My house part 1

I only took a few pictures but here's a good couple of shots of the house before we start doing much. As you can see, it's a mess. My stuff is laying all over the place but slowly becoming organized. The bedrooms are so packed with stuff right now, I'm not going to post any pics of them. They're carpeted with the same stuff as the living room and dining room. I pulled up a corner of the carpet in the front bedroom and found hardwood flooring. We're going to pull up carpet slowly and one room at a time and I hope we find some beautiful floors. This weekend we'll start painting and working on the bathroom. I've been power washing the exterior and it's making a huge difference. I am basically finished cleaning the outside, I just need to clean a few spots a little better. Next I will start working on the yard. It's got a ton of potential, I just don't know where to start. I tell ya, between work and this house, I sleep like a rock every night. My feet are sore, but I suppose that has something to do with standing out on the cement floor with production so much.

Camden's really not too bad. There's not much to do, but since I'm so busy with work and the house, it doesn't really matter. There are some good little restaurants and all the catfish I could ever want. I'm looking forward to fall and spring to hit up some of the local campgrounds. There are supposed to be some decent ones down in Louisiana.

It's starting to sink in that I will be here for a little bit. Stress "little".

Wowza, it's 1:30

My microwave just shorted out, my a/c isn't big enough for my bigger house and I don't have a garage, but you know what? I have a/c, I have a kitchen and I have a car to park in a garage that doesn't exist. While I'm on the topic of my house, I've got a funny story. A few days ago, I roach bombed my porch. I had seen a few roaches here and there outside and maybe two inside so I thought I'd give it a try. After playing around with the bomb, I went inside. Lo and behold, they ran from the porch into my laundry room! There were four or five (actually three, that I could kill) and they were WIRED! I smashed them and have been finding dead roaches here and there ever since. I plan on bombed the attic and crawlspace this week, but I've got to keep them out of my house otherwise. This is going to be messy.

I went to El Dorado today to hit up some home improvement stores, a super center and to get some food. I really enjoyed the trip there; it's four lanes at 65 and quite pretty. I cruised along and took it all in. I can't wait to go back down there during the fall and camp down in Louisiana. I haven't spent much time in northern Louisiana, so I'm interested in seeing what it's like. I have heard a lot of good stuff about Shreveport-mostly the boardwalk there.

Anywho, this place is almost up and running 100%. It's at about 60% done; I need to paint, put in fans, fix the bathroom and I'll be done. The Eglestons and my family are coming into town next weekend to spend a day working this place over. The yard needs some cleaning and clearing, but it's going to be gorgeous this spring. The previous owners spent a lot of time on it and I plan on bringing it back to that point. "Plan" being the key word there. You know me...

The workin' man

I tell ya, between working 10 hours a day and fixing up the house, I am super busy. I have only done a few small things to the house and it already looks a lot better. I spent another couple hundred this week to get some more stuff for furniture and general repairs. It's kinda cool being in my own place because I can paint how I want, carpet how I want and fix stuff that's broken and it actually helps me out. Plus it's nice putting money forward on something that's mine; I'm not throwing it down the drain. I still have a long ways to go to getting it where it's home sweet home, but it's definitely growing on me. The biggest issue is going to be working on the bathroom. Replacing the floor boards and redoing the tile is going to be a nice all day event. Mom and Dad and the Eglestons are coming down on Labor Day weekend and so we'll knock out some serious work then.

Work's been good. I worked Friday and Saturday this week, which is overtime pay. It's picking up quite a bit, but I still have to find things to do from time to time. I am really enjoying spending time with the production crew. They're a cool bunch of guys with all sorts of personalities. I am sad because all my cool co-ops left. Chuck and Megan were from Texas Tech and Marty was from Wisconsin. We enjoyed a good weekend in Fayetteville and plenty of good times in Camden. Their last night we went to the Sand Bar and had some good food. I got crab legs and some Texas toothpicks. Both were amazingly good.

Peace out!

The house...

So I signed my life away today and now I'm in my own house. Not a rental, not an apartment, this is my house. It's really cool, but at the same time it's a big investment. I am hoping Camden will eventually pick it up and I can sell this place for what I paid for it...or more. There's a lot of work to be done, but I'm pumped about getting my hands dirty and making it a home. I got a lot of my stuff moved in, but I'll be moving in for a while.

Today I'm in Little Rock helping Vanessa move in. She's got a nice little apartment, but the people that live around her are shady. She got some really nice new furniture and her room mate has a pretty nice tv. Now that she's moved in, we're heading to the IMAX to see the Dark Knight again. I'm really pumped about that, almost as much as I was about seeing Vanessa...but not quite.

That's really all I've got right now. I worked yesterday and I'm tired.

Somebody wrote me...a nasty letter...but they didn't sign their name

...I think I know, I know who wrote it. Well I recognize, recognize that hand. It's gettin warm, oh so warm, it's so warm...

Monday-up at 5, Tuesday-up at 5:15, Wednesday-up at 5:20, Thursday-up at 5, Friday-up at 4, Saturday-up at 4:30. This week has been great! At least I got overtime on Friday and went fishing today, so it's not all lost. I took a nap nice today and feel pretty good at 11:15pm. I close on my house this Friday, which I probably won't be present for, since I'm going to be working. I'm going to try to get off this Saturday (assuming we work) and go to LR to help V move in. I'm excited about her getting a nice apartment with a golf course and pool and such. I think I will have that road to Bryant memorized. I'm also excited about my house, although that does tie me to Camden for at least a year or two, while I pay it off. No biggie, just enough time to save up some serious bank! woo hoo!

Work's been picking up, as you can tell. I've been pretty busy with all sorts of issues. Basically everything that goes wrong on the floor now goes through either me or the one other ME. We see tons. I got to work a lot in the test building on Thursday and Friday, which is where they test the truck (go figure!) Those things don't seem like much when they come in, but boy I'd hate to be around when one fires. Since they've been around for a bit, they're not too classified, but I am waiting for that folder to slip onto my desk. I really can't wait until we have upkeep on the field trucks; that's going to be a blast. Hopefully I can check up the ones in England or something. Gotta get my bearings here first.

Went to a seafood buffet tonight and boy was it good! I had catfish, boiled shrimp, fried shrimp, hushpuppies, onion rings, chicken, ribs and...that was it, I think. Oh yeah and an amazing yeast roll. I tell ya, there aren't many clean, nice looking places in town, but that doesn't mean there isn't some awesome food. I've had some of the best catfish in my life since I've been down here. In a few weeks, I'm heading to Monroe, Louisiana to get some good Canjun food. I can't wait!