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"We pulled into the parking lot at Jason's new shop in Rockport Thanksgiving night and made out for a couple hours. We were in her mom's car!" -Gavin

Wednesday, 12-31-14: Last day of the year.
I gots a fire going in the fireplace and the 80s channel on the TV. I get about 5000 channels, and the 80s music channel is definitely one of the best. (Time Warner Cable channel 1928.) I just changed my cable package to one of their promotional deals so we get something like 50MBPS Interweb speed, HBO, Cinemax, Starz, DVR plus a DVR for the bedroom, and all the other channels. Do we need that much stuff? Hell no! However, it's a package deal so the price was right. However, if I don't forget to change it to something else in December of next year then I'm sure my price will go sky high once the promotion expires.

The heating system in this bootleg house doesn't work so great. The guy who installed it all a couple years ago looks like he's about 85 years old; I met him once around the time of the closing on the house back in late March or early April because he had to come fix something. Both my plumber and my heating guy told me it wasn't installed properly and it would kinda suck come cold weather, but I don't wanna drop thousands of dollars to have it installed correctly so we will use electric space heaters and have more fires in the fireplace this winter.

Radiant floor heat not installed correctly. What a bunch of crap!

I've had this house for about 8 months, but the first 1.5 months or so barely count because I was doing major interior renovations. I think the renovations mostly came out great, but I must admit that I screwed a couple things up. First, the flooring that I installed isn't the best quality so it cups in spots. That's what I get for paying 56 cents a square foot at Marden's. What a bunch of crap! Second, I'm not so sure using floor tiles on the bar top will be great in the long-run. So far it's okay, but I think eventually I will have to get something better.

Despite some flaws this house ain't too shabby. I love the back yard. Too bad this time of year the yard is useless because it's too cold outside to do anything. (7 degrees right now.) The open concept is also nice; it's a huge improvement from how it was when I first acquired the place. I never even added up all the receipts to see how much all the renovations cost, but I'd guess a few thousand dollars. I still have the receipts so I should add them up today.

The ladies are still bivouaced, but I got my ass up at 0545. Tonight for New Year's eve I'll be at Jester's because Kat has to work there doing her karaoke show. I won't drink too much beer because I don't wanna be all hungover tomorrow. Being hungover = what a bunch of crap! I haven't had too much alcohol since Halloween when I got way too drunk. Working the seasonal job at the USPS cut into my alcohol consumption because I was at work every Friday and Saturday night for 6 weeks.

I should go do other things now. I have some year-end accounting to do, and I need to figure out if I should pay the state some income tax money as an estimated payment. I normally blow off the estimated payments and just take the soaking to my bank accounts come April 15th when I owe thousands, but this year I will be able to itemize so it might make sense to pay some state income tax now so I can write it off on my federal return.

Speaking of taxes, the next job at Jackson Hewitt should begin in about a week. I need to study up for that. Both Kat and I will be working mostly in the Wal Marts in Bangor and Brewer in little kiosks that look kinda like this:

Hopefully it doesn't suck!

Thursday, 12-25-14: Merry Xmas you drooling simps.
It's 0543 on Christmas morning, and I don't see no fatass Giblet-head Santa sneaking on out of here. This house smells delicious because Sweet Pea made blueberry cheesecake and apple pie last night. Oh Jesus, hell ya! Reason #492,067 why I love her and want to live together happily ever after. (There really are too many reasons to list in their eitirety.)

I feel so relieved right now, and not just because I woke up early and had to go pee. I only slept 4 hours last night, but I feel great. (Other than some numbness in my right arm. What a bunch of crap!) I just finished a marathon run of nearly two consecutive weeks of working, and some days I felt like I barely had time to breathe. Last night was my final night of the season working for the USPS processing mail. Working on Christmas eve and a small part of Christmas day itself is a bunch of crap, but it could have been worse. I went in at 1800 last night and "only" worked 6.5 hours; I was out of there around 1230. That was the shortest shift I ever had at that place. I worked many 10-hour nights, a few 11-hour nights, and two 12-hour shifts. OMG.

I worked for the USPS for six weeks, and every week I worked between 42-50 hours. Their pay period is bi-weekly so I'll end up with three paychecks, and my total hours worked for each of the three periods was right around 93. My take-home pay for all that work will end up being around $3500 plus I'll get around another $140 on top of that for unused accrued vacation time. Oh Jesus, hell ya!

They wanted me to stay and join the team as a full-time employee because I do good work, but I had to respectfully decline. Making $16.75 an hour (a tad over $25/hr overtime rate!) to process mail is fantastic, but I have too much else going on. Losing evenings is too great of a sacrifice to make on a permanent basis. I miss being able to relax in the evening and sit with my Sweetie to watch some TV, watch a movie, have a beer or two, enjoy a nice family meal, and go to bed at the same time as my wife. I did mostly enjoy the job and do plan to return to work for them again next Nov-Dec, though. Grossing over $5000 for six weeks worth of work is almost a no-brainer!

Now I can say that I've worked for all three of the major logistics companies. Does that make me a winner or just a job-whore? Hehehehe. Seasonal work rules! It breaks up life into manageable chunks and keeps things interesting. Comparatively the USPS > FedEx > UPS. Comparatively shoveling shit > UPS, though. Fuck that company! I made more money at the USPS as a seasonal PSE than I made at UPS as a supervisor. HAHAHAHA! Again, fantastic pay for a job that wasn't overly difficult.

No one is awake yet in this house. Tommy and his chick are bivouacked in his room downstairs, Kat is still in our bed, and her kids are all her for a sleepover. They played Trivial Pursuit last night and I'm bummed I missed out because that's a fun game. Unfortunately, I had to work. What a bunch of crap! Kat texted me this baseball question "Name six teams won the World Series in the 1980s?" and I mostly knew the answer. How cool is that? (Mets, Royals, Tigers, A's, Dodgers, and Orioles.) I remember some of those games including the now infamous Sox-Mets 1986 'Series when Bill Buckner let that ground ball roll right through the wickets. What a bunch of crap!

Today will be a nice Christmas day. I used to hate Christmas, but this year I was actually excited for it. I could have stayed on at the USPS as a seasonal employee until Jan. 9th if I wanted to, but screw that. I need some down time in advance of the next job that actually already began. Both Kat and I are gonna be tax preparers!

Everyone needs to wake their asses up so we can do presents and eat food! I should get a metal trash can and go full Gunnery Sgt. Hartman for a jolting reveille. Hehehehe. I weighed myself when I was in my gym last week (I've used that gym once in the past two weeks. What a bunch of crap!) and I was around 145 so I gots room in the tank to pig out. Even though I've barely used my gym I have gotten exercise at the USPS. I haven't gotten enough sleep and I've probably missed a meal or two because of the screwy schedule so it will be nice to get back on a more "normal" routine.

I'm trying to think of the last day off that I had. Maybe it was as far back as two weeks ago! I just worked 8 consecutive nights at the USPS, and I did have two nights off from there last week. However, they weren't real days off because Kat and I had to go to Augusta for three days of classroom training at Jackson Hewitt. I got off work Sunday around 0400 and had to leave here Monday at 0730 for the 82-mile trip to Augusta. Awesome! [sarcasm] The training was paid so it was the official beginning of job #3 (slumlord, mail bitch, tax guy) Having three jobs at once = what a bunch of crap! Thankfully the bootleg apartments have been relatively easy lately so I've only needed to devote a few hours a week to keeping that running.

I don't know if I've ever worked this many hours in a month? Maybe when I was part-time at FedEx and trying to renovate this pathetic excuse for a building at the end of 2007 and beginning of 2008:

^Photo taken after $60k worth of work in the fall of 2008.

When I was in the Navy I sometimes worked a lot, but that was so long ago that it's hard to know for sure. We did stay deployed for 60 consecutive days in the summer of '96 on Westpac, and when you're at sea you don't get a true day off. I remember there being some ancient rule where once you are at sea for that long without stopping at a port of call you are owed two free beers. HAHAHAHA! I declined my beers because I didn't even care... if I cared. Amazing to think that was close to two decades ago!

I suppose I should get off this thing and do a little bit of tax school online before Kat and her kids awake. I'm hoping to have a bit more free time now that USPS is over. However, I have to move the rest of Kat's things from her old house on Fruit St in Bangor over to here so I will still be busy. I really owe Kat a lot of thanks for keeping me going during this epic work stretch. She's been organizing the house, helping me with some apartment stuff, and keeping me sane lately. I'd be all done if I didn't have her to keep me afloat.

Wednesday, 12-10-14: Can't sleep.
I wish I was in bed right now sleeping. It's 0554, and I have been awake since close to 0230. What a bunch of crap! I laid in bed for a while and tossed and turned before I finally gave up and got up. I hate it when that happens. I get frustrated because I can't sleep and then the frustration causes my ass to stay awake more. Fortunately, I usually can fall asleep and stay asleep so this is a rare occasion.

I do think I would still be sleeping soundly next to my future wife right now if it wasn't for my right arm going numb. It's been off and on all tingly like I slept on it and cut off the circulation. The feeling is very uncomfortable and that keeps me awake. I've had it happen a few times over the last couple years, but it hasn't happened in a while like this. When it's happened in the past it's been after blueberry raking or when I was pounding spikes when building a RR tie retaining wall, etc. I think when I use my arm a certain way for too much it pinches a nerve? I dunno for sure because I ain't no doctor.

^That wall took a gargantuan effort both in earth removal and then installing the RR ties. After I built that wall about 1.5 years ago I first experienced the numbness in my right arm. What a bunch of crap!

Probably the USPS job caused my arm to be inflamed and then racquetball yesterday PM did it in. I got crushed at racquetball, but I'm glad I played because it had been over 2 weeks since the last time I played. Deno had a brain tumor cut out of his head a few weeks ago and he's already playing better than how I played. What a bunch of crap! He's only about 43 years old and he got a brain tumor. How fucked is that? Thankfully they found it and were able to remove it before it did him in.

I have so much going on this month that I can't even write about all of it. The biggest news of the past week is the fact that Kat and Katherine have officially moved into the house here in Brewer. No more sleeping at her place in Bangor! We decided it made the most sense to combine houses now since her pellet stove stopped working and her oil is down to under 1/8 of a tank. Paying for heat for two houses sucks. A lot. Now we don't have to! Her cats are still over at her house as well as quite a few possessions, but we have the heat turned down to 58 so the cats will be fine. Yesterday we actually bought a cat-door for the house here so if I can get it installed today we can bring the cats over ASAP. We plan to put the litter boxes and other cat-related cat-things in the space that connects from the garage to the house.

It's gonna be an ironic twist of fate for sure living with a few cats. I once wrote on this bootleg site that if you own more than three cats you are a crazy cat-lady yet I am planning to marry a lovely lady who once owned 33 cats. HAHAHAHA! (She has a big heart and worked at the humane society so every time a cat was scheduled for termination she would make the save.) I'm marrying a Kat! Hehehehe.

Getting 3 hours of sleep last night/tonight is all bad. I will need more before I go to work at the USPS this evening. My schedule is pretty much toast thanks to this seasonal job. I report for mail-processing duty at 1800, and I will work at least until 0230 tomorrow if not until as late as 0630. I've worked many 10-12 hour shifts there already. That place can get quite busy, and they're not shy about paying overtime. Thankfully in just over two weeks I will be all done there and I can focus on my next job. I don't hate working for the USPS, but I don't want to do it as a career. F that!

Kat and I officially got hired to work for Jackson Hewitt as tax preparers. Oh Jesus, hell ya! We actually start paid training for that gig next Monday. Both her and I have been working on their Interweb-based training program since last month. There are 24 courses online to take, and we've both done about ten so far. I think Kat will be a great tax preparer because she's smart. She has been out-scoring me on the Interweb tests lately, and I have 3 years of actual experience doing taxes. What a bunch of crap!

Wedding plans are moving along nicely. We booked our photographer and will book our officiant very soon. Unfortunately, Kat's bridesmaid and supposed best friend turned into a giant Giblette-head so now we're in a pickle in that department. Her bridesmaid had tons of notice that she needed to get her dress ordered yet she kept putting it off. She claimed poverty and other excuses despite the fact she could gallavant around the state and stand in line in the middle of the night to go "Black Friday" shopping, etc. Now it's too late for her to order her dress and have it be ready on time. What a bunch of crap! I really don't know why it takes four frigging months to get a dress ordered and hemmed, but that's beside the point. She deserved the Stone Cold Stunner that Tommy gave to her a few months ago, that's for sure.

^Tommy needs to give Giblette-head another stunner for her bridesmaid-incompetence. What a bunch of crap!

I paid some bills and did other things this rainy early AM. I took the Child Tax Credit and other credits course just a few minutes ago on the JH Tax School site, but I only got a 75% on the test. What a bunch of crap! Passing score is 70, but a 75 is trash. I retook the test and still got two wrong so my score for round 2 was an 83. How did I not get 100 on the second take you ask? The simple answer is I SUCK. Gods damn it!

A couple of the questions were tricky, though.

For the first time in my life I have a Christmas tree in a house that I actually own. We did set up the tree at Kat's house before we decided to start living here in Brewer so yesterday when I was sleeping she hauled the tree over and got it set up when I was at work. I'm not a huge fan of Xmas (I fail at gift-giving.), but last night was nice when we had a fire going in the fireplace and the tree all lit up as we hung out and relaxed. I should take a picture of the house and post it on this bootleg site soon. It will really look great once we unpack more stuff and get everything set up.

I'm really excited for Christmas this year because it marks the end of the USPS job and hopefully a short week-long reprieve before the tax job starts. One of my USPS co-workers said we have to work on Christmas day. WTF, over? I expect to work Christmas eve, but why in the hell would they want me to work on Christmas day itself? I'm only seasonal so F that! Hopefully it was just a rumor.

I have to get going now. Lots to do before work. I should sleep at some point. I don't get enough sleep these days. What a bunch of crap! Oh well, it happens.

Wednesday, 12-3-14: A relaxing two days off.
It's back to work for my ass in just a couple hours. What a bunch of crap! I was supposed to go to work at 1930, but the boss just called and asked if I could report earlier. No prob! He wanted me there at 1800, but I said it might not be until 1830. I gotta go over to Kat's and help them decorate her Xmas tree before I work. Plus I have a few things to do here in my bootleg office before I head her way. Right now it's time to bitch about these bills on my desk. (A recurring theme on this bootleg site.)

Plowing bill for November: $375. WHAT A BUNCH OF CRAP! We set a record for the snowiest November on record in this area. This AM we had some snow that changed to sleet and freezing rain; it was supposed to quickly warm up and be all rain, but they blew that and around noon it was still only 32 degrees. Gods damn it. Fortunately, I am proactive and not reactive so I called my plow guy to make sure he doesn't go sand all my properties. He's actually not planning to sand anything at all so that's a blessing. If it's all icy and needs sand I'm all for him coming to this property here at my office to take care of things, but it's a waste to have him sand my other properties that have residential driveways and not a giant parking lot. Every year I need to stay on it so I don't waste precious... precious money on that extra bullshit.

I've never, ever had a plowing bill so high so early. There have only been a couple or so Novembers in my 10 years in business that I've even needed any plowing at all; most Novembers we get an inch or two at most that melts fast. No need for plowing when there's an inch of wet, slushy snow that melts right off. This November sucked!

Here are the natural gas bills. Price per therm jumped from .64 to $1.31 in ONE MONTH. OMG! The gas bill for all five of the properties that I heat (tenants pay their own heat across the street at that house) is $1447 for November. Last year my Bangor duplex was still on propane at this time of year so if I eliminate that expense then the cost rose for the same four buildings from $891 to $1244. That's a $353, 39% increase. WHAT A BUNCH OF CRAP! November this year was cold, but so was November last year. Fucking Bangor Gas Co. I seriously think they are gouging people. I hope there is some legal investigations that occur because this is seriously not cool. Here is a chart that shows the US natural gas cost over the past year:

Do you see any jump in the price lately? Hell no because there isn't one. Back in February the price ended up at over $6 per million BTU (different than the cost per therm that Bangor Gas charges, but still a good way to identify trends) so all I wanna know is why? Why did the price go from .64 a therm in October to 1.31 a therm for last month? HEY COMMUNIST PINKO MOOCHING PRICKS, STOP GOUGING THE PRICES YOU FUCKIN' DINKS. I swear to the gods who do not exist that if I had more time and resources I would hire an investigator to find out why they are fucking people and if it's legal or not.

The increased gas cost and the plow bill equals an extra $728 that I have to spend this year vs. the same time last year. Fuck that and what a bunch of crap all rolled up into one!

If I didn't get this USPS job I would be a broke-ass mofo. Rents are going up, that's for sure. However, I'll probably wait and send out the increase notices in mid-March to take effect in May. If I do it this time of year I might end up with a vacancy or two, and I really don't wanna deal with that this winter since I will be so busy. Plus some of my tenants are still in leases so I can't do a cost increase until those expire to month-month. If people don't wanna pay more and do decide to move out then it's much easier to find replacement tenants in the spring and summer.

The gas bill for my own friggin' house is $157, and I'm rarely even there to use it. What a bunch of crap! Winter can seriously kiss my hairy ass. Sad thing is these bills are for November, which technically isn't even winter yet. Gods damn it if I didn't have Kat I think I would get drunk and go freeze myself to death today. She better not haul on me or else it's game over for real. I'm sick of this shit. What a bunch of crap!

Oh well, aside from a couple little things to do I have had most of the last couple days off and that has been nice. I did spend a couple or three hours yesterday working on a wall for the back corner of the gym. That will be my pet project this month, and I'm not in a huge hurry to get it done so that's why I'm not working on it right now. I work at USPS the next three days at least, and I'm planning to work the weekend as well so my precious... precious free time will be mostly used up by that job. I'd say "what a bunch of crap", but I need the money so bring on the hours!

Monday, 12-1-14: Bye bye office TV.
I was gonna watch some TV in my bootleg office as I updated this bootleg site and did some paperwork, but the cable isn't hooked up. What a bunch of crap! The Giblet-Head who lives upstairs in my old apartment rearranged all the cables, and a couple weeks ago I had no Interweb down here either until I fixed his mess. I'm guessing he disconnected the cable in order to hook up his 100" projection TV screen. Oh well, I haven't watched TV down here in a while anyway and I can definitely live without it. I'd rather just go home and watch TV these days

I just disconnected the 32" TV that has been in my office for close to three years, and it along with the cable box is taking a short little ride in my F150 soon to go to my house. I think this TV would be perfect for the bedroom. I have a bigger TV, but it's older and a little too large for the bedroom. Not sure Kat and I will even watch that much TV before we bivouac, but probably it will get some use. I'm sure even a little use before bed at the house will be much more than what it gets for use now in this office.

^TV in my office is obsolete because I don't come to this office just to hang out like I used to do. I'll still come here to pay some bills, do some paperwork, and update this bootleg site, though!

I have to go through this office and remove crap that is no longer needed in here. Do I really need a mini-fridge in here anymore? All that's in it now is ketchup and a couple bottles of water (I do use the water in my gym, but I can always bring it from home since now I live 1/3 of a mile from here.) I used to pack a lunch and hang out in this office, but F that I'd rather eat lunch with Kat these days.

It's only 0455. HAHAHA! I got here about 20 minutes ago after I stopped by the house to shovel in a little bit of breakfast. I decided to come over here and get a few things done early. Then I can take a nap for a couple hours and get myself on a more normal sleep schedule for the next two days. I got out of work at 0400, and I have tonight and tomorrow night off. Nice! I just finished a 7 consecutive-day run of working at the USPS warehouse. I worked 12 hours Thanksgiving night there. What a bunch of crap!

Thanksgiving and my birthday kinda sucked this year. First, on Thanksgiving morning I got out of work around 0230 and then had to shovel a fresh foot of heavy, wet snow for close to an hour. What a bunch of crap! I had to shovel some at my house, at the bootleg apartment building here, and then at Kat's house. I slept for a few hours, I got up and had a great meal at Kat's house with her family, and then I visited for a short while before I took a nap. I was pretty beat. Then I had to go back to work that evening. Gods damn it! Oh well, the meal was fantastic. I worked a 12-hour shift Thanksgiving night. I started work at 1900 and didn't get out until 0730 Friday morning. Friday was my birthday, and I ended up working for most of it. Oh well, I don't even care... if I care about my birthday.

Oh, I had to return to work at 1700 Friday night for my next work shift. I literally worked 14 hours on my birthday. What a bunch of crap! My first paycheck this Friday will be sweet, though. I accidentally found my pay statement on the USPS webpage called LITE BLUE (I was there looking for how to sign up for direct deposit.) and my take-home pay should be $1174 for two weeks of work. Oh Jesus, hell ya! I worked close to 42 hours the first week and close to 53 last week. My overtime pay there for working at night is around $25 an hour. Nice!

I haven't used the gym much since I started this job, but I get exercise when I'm at work so that counts for something. I plan to use the gym today. In fact, I might go use it in just a few minutes. I will probably suck and get tired, but oh well then I can just go home and bivouac for a bit.

My schedule is all screwed up thanks to this USPS job. I eat at odd hours, and I sleep at even more odd hours. Thankfully it will be over in 3.5 weeks. The pay is great and I don't hate the work, but the hours blow and I definitely don't want that to be my career. On Thanksgiving night when I was in the middle of my epic 12-hour shift one of the head managers came up to me and said I'm at the top of his list in terms of seasonal help whom they intend to keep. I told him thanks, but in the interest of fair disclosure I'm most likely not going to stay past Christmas because I have other obligations. I said I'll still keep working hard and not burn any bridges, though.

My first USPS paycheck that I haven't even gotten yet is already spent. What a bunch of crap! I need to devote an entire update to the scam that is wedding photography pricing; most of my check will be going to that. Plus I need to register the truck and pay my insurance. Christmas is just around the corner so I'll need money for that, too. I have so much going on this month. Work, Nadia's birthday party, work, prepping for a Jackson Hewitt tax-seasonal job, more work, tending to the bootleg properties, more work, moving Kat's stuff over to the house so we can live together, more work, Christmas, more work, etc. I won't have much free time, that's for sure. What a bunch of crap!