Rent a Whip

This is the continuation of my previous post about Marshawnda Blackwell, that lazy sloth of a person who had no intention of paying me for the Ford Fusion I bought to help her out.

Marshawnda

Marshawnda was so lazy and lacked any drive or interest in working and improving her financial situation that I actually stepped in to try and help her find a job. I scoured the ads on Craigslist and other job sites and by accident came upon an ad that was soliciting car owners to lease their cars. I had vaguely heard about renting one's car out for a fee to the public but didn't know how the whole process worked.

Frankly, I was feeling very stuck with my arrangement with Marshawnda. I really didn't know how I was going to get the car back from her since I couldn't imagine her giving it up voluntarily. I wanted to try something different but I wasn't sure I was ready to just hand over my car to some other company or person. I called the number in the ad and spoke to Mae Schmidt, the owner of  a company called Rent a Whip. The name sounds a little kinky but that didn't bother me in the least. The whole concept actually sounded pretty good. Rent a Whip would maintain the car, keep it insured and lease it from me for a weekly fee.

I was a little wary about handing over the Ford Fusion to this company after my 5 1/2 month ordeal with Marshawnda so I needed to find some way to test them out. That weekend I stopped by the warehouse and saw the minivan just sitting there taking up space that I need for wrestling shoots.

Mae Schmidt

I suddenly came up with a splendid idea. I could take the minivan home, free up some space in the warehouse and then lease the van to this company. Could it be done? Oh yes. I called Mae that Saturday and she said they already had someone who wanted to rent the minivan. What? "Are you kidding?" I asked. Mae assured me that the demand was very strong. In fact, it was so strong she told me that they are desperate for more vehicles to add to their fleet. I wondered how they could be doing such good business and that is when she revealed how the company came into existence and the niche market they seem to have found. It turns out that Mae herself had bad credit and as anyone trying to rent a car from a traditional rent a car company can tell you, it isn't easy to rent a car when you have damaged credit. Car rental companies typically require a functioning credit card with a down payment to be reversed or adjusted at the end of the car rental. For many people with challenged credit, that requirement is a nearly impossible hurdle to overcome. From Mae's personal experience, she thought that there must be others who had the money but not the credit to rent a car and so Rent a Whip was born. Originally operating out of San Diego, Mae and her husband Andrew moved up to Sacramento in January of 2017 to be closer to their relatives and move the company operations here as well.

Andrew Schmidt

Without hesitation, I took the van over to their office in Carmichael. Andrew was there to meet me. He drew up a contract and printed it out but the quality of the print was terrible. I signed and had him email me the text of the contract. On the spot he gave me payment for a one day rental with a weekly rental of $160 guaranteed over the term of the contract which we set at 2 months.

I was a little uncomfortable coming into their office every week to pick up cash so I asked Mae if they could pay me via Google Wallet or Paypal and she said no problem. I also told Mae about the Ford Fusion and my situation with Marshawnda. She assured me that Rent a Whip would arrange to recover the car for me at their expense. This was literally music to my ears since I had no clue how to confiscate the car from Marshawnda. Mae also offered to pay me $250/week rental fee which would cover all of Marshawnda's debt and pay off the auto loan in a little over a year. How could I refuse?

The next day I gave Mae my copy of the car keys to the Ford along with key information about Marshawnda, including her address in Cool, CA and pictures of her. That weekend I was down in Fresno with Pumpkin for the California state taekwondo championship so I couldn't be present when the car was confiscated. I coordinated with Mae and the repo guy she hired by setting a trap for Marwhawnda. I led her to believe I was still in Sacramento when I told her that it was time for her to give the car back to me. I knew in my mind that it was not going to be so easy and as I predicted, Marshawnda missed the agreed upon location of Starbucks on the corner of Fulton and Marconi. All of this drama was being played out in text messages between Mae and me while I was in Fresno. Finally, late Friday night I received a text from Mae that they had recovered the car. What a relief!

I was so grateful that my car had been recovered, I let out a humongous sigh of relief and quietly celebrated by eating a giant bowl of spicy Vietnamese Pho at a hole in the wall restaurant outside of downtown Fresno. I had visions of receiving a weekly payment of $410 every Saturday for the foreseeable future. How desirable such an arrangement would be!

[Inner Voice]
"Bad David! Naive David! How could you think life would go so smoothly? Don't you know about the law of life's train crashes? It doesn't make any difference how much good karma you spread in this world, you need to go through 10 train wrecks to arrive at a one pleasant stop along the way." [Casey Crupper Words of Wisdom Chapter 2]

Ok, so I ignored my inner voice. But after 5 1/2 months of a grueling slog through the swamps of Marshawnda Blackwell, I really needed to feel optimistic that the money was just going to roll in on a German train schedule, every Saturday at 6 PM. But nope, that wasn't going to be the case as I would soon find out.

I made an appointment for the Sunday after I returned from Fresno to inspect the car and sign the paperwork for the lease agreement. When I arrived, the first order of business was to inspect the car. Thankfully, the car looked just fine, except for a cigarette burn in the back seat upholstery. I also noticed a new tire installed on the right front passenger side. Apparently, Marwhawnda decided to leave a parting gift by slashing one of the tires just before the heavily tattooed repo man grabbed the keys and took the car away from her.

Being the detailed oriented, anal person that I am, the thought of having to sign a contract printed so that only 1/3 of the words are actually readable was patently unacceptable to me. The day before, I spent hours redoing the leasing contracts for both the minivan and the Ford Fusion, putting the whole thing in Google Docs. I even brought my laptop just to show them how its done. Mae fumbled a little bit but seemed to get the hang of it after I guided her on how to upload a document into DocHub for electronic signature. So all is good so far. I got my 2nd payment on the minivan plus a one day rental fee for the Fusion in cash.

The next Saturday I was expecting the payment for both cars through Paypal but there was some problem with Mae's credit card and the bank had put some kind of hold on her account. Ok, that was somewhat believable though not anything I ever experienced. In hindsight, this trivial glitch represented the calm before the storm that was about to arrive that evening.

Sometime Saturday evening, I received a text from Mae telling me that her son Justin had slipped in the bathroom and hit his head on the toilet, creating a large gash on the side of his head. She even showed me a picture of the side of Justin's head.

She told me that she had to immediately rushed him to Sutter Roseville to evaluate him for a concussion. By the next day, she informed me that the hospital had him moved to Oakland Children's Hospital. I knew at this point that his condition must be serious because Mae told me that he was having having seizures.

Throughout the early part of the week, I kept in contact with Mae, hoping for some good news, that it was just a concussion. I had already looked up brain injuries to the head and it didn't look good. There is an artery that runs along the side of the head that is vulnerable to head trauma. There is a medical term called epidural hematoma which refers to hemorrhage of the brain. The good news was that when this medical condition is detected early and treated immediately, the recovery rate is 96%.

I didn't receive much news from Mae both Tuesday, April 10th and Wednesday the 11th and I didn't want to bother her knowing she must be focused on her son. But by Thursday, I decided to contact her again in the morning via text and she unexpectedly called me back telling me in a frantic voice that the doctors just whisked Justin away into the operating room without telling her much. I could tell that she was very upset from the uncertainty. I tried to calm her down and told her to please get back to me when she could.

That afternoon, I took Sammy for a walk along the American River Parkway. I knew in my mind that things were looking pretty bad and I began to contemplate the worst case scenario. "What if the boy dies?" I thought to myself. I knew that Mae was the driving force behind Rent a Whip and I wasn't sure how she would react if Justin died but I knew that if that was the case, it would represent a major setback for the operation of Rent a Whip and by association a big blow to this carefully arranged plan of mine to get a nice weekly income. I couldn't imagine Andrew taking over the business because Mae told me herself that he was just a courier for the company, someone Mae used to run errands but not run a business. And he certainly wasn't very tech savvy as he struggled to use Paypal to send me a payment.

I tried to remain positive the rest of the afternoon until I received a text at about 4 PM from Mae's phone number but it wasn't Mae. It was her mom, Claire sending out a text blast to Mae's contacts informing everyone that Justin passed away at 1:27 PM.

"I hope this mass message reaches everyone in my daughters contacts ok because I am not sure who is who. But thank you all for your thoughts and prayers but I'm sad to announce that Justin passed away at 1:27 this afternoon. We are beyond words at this point and my daughter and her husband Andrew ask for prayer at this most difficult time. Please message or call me for anything, when service time and date becomes available all will be welcome to attend, Claire."

"Oh no!" I thought to myself as I read the text over and over again. This was the worst case scenario. I tried to imagine how Mae was doing and what was going on. The next day, I received a text from Mae:

"David it's Mae, my son passed away yesterday and I am a complete mess right now! Thank you for your condolences, we would love to have you at the services if it wouldn't be asking too much. I'm still in Oakland I have to wait until tomorrow for the social worker to have me sign paperwork for releasing my son's body...oh god I can't believe he is just a body now :'( to the Sacramento coroner. I have funeral costs that I have been told are astronomical now and was not expecting this at all. He had a blood clot that broke within his brain and he hemorrhaged and the doctors could not stop it in time and it took him. I'm so lost right now and haven't even informed my other children."

On Saturday the 15th of April, I received a text from Andrew as the weight of the tragedy began to sink in:

"Hey David it's Andrew I was just about to message you, Mae has been a wreck, and the kids inconsolable. We have to meet up with a funeral director on Wednesday and I think Mae is going to lose it. The social worker was great but I felt like I was in the twilight zone and just zoned out and Mae just about passed out from the pain of it all. We are a mess and I spoke in private to the worker this is going to be almost 10 grand if we bury him and 3 to 4 for cremation. I haven't even brought it up to her but I guess her mom is going to try to handle that part. I'm just barely hanging on myself. Happy Easter though to your family I hope you're in a better state than we are."

Any mother who just lost her son would be devastated and I could only imagine the grief and pain this woman was feeling. As the new week progressed, I kept in contact with Andrew as he relayed Mae's deteriorating depression. She began to talk about wanting to be with her son. I told Andrew that kind of talk must be taken very seriously and that she may need outside intervention. I also gave him the number to the National Suicide Hotline.

On Saturday, I reached out to Andrew again and the news wasn't good. Mae had been admitted into the Napa State Mental hospital and was self-inducing vomiting in an apparent desire to starve herself to death. They medical personnel had to put her in a suicide suit so she wouldn't hurt herself and she was just not very responsive. At this point, I had that sinking feeling that she may never fully recover from this tragedy.

Though I knew things were about as grim as they could be, I had resolved to do whatever I can to help them keep the business going. I made it clear to Andrew that I am willing to help out any way I can to make sure the business doesn't go under but I know that I may not be able to do much with Mae in the condition that she is in.

Such is life. I really wanted to turn the bitter lemon of my ordeal with Marshwanda into a refreshing glass of lemonade but it looks like that is not going to happen anytime soon. I think I have a few more train wrecks ahead of me.😟

The Story of Marshawnda

I never regret being generous to people. I only regret not reacting quickly enough when they take advantage of me. And (sigh), such is the case with Marshawnda. I kept hoping in the back of my mind that she would somehow turn her life around. There is a letter that I wrote to her that I posted on this blog but it does not tell the whole story. This whole ordeal started back in September of 2016.

Marshawnda Blackwell

I had posted a casting call for female wrestlers in a number of different places, including Craigslist, ExploreTalent and Casting360. Marshawnda contacted me through Casting360. I actually interviewed her at The Olive Garden across from the Arden Mall. She presented herself as an aspiring model but someone who was most definitely struggling financially. She was studying to be a social worker and taking online courses in pursuit of a two year degree. I found out that she was also living out of her car  and recently arrived here in Sacramento from Minnesota via her boyfriend who just dumped her here and then disappeared.

I have not spent much time with people who live on the edge like this and honestly felt sorry for her plight. I thought I could help her get on her feet and seeing how diligent she was about studying, I felt that helping her out with a car would enable her to find a job. I justified doing something like this by imagining the worst case scenario. If she couldn't pay me back, I would just take the car back from her and keep it for myself.

In the middle of October, we checked out cars together at Harrold Ford on Howe Ave near Arden. There was a particular car she liked - a 2011 Ford Fusion SEL. Suddenly in a split second I decided to buy the car and rent it to her with the understanding that she would pay me back once she found a job.

So much for plans. As it became painfully clear, Marshawnda was either striking out and not finding any meaningful employment or she was just plain lazy. I began to suspect the latter. She kept insisting that it must be because people don't like to hire black people but that argument only goes so far. There are plenty of people of color who are working and I see them everyday with my own eyes.

By this time, I knew that Marshawnda was a habitual liar. The problem then became how to get the car back from her. However I knew that if I took the car there was no chance at all of getting anything from her. My thinking was that at least if she had the car, I had some leverage over her. In February, she finally paid me for one month by borrowing from her friend, but not until I had threatened to confiscate the car from her.

By this time, I was getting tired of her ambivalence and laziness. I decided that I would make one last attempt to help her find a job so she could pay me back. I started searching Craigslist for any part time jobs and that is when I found Rent a Whip.

This story continues in the next blog posting titled "Rent a Whip"

Fluffy Collage

Fluffy has been a faithful companion. Never a complaint. Just a wagging tail and unconditional love. What else can you ask for?

Fluffy just woke up

Fluffy resting on the patio

Fluffy looking smart

Where is Fluffy?

Pancakes For Breakfast

It has been a long time since I had pancakes. Usually I make them approximately 2 - 5 inches in diameter but seeing that I was the only one eating, why waste time making a whole bunch of little pancakes? So here it is, the giant 8 inch diameter flapjack. It was almost too big for the grill. I made two of them and was only able to finish 1 1/2. I was full for the next 6 hours.

Vegetarian Dinner

I like simple. In fact, I have been getting used to less and less meat in my diet. Main protein source is fish as in salmon and tuna. Amazingly, I feel better and actually have more energy. But this particular night, I decided to go completely vegetarian and prepared a giant bowl of seaweed, a large bowl of bok choy and a bowl of rice. I finished the whole thing and felt satiated for many hours afterwards.

Vegetarian Dinner

While digesting this mammoth feast of greens, I started reading up on seaweed. Turns out that seaweed is a type of super food, even better than broccoli:

1. Shiny and healthy hair.
   Amino acids, vitamins and minerals help strengthen hair strands and texture resulting in lustrous hair. Biotin, which belongs to the family of B vitamins, promotes healthier and shiny hair.
    
2. Keeps the mind sharp.
   Significant amount of vitamins, protein, ionic minerals and trace minerals enhances your brain’s performance specifically Asparagine, which energizes the brain and also boosts the immune system, while Boron improves mental clarity as it assists in unclogging arteries.
    
3. Makes skin clear, young looking.
   Rich in beta-carotene, Vitamin A, minerals and amino acids, sea veggies maintain collagen (a property necessary for smooth functioning of connective tissues) making skin supple, soft to touch. Laugh lines and wrinkles are reduced.
    
4. Preserves good eyesight.
   Sea vegetables are the leading sources of natural carotenes like Vitamin A (beta carotene) and bioflavonoids – antioxidants that help clear up the cellular debris that accumulate in the eyes. Bioflavonoids for one, works with prolonging Vitamin C action in the eyes, which help prevent swelling and inflammation of ocular tissues. Vitamins A and C keep vision 20/20 and help prevent “dry eye” syndrome.
    
5. Improves gum health.
   Aside from calcium, sea vegetables are also rich in vitamin C, one of the most essential vitamins, which keeps the gums in the pink of health.
    
6. Strengthens teeth, so flash that smile.
   26x the calcium of milk, seaweed strengthens teeth (and bones!). It also has Fluorine that fights tooth decay.
    
7. Maintains healthy thyroid function.
   Abundant natural, organically-bond iodine extracts maintain healthy thyroid function, help prevent goiter.
    
8. Helps ease colds and other respiratory problems.
   Seaweed’s strong anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties help prevent against colds, flu and other respiratory problems.
    
9. Prevents allergies and infections.
   Overflowing with vitamin B, C, minerals and amino acids and anti-inflammatory properties, sea plants enhance resistance to allergies and other infection.
    
10. Strengthens the immune system.
    Polynutrients in ocean vegetables help strengthen the immune system and keep the body resistant to illness and infection.
     
11. Fights “roaming” free radicals. An army of antioxidants fights dangerous free radicals (cells that go wayward) for a super strong and protected immune system.
     
12. Reduces cancer risks.
    Powerful antioxidants and anti-cancer properties help inhibit abnormal cell growth by a whopping 95%!
     
13. Stunts tumor growth. Iodine and amino acids combine to significantly reduce breast and uterine fibroids; help prevent cysts from forming.
     
14. Pumps up energy!
    Energy-boosting B vitamins, Vitamin C and minerals fight stress and fatigue so you stay active and alert.
     
15. Enhances cell regeneration. Retards ageing!
    Replete with phytochemicals and anti-ageing properties, sea plants enhance cell regeneration and rejuvenation thus, delaying ageing.
     
16. Lowers blood pressure and improves blood circulation.
    Sea vegetables are a very good source of magnesium, which has also been known to reduce high blood pressure; prevent stroke.
     
17. Nurtures healthy heart vessels.
    Seaweed curbs the formation of blood clots to help prevent atherosclerosis or hardening of the heart vessels.
     
18. Normalizes cholesterol levels. Effectively lowers blood cholesterol; helps stave off the onset of chronic diseases.
     
19. Supports bone health and joint function.
    High magnesium content stimulates production of calcitonin (hormone), which helps increase calcium in the bones. Seaweed is also a terrific source of natural vitamin D, essential for calcium absorption, bone health and muscle function. Its Fluorine content improves bone density helping prevent osteoporosis (bone disease) in the process.
     
20. Beautiful nails!
    Vitamins, amino acids, minerals and enzymes in seaweed keep nails strong and healthy.
     
21. Fuels weight loss naturally.
    Virtually fat-free, essential fatty acids (EFAs), plant fiber and algin fuel weight loss and amazingly continue to do so even as you age!
     
22. Aids digestion and waste movement.
    Polysaccharides (a form of soluble fiber) in sea greens, aid in digestion by soothing the digestive and intestinal tracts. No need for laxatives!
     
23. Promotes liver health.
    Contains important vitamins, minerals, amino acids and enzymes, which help prevent fatty liver development, toxic build-up and other related diseases.
     
24. Detoxifies heavy metals and pollutants.
    Minerals, amino acids and fiber work in unison to detoxify heavy metals and pollutants that enter the body through food and the air we breathe.
     
25. Snuffs out cellulite! Antioxidants in seaweed increase your body's fat-burning ability; help skin tissue and fat cells absorb minerals. These minerals then break the chemical bond that seals the fat cells and hasten their release out of the body (through the kidneys and bladder) halting cellulite build-up.
     
26. Maintains the body’s natural equilibrium.
    Major and trace minerals, which are plentiful in ocean vegetables, keep life-sustaining activities in the body and maintain proper PH balance for optimal health.
     
27. Supports kidney health.
    Minerals in seaweed act like electrolytes, which help kidneys regain optimum function. Then, too, its fiber content aids in kidney stone prevention.
     
28. Helps maintain beautiful body skin.
    Amino acid, minerals and vitamin content of sea vegetables nourish the skin. Trace mineral Serine enhances skin beauty while Theonine improves skin tone.
     
29. Prostate health.
    High in mineral content, seaweed helps maintain healthy prostate (gland) especially in middle-aged men.

In case anyone is wondering how I made this, it was incredibly simple:

1) Soak seaweed in water and heat in microwave for a couple of minutes to get rid of any impurities and bacteria.

2) Drain thoroughly in cold water. Cut in small pieces with a clean scissors.

3) Add soy sauce, rice vinegar and sesame seeds. Mix thoroughly.

4) Refrigerate until cold.

5) Remove and serve.

Kitty Witty on Pumpkin's Bike

I have no idea how this happened but after I parked Pumpkin's bike outside, I heard a meowing sound. I thought maybe Meow Meow was hungry. She usually meows when she wants to eat. But much to my surprise after I opened the garage door, I saw something incredible!

Salmon For Dinner

On the way back from buying Pumpkin's new bike, I decided to stop off at Koreana Market to pick up some food. Lucky me, there was whole salmon for sale for only $1.99/pound. I was not about to pass up that opportunity.

I brought it home and immediately got to work. Cleaning a salmon is not my idea of fun but it had to be done. Only problem is that once you touch a raw salmon, good luck getting the smell off. I am considering using a little bleach on my hands to get rid of it once and for all.

Dinner was excellent. I soaked a piece of salmon in soy sauce and then sprinkled some pepper on it. It was way too much so I will be eating leftovers tomorrow.

Hauling Away Dirt

After digging the jasmine vine out and planting the bush in its place, the extra dirt needed to go someplace. Now, I guess I could have spread it out someplace on the side, but instead, I decided to haul it away to the trail near the school. I wasn't about to do it during the day just because it was too hot. I waited until the Gold River Patrol truck had left the parking lot just in case he got curious about a guy pulling a cart with a load of dirt and rocks.

Office Flooring

This is a big job but someone has to do it and it looks like it is going to be me. Well, not exactly. Vasily is coming to do the actual installation but I am doing all the grunt work. What does that involve?, you might ask. Well, it means removing everything from the room, cleaning the walls, painting with primer then final coat. Then after all that is complete, I will rip out the carpeting and the current baseboard. Then it is on to primer and then final coat.

Office Wall

Office Wall

Give Stuff Away and They Will Come

The side of the house was getting to be a mess and I had promised myself that before wifey and pumpkin came back, I would have the whole house cleaned up and then some.

What is the fastest way to get rid of stuff? Give it away and they will come. I posted the ad on craigs list on 7/20 at 6:34 PM and at 6:35 PM, the emails started coming in, first a trickle and then an avalanche. By 6:40 PM I had counted 150 emails. I quickly contacted the first person that had responded. His name was Fernando. I was all prepared to speak in Spanish but his English was good. He promised to come the next day at 4 PM.

Meanwhile, I had some desperate emails. Some wanted the step exerciser. Another wanted the woman's bike.  And someone else was begging me for the child's booster seat - $17 at Walmart. There is a lot of desperation and pain out there.

Next day as promised, Fernando came with his brother. They were so grateful to take the stuff away. He told me to call him if I ever had anything else to give away. I waved goodbye as I saw my old bathtub being hauled away in an old Chevy pickup.

Here is the actual ad with notations and link to slideshow on what was going to be picked up:

PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL ME AT THIS TIME ASKING WHAT IS AVAILABLE. SOMEONE HAS ALREADY MADE A CLAIM FOR MOST OF THE ITEMS TO PICK UP TOMORROW. IF ANY ITEMS ARE NOT PICKED UP BY TOMORROW AFTERNOON, I WILL CONTACT THE NEXT PERSON DOWN THE LIST WHO RESPONDED TO THIS AD.

Item #1: Rabbit Cage

Item #2: Wheelbarrow (Claimed for pick up 7/21/2011 at 4 PM)

Item #3: Bathroom Faucets (Claimed for pick up 7/21/2011 at 4 PM)

Item #4: Trail Gator Bicycle Tow Bar (Claimed for pick up 7/21/2011 at 4 PM)

Item #5: Metal Bath Tub (Claimed for pick up 7/21/2011 at 4 PM)

Item #6: Step Exerciser (Claimed for pick up 7/21/2011 at 4 PM)

Item #7: Hand Push Mower (Claimed for pick up 7/21/2011 at 4 PM)

Item #8: Woman's Bicycle (Claimed for pick up 7/21/2011 at 4 PM)

Item #9: Child Booster Seat

View complete descriptions and pictures in my photobucket album:
http://s1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee489/eldorado2768/Free%20Stuff/

Let me know what items you are interested in and with the exception of the bath tub, I will place on the side of the garage for you to pick up.

Backyard Gardening

The jasmine vine on the side of the house was too close and it has always been my suspicion that rats were using it to climb into the attic. I decided that today was the day. Originally, I thought that maybe I could just trim it down but once I started trimming, I discovered that the branches were intertwined with the wooden lattice. And I wasn't surprised to see Christmas lights inside. In other words, it was one twisted mess.

Step one was to remove it. That was a big pain not just because there was a lot of vine to remove, but it was a tangled clump that required a lot of effort to separate and cut into smaller pieces. Fortunately, the yard waste container was empty. After about an hour, I got the vine removed and began loading it into the container.

I quickly realized that the container would not hold all the clippings so I used the sledge hammer to compress it. That wasn't good enough so I stood on top and began jumping up and down with Fluffy watching from a shaded area nearby. I was a sweaty mess when I finally got it tamped down. I pulled my leg over the container to step on the ladder but I missed the step and lost my balance. The container began to tip over and like a slow motion movie, I tipped over with it, falling on a piece of marble. The fall was slow enough for me to prepare so it was only a small bruise on my elbow. I got up and brushed myself off. Fluffy was busy tearing apart a tennis ball to bother looking over.

Step 2 was to dig a hole for a replacement bush. The bush I had picked out was one on the side of the house in a planter. Gold River is built on river rock so about a foot down, I started to hit large rocks. This slowed my progress but I was not going to accept defeat. After chipping and banging away, I dug a decent size hole that was large enough for the bush.
Last step was the easiest. I took some compost and threw it into the hole. The bush fit snuggly and I covered it up and then soaked it with the hose. Mission completed.

Master Bath Remodel

Our bathrooms were in need of remodeling. The shower leaked in the master bath and the shower doors were falling apart in the guest bathroom. After much discussion, we decided to have them upgraded. We hired this Russian guy named Vasily who was a tile specialist. He did a great job in both bathrooms.

Pumpkin Getting Better

Pumpkin is feeling better today. She still has a cough but no fever. She gave us quite a scare the other night when she woke me up at 2 AM to tell me she was having a nosebleed. Blood dripped out of her nose and all over the bathroom floor and toilet. Fortunately, it didn’t last very long.

Pumpkin Sick

Dropped Pumpkin off at school and got a call at 1:20 PM from the office receptionist with the news that she had a temperature of 102 degrees. Her temperature came down a little but she still feels pretty bad.  Hope she feels better tomorrow.

What Good is a Used Tire Tube?

I had an old chest pull exerciser that was getting too loose and no longer gave me the kind of resistance I craved. I bought some latex resistance bands a while back but they also turned out to be a disappointment. An idea popped in my head so yesterday I went on an excursion to Bob’s Cycle Shop in Fair Oaks and asked the cashier what they did with old bicycle tubes from changing flat tires.  He replied that they recycle them and if I wanted to bring my old tubes over they would gladly recycle them for me. I surprised him a little when I said I am interested in taking some of their old tubes. He told me to wait a minute and disappeared behind the bike repair area.  A couple minutes later he returned with a handful of tubes of all sizes. I was ecstatic at the sight of all those different size tire tubes. I ran like a gazelle back home. No, not quite. It was actually 100 degrees outside so I more or less trudged back home, over the Fair Oaks bridge, crossing the bike trail and finally back home nearly an hour later. At home I immediately got to work. First, I removed all the old resistance bands from the chest pull. Next, I cut a tire tube in half and threaded it through each end of the chest pull handles. Finally, I tied the tube together, tested the resistance, made it a little tighter and voila! I now have a really incredible chest pull with hundreds of pounds of resistance to pull and push against. When pumpkin came home, she got excited too. We spent a half hour together doing pushups, pull ups and I let her try out the chest pull. By the way, those old tire tubes are great for tying trees down. They don’t dig into the tree’s bark and are incredibly strong.

Fluffy - the newest addition to our family

Wow, what a day! Started early this morning at 9 AM with Creek Week trash pickup. We went to Folsom and picked up some trash around Blue Ravine near the Winco. Not too much trash to pick up but discovered a nice walk along abandoned railroad tracks. Went back to BT Collins Park to eat a free lunch. Then over to Winco to buy some groceries. After we got home, we went to see the newest addition to our family - Fluffy!Fluffy is an abandoned lab/retriever mix that one of Cindy's coworkers found. We went to pick her up this afternoon and now she is with us. What a bundle of energy she is. Her sole purpose in life it seems from the limited time she has been with us is to simply play ball. Where's the ball? Go get the ball! Give me the ball. That must be the extent of the interaction she had with her previous owner. Monday morning is a free exam by Dr. Bindra. If all checks out, we are going to keep her. The only problem is that Meow Meow our cat has all but disappeared. She may have decided that one large puppy is one too many for her.

Old Toilets

We replaced our old toilets a few months ago and before I got the rebate check from the water company for buying low flow toilets, I decided to keep the old ones just in case they needed to inspect them. So here they are. Just so happens that Beth came over one day to borrow our steam cleaner and I took her on a tour of the house. She saw the toilets and remarked to me, "Wow, even I am not as redneck as you." Yea, those are the his and her guest toilets when we have company over for dinner.

Jim and Theresa’s Wedding

While pumpkin and wifey were in Taiwan I went to Theresa’s and Jim’s wedding in Fair Oaks Country Club. Nice. Shared a table with woman from IBM and met a new friend, Ricky Williams. Real nice guy. We hit it off from the beginning. Too bad he couldn’t come to our Chinese dumpling party last Saturday night.

Instead it was just Theresa and Jim. We pigged out on dumplings and noodles and just had lots of fun.

Few hours earlier got a call from Rebecca. She had taken the train up to Stockton to visit Tara, her cousin. They stopped by in the late afternoon. Tara is studying engineering at UOP. Very nice girl, muy guapa and inteligente. Tara’s mother Darlene is Rebecca’s mother Maureen’s sister. They are twins and Rebecca said everytime she gets together with Tara, they compare notes to see who is more neurotic. Based on what they both described, it is a close race. Both Maureen and Darlene are extremely immature women. Too bad, yet both Rebecca and Tara turned out fine in spite of their parent’s problems. From Tara - "My mom told me that only poor people get pimples."  WTF? Ay caray, a grown woman worried more about image and completely disconnected from reality. Rebecca had equally bizarre stories about how her mother is also just simply removed from reality.

Around 5 PM, they had to go. Before they left, I noticed some Chinese inscriptions tatooed on Tara’s back. She explained it was her Jiu Jitsu training school. Okay, interesting. "Show me something"  I asked. She said okay, come at me with your hand. I extended my hand and she instantly grabbed it and immobilized me in 2 seconds. Couldn’t move and this was a girl no taller than 5’ 3".

Loomis House Sold

Finally! I thought we were never going to get that bungalow sold. Actually, it really wasn’t a bungalow, just a small house on a rural street. I rented a truck and hired a couple of guys to help me that Saturday. Loaded everything up and we were out and cleaned up by 4 PM.New house in Gold River is much bigger - over 1900 sq feet. Great location across from a park and elementary school, bike trails and walking distance to American River. Love it! Gold River is actually Rancho Cordova - same zip code but much nicer community. The dividing line between nice and not so nice is Sunrise Blvd. Gold River is a planned community with HOA fees so no white trash parking RV’s or cars on the lawn, no eyesores, no loud assholes next door. This is a real nice place to live. In fact, our neighbors came up to introduce themselves the same day we were moving in.

Living in Loomis

We have been wanting to sell for quite some time now. Before I begin, I am going to back up a bit and start out from 2001. We were living in an apartment on Winding Way near Auburn Blvd from 1998 thru 2001 and finally it was time to get out of that apartment and into something bigger. We traveled all over the Sacramento area looking for something nice and quiet but not too far away.

Loomis is a sleepy town midway between Rocklin and Auburn off Interstate 80 and on the way to Reno. Not much happens here except the train going by and some occasional noise from the goonies next door. Who are the goonies, you might ask? The younger kids, Joey and Willy are friendly and play with the pumpkin but the family is just not our type. A pickup truck has been sitting in their backyard for about 3 years now, a pile of old used car parts is scattered around the yard and the house looks like it is ready to fall apart any moment.Except for some of Krystal’s occasional parties, the neighborhood is pretty quiet. Jack and Donna are retired and live directly across the street. They’ve been really nice about watching our house while we are away and being the source for all the latest gossip.After living the country life, it is time to move on. The 80 is getting to be a big pain in the ass to commute from here. When we first moved here, it was empty going into downtown Sac but now it backs up in both directions morning and evening, especially around Roseville. What a friggin waste. Caltrans spent all this money to build carpool lanes in both directions and it ends in Roseville where the traffic comes to a standstill in the afternoon. Go figure. And yea, I am tired of living in a sea of Republicans. At the time we purchased this house I wasn’t aware that we were living in the area of California with the highest percentage of Repubs, even higher than Orange County. Now I am not saying I don’t get along with people here. I just don’t talk politics.