A Filmmaker's Story

But He's Good

2012-02-16T06:31:00.002-06:00

“Safe?" said Mr. Beaver."Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.” C.S. Lewis

This is a quote from The Chronicles of Narnia. It refers to Aslan the lion who is the king of Narnia as they are talking about if he's safe to be around. Well he's a lion, lions are dangerous. Even tame lions are dangerous but Aslan was good and that made all the difference.

God is good but he's also a terrible God. Sometimes we think of him as a buffet. We'd like some of his goodness, mercy, love, and joy but often overlook his holiness, justice, sovereignty, and wrath. Equally all apart of Him.

I've heard people say they use parts of the Bible and it's more of a guidebook to them. Yes and no. More no actually than anything else. It's a tapestry of God's revelation to us. I've often pondered at how an atheist can look at the grandeur of nature and not see God at work.

You can't have God's mercy while being impenitent at the same time and at that point the guidebook is clear on what happens so tread lightly. He's dangerous.

First Friday

2012-02-15T06:29:00.002-06:00

Of the week. Yeah, I'm off from Walmart after tonight. Last night wasn't too bad, busy enough the evening went fast but slow enough to catch my breath from the horrendous weekend and Monday night that really killed me.

I hauled pallets on Valentine's Day from the back and located them for the overnight stockers to put on the shelves. It wasn't hard and a nice change of pace from the produce section.

Work was work actually. I call Walmart, Walmart and my real job work. I miss one day and things pile up. Now that's not a bad thing either because if we get caught up with the very few remaining amount of people we have now then we'll never get anyone again. One of our guys who just came off of shoulder surgery is going back soon to have the same shoulder worked on again. He'll be off another three to six months very soon.

We are used to being short handed though, it's the way we roll. If we had a full crew I don't know if we'd know what to do anymore. It is what it is.

Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T06:34:00.002-06:00

The day that really singles out single people and exorcises them right out of society. There's not a day in the year more polarizing than this day. You loyal readers know this as I was single and struggled through this day year after year for most of my adult life.

I finally just called it Tuesday instead of Valentine's day. Just another day on the calendar, another day to look at the bright side of things, and another day to be happy I was alive.

A day is just that, a twenty four hour period in which the sun rises and sets in our sky. We get morning, afternoon, and evening and we get it for another day. We can do what we want with it but I chose not to dwell on the fact I was single and to enjoy everything I could about it otherwise.

So if you see a single person out there today, either include them or steer clear of them but be nice to them either way.

Snow Storm

2012-02-13T06:28:00.002-06:00

We had a good four or five inches of snow last night. Schools are closed but I'm headed in to work today and then Walmart after. I'll be leaving pretty soon actually, I need to allow myself some drive time.

The snow is starting to melt a bit already though, there's a warmer southern wind blowing. By tomorrow it should be clear roads and business as usual!

The Broken Streak

2012-02-12T07:51:00.003-06:00

Well my blogging streak that went back to 2006 was broken yesterday when I failed to blog. I got busy yesterday morning and after I got home I had forgotten all about it! I had blogged every day since since the streak started, over two thousand consecutive posts.

Well as I've said many times lately it's more like an exercise for my brain than it is to actually keep track of what kind of film I'm working on. Lord knows that died off a long time ago. Projects nowadays just seem to hit the talking about stage and die off a quick death from there.

For the past six months it's been about a lack of time and money. Before that it's been a lack of motivation I guess. I don't know the exact reason for sure. Probably a combination of many things at the wrong times.

Well I guess the top news is the death of Whitney Houston today. I've got a hard time sympathizing with her or her indulgent and likely drug induced death. She had a beautiful voice but she traded that away for drugs instead so I don't really call it a tragedy. I'm sure someone will say she was in pain, well so what. Lots of people are in pain daily, lots of people struggle on a daily basis but don't turn to drugs to numb themselves from it.

Her life turned into a train wreck and she struggled a lot. She had a great gift and threw it away. I felt the same way about Heath Ledger, I don't have a lot of sympathy I guess for self indulgent superstars who can't recognize their own talents and choose to take care of them.

Very Good Day!

2012-02-10T20:25:00.002-06:00

So today I decided was going to be a good day! The Date and I decided we'd spend it together and we headed to the city. On the way we treated ourselves to Eischen's chicken for lunch.

With full and satisfied bellies we arrived in the city and headed to the big mall. The Date wanted some flannel pajamas and I needed new socks and boxer briefs. We chatted all the way down, and just enjoyed each others company.

We headed to Macy's and found her perfect paid of pajamas and then over to Penny's and found what I needed. It was just nice to get out of town for a while and enjoy my day off. I can't really qualify with words how much I enjoyed today.

After we found what we came for I talked The Date into having a Chinese reflexology massage. She enjoyed the heck out of it! We then headed our weary selves back home where The Date had to work Dinner Theatre tonight. She'll be super tired when she gets back home after working all evening. She'll probably be asleep before she hits her pillow in fact!

Here's to a great day, may we have a lifetime of them!

I'm Off Tomorrow!

2012-02-09T06:31:00.002-06:00

I'm blessed with a job in which I can take every payday off and still earn a little bit of leave. I'm taking tomorrow off for that reason! I'm already off from Walmart so having a real day off from both jobs will help. Once I'm able to quit Walmart then I'll concentrate on building my leave back up again. It won't take long either. In June I'll earn more than I am now and I'll be topped out as far as how much I can get.

That's the hook of this job, they give you more time off each year and more money. Before you know it you've been there forever!

Tonight I'm cooking sweet and sour chicken for Crime Reporter and the family. I do so love to cook, there's something simple in the process. Preparing food for others to share, it's something we all need to do a few times a day. Might as well learn how to do it right:)

Keep an eye towards Syria. Let me tell you the Middle East has always been a powder keg but I am not sure that the public will support another ground incursion. We are war weary right now. We've cleaned up Iraq, Libya, working on Afghanistan, and Iran is always on the horizon. Yes Syria is a bad place and they are killing hundreds of people per day. It needs help but are we really in the position to send that help right now?

Syria is going to explode and that might trigger the strike against Iran that Israel is waiting on. Talk about world war three, that should do it.

Notes From Walmart

2012-02-08T06:29:00.003-06:00

These are just collected mental notes I've made since I've worked at Walmart. They are only based on my observations and my own internal dialogue. They may not reflect reality, just what I perceive people are thinking or doing.

As I'm coming in I see the McDonald's manager chain smoking his life away. He has a defeated look in his eyes as if to say, "Everything has lead me to this, what happened?" He lights another cigarette off of his last one and leans against the wall. I'm sure he's calculating how many he has to smoke before his life is sufficiently shortened to his satisfaction.

You can always tell those customers who have a bit of self awareness from those who don't. You can always tell who is lonely and who isn't. You have the people who have no awareness at all and walk around in their own personal world, customized just for them with McNuggets in the top of the shopping cart and throwing things into the basket as slow as possible. They also will clog up the aisles with no regard to those around them. You don't exist to them because they really don't know anyone is around them.

Usually these people are very overweight. A testament to their sloth and arrogance. "I own this space, it's mine and so is your space. My time is my time and so is your time, the time you wait on me to move from your speedy life. So here I shall stand, in your way, causing your frustration and annoyance."

Then you have the lonely, those who spend hours in the store in the evenings as if picking up the energy of those around them will ease their loneliness. Three or four times a week they need their fix of people. They will put on their best clothes and stroll the entirety of the store. Wanting nothing but to feel connected to something, something other than what they have. Spending time with their friends, the strangers around them. Perhaps holding out the hope of a short conversation with someone, anyone. Sometimes I oblige.

There are those who wish to break free and yet trapped by the job. You might throw me into that category on some level but not with that job, my real job. Those who know they can do better but the years have passed them by faster than they thought possible. What happened when they had the chance? Did they decide on security instead of the unknown. The devil you know I suppose. The ones you have at home depending on you, so you do it and do it and do it. You have fun when you can, you keep busy as if that helps fill the space where fulfillment would have fit nicely.

And that brings to a close a few of my mental notes I've collected over my working career at Walmart. They aren't bad nor good. They are just what I see and due mainly to my boredom and overactive imagination the situations I paint for them.

Two More Days

2012-02-07T06:28:00.002-06:00

Yesterday when I got to work at Walmart they had a gap in workers and everything was low or out. One of the managers asked if I'd clock in early and get things caught up since we were busy. I did and I got to come home a bit early!

It was a busy night but it went by fairly fast. I've got two more nights and then I'm off two. I'll have completed nine straight days of Walmart labor. This coming February twenty seventh will be six months. Hard to believe really. Six months.

Hadn't really planned on working there six months but that just goes to show how my plans usually work out, they don't. For whatever reason they never do, something comes up and spoils everything every time.

I'll have Thursday and Friday off though and I'll enjoy that a lot! Then it will be back to the normal schedule I was working, five on two off at Walmart. It's not complicated really as in reality it's always seven days a week at one job or the other.

Meh Game

2012-02-06T06:31:00.002-06:00

In ten years will anyone remember this rematch from a few years back? Perhaps not, we'll see. A few miscues on either side and one crucial catch kind of dictated how this game went. It really wasn't that exciting or high scoring.

Both teams played a very controlled style of football. It wasn't a thrilling game such as when the Rams played the Titans and the game ended literally on the one yard line. It wasn't high scoring and it wasn't a blow out.

The commercials had some funny spots and I likely missed the best one because I had to work and showed up in the second quarter.

Work was alright. Busy and one of my coworkers got a DDay or Decision Day. That means they are on Walmart probation. It's a shame too, she works very hard and didn't come back from lunch the day before as she got ill after eating. She's had a rough life and still has a sense of humor about things.

I've been trying to get her to go back to school again and learn to be a X-Ray tech or something along those lines. She said that was her dream job and there's no reason she couldn't accomplish that with some hard work. Not as hard as working the rest of your life at Walmart hard though.

Perhaps this is the bit of motivation she'll need to pursue a better life for herself. I hope so! She's a good person!

While I was at work yesterday The Date and R installed a new porch light! Incredible what a difference a small thing like a porch light makes! She's one of a kind, my love, my wife:)

Super Fun

2012-02-05T09:29:00.002-06:00

Last night was a lot of fun! Haven't been bowling in forever and it was just enjoyable! I bowled an outstanding thirty nine the first game and came in last. The second game I had three fluke strikes in a row and won. Don't know how but I did it.

Tonight is the Super Bowl party and I plan on making buffalo chicken dip. Very simple recipe and it's awesome for sports parties!

A can of chicken breast.
Buffalo wing sauce (your favorite brand)
Ranch dressing (your favorite brand)
Cream cheese
Shredded cheese (your favorite type)
Spice it up with sliced jalapenos.

Put the chicken in a baking dish and use a fork to separate it into smaller pieces. Add in the sauce, the more you use then the spicier it will be. Use the Ranch, the more you use the creamier it is. Put in the cream cheese and shredded cheese. Put it in the oven at three fifty for twenty minutes and it's done!

There are no correct amounts to this recipe. It's all up to your individual taste!

Super Bowling Saturday

2012-02-04T18:18:00.003-06:00

Tonight we are planning on doing something really fun! It's been forever since I've been bowling and I'm sure that The Date will wallop me. She had a bowling class, she knows way more than I do and if I can keep the ball between the gutters I'll be doing good. I'm thinking I can break one hundred!

Piano Genius, R, and Thing 2 will be attempting the ball rolling sport. It should be a lot of fun! I'm really looking forward to seeing how this is going to go!

I've got the dog on my lap, a pulled pork roast in the kitchen that R had a recipe for, and I'm done with my Walmart shift for the day!

Let the ball rolling commence!

Rainy Friday

2012-02-03T06:25:00.002-06:00

Yes it's Friday for some, just another workday for me as my first Friday isn't until next Wednesday. Then I'm off from Walmart for two nights.

Anyone noticed lately how Hillary Clinton has taken to wearing Mao suits? She's got her hair combed straight back now, has the little button collar of a dark suit around her throat. Mao would be proud.

Well whatever her reasoning is I'm sure she'll enjoy unemployment this coming November.

I'm into the third book of The Hunger Games and it's alright so far. Second chapter so I can't tell much right now about what's going to happen yet. After this I'm going to attempt War and Peace. Much has been made of the length of that novel however it's really shorter than many novels I've already read. George R. R. Martin's series is longer for example.

Depending on which translation you get it's around twelve hundred to thirteen hundred pages. The Kindle version I got was a tick above twelve hundred. I understand the first hundred pages are a bit tough to get through but it flows after that. We'll see, I'm about three hundred pages from starting it so it'll be soon.

Groundhog Day

2012-02-02T06:25:00.002-06:00

Well today is my mother's birthday and it is also groundhog day. When Punxsutawney Phil (yeah I had to look up the spelling) will be held aloft by the mayor or some such office and we'll see if he sees his shadow or not. If he sees his shadow there will be six more weeks of winter if not we get an early spring.

I don't know about you but this entire winter has been pretty much an early spring. Very mild and little in the way of snow or ice. I guess it's making up for last year's very harsh winter. We had it all last year and lots of it!

Regardless of Phil's prognostication this year it's too late for a long cold winter. We might yet see some rain or perhaps even snow but it's too warm to stick around long and it's too late in the winter for spring not to be around the corner.

Not Even Close

2012-02-01T06:34:00.002-06:00

Florida decidedly gave the primary to Mitt Romney last night, walloping Newt by double digit numbers. It appears that we'll have a moderate as our nominee this go around. Let's hope that his VP pick is a stalwart conservative and can steer Mr. Romneycare away from such notions in the future.

I'd be thrilled with someone along the lines of Bobby Jindal, Marco Rubio, Tom Coburn, or of course Rand Paul. Ron Paul has stated that this is his last hoorah and he won't run for office again. Any of those conservatives would do well to keep Mr. Romney's feet to the fire and on the straight and narrow. I've no love for Mr. Romney, he's plastic and distant but most of the country has little say in the matter.

His election will likely hinge on that VP pick at this point. He pretty much has the nomination wrapped up and while I've no love for Mr. Gingrich's occasional forays into the liberal realm and even less for his personal life the fact is that he just isn't playing well to the people. Romney's defeats have been narrow, his victories massive.

This is our system and until we come up with a better one we'll continue to get candidates such as Romney to guide the country back to prosperity. God help us.

Florida

2012-01-31T06:31:00.002-06:00

Today is the most telling day of the election season. Florida is up for grabs by the GOP and whichever candidate wins tonight will likely be the nominee for the general election in November.

I'll have to listen to it on the WunderRadio app at work this evening but it'll be interesting. Romney has a big lead thus far. I've been very clear that I'm not a Romney fan. If I had my druthers I'd take Ron Paul in the general against Obama.

I was watching WWII in Color on the Military Channel over the weekend. They were showing the events that lead us up to WWII. We had a massive and booming economy, we were the forefront of industry in the world bar none. We had a military but it wasn't near the military we have today. The public was still war weary from WWI and had no interest in fighting for Europe again.

Slowly FDR prepared us for another conflict against evil and then the Japanese did what FDR couldn't and got us involved.

My point is that the economy that we had prior to December 7, 1941 is what Americans today want again. A vibrant and booming economy. We want to be the world's leader again in everything. We need to be building flat screens here again, we need to be building iPhones here, we need to start cutting China out of the manufacturing loop and bringing these plants home for Americans to man.

That's my libertarian side of me talking because we don't need to be isolationists right now but we do need to start withdrawing a lot of our interests from around the world home and put those resources to work for us for a while. We've always been accused of nation building, well right now we need to do that on our shores for a while. Whatever laws politicians have put in the way of that need to be done away with and corporations need to be rewarded for packing up from abroad and building plants here.

We have so many natural resources in this nation that we haven't touched yet, including labor, there is no reason we can't be the dominate financial force in the world again. That's what is at stake today. I don't know if Romney is that candidate or not but I know Obama isn't.

After Tonight

2012-01-30T06:25:00.002-06:00

I will work nine straight days at Walmart. Then it appears I'll be back to my Thursday and Friday off schedule once again. Yesterday was nice though. This weekend was really needed and will help me get through the coming workdays.

Yesterday The Date house managed children's theatre and then some friends came over and we headed out to watch a local band with a very talented piano player! All in all we had a lot of fun!

It's easy listening to such amazing talent!

Tomorrow is the Florida Primary and it'll be very telling on the whole Romney/Gingrich race. Likely whoever has the upper hand tomorrow will land the nomination and go on to kick Obama out of office. I'm not a fan of either of the front runners, both have flaws that are hard to look past. Neither one of them are Obama though and both would do a better job of governing than what we have.

Sunday At Home

2012-01-29T12:11:00.002-06:00

My baby is heading up to the theatre in a bit to house manage and help wrangle two hundred children. She had a busy day yesterday, mine was as well at work but overall not bad.

The Date's favorite restaurant is P.F. Chang's. She loves the lettuce wraps. So I tried to replicate that recipe today and make her a special treat to help fuel her endurance and strength for child wrangling:)

The Things are both at work today and I'm not. Rare day off but I'm going to be able to tackle the week again. It'll help! So here's to the upcoming week, I'm going to be ready for it!

Five And A Half Hours

2012-01-28T09:33:00.002-06:00

That's all that stands between me and a genuine three day weekend! I'll take care of that short shift today that lands right in the middle of my weekend. After that I'll be off to enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Last night we had dinner with Chianti and M. It was great and we came home with half a pan of Paula Deen brownies! We had a great time, it's been a while since we've hung out together.

Right now The Date and Thing 2 are at the theatre preparing for the children's theatre show, Alice in Wonderland. I'm making jambalaya and I'll be heading off to start and finish my day's work. Mannix is on Cloo network right now, it's seemingly a marathon. I'm glad this network is putting old classic detective shows on again. With any luck they'll start running Columbo or Rockford Files soon!

Day Off

2012-01-27T16:23:00.002-06:00

I took the day off! I feel fine, feeling good actually!
Making some grilled baked beans and onion rings for a get together tonight.

I only work five and a half hours tomorrow and then I've got another full day off on Sunday!

Nothing To Write

2012-01-26T06:27:00.002-06:00

I just don't have much this morning to write about. I'm feeling pretty good this morning, I'm off from Walmart for a couple of days. I get to work some overtime at my job on Saturday morning and then go to Walmart after that to finish a shift.

All in all things are looking good right now. The Date has gone through her script and highlighted all of her lines, she got a couple of leads on jobs yesterday, and tonight is her script read through. The play sounds really funny and she's excited about it!

This show will be the next main stage show after dinner theatre so it's got an important slot as it kicks off the rest of the shows on stage except for Shakespeare. The theatre put together a good lineup of shows this season, they really should be pretty entertaining and my baby is a big part of that!

Mozart And Onions

2012-01-25T06:38:00.002-06:00

So there I was last night, culling onions and pretty angry actually. I didn't want to be at work last night, some genius manager had scheduled four of us for most of the night which meant everything was done before I even got to work. That means a looonnggg night for me.

So I took my iPhone and pulled up WunderRadio and started looking for radio stations to play to take my mind off of my circumstances for the evening. I found a classical station from LA called KMozart or something similar. There wasn't a Thunder game on to listen to so I said what the heck. Phone in my shirt pocket and Mozart's Second Piano Concerto was on. At least I think that's what the announcer said. Anyway it started and it really wasn't long before I could feel things relaxing a bit.

The job at hand didn't seem so rough anymore. Before long my imagination was soaring away and up into the stratosphere, taking me away from the onions, the rotten onions, and the thousands of onion skins I was cleaning out of a big bin.

I really don't have an appreciation of classical music. I don't know a D Minor from a Coal Miner. What I know though is that last night, in a night that really didn't want to end, Mozart helped me through it and got me home to my family:)

In other news The Date got a major role in another show at the Theatre! I'm proud of her!

Comic Strips

2012-01-24T06:29:00.002-06:00

More and more I turn to the comics in the paper than any other part of it. The world news is seemingly spinning out of control. The EU has banned Iranian oil, there will be a standoff at the Straits of Hormuz, our political race seems to have come down to an adulterer and a cold moderate for President, and who knows about the future crisis that always seem to pop up.

My strategy? Spend all additional cash on the lottery and buy an island somewhere peaceful and away from the political madmen running the world. They turn everything good into everything bad, with a stroke of a pen they can impose more regulations and restrictions on a place they've never been to in their lives and effect families they never knew existed nor wanted to know.

So comic strips are what you should read in the paper. They'll brighten your day a little bit although our local paper has removed Dilbert for some reason. That was my go to strip everyday! Well I do enjoy Gasoline Alley but I've read that forever. Slim Skinner has to be one of the dumbest men alive! I do enjoy the simplicity of Mutts, it's hard to be thoughtful and simple.

I could do without a few and I'd replace Born Loser with Pearls Before Swine, and I'd dump Marvin for Get Fuzzy. Maybe throw in a couple of others here and there and I could design the perfect comic page! Perhaps I've missed my calling.

Here We Go

2012-01-23T06:28:00.002-06:00

It's early Monday morning and I'll be headed to work and take Thing 2 to school in less than a half hour. Walmart was super busy yesterday. In fact I was going to take a picture to send it to The Date and let her see how busy it was but I was too busy to be able to do that.

The clogged aisles of disrespectful shoppers was a lot to handle yesterday. Some of them will just take something out of their carts and leave it lying around where ever. Frozen, dairy, it matters not to them. Just as long as they can make more work for an understaffed section they go home happy.

Regardless that's the job and I clean up after them while doing my regular job of moving fruits and vegetables from point A to point B. It'll be slower tonight though, it'll be easier. There won't be nearly as many people out and about and shopping. In another week we'll start to see everyone with a tax return buying new TVs. In the back room I've seen them being stocked up and put out on the floor for sale. That seems to be the number one purchase every tax season.

Anyway, I'm good, I'm feeling good this morning. I'm rested and I'm ready to take on the big bad steel toed world for another week.

Championship Sunday

2012-01-22T09:21:00.002-06:00

Today would mean something to me a few years ago. I'd have waited on watching these games but last weekend would have been my favorite of the playoffs. Eight teams down to four and this weekend down to two.

This year it doesn't mean much at all, real life responsibilities have taken their place and leave little time or interest. I hope by next season the restrictions on my time will be a distant memory and I'll be able to indulge in watching Sunday football again.

The Date is taking care of her dad this weekend and getting him all set for another week! He needs her, it's good that she will look over him! She'll make it back today so she'll be able to take care of me and the Things this week:) We are all lucky to have her in our lives:)

Cast Iron Cooking

2012-01-21T09:45:00.003-06:00

I was reading along one of my regular message boards and came across a thread about cast iron cooking. To be honest in all of my years of being able to cook I've never really considered cast iron in my cooking arsenal. I know my grandparents used cast iron, my mom has cast iron skillets, and I know they last many lifetimes if you care for them.

AS for me, well I guess I was just part of the nonstick skillet generation so cast iron just didn't fit in with that.

I might have to reconsider that decision though. With cast iron you can cook nearly anything and when you combine that with my Big Green Egg you can cook just about anything you can imagine. Clean up is actually easier than a nonstick skillet. You don't wash them with soap, ever. In fact according to the great Alton Brown you just take a bit of kosher salt, a dab of oil and a paper towel. Scrub it with the salt and when the salt is brown, it's clean. Dump out the salt and put it back on the stove. Finished.

Yes you can cook perfect steaks in cast iron however why do that when you can grill them? Grilling is the perfect way to cook anything, the Big Green Egg is the most versatile grill out there and can be used as an oven, grill, or smoker. It's self cleaning at temperature and efficient enough to cook steaks at over six hundred degrees while it's freezing and blowing cold outside.

I'll have to look at purchasing some cast iron cookware at some point. I think it would open up a new avenue of cooking I've yet to explore!

Weekend Ahoy!

2012-01-20T06:29:00.002-06:00

Who's ready for the weekend? I know I am! More than that I'm ready to come home right after work tonight!

Archer started its new season last night! Great animated show! I would have paid attention to most of it but I found myself a bit inebriated last night. While The Date and Thing 2 went to Third Thursday I decided to have a drink. That turned into two drinks. And then I woke up in bed this morning.

I can't remember the last time I got on the tipsy side as usually a drink is more than enough. Actually drunk drunk has got to be months at least, maybe longer. Regardless I got there last night.

Thanks to my daily regime of drinking over a half gallon of water a day I feel fine and I'm not dehydrated! Now it's time to take Thing 2 to school and get myself to work.

Thursday Night

2012-01-19T06:34:00.002-06:00

Since today is Walmart payday I plan on taking the fam on another short trip to eat tonight. The Date suggested a BBQ place a town away so we'll try that tonight and see how it goes.

Eischen's was a blast two weeks ago, great food too and probably worthy of a return trip.

Most importantly I'm off work tonight! No Walmart tonight! I get to come home at a regular time and spend the evening with my family instead of rolling in at ten after a thirteen and a half hour work day! Seven days a week is getting to me, I'll be honest. I'm wearing down. Night's like tonight though will be fun and that's a good thing!

My First Friday

2012-01-18T06:31:00.002-06:00

Meaning tonight is the last night of the work week I go to Walmart. I'm glad, it's wearing me thin lately. It goes from insanely busy which makes the shift go by fast to a ghost town which makes five hours a night seem like fifty.

There is some kind of regional inspection today, blah blah blah. The managers were working when I left to get things the way they think they want the other managers to see them. They'll run around like a chicken with their heads cut off putting up displays and moving pallets of food from one section to another. What would happen if there was an unannounced walk through? They'd really start to sweat then.

Oh well, it is what it is. Getting paid every week is a huge help and the work is easy enough although sometimes frustrating. I'm settled in pretty much now and it's easier than it was at the beginning.

Another Work Week

2012-01-17T06:29:00.002-06:00

Well four fifths of one anyway:) I had a cigar with Beersnob yesterday and we got to catch up and chat for a couple of hours over an Arturo Fuente. We chatted about politics, the economy, and a lot in between.

We both can't wait to see how Obama defends his record on the economy. How any one of the candidates left would be able to pummel Obama over the head with unemployment, massive spending, and the hopey/changey talk.

I'm still liking Ron Paul, the libertarian side of me just wants to see real Constitutional changes take place. I know that with a Paul administration spending would be drastically cut and we as a country would be able to concentrate on us for a while and get over this liberal sickness we've had. It's about to run its course and we're almost better though.

The only candidate I feel who really doesn't want the job is Ron Paul. Yes he is also to whom most 9/11 truthers run to for information but honestly I believe he feels the 9/11 committee wasn't 100% forthcoming. Personally I don't know and don't want to look into it. But I'd take a little paranoia if it limits the size and scope of government rather than the monster that uses agencies to spy on our everyday lives any day. The people should not fear our government, the government should fear us, the people.

Our checks and balances system is corroded and needs to be taken more seriously and we need to put people into place that makes that happen.

Awww

2012-01-16T10:43:00.002-06:00

The three day weekend is one of God's great gifts to His creation.

Yeah I'm working this evening but today is mine. I'm off, I'm resting, I'm going to enjoy the day:)

Hunger Games

2012-01-15T09:19:00.002-06:00

I've finished the first of the trilogy on my kindle. It was a fast and easy read that I finished in around a week. Not bad considering my work schedule.

I'm glad that all three books are out and I don't have to wait for the trilogy to be finished, I'd have been mad if I got the first book and it ended the way it did and I'd have had to wait for the second book to come out. The story itself is incomplete so I'm withholding judgment on the whole until it's finished.

Thus far though it appears as if the story was strong up until the last fifty pages or so and then it felt rushed. I feel a lot of that should likely be fleshed out in later chapters in the next two books, or at least that's my hope for the story.

The story is brutal though and I did find myself very engaged in every bit of it. As for the upcoming movie, meh. We'll see how it goes for the books first. As a part I wouldn't call this epic, perhaps as a whole it might approach that scale. Certainly not page wise but perhaps story wise. I should be finished with the next two books by mid February if my work schedule stays the same and the next two are as easy reading, maybe as early as February if they are as easy reading.

Good Morning

2012-01-14T08:49:00.002-06:00

How's the blogworld doing this morning? Things are good here!
Last night was egg roll night, Teehee sent me his grandmother's egg roll recipe and Thing 2 and I made them together. Rave reviews around the house! We made the dipping sauce as well and I made mine spicy with chili paste as per the instructions.

All in all we were very well fed and we had fun making them together! We'll make them more often as they really only have a couple of ingredients. Ground pork, green onions, a medium yellow onion, carrots, fish sauce, and pepper. That's it. Mix, wrap them up in egg roll wrappers, and deep fry for ten to eleven minutes!

Simplicity!

Thanks Mr. Teehee! You've made us very happy with the recipe:)

Sort Of Three Day Weekend

2012-01-13T06:36:00.002-06:00

While The Hunger Games are just beginning I'm due for a three day weekend in a manner of speaking. Yes it's a federal holiday but I'll be working at Walmart and have three full days off of my job. It's not actually even one day off but it's good enough as I'm adjusted to this many hours per week now.

The Date has her dad safely back at home now, he was released yesterday from the hospital. She's getting him settled back in and will be back today. He was pretty happy to finally be released and he was in good shape despite all he's been through.

All is well as can be right now.

Two Nights

2012-01-12T06:37:00.002-06:00

I'm off from Walmart now for two full evenings! I'm thrilled with that actually! It's settled into being my weekly schedule now and there haven't been any changes to it in about three weeks. Five days on two days off.

I've started reading The Hunger Games, it's pretty good actually. Very easy reading as well, not as deep as Tolstoy by any stretch but for a different demographic for sure. While Tolstoy expounds on mortality Collins is talking to the GAP traveling teenager. That's not a bad thing, it can speak to adults as well, we just aren't the target audience and it's the literary equivalent to a Snickers bar rather than Tolstoy's steak and potatoes.

Regardless the brain needs fun reads as well as serious reads to maintain a healthy balance hence I'll be reading The Hunger Games trilogy.

The Death Of Ivan Ilyich

2012-01-11T06:29:00.001-06:00

A true masterpiece of literature is this short story by Leo Tolstoy. Ivan Ilyich is a man who all his life believed he lived correctly and every step of it measured to his well thought out and exacting measures. From childhood, to law school, to his socially climbing career Ivan Ilyich seemingly had it all.

In contrast to this tale of mortality stands Kurosawa's masterpiece of cinema Ikiru which I've blogged about before. While loosely based upon The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Ikiru's protagonist Kanji Watanabe learns that he is dying of an inoperable tumor and decides how he is going to spend his remaining time.

The tragedy of Ivan Ilyich is that he doesn't realize his life has been dwindling away for decades until he succumbs to his illness which everyone around him has been lying to him about, even the doctor as I said. Ivan Ilyich dies at age forty five after weeks of suffering spent reflecting on how he had lived his life so correctly so why should he suffer so. Watanabe on the other hand embraces his fate and attempts to learn to life after being a lifelong servant of the state in a mindless bureaucracy.

While Watanabe attempts to find what it means to live in night clubbing, love, and other indulgences Ivan Ilyich merely enjoyed bridge, his supposed friends who only cared about moving up in position of the court system in which employed Ivan Ilyich. They dreaded going to his funeral and his wife only wanted to know from them how she could get more monthly money from the government upon his death.

Ivan Ilyich only inconvenienced his family while dying, Watanabe took up a crusade and perished knowing he made a difference to some as it came to light by those discussing him at his funeral. They only realized the magnitude of what he had accomplished when the beneficiaries of his one man crusade showed up to weep for him.

Ivan Ilyich is deep but accessible to any with a love of literature. It'll move you and perhaps you'll examine your own life in return. Ikiru is a benchmark of cinema and really speaks to anyone willing to invest the time

New Hampshire

2012-01-10T06:27:00.002-06:00

Today is the first primary of the election year and there will be no surprises after the polls close tonight. Romney will likely be the leader despite finding conservatism while campaigning. He sure didn't govern that way but it might be different if he had big margins in congress to hold him accountable and stop the liberal agenda from creeping in.

Ron Paul will have a strong showing again and Santorum will probably place. Huntsman will likely be looking for a new job come tomorrow morning and Perry will go back to Texas after South Carolina. What can I say? I'd vote for any of the over Obama and I believe Americans that are fed up with Marxism light will as well. There's a lot of work to be done for the new President, lots of work for the new congress as well. Repealing four years of Obama regulation that has kept the job market stagnant and declining for one.

I can't imagine how a lame duck Obama would serve this country for another four years if the first four are any indication. Another four years of record debt, another four years of heavy regulation that keeps industry from thriving, and Obamacare where every employer will quit paying for their portion of your health insurance and you'll be thrown into the public system. It's darkest before the dawn and it's pretty dark out there now, more problems with Iran are on the horizon and Obama is not the man to lead us into or out of those problems.

Hurry up November, this man needs to join the unemployment lines.

New Week

2012-01-09T06:26:00.002-06:00

Last week was a short week with the holidays and all wrapping up. This week is the first real work week of the new year. Five days at work, three more at Walmart and then I'm off from Walmart until the weekend. I'm liking the Thursday and Friday nights off schedule. It's nice and it helps give me something to look forward to each week.

This morning is a bit brisk out, it's been a mild winter thus far. I hope it stays that way since last winter was harsh and very cold and wet. Perhaps our summer will be mild as well since last summer was also very harsh and dry.

Today I'm in a pretty good mood, got lots of sleep last night. I was worn out! Hollywood Actor came over and I helped him with his laptop. There was a malicious program on it that had to come off. Crime Writer came over as well because I made lasagna and that's one of his favorite dishes that I make. So we had a houseful and I cooked! There's a lot of joy for me in cooking for others. It makes me happy and since everyone has to eat then I can make a lot of people out there happy in the right circumstances!

It won't be long before I'll be able to cook one night a week for friends again! The Date is job hunting today and I've got a great feeling she's going to find a good job before long! Her dad is doing better and will be getting out of the hospital this week. She's been handling all of his affairs and that's taken up a lot of her time. Now it's almost over and he'll be settled back into his home late this week.

Now it's time for me to head to work, I'll be back home a bit after ten tonight. Long day but these long days are nearly at an end:)

I Miss Lazy Sundays

2012-01-08T09:13:00.002-06:00

I'll get there again though, we'll (The Date and I) will get there again. Here's what I'm looking forward to:
1. Cozy evenings at home with my family.

2. An evening of cooking for friends. Before I took this extra job we had started a weekly tradition of having a couple or three people over and I cooked and we ate together. I got to try new recipes and everyone enjoyed the experience.

3. Free time. I'm looking forward to free time and relaxing weekends. Not having two schedules to go by will be a great thing that I took for granted in the past!

That's good enough for now, we'll revise it as we need to:)

Going To Work

2012-01-07T11:29:00.002-06:00

Thing 1 is recovering from bronchitis. The Date took her to the doctor yesterday and then she started hurting last night so we took her to the ER. She's doing fine now, has plenty of medicine, and is resting comfortably.

My brother was over this morning and we got the plumbing 100% lined out on the shower! I sealed up everything and it's drying nicely! A few pieces of molding are left and it'll be finished!

Got a haircut after work last night at a new barber shop. They offer not only very good haircuts but they trim everything up with a straight razor and offer straight razor shaves. I've got thick hair on my head but can't grow a beard at all so it's not that necessary for me. It'd probably be nice to have one done someday but I'd have to go without shaving for almost a couple of weeks to make it worth going. I'll probably be a regular there for haircuts though. Very professional and it's just like an old fashioned barber shop.

Now I'm off to work in a short while. Working until six so it's only five and a half hours today. Not bad.

Eischen's

2012-01-06T06:28:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was payday from Walmart so I thought we'd have some fun and drive to Eischen's bar. It's actually a restaurant that sells chicken and not much else. It was featured on Guy Fieri's show Diner's, Drive Ins, and Dives right here.

You buy whole chickens, chili, or sandwiches, massive amounts of okra, and as for sides they give you pickles (bread and butter) and onions and some bread. Drinks? Well you can have beer, pop, or water. Pop is served from a can and you pour it yourself.

It's an experience and it's really worth the drive. A short drive for us. It was packed on a Thursday night, I mean packed! We enjoyed the experience and food as it was a great break from our routine! I'm thinking we should do this every time I get paid from Walmart, so in two weeks we'll go to another restaurant out of town and have supper.

The food itself? Well the chicken had great flavor, it was moist, not dry. the okra was your standard deep friend breaded okra, I make better pickles but that's just my bias, they were fine:) Thirteen dollars for a whole chicken and everyone was stuffed driving home so it's reasonably priced. All in all a fun time and we as a family needed that so that makes it priceless:)

BBQ Pit Boys

2012-01-05T06:32:00.002-06:00

For you grillers out there I'd like to show you these guys! They take grilling, which is an art and science, and reduce it for the food heating challenged. The recipe above is for baby back ribs in pineapple whiskey sauce.

I made the stroganoff recipe last week while I was off and it's a tremendously good recipe! From their Weber Performer grill you'll learn to make all kinds of great dishes and they are made simple to understand. You don't think you can cook a brisket? Watch the BBQ Pit Boys! You don't think you can cook a pizza on the grill? Watch the BBQ Pit Boys! Great ribs been a mystery to you? Watch the BBQ Pit Boys!

From soups, chile, incredible burgers, potatoes, and even some occasional seafood, if it can be grilled they can grill it! Masters of the fire and food alike! Who doesn't enjoy watching a machete style knife doing the majority of the cutting?!?!

Even if you have no grill they are fun to watch and make grilling easy (hint: it is easy, you just have to know a few things first) and enjoyable! So here is their main You Tube page, and try not to drool on the keyboard!

And It's Mitt By A Whisker

2012-01-04T06:25:00.002-06:00

The liberal's conservative pulled out a fraction of a win last night over the surging Rick Santorum. Ron Paul finished in show with a strong showing but not quite strong enough. Relegated to irrelevant are Gingrich, Huntsman, Perry, and Bachmann.

Everyone knows that Romney has been the front runner and odds on favorite to actually win the nomination. He's liberal enough to appeal to people who are fed up with Soetoro...er I mean Obama. He's conservative enough, and I use that term loosely, to appeal to the mainstream media's idea of conservative.

I was hoping for a Paul victory. I'm in an isolationist mood. Here's the reality of the world as I see it, we are drowning in debt. The federal government has spent way more than was allowed by law until they changed the law. We'll literally have to grow our way out of that mess and we can't do that without establishing a robust manufacturing base again. The EU is an epic failure and when it implodes we'll be the ones printing fake money out of thin air to bail it all out! All of that is happening with the rising Chinese in the background.

If pulling back some of our resources from abroad and slashing foreign aid will rebuild our manufacturing industry and help us recover from the Obonomy then I'm all for it and if Romney is the guy to convince me of that then so be it. I know Paul would have done that for sure and I know that Santorum has a plan for doing something along those lines as well.

We as a country need to concentrate on us for now and deal with the chips as they hit the floor.

Back To Work

2012-01-03T06:27:00.003-06:00

Tonight, and for probably the remainder of my stay at Walmart I go to work right after work. I'm also likely off every Thursday and Friday! Not too bad at all as far as hours go.

Today is also the official start of the primary season! Iowa has the starter's pistol and they fired it! Now we are off and running to see which candidate has the honor of knocking off Obama and relegating him to the ash heap of history along side fellow relics such as Jimmy Carter and the Soviet Union. With presidents like him you don't need communist China!

I'm the super bowl champion of both of my leagues! Next season I'll try to pay attention to what's going on again. It was very tough this season as I was working every weekend and I just had very little interest as more pressing matters held me at bay.

It's alright though, I'm recharged now after this semi-week off and I'm feeling pretty good! Yeah, no more afternoon naps though! It'll take a day or two to get back into the swing of work but thankfully I've got a pretty good job and I can take my time.

Last Day

2012-01-02T15:47:00.002-06:00

Yes, today was my last day off from regular work. Sad day for me. It's ok though, we all have to earn a living:)

Not much to post today as I'm enjoying the moment!

2012 And Beyond

2012-01-01T09:22:00.002-06:00

Ok, I poked fun of the 2012 doomsday Mayan thing last night on my Facebook by saying, "Happy New Year! Go Mayans!"

Truth is the whole thing is just a calendar reset, nothing more nothing less. There's no doomsday quickly approaching us because they chiseled something in stone in the sixth century...BC. Their calendar just resets itself and starts over.

That however does not mean we are out of hot water. 2012 will be a year of turmoil on the global stage. Unless D.C. gets spending under control we'll have a worthless dollar. The EU will likely crack further apart, Spain will likely go Greece, Syria will well be Syria and be a mess.

The Mideast will be all turmoily still because that's what they do best. If there were no oil there no one would care or pay attention to their little fits. We'll have natural disasters, wars, rumors of war, famine, sicknesses, and everything we have every other year. Some lunatic will go on a shooting spree somewhere because that's what lunatics do. He'll hurt people because he's a psycho. It'll make the news cycle for a week and disappear.

Barack Obama will have his presidency ended by the American people who are fed up with him and he'll fade to a close comparison of Jimmy Carter. The GOP nominees can squabble all they want I'll vote for any one of them over what we have now, even Romney.(blech) Anyone of the GOP candidates will be far superior to Obama.

People look at a new year as a fresh slate and that's what it is for individuals and families. It'll be in the frame of what happens above though but it's up to us to make it the best year we can make it for us. No Mayan calendar will change that.

There will be ups and downs this year. Greats, goods, neutrals, mehs, and horribles happen to everyone. You won't be able to change what happens to you that's outside of your control but you can control how you react to those events. You can suck it up, toughen up, and move forward as you learn from it or you can not do that and wallow for a while and risk being stuck there for a long time.

So don't sweat the Mayans and December 21st, 2012. It'll work out just fine:)

Saturday

2011-12-31T10:33:00.002-06:00

Work today, after that I'll make a few snacks for a New Year's Ever gathering!

Not a lot on the agenda today. Work, home, a bit of cooking, and then relaxing!

Friday

2011-12-30T10:18:00.002-06:00

And the best thing about today is that I still have the equivalent of a three day weekend AFTER today is over with:)

I'm feeling better each day and not as worn out. It's helping a lot and I really needed it, I just didn't know how badly I needed it.

Yesterday I started watching Burn Notice on Netflix. It's a very good show with the incomparable everyman Bruce Campbell costarring. A spy is issued a Burn Notice during an operation and is forced into poverty and doing odd helpful jobs using his skills as the government has frozen everything and dumped him in Miami. He has Campbell and ex IRA agent girlfriend Fiona helping him.

It's clever, witty, and a lot of fun to watch, and it's all on Netflix!

Thursday And I'm Off

2011-12-29T08:35:00.003-06:00

No jobs at all today! The shower is once again operational, the hallway has been painted by the brilliant and talented daughter of mine, Thing 2, and The Date is dealing with her father's business in a nearby town.

I'm alone, am going to cook this afternoon, and do whatever it is I want:)

Today is going to be a good day!

Wednesday

2011-12-28T10:06:00.003-06:00

I'm feeling better.
Recharging is a good thing. I came home early from Walmart last night, after about three hours I was absolutely nauseous and felt a dizzy and weak. I thought it was from not eating much that day but I don't think that was it at all. I'm feeling better this morning though.

Not sure what happened but I felt horrible last night. I went right to bed before nine and was asleep by ten, sound asleep. Hopefully it won't return as I've got to work again tonight from five to ten. I'm off tomorrow though! All day!

It's all part of the way things go I guess. I'm not a big believer in a power called luck, it just doesn't exist but sometimes I do feel that we've had some very bad luck over the past three years, sometimes we've just been snake bitten and it's hard to shake it. Whatever it is things don't go the good way, they go the worst way. I'm trying to have a good and positive attitude and look at the bright side of things but it rarely turns out without a lot of hassle and added expenses.

I know a good attitude is very important, focusing on the good and shaking off the bad but it wears you down over time. I count my blessings and have to believe things will get better otherwise what's the point?

Yeah life just happens and I hope life will take a break from using us as a football for a while, we could use a good break once in a while:)

Yawn...Tuesday

2011-12-27T08:59:00.002-06:00

I'm enjoying the whole being off for a week thing. Well sort of, I do have to work at Walmart in the evenings however that's much easier when it's my only job for the day. I don't mind it much at all really.

I won the Wannabe Keeper league championship last night and progressed through to the super bowl game in my long time league. Not too bad for a season I really didn't watch or pay attention to. It could have been much worse for sure.

Well that was my evening, not sure what today will bring but I'm sure I'll feel good about it one way or the other! I'm still pretty thrilled to have won such a hard fought fight, I ran into the right match ups on the right weeks and it fell into place!

Leading The Game

2011-12-26T14:03:00.002-06:00

My team The Predators are leading the Tebow St. Carnage this weekend in the Wannabe Keeper league. I'm up by eleven right now and have one player left to go. I've got Roddy White while my opponent has Michael Turner going.

The hitch comes because I have Turner in another set of playoffs in my long time league. So White will have to score at least one TD while Turner can score perhaps two at the most against a strong New Orleans D. I can win both games but it's tricky, I'd rather Turner score one TD and White score one or more. That would secure both wins for sure and my championship Keeper league money

The Keeper league is set up to where the super bowl champ wins the majority of the cash, that's what I'm after. My main league is set up to where the leader in points at the end of the season wins the majority of the money. I've won that before as well but I'm out of that this year and I'm only able to play in the championship bowl. That pays as well but not as much.

So tonight is the last night of one league while next week I'll hopefully play in the super bowl of my main league!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T09:36:00.002-06:00

To all of you a Merry Christmas, to you who have no one may God fill that void, to you who have family, may God help you through the day;)

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T08:17:00.002-06:00

My "me day" was fairly successful. I do feel better today in fact. Abostang and I played several games of Dominion. The Date rushed around and made some great cookies and went to see her dad in the hospital. Thing 2 and I later took him a paper and some scratch offs to entertain himself with for a while. He loves scratch offs.

Today I'll be working from twelve thirty until six and then the store will be closed down until late tomorrow night if I remember correctly. Everyone will get tomorrow off from Walmart in this store!

All in all it'll be an easy day and one that should fly by. I can imagine us being very busy as last minute shoppers rush in and out, perhaps not the produce section so much but a lot of people coming through anyway. No one stops for that last minute head of lettuce. I do enjoy my coworkers at Walmart and it'll make today fun on top of it being an easy day.

Maybe after taking a pause yesterday from the hectic race I've been running I think I might be finding my Christmas Spirit after all. It's always there, maybe it's just not as evident as I'd like it to be but it's always there.

And....I'm Off!

2011-12-23T09:00:00.002-06:00

The company let us go home early yesterday but we still got our eight in. No Walmart last night. I went to bed around one. I'm off now!

Love the song that Thorin Oakenshield sings in the new Hobbit trailer! Very cool song that seemed to hold a lot of reverence for them. I've read The Lord of the Rings but have never read The Hobbit. I know, that's pretty weird for a reader such as myself who does read a lot of classic novels however it happens to be true.

With the Kindle though I'll likely load it up in the upcoming year and get it read way before the movie comes out next December, well part one of the movie anyway. It's two parts and it'll be a two year endeavor as Lord of the Rings was three full years.

Today is my day, I'm doing what I wish to do and that will likely be a bit lot of Not Much!

I've got projects next week I'll attend to but for now this is my time and if that's selfish then so be it, I need time to recharge once in a while.

The Alarm Is Off

2011-12-22T06:36:00.002-06:00

It won't come back on until next year!

Alright I called in to Walmart last night, I just wasn't up to it. The previous night the store was filled with a ton of people and it was very difficult to do even a portion of the job. I'm not worried about it, I've called in there four times in almost five months. Five days short of five months actually.

The alarm clock is the main thing, it's the working class's nemesis. I got a lot of rest last night, went to bed around nine, probably asleep before ten. Hot shower this morning! Yep, I got the shower working last night after work, sealed up the seams. Added the shower head. Got a new shower rod. Insulated the crawlspace. Still need to seal the upper part where the new wall meets the top of the shower and add the molding. I'd say it's functional and 95% finished! Will have to still deal with the new floor and get some covering for it.

All in all it's not a great job but it works and it's what it needs to be.

Two Days

2011-12-21T06:27:00.003-06:00

Today is my Friday at Walmart and my Thursday at work work. Funny how that works isn't it? Yes the actual calendar day is Wednesday but if you count a work week by ending every week with a weekend then that's how it lays out for me. So it's actually Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for me, all in one day!

I'm very much looking forward to calendar Thursday night right now as that, at 1615, is when my eleven day odyssey of rechargement begins in earnest. Yeah I do have some projects to accomplish at home, yes I'll get those finished as well. Yes I do have to work at Walmart a few of those evenings but it'll be ok. I'll only be working one job and five and a half hours at the most.

It'll be good and I'll still have plenty of time to recharge myself and get ready for the new year.

Three Days

2011-12-20T06:31:00.002-06:00

Three glorious days of work left in this year for me. When I say glorious I really mean hard and I'm going to work a bit under the weather. That's what I expect, everything is earned. I'm earning my time off and I'm going to make Friday an official me day. It's a day where I'm off from both jobs! Rare indeed.

Don't ask me to do anything, I'm going to take care of myself for one day out of this past three hundred sixty five days. If I want to hibernate under the covers all day long that's what I'm going to do.

I am not going to exist on this plane of existence, I'll be like a ghost going where I darn well please, an echo from beyond. I know I'll have projects this upcoming week that I'll have to get done. I just need one day to myself.

No offense is intended, if I want to have lunch, I'll call you. More than likely I'll grab a bag of chips and couch it. I don't know yet. I'm not going to plan Friday out and just give it my best shot at not doing a thing I don't want to do.

Four Days

2011-12-19T06:24:00.002-06:00

Short week.
A head cold.
A father in law in the hospital.
A sick wife.
Yeah, it's that time of year.

I'm not feeling the spirit this year. I used to love this time of year and looked forward to it all year, even as an adult. The past couple of years though have been rough. I'm not Scrooge by any means however things just aren't as joyous as they should be for me right now.

I wished I could report better tidings of comfort and joy but sometimes I'm just hanging on by my fingernails.

Sick Date

2011-12-18T09:33:00.002-06:00

The Date officially got sick yesterday. I figured it was coming on as she exhibited symptoms of a small cold to start with and then it gradually progressed over the course of the day to out and out sickness. She's laid up in bed right now and I've got her on Theraflu.

She had a pretty bad fever yesterday and up to late last night. I'm going to make her stay in bed today as well but she will have to pick up Thing 2 from mass later on (she's going to play violin with the orchestra today) and then take her to work. She can handle something that small and it might do her good to get some fresh air for a half hour or so.

I'll be on my way to work soon so I won't be able keep her in bed but she'll be on the honor system. I'll be back home around six and then I'll be able to make sure she rests like she is supposed to.

Better Not Great

2011-12-17T10:09:00.002-06:00

Yesterday went fairly well. I got the panels cut to place in the bathroom shower. My brother is going to bring a drill over that will have a chuck big enough for the hole saw to place the faucet and get it all squared up.

That's it. Just placing the panels, putting things back into place and it'll be a working shower again. The tub is operational though.

I needed that day off. More than I thought actually. This week is also a four day work week and I get Thursday and Friday off from Walmart, that means Friday is another full day off! Then it's the holidays and a full week off for me. If yesterday is a good indicator I'll be needing that week off, I feel better today but still not myself yet.

Yes I'll still have to work at Walmart the following week but it'll be ok. It's only like three or four nights and only four and a half hours a night, a third of a normal work day for me anymore. I can do that standing on my head. I need it though.

Day Off

2011-12-16T07:53:00.002-06:00

I took today off, it was very much needed. I was nearing the end of my endurance for all things work related. Yesterday at work I was just going through the motions, no doubt twenty years of muscle memory aided me in that endeavor of tasks. I had in the back of my mind, stored where only I knew where it was, the thought that I didn't have to work at Walmart last night. That gave me a brief gust of wind in my sail every time I needed it and propelled me through the straits of my day.

My brother changed out the faucet and we fixed a leak while clearing a hair clog after work. The shower is now ready to put up the wall cover. I have to cut it all to size and then using the adhesive fasten it all in place. In theory it shouldn't take long however being that this is a home project I predict it will take much longer than it should and end in a frustrating day off for me.

Rest?
What's that?

I'm Off

2011-12-15T06:33:00.002-06:00

It's great, I don't have to work tonight. Yes I work today but it'll feel almost like I've got an entire day to myself! Last night was busy. I went to the toy trailers, essentially they are big storage bins the size of a semi trailer. They have a lot of boxes of products, in this case toys, that are not on pallets. So you have to put the boxes on pallets and then they'll move them to where they need to be moved with a forklift.

However last night there was another guy for just a little bit and then me and a manager. Then the guy left and it was me and two trailers worth of products to be stacked on pallets. That took a while and then he got on the radio and got four more volunteers to help and we moved a lot of pallets by hand on pallet jacks to the other side of Walmart. The complete other side of the store, by hand.

Between us all I bet we moved eight or nine pallets each easily. I was sore, tired, and beat last night. My legs are still a bit sore this morning.

The funny thing is that they were trying to get the store up to snuff for some kind of walk through inspection by regional managers this morning. My section only had one guy the whole night and that was it. So the graveyard guy and the morning crew will have to have had a miracle night to have gotten everything stocked and cleaned before the morning. That was what I was supposed to have been working on.

I can imagine they'll be very mad when they saw the condition we left it in. One guy there while I was gone and he mopped the floors, did as much stocking as he could, and did his best but that didn't go very far. He is off today too as well as me so we're all good! We won't have to deal with any of the problems with me being pulled off of where I was at and moved to where they wanted me.

The only thing on my mind right now is that I don't have to go to work tonight!

A Brake Pad

2011-12-14T06:41:00.001-06:00

The first analogy that came to mind yesterday when my supervisor asked me how I felt was that I felt like a worm out brake pad right now. I'm worn thin, I growl more when pressure gets applied, and I feel like I need replaced.

The brakes on your car are what keeps things under control. They keep you from wrecking more than any other piece of your car. When they wear out you are not as safe. I'm not dangerous I'm just worn out.

Next Friday I'll have the first of eleven days off. The way the holidays fall I'll spend four days of leave to get eleven straight days. That's great use of leave and a great return on what you are spending your leave on!

That will help me get back on track and give me some much needed rest.

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Coram Deo

2011-12-13T06:17:00.002-06:00

Means essentially "Before The Face of God" or "To Live in the Presence of God". I'm conscious of God's presence all the time. Even in the toughest times I'm confident God is right there with me and my family. When I do something secret and good I know God is there and when I do something bad I also know God is right there.

There is no better explanation than right here and the brilliant theologian R.C. Sproul. He has long been my favorite teacher as he has a true gift of making the extremely complex easy to grasp. I mean the very hard to grasp and at depths you've never pondered existed.

Regardless of Sproul's brilliance this is about living differently. When I'm faced with a situation where I'll have to go out of my way at inconvenience to myself for someone I remember Coram Deo. It inspires me to do the hard stuff and mostly when no one else is looking or around. It inspires me to do the right thing when I'm by myself and I'm sure I can get away with anything.

I always try to live this way yet fail more times than not but it helps me succeed when I'm probably really in need of succeeding.

Bathroom Update

2011-12-12T06:24:00.003-06:00

The Date's dad really needs a solution for his dilemma today. The hospital is talking about releasing him today which first of all is way too soon, and second of all he can't help himself in any fashion at all. He is incapable of taking care of himself right now, he can't afford home healthcare or someone to check on him five or six times a day or more. He's a bit grumpy with his condition and risks serious injury if left by himself. We simply don't have the capability of having him live with us while he is in this condition. We don't have the room, a bed he would require, or the money to be able to take care of him as The Date would be needed at home full time to take care of him. She'll be looking over his options today and she and her brothers will be making a decision on what to do. Prayers are needed though on what we should be able to do for him.

Yesterday was a nightmare. I called in to Walmart, they weren't happy about it but then again my tenure there will be coming to a close soon enough so it won't matter. I hate calling in to work but that job functions as a secondary job only anyway and sometimes it gets in the way of living.

I had planned on putting tile on the walls around the shower. It would look the best and after doing the kitchen I felt confident enough that I could handle a shower. So we headed to Lowe's and priced how much tile it would take and then we purchased a very nice shower insert, the accessories that are needed to install it, and insulation. We got it all back home and got to the point where it was going to go in and then we learned it wasn't going to fit. We tried several ways to get it in there and get it fastened but it wasn't meant to be.

So in the rain I loaded up the shower insert back up and made the cross town trip to get it exchanged for a urethane style waterproof backing. I got four sheets of it to surround everything and make it a shower again. I got the adhesive to apply it with and the trim. I got back to the house with the third solution I wanted and then we put sheet rock up. The bathroom immediately started to get warm again! We've still got some work to do as right now the sheet rock alone is on the walls. We still need to apply the adhesive and actually get the urethane sheets fitted in place.

The bathroom is about 60% done I'd say. The floor is in good, solid shape, the shower is about half finished. So that's about the size of it. It sucks and it was a lot of hard, frustrating work yesterday to get it all to this point. That's why I hate doing home repair, I'm not good at it and it always turns into three times the work you planned on.

Another Busy Day On Tap

2011-12-11T08:53:00.002-06:00

This morning we'll start the bathroom project by adding some insulation around the shower and sheet rocking the area. After that we'll head to Lowe's and find a insert that will work to surround the shower keep everything waterproof.

While all that is happening I'll also have to get ready for work and then head to Walmart for a few hours (Hopefully shorter, I'm going to see if I can break away before my shift is over) before returning home and hopefully adding the finishing touches to a fully functional shower!

I'll have to get Thing 2 to work this morning and sometime today she has a set strike as the Christmas show closed last night. Cinderellas is now in the books and over with. That will end a grueling stretch of shows that The Date has been involved with since she was cast in Dixie Swim Club.

She's ready for a break like I was after my last grueling stretch of shows.

Darn Hard Day

2011-12-10T20:37:00.002-06:00

Today was super busy. First my brother and Fat Plummer (his best friend since high school)came over and we ripped up the bathroom. We dismantled everything that needed to be dismantled. The contractor showed up and the three of them formed a plan and they got the floor pieces cut and shored up.

Then I went to work and when I came home the floor was just about ready to put down and set the toilet back into place. Another hour later and everything was rock solid and working! Tomorrow the shower will take center stage. We plan on hanging the sheet rock in the morning and fitting up the sheet rock with a shower insert or something along those lines.

This post is late today because of the busy day and how much was happening! I'd like to mention that this is also my two thousand five hundredth post, yes the big 2.500! I'll be making my three thousandth post in about a year and a third from now.

She's Headed Back Soon

2011-12-09T06:32:00.002-06:00

The Date came home yesterday afternoon after what I realized was the longest time we had been apart since we moved in together! Sunday to Thursday, the longest stretch so far and hopefully that's the record for years to come! It made sleeping more difficult when you get used to someone next to you and then they are gone like that.

I'm glad she came home though for the time she did however she needs to be with her dad in the hospital right now. He's still hurting pretty badly and still needs prayers. I'm encouraging her to spend as much time with him as possible.

It's something you'll regret someday if you don't.

So this morning after she's refreshed her clothes supply for a few more days she'll make the short trip back and keep an eye on him again for a bit. Tomorrow the contractor will be here and we'll be working on the bathroom so things will be out of commission for a while anyway.

Hopefully it won't be that long but it'll be long enough to cause discomfort!

Is there anything better than meeting your loved one at home after being gone for a few days?

Last Evening This Week!

2011-12-08T06:21:00.002-06:00

I'm off work tomorrow night! I'm more than thrilled with that idea! The downside is that I work from Saturday until next Wednesday before having another evening off but I'll get next Thursday and Friday off in a row! That's what I do, I do the hard and ugly stuff.

At work last night they left the night shift the organics, that's the fruits and vegetables that are sold to the hog farms. Well as I'm headed out the manager tells me that Deli left a few buckets out there and make sure they are empty. So I check and they are filled with congealed grease and oil, along with old, cooked chicken.

Great.

Instead of whining to the guy about what I find, I find a board and break loose all of the congealed mess and dump it into organics. It was cold out, not bad but cold. I was out there for perhaps a half hour or more doing the dirty work. When I get back in he asks me about the buckets and I showed him the remaining mess that's still stuck. I tell him that Deli probably needs to clean their buckets out and then I left all six of them by the their entrance door in the back room.

It wasn't pleasant but I'm blessed to have two jobs right now while a close to a tenth of our population doesn't even have one. Yeah sometimes I get the hard stuff but life isn't always easy and sometimes you have to do the hard stuff to get through. I'm made for that. I'm getting real used to working fourteen hour days now, I'll feel like I have a ton of free time when I get off of work tomorrow night! However with that said I'll appreciate the rest a lot!

New PC

2011-12-07T06:25:00.002-06:00

The FiL is slowly recovering from his fall. The Date is still at the hospital with him and making sure he is taken care of and has someone to talk with all the time. It's a crisp seventeen degrees outside and Thing 2 is stirring upstairs while Thing 1 is camped on the living room couch.

The brand new PC is humming along nicely. Quiet, fast, and reliable! That's what I want in my PC! I picked it up yesterday after he called me it was finished. An AMD six core with sixteen gigs of RAM, more USB slots than you can imagine, and plenty of power!

It's a great system and I'm positive this one will stay together!

First Snow

2011-12-06T06:39:00.001-06:00

It was really only a dusting of snow as there's about an eighth of an inch covering everything. It was a storm though and it lasted a while!

I've got the Tahoe warming up, got the dog taken care of, showered and ready for another thirteen hour day. Thing 2 doesn't hit the snooze button, she's up before me and I'm an early riser.

The FiL still has pneumonia and they can't do anything until they get him over that first. He started to rest easier last night before I got to bed, The Date sent a picture to me. He seemed to be sleeping fine. At this point he looks like he'll have a good recovery once they kick the pneumonia.

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Father In Law

2011-12-05T06:36:00.001-06:00

My father in law fell off of a roof yesterday and is in the hospital. The Date is staying with him at his house as she is his power of attorney and can make decisions for him. He's in rough shape right now and I'm sure he's pretty sore.

He's talking though and alert from what she's told me. If you are the praying kind I'd appreciate one for this man and our family, especially The Date for strength to get them both through this. I'll be holding down the home front with The Things:)
We'll be ok:)

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Day Off

2011-12-04T15:23:00.002-06:00

This is a rare day off for me! Not much on the agenda today but to enjoy the time I have off. Thing 2 is at work, The Date is working around the house, and Thing 1 is camped out on the couch with a broken toe playing Modern Warfare 3. I'm making a pot of chili for this evening and things can't be better:)

Dangerous Patriots

2011-12-03T09:01:00.002-06:00

This is it, this is the blog I've promised for a while but was waiting until I had our new desktop PC ready to blog with. We don't but this needs to be written now. Senate Bill 1867 passed last night. What is 1867?

S. 1867 is a bill that has both the left, far left, right, and far right standing together in opinion that it is an evil and bad bill. This was drafted by politicians Carl Levin and John McCain. I'm not a fan of either. You can read some of the damaging aspects of it here. It is an open affront to the sixth amendment guaranteeing American citizens the right to a trial.

1867 authorizes the military, even on American soil to detain indefinitely terrorism suspects...even citizens suspected of terrorism. Citizens dear reader meaning you. If they suspect you, don't like you, think you smell funny they can hold you forever and you will NEVER have your day in court to say otherwise. I've been looking at left leaning sites and right, both really are in agreement about this. It's bad.

The good news? A bill will have to get passed the House in order for it to get to the president to become law. As far as I know it hasn't yet but you can bet there are politicians working on it now. There are those who do not have your best interest at heart working feverishly to hide similar language in their bill.

Now for a part that originally prompted me to want to write this a while back. I can't add much to it, they do a great job on their own in announcing what they are planning. Once you have 1867 in mind and add it to what you are about to watch I believe you'll will have your heart jump at the potential magnitude of what's at stake.

Here it is and it runs six minutes and twenty nine seconds, please watch it until the end, that's where it twists into a nightmare for all of us. It's simply chilling.

The Collapse Of The EU

2011-12-02T06:51:00.001-06:00

I'm not big into buying into the so called Globalist Agenda which supposedly would turn control of most nations over to the Council of Foreign Relations which is run by foreign bankers which probably has secret funding from Xenu from Scientology fame.

However with that said the collapse of the European Union appears imminent. Too much money is being printed out of thin air with nothing to back it. It's got worth because a government with a massive military says it has worth. Greece is done for, Italy is on the ropes, and Spain is on deck.

Countries that promise the entitlements that these countries promise are in trouble. Too much government spending and not enough people to support those gone before. It's a pyramid scheme, just like our system has become.

Watch the dominos fall in Europe, pay attention to how much The Fed prints and sends out, it'll be a spectacular failure and people will suffer because of the idiocy of politicians. Then when the EU is over with ask yourself if it can happen here.

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Working Until Ten

2011-12-01T06:43:00.001-06:00

Since I had my available hours changed last week so I'm no longer working until eleven o'clock it's been a lot easier on me. Working until eleven just drained me the next day. I was drowsy, felt like my head was in a fog, and just wanted to nap all day.

Ten is easier as I can unwind a bit, get into bed usually before ten thirty and I'm so tired I'm asleep a few minutes later! I'm alert when I wake up but I grab a cup of coffee anyway.

It's the first of the month, the first of three food stamp days. It'll be busy at work tonight for sure. It's ok, the night will go by faster that way. I only work four and a half hours, should be a snap!

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Sons Of Mayhem

2011-11-30T06:49:00.001-06:00

On my night off I made a stir fry and took a bowl to The Date at the theatre. She and Tech Guy were making programs for the show. She'll be lost next week as there won't be a thing to work on at all other than pick up rehearsal. For the first time since summer she won't have a show! She needs a rest. Theatre wears you down, that stretch of shows I did last two seasons was a killer over time.

My night off consisted of watching over a sick Thing 1 while watching Knights of Mayhem and Sons of Anarchy.

Knights is a reality show about jousting and how one man is trying to make it larger than it is. He trains the horses, trains the jousters, and does most of the work in keeping the sport going until it can become bigger than it is. He's hoping for a big payday at the end of the line. Maybe it'll happen. Hard to tell right now.

Sons is once again aiming to finish on a high note and has set the table for a huge showdown between Clay and the club. Opie took the position of executioner into his own hands and put Clay into the hospital.

He deserves it but he's also played by Ron Perlman who is a top actor. The show wouldn't be the same without him so I figure he'll live through this and into next season. We'll see though. The story can go in a lot of directions right now.

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Success!

2011-11-29T07:23:00.001-06:00

Got everything finished yesterday that I sat out to finish! We now have a working washer and dryer, the contractor is coming over tonight, and Thing 2 has a replacement phone.

I changed my hours at Walmart and getting off at ten instead of eleven will be a lot better. I got to catch the last few minutes of the Theatre's Christmas show. It looks like a lot of very hard work has gone into it! The costumes combined with the lighting really give it the fantastical look of a fairy tale! The carriage looks spectacular, is functional and fits backstage!

A very tall order to fill!

Great job!

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Busy Day

2011-11-28T06:12:00.001-06:00

I've got a really busy day ahead but work isn't a large part of it. I've got to find or order the parts for the washer and dryer, get Thing 2 a replacement phone, check on the PC I ordered, get things arranged with the contractor, and then go to work tonight.

I'm off tomorrow night and then I think I'm off Sunday. Just the way it is.

Yeah I'm a bit down and disgruntled this morning. I'll get better though.

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Bachelor Night

2011-11-27T09:23:00.001-06:00

The Date went to see her dad on Saturday and spend some time with him over the Thanksgiving weekend. Thing 2 worked yesterday until five then my mom picked her up and they had a great granddaughter/grandmother evening together shopping away! I got off of work at six and they didn't make it back home until a bit after nine! Thing 1 went to her aunt's house for the weekend.

That left me alone for the evening and it was nice and quiet all night:) that's rare anymore and man it was peaceful! I'm in the process of fixing both washer and dryer. The direct drive coupler broke in the washing machine and that lead to the drive belt breaking in the dryer. Thanks to a couple of YouTube tutorials both are really simple fixes. The problem is that on this weekend no one is open that has the parts!

It's really amazing at how simple both machines actually are! You can literally fix both in less than a half hour if you had the replacement parts and get a load of laundry going! So I'll get them both repaired tomorrow before going to work and get them both fixed for way under what it would cost to have a repairman fix them!

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Unexpected Night Off

2011-11-26T11:15:00.001-06:00

A Black Friday bomb threat ended my work day before it began! That gave me the evening off which was very nice!

Today I work six hours from noon on, hopefully it'll go by fast and will be an easy day. We'll see how it goes. One of my coworkers should be having their last day coming up very soon. He's one of the ones I enjoy working with. He'll be working weekends only at another local chain and for a bit more an hour.

It won't be long before I'm turning in my notice and walking away. Looking forward to that day!

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Black Friday

2011-11-25T14:37:00.002-06:00

For me it began about three hours til ten last night. The produce section was fully stocked and we mainly did busy work to make it look like we were busy. The managers didn't notice as they were flying around the store preparing for the opening sale of the holiday season. All of them.

It was crazy, thousands of people were lined up in the store waiting for their opportunity to purchase things before anyone else could. It was so packed that they actually ran out of carts and shoppers had to park in the nearby Lowe's store parking lot, which was closed.

I hit the clock as fast as I could when I was able to and got out of there leaving the delirious masses to their shopping frenzy. Tonight at work it should be fairly calm. The shoppers should be all shopped out by now and it might even be fairly quiet on the floor.

Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T07:57:00.001-06:00

The turkey is brined and thawed, pies are being baked in the brand new oven, and The Date is working away in the kitchen!

The parades will be on shortly, football will be on later, and all is right with the world during our and your feasts.

Be grateful dear readers, be grateful.

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Last Workday

2011-11-23T06:46:00.001-06:00

Yesterday after work The Date told me she was going to take Thing 2 to the highway patrol station and get her some paperwork for her state issued ID. With that she could finally cash three paychecks that had been building up. No one would cash them with just a student ID.

So after we got the paperwork finished I took her to the tag agency and we got her a very real ID and then onward to cash her paychecks! We proudly stepped up to the checkout stand at our grocery store and handed the checks over and she presented her brand new ID!

The clerk wrote the information on the checks and Thing 2 endorsed the backs of them and was presented with a wad of cash for her effort! She walked on air all the way back to the Tahoe when I reminded her she should probably go put a little into the salvation army kettle for others who aren't as fortunate as we are. She did:)

Then I took her to buy some new boots, happy as could be all the way!

Today I'm working both jobs, the turkey is in the ice chest thawing and I'll put the brine in it before going to work this afternoon. It'll take a few minutes so I'll have time:) Tomorrow the parades will be on and we'll be cooking! The bird will be cooking away to a nice and very picturesque golden brown!

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Thanksgiving Acquired!

2011-11-22T06:26:00.001-06:00

The Date and I did our feast purchasing last night! We'll have a great feast for ourselves and those who perhaps won't have such a blessing as we will. The Date always invites some strays over for a feast.

I know many of my friends are finding something to be thankful for each day this month. I applaud that, as we have been born into the best and most well off culture in the history of the world we have plenty to be thankful for.

I'd challenge everyone to be thankful for something every day of the year. Even on your worst day you don't live in Somalia, or Cuba. You don't have the thumb of oppression baring down on your actions, or face imprisonment for your faith.

Be thankful everyday that you've got another day to change or help someone. Be thankful and you'll find contentment.

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New Week

2011-11-21T06:41:00.001-06:00

And as I mentioned yesterday a short week! I've got a blog planned to write after I get the new PC in.

I don't believe I've mentioned how that has gone yet. Tiger sent me a new CPU and I took the PC to a tech guy I know and we gave it a shot. It did the same thing, would not fire up. We found a blown part on the motherboard so I called Tiger the next morning and told them I'm shipping the entire thing back to them.

They sent me the UPS tracking slips in my email and that afternoon it was on its way back. Moral of the story, don't buy anything from Tiger anymore. Ever.

So that's why I haven't put up a post yet that is a follow up to the one where I talked about the Department of Homeland Security and their terrorism video that depicted white middle class Americans profiled as terrorists. Because obviously we've had so many radical Islamic white terrorists in the past ten years. They are a huge threat.

My next post on the subject will actually involve a video game that will be released this next year. It'll put you in charge of an elite combat team that fights terrorism on American soil and fires upon cops and the civilian population. Now if let that sink in and settle it should make your blood run cold.

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Easy Sunday

2011-11-20T11:06:00.001-06:00

My contractor called me last night and we scheduled a time to talk and get everything ready on the Monday after this holiday weekend.

I'll have a three day work week at my real work. I'll have Monday and Tuesday off from Walmart and then work five straight days there. It should be an easy week with only Wednesday being the day I work both jobs! The week after that they have me working over thirty hours so it'll be busy busy.

But today has been an easy morning, I work from twelve thirty until six. I called in yesterday so we could finish painting the fence.

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One Painted Fence Later!

2011-11-19T18:02:00.001-06:00

Thanks to my mom, Beersnob, and of course Theatre King for his generous loan of a painting system! It all made for one long day but resulted in a white fence coated with seven gallons of barn paint as thick as marshmallow cream.

The graffiti is now gone, the fence looks pretty decent, and one project is in the books.

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Big Weekend

2011-11-18T06:34:00.001-06:00

This weekend will mark the start of our new plan to get this house fixed and on the market. First up we'll get a confirmation call from our contractor to start the projects we have hired him for. After that it'll be fence painting and thanks to the wonderful Theatre King who graciously offered the loan of his sprayer it'll go very fast.

I'm likely going to bundle up the entire PC kit I bought from Tiger Direct and ship it back to them. The CPU wasn't bad. We found a burned up place on the motherboard that was. That was evidently the loud pop the morning I turned the system on.

I'm sick of it.

I do have to work this weekend but it'll be ok, I'll be able to take care of what we need to do in the meantime. It's as easy as that.

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The New Plan

2011-11-17T06:48:00.001-06:00

As most of you now know we've been vandalized for the second time this calendar year. Our new fence has been spray painted by thugs as some sort of threat. Not gang related either according to the police.

So now over the past couple of days The Date and I have put in place a new plan and have had to pause the debt snowball for a while. My plan for Christmas was to hire a contractor and get a couple of things done that need to be done around the house. Now the plan is to do that but get it ready to sell to find another place to live.

Safety of our families is of the highest priority and I've never had the problems I've had living here until this year. The neighborhood has been peaceful, quiet, and other than the one robbery I've never had reason to want to leave it.

Now I work a lot of hours, I'm not home much to protect anyone should something happen. So as soon as the contracting work is completed we'll list the house in an attempt to sell it and find that safer neighborhood.

I've got the money in place as of yesterday, I've got the contractor lined up, and I've got the real estate agent on board.

After a new house is found then the debt snowball will roll again. By that point The Date will be working full time and our income will be significantly better and we should actually roll it a bit faster.

Eye on the new prize!

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Survey Says

2011-11-16T06:40:00.001-06:00

Abostang comes over to my shop every day for lunch. We usually fix a bagel sandwich or lately quesadillas. While he's there he reads the news sites.

What is interesting is that yesterday he came across a survey on the NBA lockout, the same day I blogged about it, yesterday. So we went through the survey and put in his opinions, well my opinions as well. Turns out the players got no love from the public.

The NBA will have to earn back the trust of the public similar to what the MLB had to do after the World Series was cancelled. The players came out on the losing end of pretty much every question.

Yesterday I believe they decertified the union and filed an antitrust lawsuit on the league. The season will not happen now in all likelihood. In fact next season could be in jeopardy if the suit isn't settled by then.

After it is settled they will have a huge public relations mess on their hands, how to bring back the fans. A few will return on opening day, a few will never return, and since I'm not a huge fan I can really live with it or without it. I'd probably make it a point though to not watch any NBA for quite sometime until a compelling story comes along as the McGuire/Sosa home run chase did in the 90's.

It's not a great situation to be in, well as far as still being a millionaire and a billionaire that is.

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Horrible Timing

2011-11-15T06:45:00.001-06:00

The NBA is still suffering from a lockout. Yesterday the players decided perhaps their best course of action is to decertify the union and file an antitrust lawsuit against the owners. They felt that given an ultimatum of either accept the offer of a fifty fifty split or take a forty seven fifty three split of revenue was unfair.

Now this is the worst time in the world to pull this stunt. Horrible economic times are driving record amounts of people into foreclosure, unemployment, and onto food stamps.

In the midst of these times billionaires and millionaires are having a disagreement on how to split up millions of dollars. Side note, see any people occupying any player's homes? I think not. What you are seeing is a real time train wreck. Both sides are involved in a sport that is largely dependent upon people willing to pay for a product.

How many of those people will ever watch an NBA game again? I imagine basketball fans will gladly turn on college basketball many times over before ever watching another pro game. Who can blame them?

One side pays people to play a game, the other side gets paid to play a game. Ultimately the market and any remaining fans will decide the real fate of this league.

As for myself, well it isn't like we are watching the NBA during the Jordan era now is it? The product is a watered down shadow of previous years and for if I ever see another game it'll be by mistake. Yes you'll have some die hard fans that will buy tickets no matter what but will they be enough to keep it all afloat? Not if no one watches and the networks take a bath on the tv contracts.

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Bad Stuff

2011-11-14T06:41:00.001-06:00

From hints my coworker through my way last week I know some bad stuff will be happening at work this week. He is on the grievance committee and meets regularly with the higher ups.

He couldn't tell me specifics but anyone could easily deduce from the numbers that have been well known that there will likely be a layoff very soon. They wanted the workforce down to a different number in what started out as 120 days, then it went down to 90 and now it's more like 30.

Management wanted to handle the overage by attrition meaning they'd fill slots vacated by retirees and those moving on. Well no one retires before Christmas and if you stayed that long you might as well finish up after tax season.

They had unreasonable expectations which means there will be some unhappy families this coming December. I don't know why it is but layoffs always happen before the holidays instead of mid-year. Perhaps it'll be easier for those effected to find holiday jobs until something breaks loose or they are recalled.

They will have two years of callback rights, meaning they can go and do what they want and when a slot comes open instead of hiring someone from the public they'll hire a laid off person. They'll retain their pay and any raises they would have received during that time.

I've never been laid off from this job. It's been cut right up to me though and a friend/coworker of mine who's seniority is about four months less than mine has been laid off twice. This time of year brings hardship to a lot of young families. This year appears to be no exception but let's hope for the best!

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Nothing Much

2011-11-13T09:41:00.003-06:00

Had a good day of work yesterday, it was four and a half hours so it went fairly quick. Busy enough to keep it going, slow enough to pace yourself.

I just looked at the lottery numbers I bought on 11/11, no winners. Guess I'm going to have to do this the hard way. Work for everything, save, and save some more. I guess it's not as fast but it's the same way others have done it. Unless I get struck with a lightning bolt on an idea that would catapult my family into a super business that takes off like a rocket.

The debt plan is rolling, however slowly it is rolling it is still rolling. The faster it rolls the better off we'll be. My check this coming Friday is the day we should budget things again and reassess how far we've come.

Not going to lie, this is tough.

Nice Friday

2011-11-12T09:38:00.002-06:00

I enjoyed it a lot. My day off was really a full day off and it was needed. I had lunch with Beersnob and had a couple of nice premium cigars and coffee with him as we discussed the future of the commercial business and if there were any options to pursue outside of that business.

We came up with a few thoughts and ideas that could possibly be pursued. We'll likely revisit them at a future date and see how viable an idea they are then.

Thing 2 plays in the National Honor Orchestra today and The Date and my Mom are going to drive down and see her play! I'm very proud but sad I'll miss it due to my job commitments. I know she'll do a great job though!

Last night we attended a movie night showing of the Tarrantino movie Pulp Fiction. The movie that made Tarrantino Tarrantino. It's always an enjoyable watch. I made smoked spare ribs for the occasion, not from any reference in the movie but just because I felt like making ribs:)

Day Off

2011-11-11T11:24:00.001-06:00

This is it! My hard won day off thanks to the Veteran's of the US who protect our freedoms with their blood, sweat, and plentiful amount of tears. Thank you to the US Veterans and if you know one today, buy them lunch or supper.

Seven Days

2011-11-10T06:47:00.001-06:00

I'm done. Seven straight days of Walmart and now I've got two off! Tonight and of course all day tomorrow! I plan on making chili on the grill! It'll be cool enough to make it taste really good.

I go to the Teralinga chili cook off site once in a while and find their best recipes. It's unique as the winning recipes are posted in full down to spices and correct times. I figure adding in the outdoor aspect will add the smoky flavor and give it a heartiness it would otherwise not have.

I'm sure that it'll work just as well in the dead of winter. After I got The Big Green Egg I made steaks at seven hundred degrees while it was nasty cold, windy and sleeting out. It can handle cold temperatures very well and that was a deciding factor in this grill over a Weber kettle grill.

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Last Day Of Work

2011-11-09T06:37:00.001-06:00

Yes, I've made it! Six days down and tonight is the last night I work at Walmart for two days! Friday is Veteran's Day so it is a full day off.

I just have to make it through tonight and I'm home free. I can come home tomorrow and cook if I want to, I can sleep in until seven thirty Friday morning if I want to, just make it through tonight. That's all I have to do, one more five thirty to eleven shift! Two nights and one day off!

The Date took care of me too, she had soup on the stove before I got home between jobs and she made me some Stove Top Stuffing after I got home for the night:) I've got a great wife:)

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Super Rain

2011-11-08T06:37:00.001-06:00

The Date pointed out to me last night that we had snow in the panhandle, thunderstorms, tornados, and another earthquake that came close to a 5.0 yesterday.

That's really pretty incredible for a single day!

Work was slow last night. Everything was stocked up before I got there so it was a long and boring night. Tonight might be similar, who knows. Two more evenings and I'm off for two days though!

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