United again!

There has been a development in my employment in the past few days. November 7th will be my final day with Sunstate Equipment Company. I begin at United Rentals on November 10th. I'm making the move to United Rentals because they made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I'll be making $1.25 more an hour and in my honest opinion, the medical benefits package at United is better than Sunstate's high deductable HSA plan. I've always had a love for United since I worked there back in Iowa, and I am looking forward to working there again. I will be working at the Round Rock, TX branch, which is actually closer to home than the original Sunstate location I was working at before I got transferred to the new store in Buda. I'm sad to leave that new location down in Buda, I've taken a lot of pride in setting up the new shop and yard, and almost see that new store as my little baby. Its a great location (other than the fact that it is 60 miles from home), the layout of the property is ideal, and Sunstate should do well in that location expecially once things are finally all set up and the economy comes back around. I'm leaving Sunstate on a good note, the manager understands why I am leaving, and he was not able to come back with a counter offer that would keep me there. The manager also understood my abilities, capabilities, experience, and desire move up, and agreed that Sunstate, given the current state of affairs with the economy, wouldn't be able to promote me to something more profitable for a while. I have enjoyed my time at Sunstate, and enjoyed the friends I have made working there, but I look at them as a stepping stone, they gave me the income I needed after I got laid off from Austin Engineering, and allowed me to be way overpaid for the position I held, but they have assured me that I was the best yard man they ever had.

Looking forward, I am going to work for an "Aerial" branch at United which is the same type of branch I worked for in Iowa. I'm going to be a Class A CDL driver for them and will driving one of their Tractor Trailer haul trucks delivering and picking up equipment. The branch I will be working at is currently a "satellite" store to the main branch in San Antonio, but they are growing the location into a full stand alone branch, hence the reason they called me and offered me the job. They are growing and need people to fill the positions. I look forward to opportunities that may present themselves as the branch grows in the future. I have no doubt that my previous experience, talents and work ethic will help me succeed in the future.

No other real news...Bentley is growing like a stinking weed! She's truely a blessing to us...one of the best mannered dogs I've ever seen, let alone had as my own. She's extremely obedient, smart and is tons of fun to play with.

The truck trade deal for the Jeep Liberty seems to have fallen through....the lending market is in the toilet even for people like us with good credit, and it just wasn't worth trading a 7% interest rate for one WAY above that, and having to bring $7,000 to the table as a down payment to cover negative equity didn't really appeal to us either. Sometimes you just gotta run with what you got, and if anything is a positive about keeping the diesel truck, we have seen $2.99 deisel down here the past day or two, so that helps that fuel prices are coming down. I still hope to sometime soon find some time to get my WVO blending setup completed and start driving for next to nothing, but that takes time to get the WVO for free....time is hard to come by these days as you all probably know.

Until next time! God bless and take care...