Stephen's Personal Journal

Free Roam

 The city of Tuscaloosa is expanding the Snow Hinton Park. They have added lots of walking paths, benches, and plush green grass. Today, it is ST Bunn's Job to pave those walking paths. The ground is nice and hard, and easily supports the weight of this loaded truck. And so, here I sit, with a full load of asphalt, waiting for my turn to unload into the paver machine, while they pave the new walking paths. I admit that, parked here, in the middle of this expanded park, on the grass, with streets all around, filled with busy traffic, feels like I'm sitting in the spotlight. 


There is a Chick-fil-A restaurant very close by. I am very tempted to walk over there and get something for my lunch. Although, I am on the carnivore diet, and I am trying to stay away from carbs. Not only is there chicken breaded, but it also comes in a bun, and the bun is bread too. It seems, I cannot get away from carbs. In fact, the only way I can get away from carbs, is eating at home. Or bringing food from home to work. Meat, fish, butter, cheese. That's it. Variations of that. That is all you get. There is nothing more. Okay, maybe mayonnaise and mustard. But, the carnivore diet is actually very strict. Because there are carbohydrates in almost every fucking food source in the world. 


Update: I managed to resist Chick-fil-A. It is actually very easy. They want to know your name at the counter. Why!? They don't need to know my name. There is a ticket number on all the receipts. Just use that. How hard can that be? Other restaurants such as McDonald's and Jack's just use the ticket number on the receipt, and it works flawlessly.  So, maybe Chick-fil-A thinks that putting your name on the ticket is more personal driven, and would make the customer feel more welcomed. No! It doesn't. People know that you're not trying to make friends with them. That concept doesn't work. And it never will. 

Stephen Robinson
SocialStephen.com
linkpo.st/SocialStephen

What Matters Most

 
Wednesday, July 31st, 2024

Priorities. Yes! I have been going over in my mind, what matters the most. My priorities. What are they? I am very interested in growing my blog, Social Stephen, and writing my book, Kenny Kinesis, but I must consider my priorities. Right now, my priorities are growing the blog on my website. And, email marketing.  I have also been looking into new ways to streamline the blogging process. It's just a matter of time until I will have a foolproof system to make blogging a streamlined routine. 

Next? Yes! You guessed it! Streamline the email marketing process. I must develop a foolproof, streamlined system that will allow me to find topics, content, and advertisements that can be included in the emails that I send. Yes! Get the ball rolling and keep it rolling.  This is going to take some research, learning, and formulating a plan. But, I know that I can do it. I have the drive, the ambition, and the passion to make it all happen. Of course, I will take notes and even draw a mind map, that shows, visually, what needs to be done, step by step, from beginning to end. 

Angry Birds makes me angry 😠

I have been playing Angry Birds Showdown on YouTube Playables. It was very enjoyable in the beginning. But, all of my power-ups are gone. There is no way of getting more power-ups. Yes, I can get 3 measly power-ups, with the daily reward, but that isn't squat.  The people I am playing against, in the game, seem to have a never ending supply of power-ups. There is no shop. I do not know of any other way to get power-ups, besides the daily reward. It makes me so angry. Even more angry than the birds themselves. 

There is no communication within the game. I have no way of talking to my rivals. I don't know how they're getting so many power-ups. I searched thoroughly for a store or a shop where I can buy power-ups. None, nada, zero, zilch. There are no advertisements. I'm happy about that, but at the same time, if I watched an ad, I can earn power-ups. But, that doesn't exist either. I am at a complete loss. I looked it up on Google, but did not find any results about that. But, I am not one to give up. I'm going to keep on searching, until I find out how my rivals are getting so many power-ups. What am I overlooking? What am I missing? What do I have to do to get more power ups? 🤔

Friday Afternoon

Friday, July 19th, 2024

It's Friday! Well, no reason to celebrate. I'm working tomorrow too. I don't normally work on Saturdays, but I'm doing it tomorrow. I will probably be hauling asphalt to some faraway land. But either way, it's very good money. Lots of overtime. And I'm very happy about that. I'm still working on my retirement. Even though driving a dump truck is relatively easy work, I don't want to do it for the rest of my life. And so, I started an e-commerce website. linkpost.me. And that is going to be my nest egg. Along with email marketing. And any other type of income that I would enjoy working on at home. 

In the meantime, it is slow going. A very slow progress. But, I am learning a lot about SEO. I know that I need to blog. On my website and independent blogs. And, with the help of AI, I will be able to do that. The only thing missing now is topics and more time. It's just too bad I don't have more help. Seriously. If I just had one other person to help me with blogging, while I kept my full-time job, then I would be able to earn money and pay the bills, while building wealth in online business. Both in e-commerce and email marketing.

Stephen Robinson
SocialStephen.com
LinkPo.st/SocialStephen

It Happened Again

This is becoming the norm. The shuttle buggy is broke down again. And, here I sit, in the cab of this dump truck, with a load of hot asphalt. Among all the other trucks in line, also loaded with asphalt, waiting to dump out. Rain is coming. Yes, that is also becoming the norm here. It seems that it rains every day here. Worse than the wetlands. Worse than the swamps. Worse than the rainforest. The rain does not always hit the job site, but it definitely gets close. It makes it very hard to get this job finished. With all the rain, and a barely working shuttle buggy, this job is taking forever. But all I could do is deal with it. 

Update: They have removed the basket from the spreader machine. They are going to park the shuttle buggy, and we are going to dump directly into the spreader machine. This is also starting to become the norm. Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining. I get paid the same, regardless of what happens. I'm just sharing my thoughts, and nothing more. At this rate, I might get one more load after this, and call it a day. And then, of course, the long drive back home. It is 151 p.m. now, I might get back to the shop by 5:30 p.m. give or take. 

I have the energy to stop at walmart, after work, and shop for rubber wristbands. I just hope I find what I'm looking for.  And of course, while I am at walmart, I am also going to buy some ground beef and some other ingredients for my dinner this evening. Instead of shredded cheese on my burger, I'm going to try cheese slices instead. It should taste better than the shredded cheese. It sucks being alone. But, at least I get to do what I want, when I want, without dealing with anyone else. 

I don't always make the best decisions for my health and my life. There are many times, that I choose happiness over health. I choose delicious food over healthy food. I admit that. I am self-disciplined in a lot of things, but eating the right foods is not one of them. I guess I'm still working on that. One thing I am certain of. Eating poor tasting, healthy food is sad and depressing. I'm already alone everyday, and the only happiness I get is from eating delicious food. Okay, that's just not true. I guess I'm venting right now. There are other things that make me happy too. 

I enjoy watching a good movie. I enjoy watching videos on YouTube. I enjoy blogging and web design. I enjoy learning more about e-commerce. I enjoy writing in my journal. I enjoy chatting with intelligent people. It is rare, but it does happen sometimes. I'm learning more about AI now. How we can benefit me with blogging on my independent blog and my e-commerce blog. And now, I guess I'm mixing happiness with contentedness. They are not interchangeable. But they can feel the same on the outside looking in. 

Stephen Robinson
SocialStephen.com
LinkPo.st/SocialStephen


Another Day Another Breakdown

Tuesday, July 16th, 2024 

Another day on the job, on highway 80, in Bellamy, Alabama. Paving the road. The shuttle buggy broke down. We have already been sitting here in line, with loads of asphalt, waiting to dump out, for the past 90 minutes. Finally, they decide to park the shuttle buggy, and now we are dumping straight into the paver machine. And I told the other drivers, on the CB radio, if push comes to shove, we will dump straight into the paver machine. And sure enough, that is what we are doing. 

On another note, I am tired of fighting with these rubber bands on my wrists. I wanted to go to Walmart yesterday, and buy some wristbands, but, I was much too tired. Hopefully, I will have the energy to go to Walmart today, after work, I just need two freaking wristbands for right now. The rubber bands that are on my wrist right now are old, frail, and falling apart. I just hope that the wristbands that I buy at walmart, are not too loose or too tight. 

On another note, the company finally took down the backwards American flag that was hanging up in front of the silos at the new asphalt plant. I am thankful for that. Because, despite the fact that I told my boss that the flag is backwards, he did not change it. He just left it like that. Until yesterday evening, when they finally decided to take the flag down. I despise inconsideration and stupidity, but ignorance runs a very close third.