A week away from home....

On a happy note I have gotten the final word on the job I had applied for.  I go for orientation next week, for a whole week down to the southern part of the state.  The company is one of the largest in the oilfield industry.  I have to admit their benefits package is one of the best I have ever seen and that along with the ability to move around the company really sold me on it.

It's going to be interesting to see how everybody does being separated for a week.

On another note we are still looking for a suitable place that is not going to cost us our livelihood for the next 30 years lol.  We really don't want to be working just to make a house payment.  Right now we will just have to see what the lenders will do but I can say it has not been an easy process.

The weather up here has started to cool off some which is really nice.  I mean heck, it IS Fall after all so we need some of that nice fall weather.  A little more moisture wouldn't hurt either.  Although we didn't do any gardens this year I think we will try to get something set up and going next spring and see how it goes.

On a last note, with the picture above wouldn't it be interesting to hear what the 'neighborhood watch' saw and how they would say it lol.

A great start to the week.....

Well I think I have a slightly better attitude than the guy in the picture to the right but I do have my days....but who doesn't lol.

Anyways so far the week has started off pretty well.  Yesterday I had an appointment for a pre-employment physical and it went very well.  Now I just have to wait and see how long the rest of the process works.  The benefits this new job far outweigh the old one.  The two biggest are the health care coverage and how they work the retirement plan.

On another note the better half started her job at the school cafeteria and it sounds like she really enjoyed it.  She had fun with it and the kids enjoyed seeing her there too.  She was a little worried that she would be like our friend above but it didn't turn out that way which is good.  The group of ladies she is working with sound like they are pretty open and accepting and like to have fun lol.

The state of Mortgage lending today....

Well unfortunately I have found out how much 'fun' it is to try and get a mortgage in 'today's world'.

I have been looking for something since Jen and the boys have moved down.  We had optimistic hopes that we could find something doable at a reasonable price....

One of the first things we found out is just how much the mortgage industry has changed since the crash of 2008.

They have pumped how much money into our 'economy' with QE and all of the other programs that our wonderful administration came up with so banks will lend.  But the banks have cranked down hard on the credit scores so they aren't loaning the money they received.  It's a lose lose situation for everyone it seems...except for the big banks that is that received all that money.

One of the first changes was that you have to have a 'paper trail' for any cash that you put down.  You can't just slap down cash you have to show where it came from all thanks to our wonderful Federal government.  They also have to do a more extensive 'background check' to see your past history.  All of this mandated by Homeland Security to 'track' terrorists.

Honestly, do you think terrorists are going to use a mortgage company to buy a home or property when they are trying to keep a low profile?  They are more than likely to do a cash purchase 'under the table' to where it would be untraceable.  Do they think we are dumb?

All our wonderful 'Federal government' did was elicit more control over our lives.  What is it to them where I get my money?  Why should they be in the middle of a written contract made between me and the lender I have chosen?  What and how I live my life is not their problem, I should be able to do it how I please.

One of our options is to go back to Texas where the boys and Jennifer lived.  They have a nice property with everything a person would need on it.  We were using this as a 'fallback' option in case of a SHTF scenario.

We did get qualified on a manufactured home.  The problem is that the payment was twice what we anticipated with an outrageous interest rate to boot.  The other problem was that it was only a 20 year mortgage since its not a standard home.  Taking that into consideration we decided we didn't want to be up to our ears in debt like that.  We both kinda like the idea of not having a huge house payment so we can continue to get the small things we need to be self sufficient.

So right now we are just looking at any other options and see where life will lead us.

Accidents.....

Ok, first off watch out for those naughty cats around your vehicles, you never know what they might be doing.

On a more serious note I had a very long day today.  This morning, I was driving one of our transports through town when I had a vehicle that was sitting still waiting to turn suddenly do it when I was less than 60 feet from them.

First lets look at the physics.  I was driving a truck that when fully loaded weighs 40 tons.  The other driver had a vehicle that might have weighed 1 ton.  I was doing the speed limit, which was 35 mph.  To say that I turned his truck into a pile of scrap metal.  The other driver did suffer injuries.  When I ran back to the scene he was knocked unconscious from the collision.  Multiple witnesses stated that he had been sitting stationary for a while before surprising everyone by turning in front of me.  The circumstantial evidence points to the possibility of him being distracted possibly by texting and driving.

People, that cell phone is not worth your life, or your possessions.  There wasn't a single thing on his pile of scrap truck that was salvageable.  The truck I drove on the other hand suffered superficial damage due to the pipe bumpers we have on the front.  I received no citation for the accident and honestly he should receive one for 'Failure to yield to oncoming traffic'.

Today's technology can be a blessing, but it can also be a crutch and drag you down with it.  Don't be a slave to the technology.  Instead of texting someone, have an 'old fashioned' face to face conversation.  You would be amazed at how nice it can be.

I spend most of the day doing drug screens and writing accident reports.  I sincerely hope that the driver that pulled out in front of me will be ok although I know he sustained some injuries.

So be careful when driving and keep your head on a swivel.  I was watching him as I approached and he still surprised me.  All I could do was brake and brace for the impact keeping a firm grip on the steering wheel.  I know that's what kept me from going off the road or hitting others.

Days off!!

Well I have to say I am real glad to finally get 2 days off in a row!  The company I work for has had me extremely busy here lately.  How busy?  Well last month I had 3 days off in the month, and my busiest week I worked over 70 hours.  I will say I have been dragging butt here lately so the break is nice.

On the home front I am waiting on word on whether or not we can get the loan for the place we want to move over here to the farm.  There are lots of long term plans that will be worked on once we get something set up.  I am hoping I have enough time to get things up and going before it is really needed so the world needs to hold together for a little while longer lol.

This month the weather looks very promising.  It looks like we will have some cooler temperatures with some rain off and on for the whole month.  I have a feeling I better make sure we have plenty of wood on hand as it might be a pretty cold winter from the looks of it.

Here is to hoping my days off schedule holds up so I can keep getting decent days off so I can spend more quality time with the family.  All work and no play can make a person pretty dull lol.