase, and the truck that will haul the RV and equipment and materials is acquired and paid for. Once I get the spare tank on the truck, I’ll also have a way to haul diesel, efficiently, to the job site. Also more than doubling the range for trips. This means I can start looking for a backhoe too.

In other news, I’m hauling Sandy and Shelly to the airport today where they are flying off to Mexico to hang out with Valerie for a couple of weeks. Meaning I’m left to my own devices, lord help us:) Actually I’m going to geek out and program the rest of the reporting warehouse integration. Finished up the table creates yesterday and now I just need to program the scripts to tie it all together.

It’s fathers day today. Oddly enough if my math is right the last time I saw my dad awake and alive was 10 years ago. My sister and I met him at his house for fathers day lupper (lunch/supper). We had filet and we had to go get a pan to cook it in at Wal-mart on Beach street. That’s where I took his last picture, I need to figure out where that is now that I think of it. I remember I bought corn holders on that trip also, still have those as well as the pan.

I wish I had known my father better, not that there’s anything that can be done about it but I always thought that that things may have been slightly better had we been closer and I had been able to learn from him. Oh well, if there does turn out to be an afterlife I’ll definitely look him up. Until then, hope I did you proud dad, you checked out before I actually got the hang of life but I didn’t do too bad:)

Tip of the hat to the counter-culture that’s gone pretty mainstream, to all those with sunshine in a bag, puff puff pass;) Reminding me of my college days:)

So for some reason, I get it in my brain today to throw the bikes in the back of the truck, and let’s head down to Gateway Park and do some biking. All of that was fine and well and we did half an hour of biking and loaded up the bikes and headed back towards the house. As we were leaving I noticed my bike handlebar hanging over the side, I half thought I should do something about that but that thought was fleeting and on we went.

We stop at the mall to get something and I then see the damage that’s been done by the brake handle digging into the paint on the side of the bed. So I guess the next thing I’m going to be learning is auto body repair with a major in painting…

Today my friend Tony is being buried. Elsewhere today my friend Mike and his family are laying his dad to rest. While death is a natural part of life, it’s not one of the more fun aspects of it. The finality of the loss of a living being you have memories and history and love for, it’s tragic and leaves the color of the world a little bit duller and the sound of life more muted. But life goes on. I feel bad because I didn’t get the card in the mail to Beth until Friday and she wouldn’t have gotten it in time for the funeral. I sent a check for $500 to help with anything they needed. When I talked with Tony last, he lamented his credit rating wasn’t that good because everything was paid off and they had no payments so that’s good, but with three kids there are always expenses I’m guessing. And I’m almost positive that Tony left a bit earlier than he was intending to.

That leaves me thinking if things are ready should I suddenly be gone. We own everything except half the truck and a loan on the house for home improvement we haven’t used. I don’t have any kids so should I shuffle off this mortal coil, I actually walk away a winner with assets to disperse that Sandy gets all of and that should set her up for her remaining time, she also has kids that could give her a hand if needed so I think she’ll be fine. Should I somehow manage to outlive Sandy I’ll simply sell it all, build my barndo in the middle of nowhere, work gig jobs and live out my days in nature.

It was an emotional roller coaster of a day. Aside from being backlogged at work and it’s time to get hours in for the last month, the cats had their first vet appointment in about 4 years so they had the full workup and were not happy about it. We got that done and I headed to the gym at 1. I did my usual 2 miles almost having a panic attack over something called ‘the end’ in my head over and over again. After my cool-down walk back to the car, I was feeling slightly better. Well enough to head home and get to work, there’s a ton to get done. I get seated at the computer and start working on an issue and Mike texts saying that he got a strange FB message from Beth asking to call her. Oddly enough at the same time, I’m getting a 2FA request from FB to change my password. So someone got hacked, right? Mike and I realize that we don’t have a text number on Beth or Tony for that matter and figuring Mike was at work and couldn’t make a call I’d just call the house and see what’s up.

Beth answered, she’s got a very distinctive voice and you could tell something was wrong. “Tony had a heart attack this morning and died”. My brain understood “Tony”, and it understood “heart attack and died” but it was having trouble merging the two concepts. “I’m so sorry” is all that came out which was thankfully somehow filtered from the “Are you fucking kidding me” that my brain was actually returning from the failing merge operation stated above.

And that’s it. Tony is dead. He leaves behind a wife and children, family and friends who don’t have a choice to go on because that’s what life does, it’s indifferent to the dead, they physically aren’t in the equation anymore. But they are forever ingrained in our hearts and minds as we move forward in a world that’s suddenly a bit dimmer and a little harder to laugh in, and there’s yet another entry in my contacts that I can neither call nor delete.

I’m sad for the loss of my friend, I’m even sadder knowing what his wife and children must be going through. Funeral plans have not been announced but I feel I have to go, I regret not going to ones of people who were a large part of my life. Grief is better shared among those who understand and feel the loss together. I’ll try to attend if I can.