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The Figgs - "Low-Fi at Society High" (1994 - Imago Records)...think early Elvis Costello, with a heavier rock band behind him My Photographs You like photos? I love taking them. Click here, if you wanna see some of my work
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Tuesday, Jul. 15, 2003 - 5:43 p.m. They didn�t do what they said they would. So I did what I told you I would. I came home tonight, checked the alley- all of their work and equipment was gone. The yard trash they threw onto my compost was still there. The ruts were still in my garden bed. Fuckers�. I waited until I calmed down (a little), and then I called the tree service�s phone number. Here is how I handled the problem: I talked to the woman who fields their calls in a very civil tone. Obviously, it is not HER FAULT that someone working for her employer lied to me, after damaging my personal property. I never take it out on the unlucky soul who answers the phone. I am married to one of the people who answer a phone, and I can�t believe how crude so many people are to her. I would never take it out on someone else in the same position. I told her the facts- they ran into my garden bed with their truck, they threw all of the various neighbor�s brush from the old burn pile onto my compost pile, they promised to clean up their mess when they left, and then they didn�t. I also told her that I still had their curb sign in my yard, and had recommended them to several of my neighbors (which I have), but now question whether that was a good idea. I don�t want other people blaming me for steering them towards a company that would do what they did to my property, without correcting the problem. She assured me that they would never leave damage like that on purpose, and that someone would be contacting me as soon as possible to correct what had been done. In less than 15 minutes, one of the owners was knocking on my door. After explaining my problems to him personally, he told me that his men would take care of everything first thing tomorrow morning (it was past quitting time, after all). I also reminded him that we had made a tentative agreement to cut down the Evil Black Walnut Tree From Hell! this winter (during their slow period) at a discount they day he had personally cut down my weed Hackberry tree this spring. I will give him the benefit of the doubt. As a company owner, you can�t control everything your employees do. But you can sure as hell fix things when they do someone wrong. That is, if you want to stay in business long� My Dad told me tonight that my step-mom and he will be moving into an apartment in August. He has his house almost paid off, but he just don�t want to take care of the maintenance and upkeep anymore. That, and the crazy woman who lives next to him has wore out his last nerve. Playing loud music and letting your dogs out to bark, all at 2:30 am every night, would do that to most anyone�. Beef (aka Little Joe) passed away at 3 am this morning. He is the last of my former employees who was diagnosed with terminal cancer last year to loose his fight. He started with lung cancer, and it spread to his brain (among other areas) in his last months. Beef earned his nickname back in 1984. That was the winter that the Wendy�s hamburger chain started their famous �Where�s the beef?� campaign. Little Joe thought the ads were funny, and started saying to everyone who would listen �I�ve got the beef- right here!� as a running joke. Back before they cracked down on non-business related radio talk, it was nothing to hear someone call out (while plowing snow late at night ) �Where�s the Beef?�, only to have him call them back �Right here, at the ramps at 232�, or something similar. When his brother was hired a few years later, he immediately became �Noodles� (get it? Beef and Noodles?). Noodles was one of the people who retired last fall. Beef ended up leaving the state after suffering a bad neck/shoulder blade injury that couldn�t be properly fixed through surgery. That had to be at least 7 or 8 years ago. I had slowly lost track of him, except for occasionally stopping by his house with a work crew, taking our break with him in his garage. I hadn�t talked to him in at least the last 4 years (since I went into the tool room job), but that doesn�t mean it doesn�t bother me to hear of his passing. I am not a funeral-going kind of person, but I will go to his later this week. No visitation. That was his request, but that might change (from what I heard). Beef worked for the state for at least 20 years. He was once the tool room guy, like me. He was a lead worker for about 2 years, but tired of the office politics and back stabbing, and went back on the road before I was hired. He was a fun guy to work with, and after he went back on the road, he didn�t let anything that management did to him bother him in the least. He also made me feel at home when I was hired, at a time when there were several groups of workers who didn�t even try to get along with one another. Smoking caused his life to end years before it should have ( one of 1250 that will die in America today from smoking-related illnesses, according to a report I read in the paper recently). He was somewhere around 55-60 years old. He leaves behind a wife who has muscular dystrophy, and a daughter, son-in-law, and grandson. He will be missed by many��..
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A hot day for a wedding...9:26 p.m. - Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009 So bad - but so funny, too.10:33 p.m. - Saturday, Jun. 13, 2009 Evil Black Walnut Tree from Hell!- times up!6:41 a.m. - Thursday, Apr. 23, 2009 My next door neighbor was on the Today Show?8:57 p.m. - Tuesday, Mar. 31, 2009 This qualifies as a "oh crap!" moment:9:55 p.m. - Monday, Mar. 30, 2009 Back to top
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