I now live in Buckeye... with the cows.

Well, this week will be the third or fourth week that I have lived in Buckeye. I'm not going to lie, I have been really enjoying the move. It's a total different pace of life out there. It is a lot more laid back, and smelly. HAHA! I have had my own adventures in Buckeye though. There have been a lot of things that have happened that have been trying my patience and temper. I'm typically a very laid back guy, and things really don't bother me too much. But between stress and the things that have been happening, I'm at the end of my "nice" rope. Here is a couple of things that have happened as of late (I wrote this to Beau, so bear with me):

"Apparently the Lord has been looking out for me... the weekend that I was planning on moving everything into the Buckeye house, I had a feeling (and Dad mentioned too) that I should wait until the next week to move stuff into the house. I went to church on Sunday in Buckeye and then checked on the house after, everything was fine. Monday afternoon, I went to check on the house because APS had turned on the power... when I pulled up I didn't see anything, but after I switched on the breaker and was walking in to check the connections in the house I saw the front door open. I walked in and saw that all my brand new appliances had been stolen. I called the Sheriff's office and they took about 4 hours to show up (pretty ridiculous if you ask me). I had to call Bear to come board the door shut because they broke the door jamb so I couldn't latch the door shut or lock it. All said and done, I had put Homeowners insurance on the property about a week or so before the break in, so my insurance covered everything but the $500 deductible. So, the Lord was watching out for me... I would have been out about $30,000 if I had moved a trailer load of stuff into the house.

Well, the move to Buckeye has been long and there has been a lot more to do than I ever expected. Moving into a custom home on a road that you created definitely has some quirks. The first week or so I was there I was surrounded by bugs, spiders, frogs, ect. A lot of the bugs and spiders were inside. I had a pest guy come and spray good, then I went to a bug/weed store (no, not the kind you smoke) and bought my own professional strength bug spray. I'm trying to be frugal and smart in our crappy economy, so for me to spend $70 on bug spray was better than to have to have the bug guy come for probably another 5 times at $28 a pop to get rid of bugs. I now spray my own house, and they have gone down a lot. I've only been spraying outside, but I think I do need another inside treatment to get rid of what the initial treatment didn't get. Cobwebs are still popping up all over the place and I'm still finding bugs inside the house. So, the bugs will be all taken care of soon. At least the house doesn't feel dirty anymore and I don't have the fear of bugs crawling all over me. The Frogs are only outside and are really only there at night... They sit outside of my front door, don't croak or anything. Just scare the crap out of me when I am not paying attention. They will hop the opposite direction of me, and I jump because they blend in with the dirt at my house, so they aren't easy to see. I need to name them (I think there used to be 4 but I know I accidentally ran over one of them with the truck, so I'm guessing there is still 3 out there). There is only one that sits by the front door though, the big fatty of the group. I think I will call him Ned... That's hillbilly enough for Buckeye right?

When I moved in there was a lot of work that needed to be finished at the house, multiple lights didn't work and things just needed touched up. We are still working on things, but it's a much smaller list now. Now there are a couple of door handles to adjust and some paint to touch up... among other small things. I ended up having to get Satellite TV and internet (which is still really slow, but faster than dial-up I guess). The first day away from the house, the A/C stopped working in the main part of the house, so I had to call the A/C guy to fix it... turned out that the thermometer batteries were dead. GAY. I went home to a 90 degree house. That sucked, but the Thermometer that powered my bedroom was still working, so I just started unpacking things in there to stay out of the heat.

It's been amazing to see how much crap I have, it's ridiculous! It really is sad when a single guy has enough stuff to fill a 2,400 sqft house by himself... My 3 car garage is really a 2 car garage now, and since the Rhino and quads are at my house it's really a ½ garage... Haha. One full part of the garage is filled with my junk! Boxes, car parts, shelves, tires, ect. I really need to start putting stuff on craigslist and EBay. Maybe that will be my next weekend project. Cleaning stuff and taking pictures to sell them with.

Since I have been in the house we have installed a white vinyl fence, that looks awesome if I don't say so myself. We are working on getting the courtyard and driveway pavered as I type this they should be working on it. I'm really feeling what it's like to be a farmer, though I know I haven't even skimmed the top of it yet. Last week was one of those weeks that started bad and didn't get better until the end of the week. Here is what happened:

Monday - I get 3 loads of ABC (fill dirt) and 2 loads of sand for the pavers. The first load was dropped and as the second load was being delivered the dump truck driver ran over a piece of 4" PVC pipe that was sticking out of the ground, it was pushed down into my water line from the well. It cracked the pipe and started spewing all over the place. I went and got my neighbor Jerry (because of a lack of options and knowledge) and he started working on it. He dug up the pipe and found a coupler broken... I went and bought a new one for $1.08.

Tuesday - I thought I was finished with the water fiasco and thought "That was TOO easy", apparently I didn't knock on wood or something because that morning, the hole was filled with water again. So, day #2 showed that the T fitting that was next to the coupling was cracked too. So off to the store again. $50 later I came back with what we supposedly needed to fix the stupid truck driver's mistake. After a full day of me at work and Jerry working on the pipe, I come home to find all my neighbors standing around the pit that Jerry dug, and talking... I thought, "this isn't a good sign". I was right, after 8 hours of working on it Jerry didn't finish it and all the parts we needed was at a store that closed before I got home. We worked on the pipe trying to patch it so at least 5 of the 7 houses on that well could have water, but all our attempts were in vain. It didn't work and we all went without water that night. All my neighbors at that point were pissed because they have horses and other animals that need water. But there was nothing I could do. That night I called Joe Jobe (the builder that built my house) and had him send the plumber out so we could have water on Wednesday.

Wednesday - After a long day at work I got home and saw the Plumber had done his job and that we had water again. YAY! Earlier that day I got a call from the Post lady that delivers the mail to my house and asked if I was going to be putting up a mailbox so she could get my mail to her (Jokes on her, I had went into the post office and talked to them 2-3 weeks earlier and was waiting for her to call me and tell me where she wanted the mailbox placed). So, once finding out the mounting location I went and got the supplies. To match the fence I went with a vinyl post for the mailbox, but the actual mailbox I got was heavier than typical and apparently a lot bigger too. I just can't catch a break lately. So, I ran to Home Depot for the 2nd time that day to find things to make it work. Once I was home I worked on it until about 10pm, and finished putting up the temporarily set mailbox. The post came with a small stake to drive into the ground then you screw the post into that with 2 screws... I said eff that, and planned on reinforcing it with a better base post.

Thursday - Work (not so great day at the office) then went home and started filling in the huge hole that was sitting in front of my fence in the front yard from Jerry and the plumber. Since it was huge and there was pipe sticking out I had to fill in under the pipe by hand. I had to make sure the dirt was packed tight underneath so it didn't break again. I did all this by a shovel and my feet. HAHA. I didn't fill it all, I put a cover over the valve we put in so I could turn off my water if something breaks between the house and the main line, so I filled it up to the top of the box until I can find a PVC piece big enough to fit around it, then I can finish filling it in.

Friday - I was at work when Mom called me and needed to go to the bank and she didn't have a car (Travis' car was hit by his roommate and was in the shop, so he was/is driving your truck until he has his back, Jack's truck got broken into and was in the shop, so he had Mom's and my Fit was totaled so I had the Ford... My Supra was at Mom and Dad's house, but it's still finicky so, I told Mom if she needed to go anywhere to call me and I'd trade her cars) so I had the Supra. I left work and went to Mom's house to pick up the Truck because I had to go out to Tonopah to take pictures of a house for Dad. And since Tonopah is farther west then Buckeye, I figured that I would just stay out there and clean my house because my friend Brooke was coming to see the house for the first time. Once I got to Tonopah, I realized that my phone was sitting inside the Supra in Mom and Dad's garage. Since Brooke didn't know where I lived and my home phone isn't working yet, I had no way to get a hold of her. So I drove back from Tonopah and grabbed my phone, and then drove back to Buckeye... that was about a hour and a half of wasted time and gas. I didn't have time to really clean, but I did get to straighten up a little before Brooke came over.

Saturday - I was on a quest to fix the mailbox. I had the supplies and I was determined to do this without a hitch! When I got out to where the 4x4 was that I bought to put in the ground and I took the post that looked like the same size as a 4x4 post, I realized that the outer dimensions were the same size... so, I had to shave the part I wanted to slip into the post to screw it to. As I was shaving the post down I was taking breaks to dig a 12" by 15" hole to put the post into and concrete it in. I decided to get my circular saw to aid in the trimming of the post (because I didn't have a belt sander that I really needed) once I put the blade into the saw I realized why the batteries had REFURB marked on them. They worked well in the drill, but in the saw they would work well for about 20 seconds. That was about enough time to make one pass at the board about 12" long. And the blade only stuck out 2" so, I had to turn the post over and do it again. Since I have two batteries I had both charging, but since it took so long to charge, I had a hand saw working on trimming it by hand until the batteries finished charging. It was such a pain in the butt! Finally the post was shaved enough to slip into the vinyl counterpart. I put the post into the hole and surrounded it with cement (dry... you add water to this cement after you put it where it's supposed to be), watered it and made sure the post was level. Then I went to take a shower. Once done, the cement was cured enough to put the vinyl post with the mailbox on. The post leaned a little forward once I went in for a shower, so it's not completely level, but a lot better than my neighbor's mail boxes. :-) After that I went and ran some errands, ate lunch with Travis and Jesus and then came home and cleaned, cleaned, cleaned! I swept, vacuumed, and mopped. The house feels much better now. I was tired of walking barefoot in the house and having dirt everywhere.

Sunday - My first relaxing day at the house in about 2 weeks. It was nice.

That is only a little bit that we have had to put up with in this house (by we, I mean me). It's been an adventure, and one that has brought to my realization that I need work boots and water proof boots (galoshes). I need to be ready to play farmer 24/7 now... because it's part of Buckeye life!"

Since then a guy from Qwest installing a permanent phone line, ran over my irrigation valve and broke it all apart.

The paver courtyard and driveway are finally done and I will be able to park on it tonight when I get home.

Buckeye life is good as long as I don't have stupid people messing up things on the property ;-)

Crazy Days!

Last night after Travis and I enjoyed dinner at my parent's house, we decided to go grab some stuff from the house in Phx. We both had stuff that we needed to pick up, so we drove together. As we were turning onto 38th Drive we saw between 15-25 cop cars blocking off JUST my street. There was also a police helicopter hovering the area with it's spot light shining all around. The cops told me I couldn't get to my house and that I needed to leave.

This morning I went back to make sure my house was ok... The house was fine and the alarm was still set, so I was golden. That whole night previous I was worried I had a fugitive camped out in my empty house. One thing that I forgot to take (other than appliances and computer desks) was my two rifles and my shot gun with matching ammo. I had about 500+ rounds of shotgun shells sitting next to my shotgun. So after loading it all up in to the truck, I talked to one of my neighbors across the street I found out the skinny... And here it is from the news reporter's mouth:

"PHOENIX -- A barricade situation in north Phoenix ended late Sunday night with the arrest of a man suspected of shooting a tow truck operator.
Tow truck driver wounded

Police have identified the suspect as Jess Corman, 26. They have not, however, identifed the 40-year-old shooting victim. Police say that man's injuries do not appear to be life threatening.

The situation started when the tow truck driver delivered a vehicle to a residence in north Phoenix near 35th Avenue and Thunderbird Road Sunday evening.

Police say Corman came out of the residence to pay the tow bill. At one point, he went inside the house and when he returned, he had an assault rifle and shot multiple rounds at the victim, striking him several times in the legs.

Corman reportedly believed that the driver was taking too long to unload the car and had stolen the keys.

The wounded driver got into his truck and tried to leave the scene, but crashed into a home across the street.

Neighbors helped the driver until emergency crews arrived on the scene.

Corman, in the meantime, went back into the house and barricaded himself inside.

After officers got the victim to safety, a lengthy negotiation took place. Corman eventually came out and surrendered to police at about midnight.

During the standoff, Corman lit fireworks in the direction of the police helicopter, said Sgt. Tommy Thompson of the Phoenix Police Department. No damage was done with those fireworks.

Police say the investigation is ongoing.

Corman has been booked on charges of attempted second-degree murder, endangerment and unlawful discharge of a weapon.

The wounded tow truck driver is expected to recover."

It was definitely a crazy night by the way things are sounding. I'm glad I live in a nice little community in Buckeye now.!