Ok, gotta talk about this crap!

Uh, I was watching the news this morning, and found myself seriously asking this question:

"Why is Obama receiving the Nobel Peace Prize?"

I mean, sure, he's the first African-American President for our nation. Yes, he's actually done SOME change with our economy.

However, I fail to see how those two things qualify him for the prize.

Teddy Roosevelt earned it because of his actions in ending the Russo-Japanese war.

Woodrow Wilson earned it for starting the League of Nations.

Jimmy Carter has earned his for trying to continually promote world peace. I mean, even after being in the Presidency, he's still working for a global community!

And now we've got Barack Obama.

What is the reasoning?

"His effort to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples"

Um, excuse me?

Isn't that the job description of EACH and EVERY president we've elected?

Ronald Reagan had to deal with the Soviets.

Hell, Kennedy had to deal with Castro, Vietnam, and the Cold War.

FDR had World War II to deal with. Same with Eisenhower.

Yet none of these men even got an honorable mention for their efforts.

So again, I have to ask what exactly has Obama done?

He's moved troops around in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He's trying to bring our nation back from the brink of bankruptcy (yet again!).

However, he hasn't really formally been able to conclude ANY of these actions.

There's still military actions being taken in Iraq and Afghanistan.

We're still in the middle of an "economic crisis" here in the states.

In fact, funding is getting so poor that we're having to cut costs by decreasing the time we spend teaching our children.

So as long as we can't teach our kids how to better themselves, and then can't afford to pay for them to make it to college, send them off to wars that have been brewing and going on EVEN WITHOUT OUR INVOLVEMENT, then get elected, we should consider ourselves prime candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize?

I can deal with that.

I'm running for office next year.

Write me in, and I'll be sure to keep y'all in my mind while I walk in the footsteps of giants, and take all of the credit for it!

Oxymoron warning!!

Yeah.

In case you're confused, I'll explain.

An OXYMORON is a contradiction in terms.

Jumbo Shrimp.

Military Intelligence.

You get the picture..

Yeah. Well this week I started a feud with a couple of lumps of lard on the blog-o-sphere over some (percieved) injustice.

You know what's funny? These same people advocate an open and free internet, and then try to tell others what they should and shouldn't say!

Are you getting the irony here?

They're willing to pass judgement on others, point out faults and flaws, and then expect everyone to assume that they have none themselves.

I'm sorry, did you mean to tell me that you're Jesus Christ returned in the flesh??

You're the next Buddha, and I completely missed that fact?

No, wait. That was the Virgin Mary talking, and I should pay better attention next time.

What. The fuck. Ever.

These folks are just as flawed as the next person. They don't have cause or grounds to be able to do or say these things, and then expect someone NOT to show them the error of their ways.

Beacuse of this, I'll leave any comment open. I'll leave posts unaltered.

However, I expect the same from them.

Oh, wait.

One of them DOESN'T blog.

This is the one who goes to read other folks thoughts, feelings, and life stories, and then proceeds to pass judgement on them.

Yeah. Go find another fence to gossip at.

Unless you're unable to get yourself out of the house.

Then I suggest you look into the Jaws of Life in order to get out and get some liposuction done.

Anyway, I'm done here.

Anyone want to see what happens next?

Read on.

Something keeps bothering me..

Do you ever get the feeling that folks only keep you around to use you for something.

That if they were to ever be able to do what you're able to, you wouldn't be around anymore?

That if you weren't able to do the things you can, you wouldn't be as vital anymore?

Yeah. I'm feeling like that right about now.

Yesterday I put in one hell of a workday just to get things done.

I'd posted about how I'm from the old-school teachings that my grandparents instilled in me.

I take pride in my work, and I do it to the best of my ability. I refuse to do something halfway, and leave it done with "just enough" to get it to work. In my opinion, that's just not right. I correct and complete the problem, and then in my estimation it's finished.

Yesterday, I was trumped.

We moved a workstation, and there were some unforseen consequences of the move. One was the failure of the IP phone, and another was the failure of the PC itself.

One was easily fixable. The other was not.

I had a replacement phone for the phone issue, but the PC was another matter altogether.

What had happened with the PC was best termed as a lack of housekeeping by the user of the PC tower. During the move, dust was able to sift into the contacts and hard drive of the PC, effectively erasing any and all data from the computer.

How do I know this?

Because it worked fine when I turned it off from the office it was in. Heck, it works fine now (once I removed the foot of dirt and dust from the inside of the machine!), and when transporting the PC, I took great care in keeping it stable.

Now, housekeeping on a PC isn't difficult. All that is really needed is to grab a small can of compressed air (that I provide these folks for free when asked!), and blow it into the tower about once a week. This keeps the dirt down, and the circuts clean. A clean PC is a happy PC!

Yeah. It doesn't happen much around here.

So, after putting in 18 hours of work to get the problem fixed, I was called and told to leave things "as they were", and go home. The problem will still be here when I get back, and I can work on getting it resolved then.

Grudgingly, I agreed, and headed home for a bit of food, and my bed.

When I came in this morning, it was to managers rooting through my office trying to find their PC and phone, and then yelling at me because their desk wasn't completely moved like it was supposed to be.

Being half-awake, and still a bit on edge from the excess of work I'd done the day before, I was impressed that I could muster up the polite response of telling them to talk with the GM who ordered me to go home, and that I'd take care of their problem when I was able to.

Threats of termination floated on the breeze, and I finally ordered them out of my office so that I could get to work.

Yeah, I'm still working on the problem. Heck, it's taking me longer to post than normal because in between sentances I'm checking for compilation completions, hoping that my data recovery scripting is going to work, and I can at least salvage some data that was lost..

Yet I can't help but feel that if any of the management here felt that they could do the job I'm doing, my time here would be awfully short..

I've been told on a regular basis that I do a great job around here. Things go smoothly, and problems don't happen very often. When problems _do_ show up, they tend to get fixed right away, and they get taken care of to such a degree that the problem usually doesn't happen again.

Now if I could only use that problem solving skill to replace faulty users, I'd really be in business, wouldn't I?

I'll talk with you all tomorrow, I've got a computer to fix.

I've been around the world and seen that only stupid people are breeding...

Yeah, it's Friday.

I'm actually getting a bit annoyed with the antics of some of my "frequent flyer" idiots. I mean, there are only so many times that I can repeat something before I start wanting to get sarcastic and snarky.

How many times should one person have to remind another about logging onto one specific program before starting another one that requires the first program to be open in order to gather data from the initial program's database?

It's as simple as:

Open program A. Then open program B. Why? Because program B needs to get info from program A in order to work correctly.

Yeah. Not quite rocket science.

Then there are the occasional idiots that decide to make the worst decisions ever when I'm extremely busy, and caught in the middle of another job.

Take today for example:

I'm currently in the middle of doing an exhaustive inventory for ALL of the computer equipment located in my building. That means servers, switches, scanners, radio ports, data cables, even Cat-5 jacks and phones.

While scraping away 3-4 years worth of dust from some locations, I happen upon interesting things like copper line converters, and BOS twinex controllers. These have been phased out of my system for the last 3 years, and yet I've found four that are still hooked up, and running...

While doing this, one of our associates decided to calibrate the laser scanner that we use to determine cube for an item. This scanner has a scale and sonic measuring devices located on it to determine height, width, and depth along with weight. This then can tell us how many of these will fit on a pallet, and how many pallet we can potentially put on a 48 or 52 foot trailer.

So, while deciding to calibrate the scale, they start pressing random buttons all over the scale.

My corporate supervisors call me an hour later to tell me that the weight info they're getting from my scanner is WAY off from their initial scans. Things that used to be 2-3 cube items are now coming out to be 200-300 cube items.

I head over to check.

Yes, I found the problem.

While calibrating the scale and scanner, they hit the buttons for Grams instead of Pounds, and Centimeters instead of Inches.

My company's data is measured in Inches and Pounds. So for the Inches to increase from 3 inches to 155(cm) is WAY out of proportion. Why? Because their hardware is still trying to convert the CM into Inches. So it's reading 155 inches when it was last measured at 3...

Now imagine this 45 pound box coming in at 1500 grams or so.

Yeah. You get the idea.

Once nice long recalibration session later, I've got the issue solved, but I've also killed 1/3 of my workday.

Ah, the joy of knowing when to leave things alone, and when to just nod and go about your business like it's another "normal" day....

I'm actually looking forward to this weekend. Maybe in some way I'll forget about the stupid crap, and be willing to start all over again on Tuesday...

I honestly think that's one reason my General Manager asked me to move to the 4 12-hour shifts..

See you all on Tuesday, and have a great weekend!

Yet more bitching about work..

Yes, I'm going to rant and rave about work stuff again.

However, before I do, I sent some questions to my wife's blog at her request. I think you should check out her answers, and see what you think!

Anyway, on to my raving....

Yesterday, I had one CRAZY workday.

Let's start this thing out right, and I'll paint you a small picture.

When this warehouse was built, it was decided to build in a small rural area that wasn't being utilized extensively by anyone, and would be easily accessible from the main freeway. They found this spot, and proceeded to install an ENORMOUS warehouse here. I'm not kidding about the size. This warehouse is over 975,000 square feet of space (floorspace), and rises over 180 feet. Plenty of space to store things!

Anyway, things seemed well. That is, until the first real rain hit. Then we promptly lost phones. That's when we found out some seriously bad news.

The city around where we'd built this place had installed sub-market cabling in this area, since before we'd come here there was nothing but cows and fields.

Moving a heavy indutrial zone in here blew out all of the specifications for the underground conduit and wiring that ran through this area. Because of this problem, ground water was now able to seep into the undergroun cabling, and effectively shut off any communication we could have with the "outside" world after any kind of heavy rain.

We brought up this finding and our concerns, and were reassured that the city would replace the cabling as soon as it was able. Passified, we went back to get our work done.

That was 5 years ago. Since then, each and every winter and spring we deal with the serious loss of phone communication. This will also include cable, and electrical at times too.

Yesterday was one such day. It had been raining here for about 3 days, and the water tables were getting high. At the end of the workday on Wednesday, my connection to the corporate network was getting dicey, and phones were becoming heavily laden with white noise and static. I contacted the local phone company to come out and fix the issue.

They never showed up on Wednesday. At 5pm on Wednesday we lost ALL phones and data lines. It was a total death blow to my warehouse, as with no corporate server to work on gave us no ability to update inventory or stock. Thus my warehouse ground to a complete halt, and workers were sent home.

I came back to the warehouse on Thursday assuming that the phone technicians would have taken care of the trouble, and everything would be running again at normal pace.

Nope.

Workers were sitting around chatting, managers were discussing options, and nothing was being done out on the warehouse floor.

My General Manager spotted me, and called me into his office, demanding an explanation.

I proceeded to show him the emails I'd left, and the calls I'd made to take care of the problem BEFORE it got to this point. He agreed that I'd taken the right actions, and proceeded to chew a new one on the phone representative that he'd had on his cell phone.

I contacted my corporate advisor, and they started putting pressure on the phone company from their side as well.

In all, the warehouse was effectively shut down for nearly 18 hours, costing my company approximately 2.5 MILLION dollars in lost time and revenue.

Because I didn't stay past my quitting time to wait for the phone technicians to show up the day before, I got my butt chewed.

So, thanks to all of this, I was in a REALLY bad mood.

Enter in my "second" part of my job.

Not only do I work the technical side of this warehouse dealing with the network administration and upkeep, but I'm also part of the Quality Control group.

Being on the QC team means that we do daily audits of trailers being sent out in order to assure the stores that the product they ordered is correct.

Well, because of some slacking on the QC side, the department was behind on the number of annual audits needing to be done. My head QC manager decided to "bulk up" yesterday, and we did double the amount we normally do.

One lucky group of loaders had to deal with us 3 different times.

Yeah. Three.

The first one wasn't so bad. They didn't like being slowed down too much, because they wanted better hourly numbers, but they were willing to work past it. They started to seriously complain on the second one, and it took nearly twice as long to complete because of talking, whining, and going to their manager to "demand" a transfer to a different trailer.

Being in the piss-poor mood I was in, each whine and grumble from them just get me off a little bit more. Somewhere in the middle of the second audit, and listening to a basic temper tantrum from a middle-aged man, I broke.

I called my manager, and informed him that I'd be doing yet a THIRD audit in the same trailer. With the same people. He approved it, and informed the shipping and loading managers. That act caused a fuss that I've never seen before in an adult male.

Whining, moaning, pointing fingers, I half expected one of them to throw themselves on the floor of the trailer and pound on it with their fists and kick their feet.

This display lasted nearly 45 minutes before they finally agreed to settle down and load the store.

45 FREAKING minutes!

After much delay, and quite a bit of grumbling and moaning on their part, we got the store audit started and we finished in about 35 minutes. As I cleared out the gear, and headed to my office, one of the loaders proceeded to thank me for the work. I ignored him.

He followed.

I walked.

He asked me to tell him what I had a problem with.

So, because of his request, I did.

I told him that I understood about the pains of dealing with the slow audit process. I understood about wanting to get work done as quickly as possible in order to have the option to leave early if the chance presents itself.

But I also informed him that the QC part wasn't my only job. I told him about my sincere hatred of someone wasting my time by doing childish things.

Needless to say, I wasn't nice about the whole thing at all.

I was actually quite the jerk.

But I really don't like it when folks kill my time by doing something stupid and childish.

The time they spent crying could have been better served doing work, and 10 minutes after we finished the store, they would have finished their tirade!

So.. Guess what I got to deal with this morning?

Yeah. The manager for those two isn't going to act on the incident, and DEMANDS that I apologize for my actions the day before.

Um.. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.

I think I'll waste his time today, and see how he likes it. If he enjoys it, then I'll apologize. If not, he can kiss my ass.

Hope you all have a good weekend. I'm looking forward to getting out of here for a while!

Awhua?!??

OK..

Normally, I'm not one for really picking on folks....

Wait, wait.. I take that back.

I'm usually the FIRST person to pick on someone about strange things.

However, with this one, I decided to leave well enough alone. So I'm going to blog about it, and snicker under my breath.

The person in question is one of my "upper management" people. This person has repeatedly told me about his education, his skills, his schooling, and why all of this makes him a far better candidate for a higher-paying job than me.

To be honest, I could care. I've got the job I was shooting for, I'm resonably happy, and I don't have to deal with the corporate asshats nearly as often as someone even one step higher on the company ladder.

This person has been nagging me since the end of November for a new monitor.

The problem has been that it's a "fuzzy" picture.

I'd go into the office, and see nothing but a crystal-clear screen. So I wouldn't do anything about this problem.

Lo and behold, last week I noticed something while walking past the "faculty" lounge.

This said manager was using reading glasses to read the paper.

Does anyone else make the connection here?

Yeah.

While using the monitor, this manager refused to use their glasses. Thus, a "fuzzy" screen to read.

Well, I got sneaky. I started a polite conversation, and pulled out my own glasses to read. This opened up a discussion on prescriptions, and I mentally noted what their prescription was for.

Then, dear reader, I went online, and ordered a "privacy screen" that also doubles as a set of reading glasses for this manager.

It arrived yesterday, and I put it over the screen. I got a call about 10 minutes later thanking me for the "new" monitor that I'd replaced the "old" one with.

Yeah. I'm sneaky like that.

But heck, as long as they're smarter than me, I know that my job will forever be safe!

2-Fer Tuesday Post #2

Well, I'm kind of curious about y'all.

Yeah, I said "y'all".

Sue me, some of my family have spoken like that for years, and there are some "country" phrases that just say it all, so there!

Anyway, back to my question..

Do you look forward to, or do you fear, the company Christmas dinner/party/whathaveyou.

Me? I can't stand it.

Why?

Because we've got an absolutely CLUELESS HR person, and she doesn't understand a thing about the employees.

Each and every single function we've done these past 5 years has been a complete and total FLOP.

She picks events, food, entertainment et all to her personal preferences, and not to the general consensus.

If she wanted to do something like that, why not put on her OWN party, and invite us over? Don't use the company money and time to make the associates grumble and gripe over what they're not getting, and how silly the theme is, or anything of that nature..

I'll give you a couple of examples of her style.

First, we've got the company gift-giving process we do each year.

Before we even got started on this, the warehouse personnel decided to save up funds to help the "Make A Wish" program for kids with, or recovering from, cancer.

What this program does is give the child, and their close family, the chance for a vacation of a lifetime. The only request from the foundation? $5000 for each child you want to try to sponsor.

If your facility is able to make that goal, you get to "adopt" a child's family, and you usually will get a visit from them once the trip is over.

If you make more than that, but less than enough for a second child, then the extra is put into a pool fund to help out causes who are falling short.

The last 4 years our facility has been able to support 4-5 kids per year. That's between 20-25k a year to a charitable cause.

This last year? She stopped it. When questioned why, her answer was this:

"I feel that we're putting WAY too much funding towards these kids, and not enough of it towards our own goals."

Translated, it means that she was hoping that the cash that we'd generate for the kids would then be diverted towards her coffers, where she could delegate the spending.

Sad to say that this year's Christmas gifts are going to seriously be lacking compared to the last few years. All because of some selfish reasoning.

Another example is the picnic we tried to plan for this year.

We tend to try to take pride in being a family-oriented business. Healthcare is paid for in full by the company, and that policy is blanketed to cover not only the associate, but his entire family of dependants as well.

Because of the family focus we have, the picnic planners decided to try to hold a carnival-type of cookout. Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, Corn Dogs, Fries, Pizza, Clowns, a couple of trick pets, and some games were in the works.

Enter in Ms. HR.

The picnic ended up like some kind of school fair, with cash being REQUIRED to be able to play the games.

What kind of games?

A cakewalk, that cost $5 per entry. It made exactly $0.

A water balloon toss. $2 per entry. It made $4.

A "Dunk the manager" contest. $1 per entry. This made $10.

No clown. No pets. No bounce house. No fair or circus-type of attitude anywhere.

Only 25 out of 300 employees showed up for it, once it was announced that games would cost cash to play.

There were 20 gifts to be awarded, and 10 were returned because they were things like $1 sun visors, or Water bottles that could be bought for less than $.50 each.

Needless to say, there were plenty of outraged folks over this.

And now we're hearing the plans for the "banquet" we're supposed to be having for this Christmas dinner.

Are we having anything traditional?

No.

Chinese Take-out is the menu.

Sure, it's being catered. However, Chinese food for a CHRISTMAS dinner?

Where's the ham? Roast Beef? Turkey? Mashed potatoes?

Wherever it is, I know you're not going to find it at my dinner.

And the prizes?

Well, like I said, 300 employees, and there's only 15 gifts to be given out.

Odds are that there are going to be some serious rumblings about that one.

Oh, and also add to that the news that the Christmas bonus program that everyone looks forward to this year has been decided upon (by HR) to be diverted towards a disaster relief program for this area in case of flooding or severe weather.

Last time there was something that severe around here, the employer I work for was just buying their first storefront back East!

That was 35 years ago!

So yeah, I'm pissed, I'm disgruntled, and I know that I'm going to hear about it from other workers.

What can I do about it?

Well, you're reading it.

Hope yours isn't as bad as mine's going to be!

More Comments on Stereotypes...

Well, something I said actually got a response, so I'm going to talk more about it!

Steretypes.

Me? I'm tall. Since the 6th grade I've been well over 6 foot. As of now, I'm 6'4" tall, and I weigh 250 pounds.

This has been cause for quite a few comments.

"Youre tall, do you play basketball?"

How exactly should I answer this? I've almost felt like replying,
"You're short! Do you play miniature golf?"

Or this one: "How's the weather up there?"

I've had to suppress the urge to spit, and say "Rainy"

Then I get posts from people like Bee, who look Hispanic, and because of this are assumed that they cook a specific way.

Let's see.. My nose is big, that must mean I'm Italian, which means that I can cook one mean pasta dish!

I'm Black, so that must mean I love red beans and rice, cornbread, and fried chicken!

I'm Polish, so that means I like sausage, potatoes, and cabbage!

Give.

Me.

A.

Break!

I think most times folks automatically assume things because they don't really want to find out about the person they meet. What they really want is what they can get from said person. It's not about who they are, but what they can give.

Me? I tend to be more reserved, and I take people at face value. I also have a tendency to trust someone until I find out that they've earned my mistrust.

Take this for an example.

At my work I have a manager who told me when I started here that he had a degree in computer science, but he never pursued the job because there wasn't much of a demand for the work when he got it.

Me, being the trusting sort, nodded, and took him at his word. After all, why not? I mean, I've never met the guy, and chance are he's telling me the truth, because what value would there be in lying to a basic stranger?

Today, I had an issue that was simple to fix. One install and a reboot was all that was needed. I asked said manager to do it, since it was something any "normal" user could accomplish. His reply? "Um, where do I find the reboot switch?"

So, for a comment like this one, I'm definitely NOT going to believe one more word this jackass tells me. You've got a computer science degree, but you think there's a reboot SWITCH somewhere on the computer desktop?

Anyway...

For me, I think the only bad thing about this job is that I'm starting to stereotype all of my managers into one file.. "Dumbass"

This isn't fair, to be honest, as there are a few here that really have their stuff together.

Of course, these aren't the people I deal with on a weekly or even daily basis, so for the most part I still consider them strangers. They're nice, they get their work done, and they don't bother me about stupid stuff.

It's the other 80% of the management force here that gets my goat.

Really, if you're going to try to impress me, do it with something other than that blazing "intellect" you've got going on.

My example for this one? Yup. I've got one.

Three weeks ago I had to move a workstation and printer. The location they wanted it in had NO power source, so I asked the maintenance manager to drop a power box there so I could finish the job. I got the "We're busy, so you're going to have to wait"

Needless to say, I couldn't put this on hold, as the GM told me to "Get it done... NOW."

So I asked the manager how long I would have to wait. His response? "When I get to it. If you need it done now, then go do something yourself."

You say something like that to me, and you're darn well going to get a result, it's just not going to be one you like. Now, I have to wander through when they do the fire inspections here, and I know what you are and are NOT supposed to do. So I went and did something BAD.

I took a 150' extension cord, and a 10' power strip, and ran a line all the way to the desk location.

I did this just a week away from the next fire inspection tour.

Now, this morning, I got a nasty email, and an extension cord and power strip dropped in my office chair.

I'm not saying "I told you so", but if he'd been willing to work with me from the beginning, then everyone here could have been happy, don't you think??

Anyway, time for a meeting. More next week!

Have a great weekend!!

More confusion..

OK, I think I'm watching a bit TOO much news in the mornings before work.

Tell me if you've heard this one..

AIG, one of the biggest lenders in America, was going bankrupt because of some fraud scandals.

The US, being the benevolent benefactor it is, bailed them out.

Now? AIG needs ANOTHER bailing out, not even a week after the last one!

Now I don't know about you, but when I give my kids some cash, and I tell them not to spend it all, I really expect to be obeyed.

How is that really much different than what's going on here?

The US bailed out AIG for MILLIONS of dollars, and now they're asking for MORE??

My first response? "Fuck You"

Now, I'm sure that this company has done great things for this nation, and is a great standard for businesses in general.

If this is the case, however, then we need to let it all rot and die.

I mean, a financial institution that can't handle money? Is there any more of a greater oxymoron than this?

My plea to the Powers That Be still stands:

Give another stimulus to the taxpayers, and let us get this nation out of debt. Don't bail out these crooked corporations just because they are begging you for help with their mistakes!

Anyway, I need to leave this one alone before my soapbox starts to crack.

Have a great Thursday everyone!

More Rants and Raves..

OK..

Now, I'm not going to say that I'm the smartest cookie out there.

I know that in fact I'm pretty oblivious to quite a few things, and there are some things I could really care less about.

But the fact of the matter is: Common Sense just isn't common anymore!

I mean, let's think about this for a second...

You'd think that someone who worked with a car would know that it needs gas, oil, and the occasional tune-up, right?

Yet this same person will then complain when the car breaks down. When asked when the last service was done, they'll say "Service? I put gas in it, what else do you think it needs?"

Observation #2: Someone working at night should know better than to turn lights out. One, it's DARK. Two, IT'S DARK. One coworker of mine is now on disability for falling off a loading dock because he couldn't see where he was going, and fell out of the loading doors. Pure Genious!

Then we have those folks who claim that they can do what they like with their bodies. It's their body, they make the call.

Fine and dandy. Do what you like. But please don't involve me in it. Then it no longer becomes YOUR decision, as it becomes OUR decision, since your actions also influence ME. Think about it.

Lastly, who was the idiot who considered bailing out a financial company? Really?

I mean, these people are supposed to be PROFESSIONALS at finance, and yet they went BANKRUPT!

If you're having to funnel cash into a bank because the bank keeps spending your money, where do you think you'll be getting your cash from? I can guarantee you that it won't be from your bank, because they're spending it all. But yet we're supposed to think it's OK for the government to bail out some finance companies, and expect everything to be A-OK?

I don't get it, and I don't think I ever really will.

Maybe it's just something wrong with MY wiring, and I tend to see things in a different light.

Maybe it's because I'm just too picky, and I want something to go right for a change..

Or maybe I'm just one voice of reason in a sea of idiocy.

I don't know, I really don't care, but I'm beginning to get worried.

Throw me a lifeline if you are one of those who agree with me!

Things that can piss me off.....

Today I "volunteered" to come into work for some overtime.

Now, I'm no saint. The main reason I agreed was because I like seeing my checks with that healthy extra chunk of change on payday. But I was also trying to help out a co-worker of mine who was behind on work.

The person in question had taken two days off of work for their anniversary, and one of the lovely and ingenious management staff didn't fill their position, so the work was left unfinished.

I volunteered to come in and help this person get caught up today.

NOT.. EVEN.. CLOSE....

I knew it was going to be bad when I pulled into the parking lot, and was already being asked to do things BEFORE I EVEN GOT IN THE FREAKING DOOR!

Give me a break people! I'm not even on the clock yet, and you're trying to tell me that you need something done?!?!

I tell you what.. Next time, buy a brain, and then it might work a little better than the last time you looked at it..

Needless to say, I wasn't able to help the person in question, plus the work I was hoping to get done is still piled up on my desk, and I'm in one really foul mood now....

I guess it pays to be smart, I just wish there were two or three others here that could help fill in from time to time..

I'm going home, and play some video games where I can blow the shit out of some stuff for a while.. Get all my hostile aggressions out before the wife and kids get home....

Why I hate the news..

I hate the news.

All of it.

I can't stand listening to it, but I need to hear some of it just to know what the fuck is going on in the world, you know??

But what REALLY got me going was the news that happened this last weekend, and is now (again!) being spun off THIS weekend!

Is it just me, or did the Gulf not have hurricanes before *cue angelic music* Hurricane Katrina?

I mean, now every time the wind blows over 5 miles an hour down there, newscasters are jumping on and claiming that this new front and storm could resemble *cue music* Katrina...

It really set me off last Labor Day weekend when my family and I went with the "rest" of my family to the beach for a nice mini-reunion and getaway.

That didn't stop my newsfiend uncle from turning on the freaking TV every half hour to watch CNN or MSNBC or FoxNews in order to listen to Hurricane Gustav, or the Democratic Primaries, or predictions about the Republican Convention, etc...

Listening to them drool over Gustav headed to the gulf coast, and that it was going to be "similar to Katrina" in every way got me pissed.

I spoke out, and made a bet with each and every person in there that Gustav wouldn't so much as blow over a tree.

I was a pretty rich fella leaving the beach this weekend.

Now, I don't care about the "spin" newscasters feel they need to put on each piece of news they get, but GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK!!

I mean, if you really feel that you need to sensationalize the news in order to get folks to watch, then you really need to get into a new line of work. Just tell me what has been going on, then shut up, and move on. Don't give me background on who is telling me the story, don't try to compare it with everything else BAD that has happened in history, NADA. Just give me the story, and get out. The check will be in the mail. Thanks.. Bbye.

Anyone else feel like the news is spun only to entertain those who don't have a brain?

I mean, listening to those newscasters talking about the Democrats Convention and the Republican Convention reminds me of nothing more than two housewives leaning on the fence and gossiping about the neighbors..

Let me make my own decision about who is going to try to screw up my country next, and don't try to influence me with your own pick for loser, ok?

Thanks. See ya.

Anyway, my vent here is done..

I'm out.