Well, not really.
Yesterday I had my annual evaluation done by my corporate "support", and passed with flying colors.
At least for all of that headache I was able to get lunch out of the visit!
So now I'm good until March sometime when my OTHER corporate advisor comes into town to asses my ability to do my job.
So many candidates, and so few bodybags left.. What is a semi-respectable IT guy to do??
Speaking of IT and bodybags:
I LOVE this reader that I'm able to get here at work and read.
The name of the runny read is BOFH: the Bastard Operator from Hell.
Yes, the author is British. Well, New Zealander, really, but still QUITE funny to me and my "techie" ways.
I find it in at The Register.com.
Full Address is: http://www.theregister.co.uk/odds/bofh/
I honestly have read this only the last year or so, but I went and found archives and read it from the beginning to the current issue. It puts into words EXACTLY what I feel like doing to some (l)users who happen to bother me while I'm trying to get a database done, or finish an inspection, or any other number of jobs..
Read it for yourself, and see if you can't find something funny in the reading.
The only requirement is that you know something about computers, and a bit about older functions, and a bit of "true" English to be able to not lose something in translation.
I'll talk with you all next week, and hope that you have a great weekend!
Showing posts with label stuff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stuff. Show all posts
Friday, October 2, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Have you ever really stopped to wonder....
What does it all really mean?
I'm talking about the complaints and belittling that folks feel the need to heap on people who like to blog.
I enjoy blogging. I write about stuff that moves or affects me.
At times I tell stories about growing up, other times I reveal things about my past.
I rant and rave about work. I complain about behavior and actions that really tend to stomp on my last nerve.
Sometimes I make the posts personal. Other times, I leave them open and ambiguous.
Does it all really matter?
To all of you, maybe not.
To me? It means something.
Yeah, this blog is almost like a diary. However, I don't care who reads it. I don't feel the need to take it under lock and key, and force folks to read what I put down.
If you don't like or agree with what I have to say, then it's as simple as NOT reading for the problem to correct itself. I'm not forcing you to read this, I'm not creating an incident by writing what I feel. I'm just being ME.
There have been a couple of times where what I've written has actually touched someone. That's great. However, it's not really what this blog is about.
There are times when I've offended and upset folks. Again, this is unintentional. That's also NOT what this blog is about.
This blog is here as my sounding board for whatever mood takes me. If I'm feeling nostalgic, then I can write down about fond memories I had growing up. If I'm feeling pensive, I'll write something similar to this post, beacuse it gets me thinking. If I'm in a good mood, I'll write silly stuff. If I'm angry or annoyed, I'll write down arguments about actions or activities that have really set me off.
So no two posts are going to be the same. They change just as often as the wind.
My wish here isn't about gaining readers. Those of you who like what I read, great! Keep reading!
Those of you who don't like what I write.. What are you still doing around here? It's not going to change anytime soon.. Get a clue, and move on.
Maybe at some point I'll decide to let my creative bone take control, and I'll write narraratives that will stir some kind of response from people, and have folks clamoring for more.
For now? I'm content to write what I feel, call a spade a spade, and not concern myself over the technicalities of personal involvement.
So sayeth the author of this mediocre blog, and thus shall it be!
I'm talking about the complaints and belittling that folks feel the need to heap on people who like to blog.
I enjoy blogging. I write about stuff that moves or affects me.
At times I tell stories about growing up, other times I reveal things about my past.
I rant and rave about work. I complain about behavior and actions that really tend to stomp on my last nerve.
Sometimes I make the posts personal. Other times, I leave them open and ambiguous.
Does it all really matter?
To all of you, maybe not.
To me? It means something.
Yeah, this blog is almost like a diary. However, I don't care who reads it. I don't feel the need to take it under lock and key, and force folks to read what I put down.
If you don't like or agree with what I have to say, then it's as simple as NOT reading for the problem to correct itself. I'm not forcing you to read this, I'm not creating an incident by writing what I feel. I'm just being ME.
There have been a couple of times where what I've written has actually touched someone. That's great. However, it's not really what this blog is about.
There are times when I've offended and upset folks. Again, this is unintentional. That's also NOT what this blog is about.
This blog is here as my sounding board for whatever mood takes me. If I'm feeling nostalgic, then I can write down about fond memories I had growing up. If I'm feeling pensive, I'll write something similar to this post, beacuse it gets me thinking. If I'm in a good mood, I'll write silly stuff. If I'm angry or annoyed, I'll write down arguments about actions or activities that have really set me off.
So no two posts are going to be the same. They change just as often as the wind.
My wish here isn't about gaining readers. Those of you who like what I read, great! Keep reading!
Those of you who don't like what I write.. What are you still doing around here? It's not going to change anytime soon.. Get a clue, and move on.
Maybe at some point I'll decide to let my creative bone take control, and I'll write narraratives that will stir some kind of response from people, and have folks clamoring for more.
For now? I'm content to write what I feel, call a spade a spade, and not concern myself over the technicalities of personal involvement.
So sayeth the author of this mediocre blog, and thus shall it be!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
A bit of clarification here:
So, I've been told that this rant I'm currently on is childish.
Really?
So then you feel that our ancestors who left a country in order to speak and say what they wanted were idiots and fools, little better than children for leaving their country of origin, and sailing across the oceans in search of freedom?
I'm not doing THAT grand of an action.
All I'm asking for is some respect and consideration for those that want it.
I'd have done this REGARDLESS of who was being attacked.
The fact is that I read about 20 or so blogs, and it just so happens that Dana's blog is the ONLY one where I see constant belligerant behavior.
(Aside from my own blog, of course!)
I can't stand the fact that some person can come into a place, belittle someone, make everyone else feel just a bit badly for the blog writer getting flamed, then spout off when attacked about their "freedom of speech" and how they have every right to say their piece of mind.
I agree with this.
Yet having that say ALSO means that the person who you're belittling has a right to what they say.
I mean, if Dana were to succumb to the peer pressure that Snugs and DoggyBloggy put on her, she'd really be no better off than most oppressed folks.
What good is it to have freedom of speech if you can't say what you like on a BLOG that you created?
What good is it to have freedom of speech if you can't be open on a public forum?
Attacking someone for what they do is usually expected. Especially from small-minded folks who always assume that you're only doing things for attention and the "oooh-aaah" factor.
Am I childish?
Yes. I have a good penchant for childish behavior.
If you don't belive me, ask my wife. She'll be the first to tell you this, I'm sure.
Is it childish to stand up for someone else?
I don't think so.
Is it really childish to stand up for your rights?
Absolutely not.
So there's the gist of my argument.
I'm standing up for rights. I'm not playing favorites, I'm not trying to be the hero. I'm just standing up for what I truly believe is right.
Will I get attacked for this?
As you can probably see already, I have.
What you can't see are the attacks going on behind the blog. The emails, the name calling, and the disgusted sighs I get.. Even from my wife.
I'm sure that the main reason my wife is against this tirade of mine is because she's assuming that I'm defending Dana.
Well, in a way I am, but to me it's really quite more than that.
I'm standing up for the rights a priviledges of ALL people that blog and write. You shouldn't have to make a personal page private just to be able to talk about your family life. You have the choice to write WHATEVER you feel needs to be said. Sure, if you're going to use folks in your blog then you should use permission before naming someone. However, there are times when I feel that you should be justified in your use of names no matter WHAT their opinion is.
This is one of those times.
I actually like Doggybloggy's site. The food really does look good, and he approaches this with an obvious love for what he's writing about.
That still doesn't give him the right to wander onto someone else's page, and spout vile and nasty words and abusive language to other bloggers.
Snugs is a different matter.
She's a follower, and one with a personal axe to grind against Dana.
Because of this, I could really care less about whatever it is she has to say. She assumes that things are "private" yet then drops onto a public blog to air this dirty laundry. She claims that she doesn't want to write a blog, because it's not a priority in her life. Yet this very same person haunts more blogs than I do, and has time to comment on them all. So writing a blog, not important, reading and commenting on them, very important. She also claims that she doesn't want to drag her family life into her blog. Not every blog I read deals with family issues. Some (like doggy's) deal with hobbies. Others include memories. Still others deal with things they find humorous in the news and outside influences.
Yes, many blogs tend to incluse family life in them. Why? It's simple. When you write, you tend to deal with the things you interact with the most, and that give you inspiration. My family does that, because I tend to spend the most time with them outside of work. Yet this doesn't mean that I keep on talking about them day in and day out.
Mostly I write about MYSELF. My work. My life. My perceptions. My feelings. My rights. Me, Me, Me, ME.
Do you see a pattern here?
The rants I took even revolved around ME.
My personal vendetta. My response and actions. My comments.
Hrm. So if I'm defending someone else, why is this still about me?
Think about that one for a second, and get back to me tomorrow.
Really?
So then you feel that our ancestors who left a country in order to speak and say what they wanted were idiots and fools, little better than children for leaving their country of origin, and sailing across the oceans in search of freedom?
I'm not doing THAT grand of an action.
All I'm asking for is some respect and consideration for those that want it.
I'd have done this REGARDLESS of who was being attacked.
The fact is that I read about 20 or so blogs, and it just so happens that Dana's blog is the ONLY one where I see constant belligerant behavior.
(Aside from my own blog, of course!)
I can't stand the fact that some person can come into a place, belittle someone, make everyone else feel just a bit badly for the blog writer getting flamed, then spout off when attacked about their "freedom of speech" and how they have every right to say their piece of mind.
I agree with this.
Yet having that say ALSO means that the person who you're belittling has a right to what they say.
I mean, if Dana were to succumb to the peer pressure that Snugs and DoggyBloggy put on her, she'd really be no better off than most oppressed folks.
What good is it to have freedom of speech if you can't say what you like on a BLOG that you created?
What good is it to have freedom of speech if you can't be open on a public forum?
Attacking someone for what they do is usually expected. Especially from small-minded folks who always assume that you're only doing things for attention and the "oooh-aaah" factor.
Am I childish?
Yes. I have a good penchant for childish behavior.
If you don't belive me, ask my wife. She'll be the first to tell you this, I'm sure.
Is it childish to stand up for someone else?
I don't think so.
Is it really childish to stand up for your rights?
Absolutely not.
So there's the gist of my argument.
I'm standing up for rights. I'm not playing favorites, I'm not trying to be the hero. I'm just standing up for what I truly believe is right.
Will I get attacked for this?
As you can probably see already, I have.
What you can't see are the attacks going on behind the blog. The emails, the name calling, and the disgusted sighs I get.. Even from my wife.
I'm sure that the main reason my wife is against this tirade of mine is because she's assuming that I'm defending Dana.
Well, in a way I am, but to me it's really quite more than that.
I'm standing up for the rights a priviledges of ALL people that blog and write. You shouldn't have to make a personal page private just to be able to talk about your family life. You have the choice to write WHATEVER you feel needs to be said. Sure, if you're going to use folks in your blog then you should use permission before naming someone. However, there are times when I feel that you should be justified in your use of names no matter WHAT their opinion is.
This is one of those times.
I actually like Doggybloggy's site. The food really does look good, and he approaches this with an obvious love for what he's writing about.
That still doesn't give him the right to wander onto someone else's page, and spout vile and nasty words and abusive language to other bloggers.
Snugs is a different matter.
She's a follower, and one with a personal axe to grind against Dana.
Because of this, I could really care less about whatever it is she has to say. She assumes that things are "private" yet then drops onto a public blog to air this dirty laundry. She claims that she doesn't want to write a blog, because it's not a priority in her life. Yet this very same person haunts more blogs than I do, and has time to comment on them all. So writing a blog, not important, reading and commenting on them, very important. She also claims that she doesn't want to drag her family life into her blog. Not every blog I read deals with family issues. Some (like doggy's) deal with hobbies. Others include memories. Still others deal with things they find humorous in the news and outside influences.
Yes, many blogs tend to incluse family life in them. Why? It's simple. When you write, you tend to deal with the things you interact with the most, and that give you inspiration. My family does that, because I tend to spend the most time with them outside of work. Yet this doesn't mean that I keep on talking about them day in and day out.
Mostly I write about MYSELF. My work. My life. My perceptions. My feelings. My rights. Me, Me, Me, ME.
Do you see a pattern here?
The rants I took even revolved around ME.
My personal vendetta. My response and actions. My comments.
Hrm. So if I'm defending someone else, why is this still about me?
Think about that one for a second, and get back to me tomorrow.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Like all good things...
Yes kiddies, I'm having to trim down the amount of time I spend blogging.
I've made a promise to myself to not post while at work. I've come to realize that my income is near and dear to my family, and for me to put that in jeopardy by writing about things that upset me for the enjoyment of others is irresponsible.
Now? Well, I've decided to post when I can while at home. It's not going to be as steady and as usual as it has been in the past, but there will be odd times when I'll be able to get free, and rant and rave about things that have set me off.
As a few of you know, I'm also dealing with some harsh and serious things on the home front as well, and right now one of my major focuses is going to be on resolving these issues once and for all.
So your thoughts and concerns are welcome, and I dearly hope that I won't lose your readership while I take time to clean house.
Have a great day, and I'll talk to you again soon.
I've made a promise to myself to not post while at work. I've come to realize that my income is near and dear to my family, and for me to put that in jeopardy by writing about things that upset me for the enjoyment of others is irresponsible.
Now? Well, I've decided to post when I can while at home. It's not going to be as steady and as usual as it has been in the past, but there will be odd times when I'll be able to get free, and rant and rave about things that have set me off.
As a few of you know, I'm also dealing with some harsh and serious things on the home front as well, and right now one of my major focuses is going to be on resolving these issues once and for all.
So your thoughts and concerns are welcome, and I dearly hope that I won't lose your readership while I take time to clean house.
Have a great day, and I'll talk to you again soon.
Friday, April 3, 2009
And this is how the Black Plague spread..
Yeah, contrary to popular advice, I'm back at work.
I don't know what it is..
I mean, just ten years ago I would have found any and all excuses to find a reason NOT to come to work..
Now? I'm finding excuses as to why I need to be here, and NOT stay home!
Talk about a severe change of attitude....
I'm not as bad off today as yesterday, though. I loaded myself up on Nyquil, sinus relief, decongestants, and cough syrup.. Not to mention cough drops and the occasional tall cool drink of water.
I think I'll make it through just fine today.
My coworkers? That's another story.
There are some folks here that I wouldn't mind coughing all over, and forcing them to take a few extra days off work just to get them out of my hair for a bit longer.
However, grandma didn't raise her boy to be rude like that, so I politely cover my face when coughing, and excuse myself when needed.
The worst part about being sick like this is that I'm all alone this weekend.
The kids are at their mom's.
My wife is on a "girls weekend" at the local casino.
I'm in an empty house, with a loving pooch, but nothing more.
I can't do the "sick man" trick, and just mope about in the recliner crying about how bad my head hurts, or some such nonsense.
If I'm thirsty, I get my butt up and get a drink. Hungry? Fix something. Tired? Go lay down. Maybe get a blanket and crash where I land.
But there's nobody to talk to.
Yeah, I can talk to the dog, but she doesn't talk back too much, and it gets boring after a while. I like the undivided attention and love I get from her, but sometimes I really wish she'd learn more english than "ride", "treat", "walk", and "outside", you know?
Well, I've got inventory and stuff to get done today, so I'm going to be knees and elbows in serious dirty stuff. Wish me luck, and you all have a great weekend!
I don't know what it is..
I mean, just ten years ago I would have found any and all excuses to find a reason NOT to come to work..
Now? I'm finding excuses as to why I need to be here, and NOT stay home!
Talk about a severe change of attitude....
I'm not as bad off today as yesterday, though. I loaded myself up on Nyquil, sinus relief, decongestants, and cough syrup.. Not to mention cough drops and the occasional tall cool drink of water.
I think I'll make it through just fine today.
My coworkers? That's another story.
There are some folks here that I wouldn't mind coughing all over, and forcing them to take a few extra days off work just to get them out of my hair for a bit longer.
However, grandma didn't raise her boy to be rude like that, so I politely cover my face when coughing, and excuse myself when needed.
The worst part about being sick like this is that I'm all alone this weekend.
The kids are at their mom's.
My wife is on a "girls weekend" at the local casino.
I'm in an empty house, with a loving pooch, but nothing more.
I can't do the "sick man" trick, and just mope about in the recliner crying about how bad my head hurts, or some such nonsense.
If I'm thirsty, I get my butt up and get a drink. Hungry? Fix something. Tired? Go lay down. Maybe get a blanket and crash where I land.
But there's nobody to talk to.
Yeah, I can talk to the dog, but she doesn't talk back too much, and it gets boring after a while. I like the undivided attention and love I get from her, but sometimes I really wish she'd learn more english than "ride", "treat", "walk", and "outside", you know?
Well, I've got inventory and stuff to get done today, so I'm going to be knees and elbows in serious dirty stuff. Wish me luck, and you all have a great weekend!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Something I Really Don't Understand
Ok.
I've gotta be ignorant or something, but feel free to explain this to me.
What's with all of the hype with Obama?
Yeah, for the first 30 days of coming into office each and every President has been looked at under a microscope.
However, I don't think there's been ONE day since he was elected that we haven't seen something he's been doing..
Here he is signing his name to a check for take-out after a long campaign.
Here he is in PJs getting ready for his first night in the White House.
Here he is reading something, and not really sure what it is, but it's gotta be interesting!
Now? He's being compared to FDR. Yeah. He was compared to Lincoln while trying to get elected, and now with the economy crisis, he's being compared to Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
What's next? Is he going to be compared to George Washington because Geroge was the first white president, and Obama's the first colored president?
Give. Me. A. Break.
How can you actually compare a man to an historical figure when he hasn't even had enough time in office to really make changes?
I also find it quite comical that the two former presidents that he's been compared to were totally HATED while they were in office.
Why?
Because they did what was needed, regardless of the public opinion.
Lincoln stood against slavery when it was a very popularthing to do in the States. Because of this stance, half the nation seceeded from the Union, and began a nasty war.
FDR began the "New Deal" whil the US was in the middle of a HUGE depression. This wasn't a very popular move, because folks kept thinking that things were going to even out eventually, and they'd be able to get back on track. Most resented Roosevelt's meddling in their affairs, and popular opinion was that this "New Deal" idea wasn't going to work at all.
Now, many years later, we see that these men did what was needed, and are now considered two of the most important and popular figures of our political history.
But we've got this newly-elected man Obama who is allowing his publicity advisors compare him to these men.
So far, I don't see the similarities.
He's a popular vote. People like his policies. He's doing what folks want.
From everything I've seen, he's more willing to go with the demand, than to stand up and do what's needed.
That's not to say that he's not going to be effective, or do a good job in office.
I just don't see the need to compare him to great men who have held the office until he's done something that really deserves that honor.
Give him some time in office, LEAVE him to do his job, and let's see what he can do.
What do you all think??
I've gotta be ignorant or something, but feel free to explain this to me.
What's with all of the hype with Obama?
Yeah, for the first 30 days of coming into office each and every President has been looked at under a microscope.
However, I don't think there's been ONE day since he was elected that we haven't seen something he's been doing..
Here he is signing his name to a check for take-out after a long campaign.
Here he is in PJs getting ready for his first night in the White House.
Here he is reading something, and not really sure what it is, but it's gotta be interesting!
Now? He's being compared to FDR. Yeah. He was compared to Lincoln while trying to get elected, and now with the economy crisis, he's being compared to Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
What's next? Is he going to be compared to George Washington because Geroge was the first white president, and Obama's the first colored president?
Give. Me. A. Break.
How can you actually compare a man to an historical figure when he hasn't even had enough time in office to really make changes?
I also find it quite comical that the two former presidents that he's been compared to were totally HATED while they were in office.
Why?
Because they did what was needed, regardless of the public opinion.
Lincoln stood against slavery when it was a very popularthing to do in the States. Because of this stance, half the nation seceeded from the Union, and began a nasty war.
FDR began the "New Deal" whil the US was in the middle of a HUGE depression. This wasn't a very popular move, because folks kept thinking that things were going to even out eventually, and they'd be able to get back on track. Most resented Roosevelt's meddling in their affairs, and popular opinion was that this "New Deal" idea wasn't going to work at all.
Now, many years later, we see that these men did what was needed, and are now considered two of the most important and popular figures of our political history.
But we've got this newly-elected man Obama who is allowing his publicity advisors compare him to these men.
So far, I don't see the similarities.
He's a popular vote. People like his policies. He's doing what folks want.
From everything I've seen, he's more willing to go with the demand, than to stand up and do what's needed.
That's not to say that he's not going to be effective, or do a good job in office.
I just don't see the need to compare him to great men who have held the office until he's done something that really deserves that honor.
Give him some time in office, LEAVE him to do his job, and let's see what he can do.
What do you all think??
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
(im)Patiently Waiting
Have you had those days when you're coming up to a nice vacation period, and you just can't stand the stuff going on around you?
Yeah.
I'm there.
I have today and tomorrow to work, and then I'm off for a nice vacation with the family.
However, it seems like every idiot and moron in my workplace has come out of the woodwork and decided to put on one special show for me before I go.
Let's talk shop, shall we?
Yesterday I had to be called in to set things up because one of my maintenance managers just can't get it into his head that he doesn't know SQUAT about computers.
They have been stripping and then re-waxing and repainting offices this year, since it's been 5 years since it was done last.
Because of this, offices are being cleared out, and then they paint and wax, and then shovel it all back into the office.
However, this specific office houses the network printers that we use to not only print out the labels needed for proper inventory, but it also housed the data and fax lines for traffic communication with the shipping company that we use.
All of this was unplugged, dragged out into the warehouse, and left to sit over the weekend.
Come Monday morning, they put everything back into the office, and plug it in, but NOTHING worked.
This is because not only did they not plug it back in where they'd taken it from, but they completely moved around the office furniture.
The printers I've got have a dedicated line and server for them to operate correctly, and just plugging them into any data port is like hooking up a phone to a dead jack. It won't get you anywhere. Also, there are more data ports physically in my warehouse than I have positions available on my data switches, so there are specific data ports that aren't live unless I physically go in and punch them down onto the network switch.
Because of this, I know what items work, and what jacks to plug things into.
"Normal" folks don't.
Thus I got to waste 2 hours of time plugging stuff back into switches, reprogramming a printer, and clearing out error messages from documents that were sent to printers that weren't online.
Annoying? Most definitely.
Boring? Not really.
Tedious. Absolutely.
I am honestly counting the minutes until I'm able to get out of here, and get on that plane. I don't care what the day or date is, I don't care if we have to sit on the tarmac because of weather. I just want out of this circus, and not have to worry about stupid stuff for at least a week. The most challenging thing I want to cope with is what ride to take the kids to next, or decide where we're going to eat lunch.
I think I need some Advil, so I'm headed to lunch...
More ranting tomorrow.
Yeah.
I'm there.
I have today and tomorrow to work, and then I'm off for a nice vacation with the family.
However, it seems like every idiot and moron in my workplace has come out of the woodwork and decided to put on one special show for me before I go.
Let's talk shop, shall we?
Yesterday I had to be called in to set things up because one of my maintenance managers just can't get it into his head that he doesn't know SQUAT about computers.
They have been stripping and then re-waxing and repainting offices this year, since it's been 5 years since it was done last.
Because of this, offices are being cleared out, and then they paint and wax, and then shovel it all back into the office.
However, this specific office houses the network printers that we use to not only print out the labels needed for proper inventory, but it also housed the data and fax lines for traffic communication with the shipping company that we use.
All of this was unplugged, dragged out into the warehouse, and left to sit over the weekend.
Come Monday morning, they put everything back into the office, and plug it in, but NOTHING worked.
This is because not only did they not plug it back in where they'd taken it from, but they completely moved around the office furniture.
The printers I've got have a dedicated line and server for them to operate correctly, and just plugging them into any data port is like hooking up a phone to a dead jack. It won't get you anywhere. Also, there are more data ports physically in my warehouse than I have positions available on my data switches, so there are specific data ports that aren't live unless I physically go in and punch them down onto the network switch.
Because of this, I know what items work, and what jacks to plug things into.
"Normal" folks don't.
Thus I got to waste 2 hours of time plugging stuff back into switches, reprogramming a printer, and clearing out error messages from documents that were sent to printers that weren't online.
Annoying? Most definitely.
Boring? Not really.
Tedious. Absolutely.
I am honestly counting the minutes until I'm able to get out of here, and get on that plane. I don't care what the day or date is, I don't care if we have to sit on the tarmac because of weather. I just want out of this circus, and not have to worry about stupid stuff for at least a week. The most challenging thing I want to cope with is what ride to take the kids to next, or decide where we're going to eat lunch.
I think I need some Advil, so I'm headed to lunch...
More ranting tomorrow.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Now for something completely different...
With all of the drama that has been going on, I'm going to step completely away from it all, and recall something from my past.
Because of my mood, it's going to be something fun, and also has to do with shooting.
Back in my High School days, a friend of mine got me hooked on Paintball.
Once a month, we'd save up enough cash to buy some gas, paintballs, CO2 and some spending money to go out for a weekend and play around.
There were 8 of us in this group. I'll give you nicknames, since a couple of them could potentially read this, and assume that I'm talking smack about them and their "game".
There was B-dawg. He was the Alpha of the group. He had the suburban, the guns, and the drive. We were all really along for the ride, and he was willing to drag us along with him. Not a great shot, but he more than made up for it in enthusiasm.
There was NJ. This dude SCARED me. He was sneaky, he was crafty, he was thin, and he was quiet. If you had him on your team, you won. If not, you lost. Nothing else needed to be said.
There was "Pops". This is my brother, and he was enthusiastic, but he made a better target than a shooter. We'd usually send him out to get folks to chase him so we could sneak up on the ones hunting him and his loud sounds. Sad, but quite effective.
There was Egg. My best friend in school, he didn't even know the business end of the pistol from the stock, but once he learned, he got quite good. The consummate nerd, he insisted on keeping his gear so that he could "tweak" things, and he was always tinkering with things to get the most performance out of it. He's since moved on to become quite proficient at World of Warcraft, so you can see how well he's doing for himself.
There was Bubba. Bubba was something of an anolmaly. He was HUGE. I mean it. As a sophomore in school, he stood an intimidating 6'8" tall. However, he was sneaky and quiet. There wasn't much of a chance of sneaking up on him, and somehow he'd get the drop on you if you thought he wasn't looking. He usually found a way to be on NJ's team, but on the off chance he wasn't your team wouldn't lose as badly as it could have.
There was Loafie. So named for his bathroom prowess. This guy was usually placed in an out-of-the-way place so that when his gastular explosions took place, there wouldn't be as many affected home team players. Other teams would be in for a shock, but we'd know where he was, and would steer clear of the area. We also liked to call him "Biohazard".
Deuce. Yup. Deuce. He was the second of a set of twins. His brother didn't like to play, so he'd come along just to see about shooting a few folks, and get his aggression out. Not the best player, but good enough to give a couple of folks some serious pause.
And then yours truly. I was decent, but I preferred to snipe at folks instead of going out and trying to make them find me. I'd usually get killed off by NJ, but only after he'd taken down the rest of my team. On most days, he and I would be the last two standing, unless Bubba had a good day, and then it would be 2-1 against me.
Anyway, we'd usually split into teams by drawing numbers. Then we'd pass out the ammo and reloads, let one team take off for 10-15 minutes, and then head out. We'd play wherever we could find woods. Being in the Pacific Northwest, that meant someone's backyard. Usually Bubba's or NJ's.
The time I'm going to relate is when we actually went out of state, and found an out-of-the-way spot. It was just outside of an Air Force training area, and we were given the "green light" to play to our heart's content up there.
We climbed into B-Dawg's suburban, and took off for a weekend of fun and mayhem.
Little did we know how much competition would be out there.
For those of you who DON'T know about paintball, there are folks who are experts, and those that play for fun.
We played for fun.
Because of this, a couple of us had pneumatic guns, but the majority had these little pistols that would compress air when you "cocked" the gun, and were loaded with tubes of paintballs.
Now, the "real" folks who played had the CO2 cartridge guns, with hoppers FILLED with paintballs. No hand-fed loading, no mess, just serious firepower.
Well, we got to our destination, and were having a serious blast. Folks were shooting and getting shot, bases were captured, and fun was had all around.
Then something happened.
Another group showed up.
With 8 guys.
Apparently this was the place they came to regularly to practice. They were two squads of 4 men teams who would play in local tournaments and such for cash.
Yeah. They were serious players.
And we stupidly challenged them to a round.
I have never been bruised as badly as I was that day.
Arms, legs, chest (even with the padding) my head and ears were even bruised.
Sure, a face shield pretects you from getting stuff in your eyes and mouth, but it doesn't do much for your ears or back of the head or neck!
Fingers and hands were a favorite target as well.
Well, after two rounds of getting just beaten down by these guys, our group came together, and made a decision.
We were going to play NASTY.
These guys were actually getting pleasure out of inflicting pain on us, so it was time to return the favor.
Bubba and NJ made up one small squad.
I was teamed up with B-Dawg.
Pops and Loafie made up another group, and Egg and Deuce made up the last squad.
The idea was to lure these guys into chasing one of the group, and have the other just destroy them. By destroy, we're talking pumping them FULL of paintballs.
Usually, on a kill, you use one shot, and if it hits, they're down.
We were going to show no quarter, and keep firing until we were happy with the painting result.
Each team had one person with a airgun, and one with the "play" handgun.
Handgun folks were the bait.
I had a handgun.
I wasn't happy about the deal, but I went along with it because I wanted revenge, even if it was played through someone else's trigger.
So we started.
I slithered through the wood and brush, listening for any kind of action.
Suddenly, I heard breaking branches, and I stopped. There, just 15 feet away from me were two guys from the "other" side.
They hadn't seen me, because they were actually tailing one of my other groups.
I waved to B-dawg, and we moved quietly to flank them.
I didn't know what kind of impact I'd be able to make with my "toy" gun, but I was determined to at least make one of them feel this big when I got through with them.
B-dawg got in a good spot, and nodded for me to move.
Getting ready, I aimed, and shot the nearest fella right in the groin. Yeah. The nuts. The family jewels. You come up with an analogy, that's where I hit him.
I've never heard a squeal quite like his before, and I'm not sure I'll ever forget it. Falling over, his partner kept his eyes on him, wondering what had happened.
That's when B-dawg took his shot.
Yeah. The butt. Poop chute. Hershey highway. Et all.
It was mean, it was underhanded, and totally unfair.
But we were enjoying the revenge rush.
We found Egg and Deuce, who were the pair being chased, and got our bearings. NJ and Bubba were nowhere to be seen, but we could hear some serious shots going on just past us. We decided to stay in small groups, and see about flanking the action.
We came onto a scene that would've made me laugh if I'd been of a mindset to chuckle.
Pops and Loafie were pinned next to a fallen gargantuan tree, and were trying to find a way to get a shot off. However, the two guys on them had them flanked, and weren't going for the kill shot, they were trying to see who could wind up with the head-shot on them. I know, I heard them talking about it from 10 feet away.
I was livid.
That was my brother.
That was my friend out there, and they were getting picked on.
I took aim, and put a paintball in the nearest one's ear. Deuce started in on the guy on the opposite side. We then stood and pounded paint on these two until we were tired of holding our guns up.
Neon green, Orange, Yellow, Blue and Pink covered the ground, and I'm sure there were two very hurt guys under it all, but from the way they'd treated us, I didn't care. I wanted the rest of the group.
Suddenly, like a ghost, NJ and Bubba were next to us, and telling us where the other two groups were.
Pops, Loafie and Deuce went with NJ, and B-Dawg Egg and I followed Bubba.
We found our group keeping an eye out for a small path that our group had been using. We waited, and soon enough heard the screams from close by as the other group got the drop on the amushers that were left.
The two in front of us decided to move.. Right into our path.
We waited until someone spotted Bubba's shoe.
Then we opened fire.
That day wasn't the most proud day I've had, but it taught me a lesson that I've taken with me.
Never underestimate an untrained person. They might just surprise you.
See you all tomorrow!
Because of my mood, it's going to be something fun, and also has to do with shooting.
Back in my High School days, a friend of mine got me hooked on Paintball.
Once a month, we'd save up enough cash to buy some gas, paintballs, CO2 and some spending money to go out for a weekend and play around.
There were 8 of us in this group. I'll give you nicknames, since a couple of them could potentially read this, and assume that I'm talking smack about them and their "game".
There was B-dawg. He was the Alpha of the group. He had the suburban, the guns, and the drive. We were all really along for the ride, and he was willing to drag us along with him. Not a great shot, but he more than made up for it in enthusiasm.
There was NJ. This dude SCARED me. He was sneaky, he was crafty, he was thin, and he was quiet. If you had him on your team, you won. If not, you lost. Nothing else needed to be said.
There was "Pops". This is my brother, and he was enthusiastic, but he made a better target than a shooter. We'd usually send him out to get folks to chase him so we could sneak up on the ones hunting him and his loud sounds. Sad, but quite effective.
There was Egg. My best friend in school, he didn't even know the business end of the pistol from the stock, but once he learned, he got quite good. The consummate nerd, he insisted on keeping his gear so that he could "tweak" things, and he was always tinkering with things to get the most performance out of it. He's since moved on to become quite proficient at World of Warcraft, so you can see how well he's doing for himself.
There was Bubba. Bubba was something of an anolmaly. He was HUGE. I mean it. As a sophomore in school, he stood an intimidating 6'8" tall. However, he was sneaky and quiet. There wasn't much of a chance of sneaking up on him, and somehow he'd get the drop on you if you thought he wasn't looking. He usually found a way to be on NJ's team, but on the off chance he wasn't your team wouldn't lose as badly as it could have.
There was Loafie. So named for his bathroom prowess. This guy was usually placed in an out-of-the-way place so that when his gastular explosions took place, there wouldn't be as many affected home team players. Other teams would be in for a shock, but we'd know where he was, and would steer clear of the area. We also liked to call him "Biohazard".
Deuce. Yup. Deuce. He was the second of a set of twins. His brother didn't like to play, so he'd come along just to see about shooting a few folks, and get his aggression out. Not the best player, but good enough to give a couple of folks some serious pause.
And then yours truly. I was decent, but I preferred to snipe at folks instead of going out and trying to make them find me. I'd usually get killed off by NJ, but only after he'd taken down the rest of my team. On most days, he and I would be the last two standing, unless Bubba had a good day, and then it would be 2-1 against me.
Anyway, we'd usually split into teams by drawing numbers. Then we'd pass out the ammo and reloads, let one team take off for 10-15 minutes, and then head out. We'd play wherever we could find woods. Being in the Pacific Northwest, that meant someone's backyard. Usually Bubba's or NJ's.
The time I'm going to relate is when we actually went out of state, and found an out-of-the-way spot. It was just outside of an Air Force training area, and we were given the "green light" to play to our heart's content up there.
We climbed into B-Dawg's suburban, and took off for a weekend of fun and mayhem.
Little did we know how much competition would be out there.
For those of you who DON'T know about paintball, there are folks who are experts, and those that play for fun.
We played for fun.
Because of this, a couple of us had pneumatic guns, but the majority had these little pistols that would compress air when you "cocked" the gun, and were loaded with tubes of paintballs.
Now, the "real" folks who played had the CO2 cartridge guns, with hoppers FILLED with paintballs. No hand-fed loading, no mess, just serious firepower.
Well, we got to our destination, and were having a serious blast. Folks were shooting and getting shot, bases were captured, and fun was had all around.
Then something happened.
Another group showed up.
With 8 guys.
Apparently this was the place they came to regularly to practice. They were two squads of 4 men teams who would play in local tournaments and such for cash.
Yeah. They were serious players.
And we stupidly challenged them to a round.
I have never been bruised as badly as I was that day.
Arms, legs, chest (even with the padding) my head and ears were even bruised.
Sure, a face shield pretects you from getting stuff in your eyes and mouth, but it doesn't do much for your ears or back of the head or neck!
Fingers and hands were a favorite target as well.
Well, after two rounds of getting just beaten down by these guys, our group came together, and made a decision.
We were going to play NASTY.
These guys were actually getting pleasure out of inflicting pain on us, so it was time to return the favor.
Bubba and NJ made up one small squad.
I was teamed up with B-Dawg.
Pops and Loafie made up another group, and Egg and Deuce made up the last squad.
The idea was to lure these guys into chasing one of the group, and have the other just destroy them. By destroy, we're talking pumping them FULL of paintballs.
Usually, on a kill, you use one shot, and if it hits, they're down.
We were going to show no quarter, and keep firing until we were happy with the painting result.
Each team had one person with a airgun, and one with the "play" handgun.
Handgun folks were the bait.
I had a handgun.
I wasn't happy about the deal, but I went along with it because I wanted revenge, even if it was played through someone else's trigger.
So we started.
I slithered through the wood and brush, listening for any kind of action.
Suddenly, I heard breaking branches, and I stopped. There, just 15 feet away from me were two guys from the "other" side.
They hadn't seen me, because they were actually tailing one of my other groups.
I waved to B-dawg, and we moved quietly to flank them.
I didn't know what kind of impact I'd be able to make with my "toy" gun, but I was determined to at least make one of them feel this big when I got through with them.
B-dawg got in a good spot, and nodded for me to move.
Getting ready, I aimed, and shot the nearest fella right in the groin. Yeah. The nuts. The family jewels. You come up with an analogy, that's where I hit him.
I've never heard a squeal quite like his before, and I'm not sure I'll ever forget it. Falling over, his partner kept his eyes on him, wondering what had happened.
That's when B-dawg took his shot.
Yeah. The butt. Poop chute. Hershey highway. Et all.
It was mean, it was underhanded, and totally unfair.
But we were enjoying the revenge rush.
We found Egg and Deuce, who were the pair being chased, and got our bearings. NJ and Bubba were nowhere to be seen, but we could hear some serious shots going on just past us. We decided to stay in small groups, and see about flanking the action.
We came onto a scene that would've made me laugh if I'd been of a mindset to chuckle.
Pops and Loafie were pinned next to a fallen gargantuan tree, and were trying to find a way to get a shot off. However, the two guys on them had them flanked, and weren't going for the kill shot, they were trying to see who could wind up with the head-shot on them. I know, I heard them talking about it from 10 feet away.
I was livid.
That was my brother.
That was my friend out there, and they were getting picked on.
I took aim, and put a paintball in the nearest one's ear. Deuce started in on the guy on the opposite side. We then stood and pounded paint on these two until we were tired of holding our guns up.
Neon green, Orange, Yellow, Blue and Pink covered the ground, and I'm sure there were two very hurt guys under it all, but from the way they'd treated us, I didn't care. I wanted the rest of the group.
Suddenly, like a ghost, NJ and Bubba were next to us, and telling us where the other two groups were.
Pops, Loafie and Deuce went with NJ, and B-Dawg Egg and I followed Bubba.
We found our group keeping an eye out for a small path that our group had been using. We waited, and soon enough heard the screams from close by as the other group got the drop on the amushers that were left.
The two in front of us decided to move.. Right into our path.
We waited until someone spotted Bubba's shoe.
Then we opened fire.
That day wasn't the most proud day I've had, but it taught me a lesson that I've taken with me.
Never underestimate an untrained person. They might just surprise you.
See you all tomorrow!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Yes, I'm pathetic!
That's right.
Why?
Because I'm willing to do just about anything at times to get my way.
Want proof?
Fine.
Back around 1980, I was in the third grade, and was pretty thin for my height and age.
Seriously.
My mom thought I was some albino Ethiopian. I had a bit of a pot belly, was nearly 5'8", and barely 100 pounds.
It was during this time that my favorite aunt was seeing this guy that my brother and I _really_ liked.
He was funny. He took us fishing. He could cook. He took us camping. He was polite. Did I mention he took us fishing??
Anyway, he was the perfect man in our eyes.
We actually looked forward to the alternate weekend when my folks would drop us off at my grandparent's house, and take off on their "date night". Usually, my grandparents would go to some activity, so my aunt and her boyfriend would watch the two of us.
This was a perfect scenario for the two of us. Favorite aunt. Great boyfriend, no parents. HEAVEN.
Yeah. Pizza. Fast food. Candy. Treats. Ice Cream. No "real" rules, and at the end of the night, the two hyped-up kids were then returned to their "normal" home to burn off the serious sugar coma.
As happens in many relationships, my aunt and boyfriend came to a disagreement one week. As luck would have it, it was the weekend we were supposed to be watched. Depression set in madly with just the three of us there. Something fun was missing, and it was her boyfriend. We all knew it, so no words had to be spoken.
After that night, my brother and I agreed that we needed to get the two of them back together, and make it stick.
The next week, they started talking again, and mending seemed to be progressing smoothly.
Until the news that they'd had another argument.
No! Not the week of our date night! This can't happen!
So, I pulled a mean, nasty, and underhanded trick out of the "do not play" pile.
I got my brother to whine at my aunt, and ask the boyfriend over for some pizza. Faced with an "adorable" face, she couldn't say no, and allowed the call. He then proceeded to whine at the boyfriend until he agreed to come over for dinner.
With the plan in motion, we had a quick conference to set our plans into motion.
Here was the basic idea:
We'd impress them both with what we could do, and because they'd be so in awe of our abilities, they'd forget about their problems, and keep being with us so that they wouldn't miss anything later on.
In the mind of an 8 and 4 year old, this was PERFECT.
Because of my size, I was amazing at climbing trees. There were quite a few around my grandparent's yard, and I climbed them all. Big, small, medium, it didn't matter. If it grew, sprouted leaves, and had roots, I climbed it.
There was one tree that I loved to climb more than any other. It was a HUGE cherry tree in their backyard. It seriously towered over the house, and was a full, vibrant tree. There were endless possibilities in the branches. Thick ones for sitting on, thin ones to swing on, crooked ones to jump around on.. The list could go on and on.
For this night, I picked my favorite tree, and started my routine. I'd scamper up the trunk, swing into the lower branches, and then Tarzan swing up to the higher limbs.
Everything went according to plan. Perfectly still night, good grip, solid start.
Until I got to the upper branches.
You see, I was so light that I could honestly swing in the upper limbs without breaking them. This meant that I really had no fear of how thick or thin a branch was, I'd grab on and climb.
On this night, that habit got me into trouble.
The branches I'd been scampering through weren't as green as they'd used to be, and a couple snapped after I let them go. Not realizing the danger, I kept up, and eventually my luck ran out. The branch I was holding onto broke, sending me down to the ground.
Two things ensured that my life was spared that night.
One, was that I hit a VERY large branch on the way down, which flipped me over, and caused me to land on my back.
Two, the house was very close to the tree, and it didn't take long after the breaking branch for them to know that something was wrong.
After falling from approximately 50 feet, I hit the ground directly over an exposed root on my lower back. This caused my spine to compress, and fracture in three places.
The snapping branches and following thud let everyone in the house know that something was wrong, and my aunt and her boyfriend were immediately outside.
I couldn't breathe. I could barely stay consious. The one thing I _do_ recall was the face.
Concerned eyes looking me over. A gentle voice talking to me. A quick "call the hospital, we're taking him in". Strong but gentle hands and arms scooping me up like I was a feather. The musky smell of cologne.
I passed out on the way to the hospital, and woke in the exam room from smelling salts. I was placed on a backboard, and forced to lie straight so that they could get x-rays.
The film wasn't pretty.
Because of my age, my bones were still pretty pliable, and hadn't completely shattered under the force of the fall. However, they had crushed together, and were now one massive lump of bone that couldn't be discerned from one another.
I was given some painkillers, and given a room. My aunt and her boyfriend stayed with me all that night, even when my parents showed up.
The doctor came in to see us all that next morning. The decision was to NOT fix the bones, but to allow my spine to heal. This was going to be done by fitting me with a back brace, and forcing my back into the position it needed to be in when the bones healed. I would have to stay in the hospital for at least a week, and then I could be fitted and sent home.
Joy.
So, for the next week, I was in traction, and bed-ridden. My folks came to visit, but the one consistent visitor I got?
Yeah. You guessed it. My aunt and her boyfriend.
They'd come visit each and every day. They'd bring chocolate milk, and cookies, and some small hand-held games to play, and just sit and have fun with me in that boring sterile hospital room.
I got out, healed up, and got better. Things returned to normal.
Then, I was asked to be in the wedding, where my aunt married the man who showed so much compassion to a young boy.
Yeah. I got what I wanted.
Sure, it didn't go as I planned EXACTLY, but I still got what I wanted, now didn't I?
Rest in peace Gordon Eddy. You'll always be my favorite uncle.
Gordon Eddy. 1951-2005
Why?
Because I'm willing to do just about anything at times to get my way.
Want proof?
Fine.
Back around 1980, I was in the third grade, and was pretty thin for my height and age.
Seriously.
My mom thought I was some albino Ethiopian. I had a bit of a pot belly, was nearly 5'8", and barely 100 pounds.
It was during this time that my favorite aunt was seeing this guy that my brother and I _really_ liked.
He was funny. He took us fishing. He could cook. He took us camping. He was polite. Did I mention he took us fishing??
Anyway, he was the perfect man in our eyes.
We actually looked forward to the alternate weekend when my folks would drop us off at my grandparent's house, and take off on their "date night". Usually, my grandparents would go to some activity, so my aunt and her boyfriend would watch the two of us.
This was a perfect scenario for the two of us. Favorite aunt. Great boyfriend, no parents. HEAVEN.
Yeah. Pizza. Fast food. Candy. Treats. Ice Cream. No "real" rules, and at the end of the night, the two hyped-up kids were then returned to their "normal" home to burn off the serious sugar coma.
As happens in many relationships, my aunt and boyfriend came to a disagreement one week. As luck would have it, it was the weekend we were supposed to be watched. Depression set in madly with just the three of us there. Something fun was missing, and it was her boyfriend. We all knew it, so no words had to be spoken.
After that night, my brother and I agreed that we needed to get the two of them back together, and make it stick.
The next week, they started talking again, and mending seemed to be progressing smoothly.
Until the news that they'd had another argument.
No! Not the week of our date night! This can't happen!
So, I pulled a mean, nasty, and underhanded trick out of the "do not play" pile.
I got my brother to whine at my aunt, and ask the boyfriend over for some pizza. Faced with an "adorable" face, she couldn't say no, and allowed the call. He then proceeded to whine at the boyfriend until he agreed to come over for dinner.
With the plan in motion, we had a quick conference to set our plans into motion.
Here was the basic idea:
We'd impress them both with what we could do, and because they'd be so in awe of our abilities, they'd forget about their problems, and keep being with us so that they wouldn't miss anything later on.
In the mind of an 8 and 4 year old, this was PERFECT.
Because of my size, I was amazing at climbing trees. There were quite a few around my grandparent's yard, and I climbed them all. Big, small, medium, it didn't matter. If it grew, sprouted leaves, and had roots, I climbed it.
There was one tree that I loved to climb more than any other. It was a HUGE cherry tree in their backyard. It seriously towered over the house, and was a full, vibrant tree. There were endless possibilities in the branches. Thick ones for sitting on, thin ones to swing on, crooked ones to jump around on.. The list could go on and on.
For this night, I picked my favorite tree, and started my routine. I'd scamper up the trunk, swing into the lower branches, and then Tarzan swing up to the higher limbs.
Everything went according to plan. Perfectly still night, good grip, solid start.
Until I got to the upper branches.
You see, I was so light that I could honestly swing in the upper limbs without breaking them. This meant that I really had no fear of how thick or thin a branch was, I'd grab on and climb.
On this night, that habit got me into trouble.
The branches I'd been scampering through weren't as green as they'd used to be, and a couple snapped after I let them go. Not realizing the danger, I kept up, and eventually my luck ran out. The branch I was holding onto broke, sending me down to the ground.
Two things ensured that my life was spared that night.
One, was that I hit a VERY large branch on the way down, which flipped me over, and caused me to land on my back.
Two, the house was very close to the tree, and it didn't take long after the breaking branch for them to know that something was wrong.
After falling from approximately 50 feet, I hit the ground directly over an exposed root on my lower back. This caused my spine to compress, and fracture in three places.
The snapping branches and following thud let everyone in the house know that something was wrong, and my aunt and her boyfriend were immediately outside.
I couldn't breathe. I could barely stay consious. The one thing I _do_ recall was the face.
Concerned eyes looking me over. A gentle voice talking to me. A quick "call the hospital, we're taking him in". Strong but gentle hands and arms scooping me up like I was a feather. The musky smell of cologne.
I passed out on the way to the hospital, and woke in the exam room from smelling salts. I was placed on a backboard, and forced to lie straight so that they could get x-rays.
The film wasn't pretty.
Because of my age, my bones were still pretty pliable, and hadn't completely shattered under the force of the fall. However, they had crushed together, and were now one massive lump of bone that couldn't be discerned from one another.
I was given some painkillers, and given a room. My aunt and her boyfriend stayed with me all that night, even when my parents showed up.
The doctor came in to see us all that next morning. The decision was to NOT fix the bones, but to allow my spine to heal. This was going to be done by fitting me with a back brace, and forcing my back into the position it needed to be in when the bones healed. I would have to stay in the hospital for at least a week, and then I could be fitted and sent home.
Joy.
So, for the next week, I was in traction, and bed-ridden. My folks came to visit, but the one consistent visitor I got?
Yeah. You guessed it. My aunt and her boyfriend.
They'd come visit each and every day. They'd bring chocolate milk, and cookies, and some small hand-held games to play, and just sit and have fun with me in that boring sterile hospital room.
I got out, healed up, and got better. Things returned to normal.
Then, I was asked to be in the wedding, where my aunt married the man who showed so much compassion to a young boy.
Yeah. I got what I wanted.
Sure, it didn't go as I planned EXACTLY, but I still got what I wanted, now didn't I?
Rest in peace Gordon Eddy. You'll always be my favorite uncle.
Gordon Eddy. 1951-2005
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Comments, queries, and posers..
I was going to write something humorous, but after this weekend, I've decided to go a different route.
My sister-in-law is a great lady. She cares, and does everything she can to help her daughters.
This last year I saw this woman's heart get torn completely in two, and now the pain has come full circle, and she's dealing with the problems and issues that her two daughters, my nieces, are going through.
You see, her husband cheated on her last year, and she's not been the same since.
I've never really liked the man. He was quite judgemental, and really never game me a chance to get to know him, or even attempt to get to know the person I am. Because of this, I was never "good enough" for him or his family.
Now? I could care less about his opinion, as from my point of view he's no better than anyone else. He's a lying, cheating, selfish, good-for-nothing man who only cares about when he's going to get laid next, and if he's got enough cash in his account to keep food in his stomach.
However, this has completely ripped apart my SIL. These two married basically right out of High School. She'd never been with anyone else, and had only known him and the life she'd lead with him in it. Two daughters later, and she was happy knowing that her family was provided for, and taken care of.
All that changed when the truth came out.
She left.
I don't blame her there. How can you stand to be in the same room with someone who's been living a lie? How can you look into their face, and think that they're going to be honest with you EVER again? How can you live in a house where someone else has come in a defiled not only your home, but your sense of security?
Her way of dealing was to get drunk. Quite often.
Becoming so numb that the pain would lessen, and she could unbend enough to find some other man besides her ex to fill the void she had inside of her. (not sexually, you perverts!)
This led her on a merry dance for a while. One guy to the next. Each one she's spout all of these praises about their good traits. But within weeks, the bad stuff would overcome it all, and her suspicions would take over, and the fantasy would crumble.
Imagine her girls, trying to make sense of it all. Hoping that mom would be able to find some place to set down roots. Hoping against hope that the home dance would be over soon. Trying to cope with their own sense of loss and anguish over the split and hurt they could see in their mother and father.
All of these feelings became internalized in the girls. One now has serious anger issues, and I honestly think that she needs counselling in order to get the problem under control. The other has commitment issues, and doesn't trust her partner to be honest with her, regardless of the relationship history. All of this because the ONE MAN they could trust in their lives destroyed it all for a woman.
Yet he still has the gall to claim that his actions didn't cause this, it was brewing from before.
Right now, my SIL has a guy who seems like a nice man. He's sincere, and he's honest. He's got a couple of great kids, and he treats her like the fragile personality that she is.
However, I've got to be honest here.
I'm waiting for the point in time where some fault of his is going to push her away.
I've seen her happy. I've seen her miserable. And I honestly can't see her settle right now. She's got too much going on that she's trying to ignore. There's not going to be any kind of peace for her until she's able to come to terms with this, and it honestly hurts me to have to admit it.
She's met some great guys. Yeah, they've had issues.
Honestly, show me some guy that DOESN'T have issues, and I'll get the campaign set up for him to be the next US President!
But seriously, guys as a whole are screwed up. We mess up TONS. It's genetic, I think.
So guys are flawed, and girls use this opportunity to "fix" them, right?
How does someone who is recovering from a nasty situation like this ever find the strength to try again?
I don't know.
All I know is that I really do hurt for her, and I hope she's able to find peace.
Funny stuff tomorrow, I promise!
My sister-in-law is a great lady. She cares, and does everything she can to help her daughters.
This last year I saw this woman's heart get torn completely in two, and now the pain has come full circle, and she's dealing with the problems and issues that her two daughters, my nieces, are going through.
You see, her husband cheated on her last year, and she's not been the same since.
I've never really liked the man. He was quite judgemental, and really never game me a chance to get to know him, or even attempt to get to know the person I am. Because of this, I was never "good enough" for him or his family.
Now? I could care less about his opinion, as from my point of view he's no better than anyone else. He's a lying, cheating, selfish, good-for-nothing man who only cares about when he's going to get laid next, and if he's got enough cash in his account to keep food in his stomach.
However, this has completely ripped apart my SIL. These two married basically right out of High School. She'd never been with anyone else, and had only known him and the life she'd lead with him in it. Two daughters later, and she was happy knowing that her family was provided for, and taken care of.
All that changed when the truth came out.
She left.
I don't blame her there. How can you stand to be in the same room with someone who's been living a lie? How can you look into their face, and think that they're going to be honest with you EVER again? How can you live in a house where someone else has come in a defiled not only your home, but your sense of security?
Her way of dealing was to get drunk. Quite often.
Becoming so numb that the pain would lessen, and she could unbend enough to find some other man besides her ex to fill the void she had inside of her. (not sexually, you perverts!)
This led her on a merry dance for a while. One guy to the next. Each one she's spout all of these praises about their good traits. But within weeks, the bad stuff would overcome it all, and her suspicions would take over, and the fantasy would crumble.
Imagine her girls, trying to make sense of it all. Hoping that mom would be able to find some place to set down roots. Hoping against hope that the home dance would be over soon. Trying to cope with their own sense of loss and anguish over the split and hurt they could see in their mother and father.
All of these feelings became internalized in the girls. One now has serious anger issues, and I honestly think that she needs counselling in order to get the problem under control. The other has commitment issues, and doesn't trust her partner to be honest with her, regardless of the relationship history. All of this because the ONE MAN they could trust in their lives destroyed it all for a woman.
Yet he still has the gall to claim that his actions didn't cause this, it was brewing from before.
Right now, my SIL has a guy who seems like a nice man. He's sincere, and he's honest. He's got a couple of great kids, and he treats her like the fragile personality that she is.
However, I've got to be honest here.
I'm waiting for the point in time where some fault of his is going to push her away.
I've seen her happy. I've seen her miserable. And I honestly can't see her settle right now. She's got too much going on that she's trying to ignore. There's not going to be any kind of peace for her until she's able to come to terms with this, and it honestly hurts me to have to admit it.
She's met some great guys. Yeah, they've had issues.
Honestly, show me some guy that DOESN'T have issues, and I'll get the campaign set up for him to be the next US President!
But seriously, guys as a whole are screwed up. We mess up TONS. It's genetic, I think.
So guys are flawed, and girls use this opportunity to "fix" them, right?
How does someone who is recovering from a nasty situation like this ever find the strength to try again?
I don't know.
All I know is that I really do hurt for her, and I hope she's able to find peace.
Funny stuff tomorrow, I promise!
Friday, January 23, 2009
General Ranting..
Today, I'm just going to go off on things that have bothered me, and see where it takes me.
First, I'm going to go off on these "reality" TV shows.
How in the hell can ANYONE really think this is "Reality" TV when everything seen on the tube is cut and edited for "good television"?
Reality, by definition, isn't something that can be scripted. So how can a network seriously claim that their show is all about reality when they're cutting, pasting, and molding a story for their viewers who want juicy gossip about who's doing what on that one show?
Let's point out a few, and see who agrees with me.
American Idol. Not really a "reality" show, but it's still pretty pathetic in my opinion. Yeah, some good singers have been found, but the main premise behind the whole thing is to show off some nasty attitude Brit who makes biting and insulting comments to contestants, and gets THANKED for it.
Anyone else sense the irony here?
Big Brother. Yeah. Gossip-fest galore. At the start, it's all about who's going to shack up with whom. Then it's all about what person is going to backstab the other, and so on and so forth. Reminds me of the trite analogy of the two housevies gossiping along the fence while doing laundry.
Survivor. Seriously. You take a bunch of folks, stick them on a remote deserted place, starve them for a while, then make them jump through all of the hoops. Meanwhile, they're all still messing with each other's heads, and trying to be the last person standing. Pathetic.
The Biggest Loser. Yeah, losing weight is a great idea and goal. But to make a "reality" gameshow out of it? The weight loss is impressive. But have you ever really watched near the end of the season? At the beginning, all the entrants have very skimpy clothes on, and show off all the disgusting blubber. But at the end? They cover up the flab, in order to impress you with their weight loss. What aren't they showing? The piles and PILES of skin that are now draped from their bodies from the massive weight loss. This is usually only able to be corrected by surgery, and removal of the excess skin and fat collected there. So, is this reality? I don't think so.
The Batchelor. Now, come on. Take a guy, stick him in a romantic location with 25-odd beautiful women, and make him choose ONE. First off, unless the man is independently wealthy, he's not going to be living in a mansion like they house these women in. Second, they wouldn't be going on all of those lavish and romantic escapades. Third, if he's a TRUE guy, he wouldn't be able to juggle all of those women, and if these were TRUE women, NONE of them would stand to deal with the others if the man showed any promise or affection to one of them. Reality TV? Not even close.
I know there are more out there, these are just the ones off the top of my head. I know that Brad over at Diaries of the Professor did a blasting of Kate from the Jon and Kate plus 8 TV show. I don't understand the draw of that one. Get preggers, find out that you're unable to afford all of them, so sell your soul and lifestyle for a TV series where you can be a total bitch to your husband, and still get good ratings from women who NEVER want to be in your shoes.
How about Little People, Big World? What a load of crap. Yay. Dwarves on TV. So what? Yeah, they have to cope. It's not pretty, but it's life.
Maybe next we'll travel around with someone with Cerebral Palsy, and find out how tough it is just to have someone help you take a crap, or do laundry. Or even EAT.
When is this stuff going to stop?
I don't know. But it's pretty pathetic when we as a viewer are more concerned about watching how other people live than being concerned about how WE'RE living.
Get off the couch, and get into life.
Now, I can understand losing some life-time minutes for shows like CSI, and Fringe, or House, or Bones...
Now THAT'S good Television!
See you all next week!!
First, I'm going to go off on these "reality" TV shows.
How in the hell can ANYONE really think this is "Reality" TV when everything seen on the tube is cut and edited for "good television"?
Reality, by definition, isn't something that can be scripted. So how can a network seriously claim that their show is all about reality when they're cutting, pasting, and molding a story for their viewers who want juicy gossip about who's doing what on that one show?
Let's point out a few, and see who agrees with me.
American Idol. Not really a "reality" show, but it's still pretty pathetic in my opinion. Yeah, some good singers have been found, but the main premise behind the whole thing is to show off some nasty attitude Brit who makes biting and insulting comments to contestants, and gets THANKED for it.
Anyone else sense the irony here?
Big Brother. Yeah. Gossip-fest galore. At the start, it's all about who's going to shack up with whom. Then it's all about what person is going to backstab the other, and so on and so forth. Reminds me of the trite analogy of the two housevies gossiping along the fence while doing laundry.
Survivor. Seriously. You take a bunch of folks, stick them on a remote deserted place, starve them for a while, then make them jump through all of the hoops. Meanwhile, they're all still messing with each other's heads, and trying to be the last person standing. Pathetic.
The Biggest Loser. Yeah, losing weight is a great idea and goal. But to make a "reality" gameshow out of it? The weight loss is impressive. But have you ever really watched near the end of the season? At the beginning, all the entrants have very skimpy clothes on, and show off all the disgusting blubber. But at the end? They cover up the flab, in order to impress you with their weight loss. What aren't they showing? The piles and PILES of skin that are now draped from their bodies from the massive weight loss. This is usually only able to be corrected by surgery, and removal of the excess skin and fat collected there. So, is this reality? I don't think so.
The Batchelor. Now, come on. Take a guy, stick him in a romantic location with 25-odd beautiful women, and make him choose ONE. First off, unless the man is independently wealthy, he's not going to be living in a mansion like they house these women in. Second, they wouldn't be going on all of those lavish and romantic escapades. Third, if he's a TRUE guy, he wouldn't be able to juggle all of those women, and if these were TRUE women, NONE of them would stand to deal with the others if the man showed any promise or affection to one of them. Reality TV? Not even close.
I know there are more out there, these are just the ones off the top of my head. I know that Brad over at Diaries of the Professor did a blasting of Kate from the Jon and Kate plus 8 TV show. I don't understand the draw of that one. Get preggers, find out that you're unable to afford all of them, so sell your soul and lifestyle for a TV series where you can be a total bitch to your husband, and still get good ratings from women who NEVER want to be in your shoes.
How about Little People, Big World? What a load of crap. Yay. Dwarves on TV. So what? Yeah, they have to cope. It's not pretty, but it's life.
Maybe next we'll travel around with someone with Cerebral Palsy, and find out how tough it is just to have someone help you take a crap, or do laundry. Or even EAT.
When is this stuff going to stop?
I don't know. But it's pretty pathetic when we as a viewer are more concerned about watching how other people live than being concerned about how WE'RE living.
Get off the couch, and get into life.
Now, I can understand losing some life-time minutes for shows like CSI, and Fringe, or House, or Bones...
Now THAT'S good Television!
See you all next week!!
Friday, January 16, 2009
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!
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!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
More talk about relationships!
Yeah, I haven't talked about the guy/girl phenomenon for a couple of weeks, so I'll get right back to my endless rant.
Here's something that completely confuses me, and I kind of want some feedback on it.
I'm going to give you a personal account of something that's happening in my household, and things that you might do to resolve it, ok?
I'm terrible, and I do mean TERRIBLE with money. Sure, there are times where I can save up enough when it's a short-term goal. But budgeting and keeping to it? Nah, not so much.
My wife, on the other hand, is a budgeting genius. She can plot and plan each payment out to the last penny before even glancing at the checkbook balance.
As I've posted in my profile, we're getting ready to take my kids to Disneyland here next month. Because of this, we really need to save up some cash to take along with.
I remind the wife, she nods. I trust it will get done. She's the budgeting wizard, after all!
Um.. It hasn't happened yet.
Now we're by no means hurting in the paycheck department. We both make enough to comfortably live. Yet with the slow economy, sales have dropped, so work at my warehouse is thinning. This cuts back on the overtime I could count on, as well as giving me opportunities to leave early. Yeah, I know I shouldn't take them (and I've been good lately about staying!) but when there's a chance of getting out of here with my sanity somewhat intact for the day, I jump at it before it gets a chance to make a break for it!
Still, even with these issues, we make enough to more than cover our bills, and stay well off.
Where does the cash go?
Do I take into account the need for replacing clothes the kids wear out?
Probably not.
How about the sundries like dishwashing detergent and such?
More than likely, no.
So where do I get off complaining about this?
Maybe it's the fact that even though I completely SUCK at budgeting, I'd still like to be kept involved in our family's finances. To know where the money's going. To know how much (or how little) we do (or don't) have.
Is that asking too much?
Here's something that completely confuses me, and I kind of want some feedback on it.
I'm going to give you a personal account of something that's happening in my household, and things that you might do to resolve it, ok?
I'm terrible, and I do mean TERRIBLE with money. Sure, there are times where I can save up enough when it's a short-term goal. But budgeting and keeping to it? Nah, not so much.
My wife, on the other hand, is a budgeting genius. She can plot and plan each payment out to the last penny before even glancing at the checkbook balance.
As I've posted in my profile, we're getting ready to take my kids to Disneyland here next month. Because of this, we really need to save up some cash to take along with.
I remind the wife, she nods. I trust it will get done. She's the budgeting wizard, after all!
Um.. It hasn't happened yet.
Now we're by no means hurting in the paycheck department. We both make enough to comfortably live. Yet with the slow economy, sales have dropped, so work at my warehouse is thinning. This cuts back on the overtime I could count on, as well as giving me opportunities to leave early. Yeah, I know I shouldn't take them (and I've been good lately about staying!) but when there's a chance of getting out of here with my sanity somewhat intact for the day, I jump at it before it gets a chance to make a break for it!
Still, even with these issues, we make enough to more than cover our bills, and stay well off.
Where does the cash go?
Do I take into account the need for replacing clothes the kids wear out?
Probably not.
How about the sundries like dishwashing detergent and such?
More than likely, no.
So where do I get off complaining about this?
Maybe it's the fact that even though I completely SUCK at budgeting, I'd still like to be kept involved in our family's finances. To know where the money's going. To know how much (or how little) we do (or don't) have.
Is that asking too much?
Friday, January 9, 2009
I didn't forget you all!!
Yeah, I'm late in posting today.
It's been a weird and hectic week for me for some reason.
First, there's the whole thing about getting my little car into the repair shop..
Then, there's the added hassle of learning the quirks of a different car. Namely, a Jeep with an attitude that totally clashes with me.
Add to this the fun of severe snow and rainstorms, with a dash of flooding tossed in just to keep things interesting..
And finally, have some of my corporate bosses show up to audit and do their fiscal year-end inspections, and things get CRAZY.
Yeah. Lots of interesting stuff going on..
At least the rain's stopped for now, and the water levels can drop some. I'm lucky. I live on a hill, so even though I get more snow than others, I don't really have to worry much about flooding.
If my place floods, then I better be looking for the replacement for Noah, because about 70% of the Earth's surface is going to be under!
My folks know that if they need to get out there's a place here for them. (I haven't told my wife that yet, but seeing as she reads this, she will now! Love you honey!)
I have never really seen much hospitality this last Christmas season. Yet when you toss in a flood? Folks tend to open up doors just to help those who used to have shelter keep warm and dry.
Yeah, the Christmas spirit might have been missing on the due date, but it did show up, just fashionably late in my area!
You can always tell the good folks by how they react in stressful and serious situations.
Those that step up and take charge and responsibility are those you know you can rely on to help out in your time of need. They are the ones who might be quiet and reserved, but will give you the shirt off their back if you're in serious need.
I tend to be one of those kind of people. Yeah, I talk and blather about all sorts of things on here. But since this isn't a face-to-face kind of confrontation, and I don't have to look into anyone's eyes, I tend to say what's on my mind with no thought to consequences.
In person? I'll talk and chit-chat. However, I don't really say much about myself, and keep mostly reserved.
How I'm able to do this, I really don't know. I talk and talk and TALK about absolutely NOTHING at all, and can still keep folks interested and engaged, yet reveal nearly nothing about myself, and still keep my caring personality well hidden..
My wife hates it.
It made me very effective as a DJ and Karaoke host, since I could make each and every person feel like they were the star of the show, while I personally couldn't stand about 85% of the stuff that was going on!
Anyway, I'm thankful for this clearing in the weather. The ground and myself can dry out a bit, take a breath, and prepare for the next big one, since this is the time of year for nasty weather.
How about all of you?
Anything you're really looking forward to at the start of this new year?
It's been a weird and hectic week for me for some reason.
First, there's the whole thing about getting my little car into the repair shop..
Then, there's the added hassle of learning the quirks of a different car. Namely, a Jeep with an attitude that totally clashes with me.
Add to this the fun of severe snow and rainstorms, with a dash of flooding tossed in just to keep things interesting..
And finally, have some of my corporate bosses show up to audit and do their fiscal year-end inspections, and things get CRAZY.
Yeah. Lots of interesting stuff going on..
At least the rain's stopped for now, and the water levels can drop some. I'm lucky. I live on a hill, so even though I get more snow than others, I don't really have to worry much about flooding.
If my place floods, then I better be looking for the replacement for Noah, because about 70% of the Earth's surface is going to be under!
My folks know that if they need to get out there's a place here for them. (I haven't told my wife that yet, but seeing as she reads this, she will now! Love you honey!)
I have never really seen much hospitality this last Christmas season. Yet when you toss in a flood? Folks tend to open up doors just to help those who used to have shelter keep warm and dry.
Yeah, the Christmas spirit might have been missing on the due date, but it did show up, just fashionably late in my area!
You can always tell the good folks by how they react in stressful and serious situations.
Those that step up and take charge and responsibility are those you know you can rely on to help out in your time of need. They are the ones who might be quiet and reserved, but will give you the shirt off their back if you're in serious need.
I tend to be one of those kind of people. Yeah, I talk and blather about all sorts of things on here. But since this isn't a face-to-face kind of confrontation, and I don't have to look into anyone's eyes, I tend to say what's on my mind with no thought to consequences.
In person? I'll talk and chit-chat. However, I don't really say much about myself, and keep mostly reserved.
How I'm able to do this, I really don't know. I talk and talk and TALK about absolutely NOTHING at all, and can still keep folks interested and engaged, yet reveal nearly nothing about myself, and still keep my caring personality well hidden..
My wife hates it.
It made me very effective as a DJ and Karaoke host, since I could make each and every person feel like they were the star of the show, while I personally couldn't stand about 85% of the stuff that was going on!
Anyway, I'm thankful for this clearing in the weather. The ground and myself can dry out a bit, take a breath, and prepare for the next big one, since this is the time of year for nasty weather.
How about all of you?
Anything you're really looking forward to at the start of this new year?
Friday, January 2, 2009
Looking back: A glimpse of what the Year 2000 has been so far...
I've been thinking about how this new millennia has been, and there have been some seriously funny times, some very serious times, and some sad times..
Amazing how much emotion can be caught up in a memory, isn't it?
These last 9 years have seen the birth of my youngest son, my divorce, my grandpa's death, meeting my wife, getting married, losing my dog, and having to put my grandmother in an elderly retirement community..
And the first decade isn't even over with yet...
However, because of my last post, I'm going to make this one a bit more light-hearted.
Over at Father Muskrat's place, I told him about an incident that he said needed to be told here on my blog.
This story involves one of my good friends, I'll call him Thom, and my brother and I.
Thom had just celebrated his 30th birthday back in 2000. Because of this, we got together and celebrated the only way we knew how back then. We partied. HARD.
The day started out around 2pm after we'd all gotten off work. We met at my house, and piled into my car. Then we proceeded to the liquor store, and blew and insane amount of money on alcohol. After this, we went back to Thom's house, where we called around to see who all was going to make it to his party.
Once we knew how many folks were going to be there, we called up the local tavern where we hung out as "regulars" and made sure to let them know we were coming, and to order food for everyone.
Little did we know that my brother's girlfriend's dad was going to bring along the bikers that he hung out with.
In true biker tradition, once there, the entire group demaded to get Thom his "birthday hacks". This involved a 2' long and 3"thick wooden paddle, and Thom's butt.
Unwilling to let this go without being medicated, Thom insisted that he needed three rounds of drinks before getting the hacks. This was agreed to, and three rounds of drinks were ordered.
Feeling pity, I slipped my shots over to Thom, and he drank them with little more than a blink.
Needless to say, once the third round was over, Thom was feeling NO pain.
So, the group lined up, and broke out the paddle. Thom stood at the front of the bar, and bent over. Each person there then got one hack with the paddle.
I'm telling you the truth, Thom didn't flinch once, and even insisted on a couple of folks to "go again" because he didn't feel anything when they went.
Well, the party went on, and on, and on... Eventually, it got to the point where Thom couldn't even ORDER a drink, much less drink one, so we decided to take him home. I got my brother, and he and I took an arm, and dragged Thom out to my car.
Once in the car, Thom was seat belted in, but he insisted on keeping his feet on the dash, because "If we get into a wreck, I'd rather slam my head into my knees than into your dash and ruin it". So, we drove hom with my brother in the back, and Thom in his "crash position".
Once there, we found that the neighbors had taken up all of the parking spaces at Thom's apartment complex. This led to a massive tirade by Thom, with him then insisting that he needed to "poop" on his neighbor's car. He walked over to a Mazda RX-7, and said "This is his car.. It's a shitty car, and to prove it, I'm going to poop on it."
My brother and I rushed over, and grabbed him by the arms, and pulled him away from the car, and tried to get him turned to get up to his apartment.
This proved to be a bit of a chore, as during the 5 seconds of freedom he'd had he was able to somehow unbuckle and unbutton his pants, which were falling down around his knees.
Since my brother and I had his arms, he wasn't able to reach down to get his waistband of his pants, so he was trying to do the "penguin" walk to keep them from falling completely off.
The next big trick was getting him up his stairs to his apartment. You see, the stairs were only wide enough for two people, and there were THREE of us..
So I stood next to Thom, and he did the duck-walk right next to me. My brother, not willing to be too close, followed a safe distance behind...
At the second step, Thom decided that he needed to pull his pants up. After about 5 minutes, I reached down, and handed him his waistband to hold on to. This was a good fix until one of his neighbors walked out of their room for something, and Thom decided that a friendly "Hey!" and full-on two-handed wave was needed.
Yup. Two hands. Pants back down around the ankles. Female neighbor disappeared. Haven't seen her since that night.. Can't say I really blame her.
Anyway, then another minor scuffle happened to get his waistband back into his control. 10 minutes later, with pants in hand, we waddle his drunk butt up to his room.
By this time, Thom is really starting to feel his booze, and he proceeds to lean against the wall next to his door, telling us that he's "Resting here for a while."
We finally convince him to get into his house, and with some reluctance, he agrees to go get changed.
As we're walking by his computer/office room, we hear some music. Thom's roommate had downloaded some songs onto his computer, and Billy Idol's "White Wedding" was drifting down the hall. Thom asked where the music was coming from. I answered "Billy Idol's on the computer, Thom" to which he replied "Billy Idol's on the computer? Isn't he gonna break it?"
We finally got him into the bedroom, and into bed. He told us he needed his glasses, which were still firmly on his face, so we showed them to him, then walked out to let his roommate know we were headed back to the bar to drive other folks home.
While walking down the stairs, we made a "small" discovery.
During his penguin walk, Thom's wallet and keys had fallen out of his pants, and were laying at the foot of the stairs.
These were gathered up, and taken back to his apartment. When the door opened, a completely drunk Thom greeted us, and was so excited that we'd gotten him a wallet and keys that looked exactly like the ones that he'd lost.
We helped the roommate get the drunk birthday boy back into bed, and then started back for the bar.
My brother's cell phone rings.
It's Thom, still looking for his glasses. My bro reminds Thom to feel his face. Glasses are found, disaster averted.
Just before getting into the bar's parking lot, another call.
It's Thom's roommate. Thom is headed down the stairs because there's a car in the parking area that needs pooped on, and Thom isn't listening to anyone.
We turn around, and push some speed limits to try to get the problem stopped before Thom figures out what car to violate.
Pulling into the parking garage, my brother and I see Thom stumbling around the parked cars, looking for the numbered spaces. Luckily, he's got space 115, and Thom had only made it to space 45!
We pull over, and Thom greets us like we've been gone for years instead of minutes.
After catching up, we are able to convince him to head inside.
Big. Mistake.
In order to get Thom to his apartment, we walk past the offending car.
Snarling in righteous fury, Thom declares his need, and drops trou.
Giving up, my brother and I turn our backs, and hear the sounds of defecation as Thom shows his displeasure with neighbors that park in his vehicle spaces.
Beaming with pride, Thom returns, and allows us to take him up to his room.
Because of the actions, my brother and I avoided Thom's place for a couple of weeks.
The next time we visited, Thom had about four new neighbors, as the offending neighbor moved, the flashed girl had moved, and a couple of folks who lived below Thom's apartment had moved as well.
It's nice to know how much of an impact you can make on a small commune just by throwing a kick-ass party!
Happy New Year folks!
Amazing how much emotion can be caught up in a memory, isn't it?
These last 9 years have seen the birth of my youngest son, my divorce, my grandpa's death, meeting my wife, getting married, losing my dog, and having to put my grandmother in an elderly retirement community..
And the first decade isn't even over with yet...
However, because of my last post, I'm going to make this one a bit more light-hearted.
Over at Father Muskrat's place, I told him about an incident that he said needed to be told here on my blog.
This story involves one of my good friends, I'll call him Thom, and my brother and I.
Thom had just celebrated his 30th birthday back in 2000. Because of this, we got together and celebrated the only way we knew how back then. We partied. HARD.
The day started out around 2pm after we'd all gotten off work. We met at my house, and piled into my car. Then we proceeded to the liquor store, and blew and insane amount of money on alcohol. After this, we went back to Thom's house, where we called around to see who all was going to make it to his party.
Once we knew how many folks were going to be there, we called up the local tavern where we hung out as "regulars" and made sure to let them know we were coming, and to order food for everyone.
Little did we know that my brother's girlfriend's dad was going to bring along the bikers that he hung out with.
In true biker tradition, once there, the entire group demaded to get Thom his "birthday hacks". This involved a 2' long and 3"thick wooden paddle, and Thom's butt.
Unwilling to let this go without being medicated, Thom insisted that he needed three rounds of drinks before getting the hacks. This was agreed to, and three rounds of drinks were ordered.
Feeling pity, I slipped my shots over to Thom, and he drank them with little more than a blink.
Needless to say, once the third round was over, Thom was feeling NO pain.
So, the group lined up, and broke out the paddle. Thom stood at the front of the bar, and bent over. Each person there then got one hack with the paddle.
I'm telling you the truth, Thom didn't flinch once, and even insisted on a couple of folks to "go again" because he didn't feel anything when they went.
Well, the party went on, and on, and on... Eventually, it got to the point where Thom couldn't even ORDER a drink, much less drink one, so we decided to take him home. I got my brother, and he and I took an arm, and dragged Thom out to my car.
Once in the car, Thom was seat belted in, but he insisted on keeping his feet on the dash, because "If we get into a wreck, I'd rather slam my head into my knees than into your dash and ruin it". So, we drove hom with my brother in the back, and Thom in his "crash position".
Once there, we found that the neighbors had taken up all of the parking spaces at Thom's apartment complex. This led to a massive tirade by Thom, with him then insisting that he needed to "poop" on his neighbor's car. He walked over to a Mazda RX-7, and said "This is his car.. It's a shitty car, and to prove it, I'm going to poop on it."
My brother and I rushed over, and grabbed him by the arms, and pulled him away from the car, and tried to get him turned to get up to his apartment.
This proved to be a bit of a chore, as during the 5 seconds of freedom he'd had he was able to somehow unbuckle and unbutton his pants, which were falling down around his knees.
Since my brother and I had his arms, he wasn't able to reach down to get his waistband of his pants, so he was trying to do the "penguin" walk to keep them from falling completely off.
The next big trick was getting him up his stairs to his apartment. You see, the stairs were only wide enough for two people, and there were THREE of us..
So I stood next to Thom, and he did the duck-walk right next to me. My brother, not willing to be too close, followed a safe distance behind...
At the second step, Thom decided that he needed to pull his pants up. After about 5 minutes, I reached down, and handed him his waistband to hold on to. This was a good fix until one of his neighbors walked out of their room for something, and Thom decided that a friendly "Hey!" and full-on two-handed wave was needed.
Yup. Two hands. Pants back down around the ankles. Female neighbor disappeared. Haven't seen her since that night.. Can't say I really blame her.
Anyway, then another minor scuffle happened to get his waistband back into his control. 10 minutes later, with pants in hand, we waddle his drunk butt up to his room.
By this time, Thom is really starting to feel his booze, and he proceeds to lean against the wall next to his door, telling us that he's "Resting here for a while."
We finally convince him to get into his house, and with some reluctance, he agrees to go get changed.
As we're walking by his computer/office room, we hear some music. Thom's roommate had downloaded some songs onto his computer, and Billy Idol's "White Wedding" was drifting down the hall. Thom asked where the music was coming from. I answered "Billy Idol's on the computer, Thom" to which he replied "Billy Idol's on the computer? Isn't he gonna break it?"
We finally got him into the bedroom, and into bed. He told us he needed his glasses, which were still firmly on his face, so we showed them to him, then walked out to let his roommate know we were headed back to the bar to drive other folks home.
While walking down the stairs, we made a "small" discovery.
During his penguin walk, Thom's wallet and keys had fallen out of his pants, and were laying at the foot of the stairs.
These were gathered up, and taken back to his apartment. When the door opened, a completely drunk Thom greeted us, and was so excited that we'd gotten him a wallet and keys that looked exactly like the ones that he'd lost.
We helped the roommate get the drunk birthday boy back into bed, and then started back for the bar.
My brother's cell phone rings.
It's Thom, still looking for his glasses. My bro reminds Thom to feel his face. Glasses are found, disaster averted.
Just before getting into the bar's parking lot, another call.
It's Thom's roommate. Thom is headed down the stairs because there's a car in the parking area that needs pooped on, and Thom isn't listening to anyone.
We turn around, and push some speed limits to try to get the problem stopped before Thom figures out what car to violate.
Pulling into the parking garage, my brother and I see Thom stumbling around the parked cars, looking for the numbered spaces. Luckily, he's got space 115, and Thom had only made it to space 45!
We pull over, and Thom greets us like we've been gone for years instead of minutes.
After catching up, we are able to convince him to head inside.
Big. Mistake.
In order to get Thom to his apartment, we walk past the offending car.
Snarling in righteous fury, Thom declares his need, and drops trou.
Giving up, my brother and I turn our backs, and hear the sounds of defecation as Thom shows his displeasure with neighbors that park in his vehicle spaces.
Beaming with pride, Thom returns, and allows us to take him up to his room.
Because of the actions, my brother and I avoided Thom's place for a couple of weeks.
The next time we visited, Thom had about four new neighbors, as the offending neighbor moved, the flashed girl had moved, and a couple of folks who lived below Thom's apartment had moved as well.
It's nice to know how much of an impact you can make on a small commune just by throwing a kick-ass party!
Happy New Year folks!
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Not a Creature was stirring.. Not even my Manager!
Can you believe that this day, Christmas Eve, when we're already working a shortened day so that employees can get together with family, that my Manager would do even LESS than he normally does?
Yeah.
Let's see..
Hos job duties, as described in the handbook are as follows:
Patrol the warehouse, doing random checks of order selectors, loading personnel, inbound receiving clerks, and replenishment drivers. Do a weekly yard audit of all trailers outside, ro ensure proper storage and movement of inventory coming into and going out of the warehouse. Randomly check on inventory in stock, including reserve items. Participate in one store audit per day, making sure that QC associates are doing their jobs correctly. Inspect and audit 5 company stores per week, limited to no more than two stores per day, one store visit per month.
Yeah. Those are the duties he's been slacking in. He hasn't left his office since the end of Summer! He sits in his office, browsing the web, and sometimes filling out enough paperwork to walk it down to the front office. Yeah, he does leave from time to time to go to a meeting, but 95% of the time you can find him sitting at his desk, talking on the phone (usually with his wife and kids), or browsing some internet site totally unrelated to work.
I can't really fault him for the internet use, I mean, look what I'm doing on company time!
But seriously, to shirk all of those other things, and pawn them off on the rest of the crew? Don't you think we should get some kind of pay raise for doing his job?
Nope.
Not even a "Great job this year, you all make me proud" kind of speech.
The last "talk" we had was his instruction to buckle down, and do a better job, because we missed a HALF POINT in the last corporate audit we had.
So we got beat down because instead of the 100% he was expecting, our department got a 99.5% rating.
Oh. My. God.
Someone fire me because I didn't do his job for him.. again.
I hope that Karma means he'll get something worse this year than what I've dealt with...
And I hope to you, all of my readers, that your Christmas is filled with life, love, happiness, and joy.
Merry Christmas, and I'll see you all on Friday!
Yeah.
Let's see..
Hos job duties, as described in the handbook are as follows:
Patrol the warehouse, doing random checks of order selectors, loading personnel, inbound receiving clerks, and replenishment drivers. Do a weekly yard audit of all trailers outside, ro ensure proper storage and movement of inventory coming into and going out of the warehouse. Randomly check on inventory in stock, including reserve items. Participate in one store audit per day, making sure that QC associates are doing their jobs correctly. Inspect and audit 5 company stores per week, limited to no more than two stores per day, one store visit per month.
Yeah. Those are the duties he's been slacking in. He hasn't left his office since the end of Summer! He sits in his office, browsing the web, and sometimes filling out enough paperwork to walk it down to the front office. Yeah, he does leave from time to time to go to a meeting, but 95% of the time you can find him sitting at his desk, talking on the phone (usually with his wife and kids), or browsing some internet site totally unrelated to work.
I can't really fault him for the internet use, I mean, look what I'm doing on company time!
But seriously, to shirk all of those other things, and pawn them off on the rest of the crew? Don't you think we should get some kind of pay raise for doing his job?
Nope.
Not even a "Great job this year, you all make me proud" kind of speech.
The last "talk" we had was his instruction to buckle down, and do a better job, because we missed a HALF POINT in the last corporate audit we had.
So we got beat down because instead of the 100% he was expecting, our department got a 99.5% rating.
Oh. My. God.
Someone fire me because I didn't do his job for him.. again.
I hope that Karma means he'll get something worse this year than what I've dealt with...
And I hope to you, all of my readers, that your Christmas is filled with life, love, happiness, and joy.
Merry Christmas, and I'll see you all on Friday!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
WTF Wednesday
OK.
Today I've got a personal bitch, and it has made me say "WTF?" a few different times today.
All last night the news forecasters were talking about the weather front that is coming in, and how bad of a snowstorm we're going to be getting.
Now realize that this ISN'T the midwest. People here start to really freak out when they see the white stuff fall from the sky. Rain, fine. Sleet? I can deal.
Soft fluffly snow?
Lemme outta here!
Thus, we've gotten about 2 1/2 inches of snow so far. Not much, but enough that I've personally seen three wrecks since it started falling.
Now the warehouse I work at isn't in a busy area. We're one of only five buildings in the surrounding area, and two of them are residences.
Tonight is the night for our Christmas dinner here at work, so not only am I getting to sit here and watch the snow pile up, but I get to wait until after dark for it to freeze solid before I climb into my car and try to drive home.
Now, I'm not worried about _MY_ driving in the snow.
What really freaks me out are all of the other insane drivers..
You know who I'm talking about.
The folks who drive like there's nothing on the roads, and then you see them wrapped around the highway median a few miles further because of some ice..
Or the idiot who's driving 10 miles an hour down the center of traffic, and weaving side to side in order to keep everyone else from "throwing crap" onto his windshield.
Or the trucker who's on the far right, but swapping lanes with no signal, and shoving other cars left and right as he tries to make his shipping timetable.
Yes, I get to deal with all of these, and a few more....
The worst part?
It was completely clear when I came to work this morning.
No clouds.
No rain.
Nada.
Now I'm just kind of curious how bad it is at home, and whether I should take a personal day off tomorrow!
Today I've got a personal bitch, and it has made me say "WTF?" a few different times today.
All last night the news forecasters were talking about the weather front that is coming in, and how bad of a snowstorm we're going to be getting.
Now realize that this ISN'T the midwest. People here start to really freak out when they see the white stuff fall from the sky. Rain, fine. Sleet? I can deal.
Soft fluffly snow?
Lemme outta here!
Thus, we've gotten about 2 1/2 inches of snow so far. Not much, but enough that I've personally seen three wrecks since it started falling.
Now the warehouse I work at isn't in a busy area. We're one of only five buildings in the surrounding area, and two of them are residences.
Tonight is the night for our Christmas dinner here at work, so not only am I getting to sit here and watch the snow pile up, but I get to wait until after dark for it to freeze solid before I climb into my car and try to drive home.
Now, I'm not worried about _MY_ driving in the snow.
What really freaks me out are all of the other insane drivers..
You know who I'm talking about.
The folks who drive like there's nothing on the roads, and then you see them wrapped around the highway median a few miles further because of some ice..
Or the idiot who's driving 10 miles an hour down the center of traffic, and weaving side to side in order to keep everyone else from "throwing crap" onto his windshield.
Or the trucker who's on the far right, but swapping lanes with no signal, and shoving other cars left and right as he tries to make his shipping timetable.
Yes, I get to deal with all of these, and a few more....
The worst part?
It was completely clear when I came to work this morning.
No clouds.
No rain.
Nada.
Now I'm just kind of curious how bad it is at home, and whether I should take a personal day off tomorrow!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
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!
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!
2-Fer Tuesday post #1
Well, it's Tuesday again, and I'm going to write and ramble like it's nobody's business today.
Last week, I was swapmed with work, thanks to the idiocy and ineptitude of a manager.
Why is it that when folks have to use a computer for work, they will automatically assume that they can treat the machine like it's their home computer, and not one for work?
There are certain guidelines that need to be followed when you're using a work computer.
1) NEVER open personal emails or email attachments while at work. Just don't do it. You never know what attachments could be potential viruses or trojans, and it's best to leave that stuff at home, instead of bringing it to the worklplace.
2) Limit how often you're on random internet sites. Net usage gets monitored, and it's expected that you're going to have times when you'll be on sites outside of the "work approved" places. However, you should ALWAYS try to take these in moderation. Spending 8 hours of your 10 hour workday on EBAY isn't the best way to keep the surfing potential open!
3) When in doubt, leave it alone. Never go to a site or agree to an Active-X control unless you know EXACTLY what it's going to do or install. This goes especially for folks who have weekly internet updates. You never know when that Google Browser Toolbar is going to cause some kind of resource conflict because corporate is assuming that your system is configured like everyone else's in the network.
These three things could mean the difference between a happy use, and potential termination for abuse of policy.
Anyway, I rant, and rave, but I need to get finished.
Happy Holidays!
Last week, I was swapmed with work, thanks to the idiocy and ineptitude of a manager.
Why is it that when folks have to use a computer for work, they will automatically assume that they can treat the machine like it's their home computer, and not one for work?
There are certain guidelines that need to be followed when you're using a work computer.
1) NEVER open personal emails or email attachments while at work. Just don't do it. You never know what attachments could be potential viruses or trojans, and it's best to leave that stuff at home, instead of bringing it to the worklplace.
2) Limit how often you're on random internet sites. Net usage gets monitored, and it's expected that you're going to have times when you'll be on sites outside of the "work approved" places. However, you should ALWAYS try to take these in moderation. Spending 8 hours of your 10 hour workday on EBAY isn't the best way to keep the surfing potential open!
3) When in doubt, leave it alone. Never go to a site or agree to an Active-X control unless you know EXACTLY what it's going to do or install. This goes especially for folks who have weekly internet updates. You never know when that Google Browser Toolbar is going to cause some kind of resource conflict because corporate is assuming that your system is configured like everyone else's in the network.
These three things could mean the difference between a happy use, and potential termination for abuse of policy.
Anyway, I rant, and rave, but I need to get finished.
Happy Holidays!
Friday, December 12, 2008
4F Friday!!
Yup.
Amazing how quickly the weeks go by when you work like a dog..
Anyway, here are my five fun factoids for you to vicariously live by proxy through me and my sad existence!
1. Growing up, I had quite the animal magnetism. I could honestly walk one block, and have dogs and cats follow me for no apparent reason other than I looked good.
2. To this day, I can usually get dogs to obey me with little to no effort on my part. I'd say that I'm a dog whisperer, but then Victor Milan wouldn't have a job, so I'll let him keep on thinking he knows more!
3. Don't tell my wife, but I LOVE to cook. I love learning new recipes, and I also love to try making new dishes from time to time. I make a mean BBQ, and I've been asked about my chicken wings a few times, even though I haven't made them in over 2 years!
4. When I was in college, I lived off of potatoes, pasta and rice as a staple to my diet. I'd dice and fry up potatoes like mad, make hommade noodles for pasta and boil them for a side dish, and I'd fry up or steam rice and add cream of chicken soup to make a minor meal. (This explains how I was only 180 pounds before going into the service!)
5. When I start doing hard work around the house, I hate to get interrupted while "in the zone". It never seems to fail that while I'm trying to get some nasty job like digging up root systems for old bushes we've taken out, or trimming the hedges back, or replacing windows or blinds.. That I'll inevitably get pestered to come see this, or help lift that, or bring me this, or take that out during my time of work. I don't mind helping, but if it's not really that important, can it wait until my major project is done?
Anyway, these are my facts for this week. Have a great weekend, and I'll see you again on Tuesday!
Amazing how quickly the weeks go by when you work like a dog..
Anyway, here are my five fun factoids for you to vicariously live by proxy through me and my sad existence!
1. Growing up, I had quite the animal magnetism. I could honestly walk one block, and have dogs and cats follow me for no apparent reason other than I looked good.
2. To this day, I can usually get dogs to obey me with little to no effort on my part. I'd say that I'm a dog whisperer, but then Victor Milan wouldn't have a job, so I'll let him keep on thinking he knows more!
3. Don't tell my wife, but I LOVE to cook. I love learning new recipes, and I also love to try making new dishes from time to time. I make a mean BBQ, and I've been asked about my chicken wings a few times, even though I haven't made them in over 2 years!
4. When I was in college, I lived off of potatoes, pasta and rice as a staple to my diet. I'd dice and fry up potatoes like mad, make hommade noodles for pasta and boil them for a side dish, and I'd fry up or steam rice and add cream of chicken soup to make a minor meal. (This explains how I was only 180 pounds before going into the service!)
5. When I start doing hard work around the house, I hate to get interrupted while "in the zone". It never seems to fail that while I'm trying to get some nasty job like digging up root systems for old bushes we've taken out, or trimming the hedges back, or replacing windows or blinds.. That I'll inevitably get pestered to come see this, or help lift that, or bring me this, or take that out during my time of work. I don't mind helping, but if it's not really that important, can it wait until my major project is done?
Anyway, these are my facts for this week. Have a great weekend, and I'll see you again on Tuesday!
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