Finally Alone!

August 13, 2013 1953

            I know it sounds odd to say that for the first time in two weeks The Goat Man and I are alone.  He is cooking me summer squash and the left over steak from last night.  It is so nice to have him to myself.  It is so nice to be able to enjoy his company and talk about all of the things happening to us.

            Tomorrow we are going to cut trees with Walt.  I have been meaning to tell you about Walt and Debbie, but haven’t had the chance.  We met Walt and Debbie the first day we went to the Rope Center.  He asked us to drive him to trim trees.  He needed The Goat Man to help him and the truck to transport him.  Because I am the one with the driver’s license the three of us have to go.

            The first day we went to Debbie’s house where Walt stays to set up things to work.  Walt insists that Debbie is an ex-girlfriend and always talks about getting a tent in the woods.  However, Debbie insists he is her boyfriend since 2009.  As far as I know they live together.

            Walt is a thin, bronzed, man with a warn face.  He looks to be in his 50’s and it has been a hard half a century.  Debbie looks like the fairy Ms. Merryweather in Sleeping Beauty became a drug addict.  She is older, round, and odd.

            While The Goat Man, Walt, and I stood at the truck talking Ms. Merryweather stood just outside the door of their shack and took off her shirt.  Under her shirt was a stained white bra that had not done its job since she left Disney for the drugs.

            Then, Ms. Merryweather began playing with her three cats, kittens, three dogs, and four puppies in the front yard.  I have learned that cigarettes, soda, and animals are in high abundance among the needy.

            I did not say homeless for a reason.  I feel that everyone falls into a certain class.  Some people are homeless because they are having hard times because, “Sometimes life just fucken sucks!”  But others are needy.  They are not just poor, but they are always expecting things to be given to them, think they are entitled to things they haven’t earned and often lazy.

            I am not sure where Walt is on that continuum.  He talks about being a worker, but the day we went out he did seven trees (one job) and then he wanted to call it a day.  We were promised $100 for the day and only cleared $35.  But some things are out of our control.

            Walt had set up a job with Barbara J Baldali (8001 Wood brook Ct Hudson Florida 34667 It was the house on the corner) with an agreement of $50 a tree.  She had seven trees.  When we arrived she had left a note on the door saying she was only going to pay $10 a tree.  Walt called her and negotiated $15 a tree.  This was not enough money for us to even pay for the gas in the truck and the gas and oil in the chain saw.  We were losing money if we even started the job.

            I was very disappointed in Walt because he let Barbara J Baldali talk down to him.  She spoke to him like he was the scum of the earth and didn’t even deserve the scraps under the table.  I think she probably talks to animals better.  The Goat Man and I both agreed that if we had been able to make the call the job would not have been done by us.  We cannot take a loss.  We ended our day with less money than we had when the sun came up.  But Walt stayed true to his skill and trimmed the seven trees with professionalism for $75.

            The Goat Man and Walt worked for three hours leaving each of them $37.50 (We gave Walt $38 and took $37 out of convenience.)  That comes down to just over $12 an hour before overhead and lets not forget about me and my truck.

            As we were leaving Barbara came out of the house asking for the bushes and the lawn to be done without additional pay.  Barbara really needs to learn respect and understand that no one deserves to be spoken to like she speaks.  Simple ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ go a long way in this world.  She will have to have somebody else mow her acre and a half yard!  I thank God she has had a good enough life that she doesn’t understand our perspective.  Some individuals can’t handle the realities of life.