Random Thoughts

Basically I just have a lot of things swirling around in my head and they need to get out. I apologize if none of this makes sense, but I will do my best to make it do so.

First thing bugging me is work. We have made many changes, especially with email, as most people are aware of through the news and through being a customer. I think it is great what we are doing but I think we went about it all wrong. Of course what department picks up the pieces when things go wrong, Tier. On top of all the new email issues we have to deal with the normal day to day problems our customers have as well. Do we get much thanks or mention. NO. In fact at last weeks holiday party every department involved got a congratulatory mention except Tier 1. Its bad enough that we are working mandatory overtime and having to deal with more irate people than normal, but at least give us the credit we deserve for being the front line in a bloodbath.

Second thing bugging me is women. Women are all unstable in my opinion. They flip-flop on their opinions and ideas way too often. I just want them to tell me straight up what they mean and how/why they mean it. I don't sugar coat things and play games. Am a straight shooter and I expect the same from everyone, not jut women. (Just to clarify, this has nothing to do with my wife.)

Lastly on my mind, at the moment anyways, is the holidays and winter. Why is it during the holidays when everyone is preaching "Love thy friend and neighbor" and "Help others in time of need" are people such douche nozzles. I can't stand hypocrites. Don't preach me one thing and live another. I don't care how you live, just be honest about it. Also, why is it that people who have lived in Iowa for most of their lives can't drive in winter weather. It is the same this year as last and will be the same next year as well. It isn't rocket science to remember how to do it. If you can't then get off the road and get out of my way.

I may at a later time elaborate on these issues, but this will do for now.

WTF........

I am blogging mainly because I am frustrated and I don't want to take it out on those around me when it's not their fault. Professionally things are just not going as they should be. I keep being encouraged by my supervisor and by previous supervisors to apply for promotions but never get them. I ask why I am not getting them as to correct any problems I may have and get no response. My stats are good, my attendance is fine, my knowledge of the job is top notch. WTF. I just don't know where to turn. I can't keep doing the same thing everyday and I am in such need of a change. I feel I am wasting my time when I know I am more qualified and should be doing more. I like this company and want to stay here, but why. I am not being rewarded for for the time and attention that I have put towards this company. I come in everyday going above and beyond to do whats necessary for our customers and to try to prevent issues before they happen. I do my job well, in fact better than many that get hired over me. Of those that now me well and have been promoted over me, know that I am not mad at you. It is not your fault that I didn't get hired. I do believe that the system is faulted and needs to be corrected. If their is something I am doing wrong that is screwing this all up for me then I wish I would be told. I am willing to work on whatever I need to. Oh well, I guess I should just relax and move on. Maybe somewhere else, doing something else.

Randomness

Am blogging today more out of sheer boredom than anything. You would think in a job as busy as mine, where I talk to people nonstop, that there would be no boredom. There is lots of boredom. Talking to customers passes the time but is not that fun or exciting. I like my job and do it well, but I need a little escape throughout the day from those customers that push the wrong buttons. Unfortunately, those I usually vent to and just chat with in general or all gone today. They either have weekends off, or have taken the day off. That's fine and good for them, but that leaves me here bored out of my mind only having customers to deal with. I will make it through its not as rough as I might make it sound, just makes the day drag on. Oh, well. I have gotten a blog in this month which is good, if the thoughts in my head don't come out I might explode. Even if the thoughts are mostly nothingness, they gotta go somewhere. As usual, thanks for readin and come back any time.

Asshats and their precious little snowflakes....

I am not the type to sugar coat things and I know that the followers of this blog appreciate that. So here it is. RELAX!!!!. The whole f-ing country needs to just calm down and chill. I know the economy sucks and we keep hearing that things are looking up but don't actually see much proof. Regardless, that doesn't give people the right to run around acting like the world is coming to an end. For those not necessarily worried about the economy, quit trying to push stupid laws and ordinances to keep you from being a good person or a good parent. So many people these days think that we have to ban everything so that young kids may not see or hear it. I agree that there are lots of things in the world that I wouldn't want kids exposed too, but that doesn't mean that everyone else can't enjoy it. It means that parents have to actually teach their children good & bad, right & wrong. I grew up with without all of the protective legislation we have now, but I didn't need it. My parents knew how to teach me to do what's right and good, and they took the time to teach it too me. So many parents these days say they are too busy to pay attention to teaching their kids. They say that's what the schools are being paid for. Unfortunately our schools are not funded well enough or staffed well enough to do that for us. Plus they shouldn't have to. Schools are there to teach Math, Science, Reading, etc. They are there to support your teachings of right and wrong, but it is your job to lay the foundation long before your kids get to school. If it is too hard to handle the responsibility of having kids, then don't have kids. Otherwise, grow up and be responsible. Don't expect everyone else to do it for you.
To rant in a related yet different direction, another thing that is driving me nuts is also economically related I believe. People and their services. whether it is cable, Internet, phone, or another utility, people believe that because their hard earned money is paying for a service they have the right to treat people working for those companies like a slave. Like they can yell and scream all they want and whatever their issue is just has to be fixed now. Realize that we the service people are just that people. We have issues to and understand that to you, yours are very important. In the grand scheme though yours may be very minuscule. As a company, you service provider is going to do whatever is best for them and the majority of customers, not just you. Don't call in thinking you can be rude to us because you pay us and don't call in thinking you can act retarded and not have to know anything. Just because you have and pay for our service doesn't mean we jump when you say so and doesn't mean that you are void of all personal responsibility. When you call we are going to ask you to troubleshoot a few things before sending a tech out. It is also possible that the issue is yours and not ours, in turn we will charge you if we send a tech out. We do not control every device that uses our service.
Personally, I could rant about this crap all day. I think this country has become too reliant on everyone having everything done for them. We as a people need to stand up and start doing things for ourselves. We need to become more self-reliant, in doing so we free ourselves from the need of others and in turn can help them become more self-reliant as well. Thanks for reading and no t having me committed after doing so. lol

The Saga continues.....

If you've read my recent posts then you know most of what is going on at home with me lately. Well it has taken another turn. Turns out the my sis-in-Law told me a couple of weeks ago that my sis made some comments about my new house. If she said them then I thought it was rude, but I didn't truly beleive she said them or at least not in the contest I was made to believe. I have patched things with my sis but now my wife is even more mad at her sis because she keeps telling people shit that isn't true and telling people about my business. If I want someone to know my business I will tell them. Not that I have anything to hide, just don't always think everyone needs to know my business either. Oh well, I wanted things to go back to normal but maybe the way things are is better. Who knows. It has been quieter and more peacefull around the house. I do miss my nephews though. Short of weeks when they are away with their fathers, I have never wen this long without seeing, ever. I guess I will see them at birthdays and christmas providing we still get invited. As always thanks for listening/reading. Feel free to comment.

Feeling bad.....horrible actually!

I don't like feeling bad about things and maybe if I vent them here I won't feel so bad. If you read my previous post then you know whats going on. I am feeling horrible about it, physically sick in fact. I hate knowing that I may have contributed to the fight without even knowing it. I don't want anyone thinking that I would purposely say or do anything to keep 2 sisters from being friends. I feel they are both important to each other and need to be in each other's lives. I won't apologize for what I said here because neither of them will ever read this. I have apologized individually to them and hopefully they will accept it. It is making me sick to my stomach to know that things were on the road to recovery and then all because of comments I made on Facebook to no individual in particular have derailed things. If they choose not to accept it then what can I do. They know me and know that I meant what I said when I apologized. Talking about it, even if it is in blog form is helping me get it out. Thanks for listening/reading.

Social networking bit my Ass

I have some bitchin' to do, so for the avid readers out there. Shut up and listen. Quit being so f***ing sensitive. Lately my wife and her sister have been fighting. Well as of the last couple of days, they have been working on trying to make amends. I thought that was great. I want them to get things worked out so life can go back to normal. Unfortunately, I vented in frustration on facebook and it was all taken the wrong way. Most of my rants are never directed at anyone in particular, especially on such a public forum, they are just there for me to vent and feel better. Most of the time my comments are liked and agreed upon by many of my friends, but for some reason lately, a few people have been taking them too personally. Now because of this, my sister-in-law is taking my comments personally and blaming my wife for them. I never once directed anything at her and even if, she should not be blaming my wife for it. We are separate people with separate thoughts and opinions. I mean no ill will towards anyone in my life, but as everyone else, I get frustrated and use public forums to vent that frustration. I never direct it at anyone in particular and never mean anything personal by it, just my way of getting it out so i don't go crazy. If she wants to be mad at me though, fine, I can take it. She doesn't need to get mad at my wife though for things I said, especially when I didn't say them to anyone specifically. Now I feel bad because I am being blamed for messing things up between them when I feel I did nothing wrong. All I ultimately want is for them to get along again and for things to go back to being the way they were. We all know though, that things will probably never be the same.

Changes in life.

Not much ever changes in my life as I am sure is the case for most of us. We get up, go to work, come home, spend time with the family, go to bed and then do it again tomorrow. Right now I am in one of the biggest changes I have experienced for awhile. Recently my wife and I were informed by our landlord that he was no longer renting and we needed to move. We could stay until our lease runs out on July 31st, but if we could move sooner that would be great. Before this I had no intention of moving, I like house we are in and it is a good price, but now we had no choice. On the plus side it really forced to weigh our options, our credit sucks so we knew purchasing outright was out of the question. We started looking at rental properties, not wanting to pay more than we currently were. Unfortunately, everything we found that was similar to what we have now is a lot more expensive. So now we are looking at spending $100-150 more than we are currently.

My wife's friend had been mentioning to us this townhouse her in-laws owned. She had been saying something for months, but we dismissed it because we weren't planning on moving and it was more expensive. Since we now had to move, and it isn't more than what we were finding, we gave it a look. We fell in love. Perfect size for both of us plus some extra room. Nice patio, 1 car garage, 1 3/4 baths, laundry, and plenty of storage. Plus all hardwood floors upstairs, and newer carpet down. Couldn't ask for much more, plus the association we are now part of has a full park 1 block away for my nephews, access to tennis courts and basketball courts. It's also a nice quiet area away from the normal hustle and bustle of town as well. My favorite part is that for only $70 per year we have unlimited access to a pool with live lifeguard.

So thanks to my current landlord we were forced into a better place, better situation. Now comes the best part. I mentioned are credit sucking so we couldn't buy outright. Our new landlord is wanting to sell this place and will to do rent-to-own. We will be renting for awhile trying to clean up our credit in the hope to buy the house out right, but in case that doesn't work out we are going to do rent-to-own. With our credit and her health issues racking up the bills some months, I never thought owning a home would be possible. Til now. I am tired of moving and hate to do it, but am so excited for this change. A nice house, nice amenities, nice neighborhood, and it will someday be mine. Not just something I live in by the rules of someone else, but mine, all mine. Grant it, on the outside, I still have to go by the associations rules, but that is still more freendom than I have ever had with a home. Only time will tell if this is the house I live in forever, in fact I doubt it will be, but am looking forward to living here for many years. For now I am going to enjoy this place as much as I have enjoyed any place I have ever lived.

I also have room to entertain and room for out-of-towners to stay, so anyone wanting to stop by and hang out just let me know.

Caring Frustration

I have to vent about a few things recently. I know that people mean well and I am glad I have a family that realizes I am hurting and want to try and make it better. With that said, all of my family and the friends I have outside of work all keep saying they "are sorry about what happened to the guy I worked with." I appreciate them caring, but Rusty was so much more than just a guy I worked with. He was my friend, and not just my friend but a friend to many of us. He would be willing to help anyone with anything, without even asking. He was always in a good mood towards others, even when he was mad about something he never let it get to those around him. Rusty was one of the few people at work who could keep me sane and when I stand up and look over my wall at his desk and see him not sitting there, well it just wont be the same.

            I just want people to understand that he wasn’t just a guy I knew from work. He wasn’t just another guy I saw around the call fall. He was a guy who I knew, and knew fairly well. He listened to me when I got frustrated at work and listened to him as well. He sat across my wall and was my first human interaction in my lonely corner of the call floor. From now on10:30 am, that is when Rusty came in to work, will be a very rough time of day for me. I just don’t think it has set in yet and come tomorrow when I returned to work and at that time he is not at his desk I am not sure how I will handle it.

            I am glad though that I have the friends that I do. Especially those at work who knew Rusty and is sharing what I am going through. The best thing we can do is remind each other of the joy and laughter that Rusty brought to us. Although, riding the Sawmill Splash at Adventureland will never be the same.

Life......?

We all know that life is too short. People have been telling us this for years and some of us choose to not believe it. It was proven to us last night that it is true. The followers of this blog and I lost a great friend last night that will be deeply missed. In fact life as we all knew it will never be the same. R.I.P. inkil.shadowhunter, you were a great friend, a wonderful person, and you made life interesting. No one will ever take your place.

Social Networking....Good, Bad, or Undecided.

I have been spending a lot of free time social networking. Mostly it has been on Facebook, but am also on MySpace and Twitter. Now my issue is two-sided. It's great to connect to old friends in a manner I can follow without having to talk to them directly, but it is also a bad thing. In my case it is great. I love seeing what old friends are doing, but am not close enough to some of them to just call them up and chat, but I also think it is a situation that is make us less personable as a society. We keep up with each other electronically and don't feel we need to really communicate with others, even those closet to us. So, you be the judge. It works for me, but as a whole it could be the downfall of our people socially.

Just as I thought...

Just as I expected, this year is starting off crappy. I found out about 2 weeks ago that I am diabetic. Also it seems that everyone you owe comes after you in January so that they can get you off their books. Unfortunately I don't have any more money, usually less, in January than I do any other time of the year. As usual, things will get better. My health is now under control, my wife's health is as stable as it will ever be, and the bills will get cleared up slowly as they always do. So to no surprise this year will probably be the same as every other year. Would just like for one to start off differently.

The "Happy New Year" brings "Happy New Stress"

I always question when people say "Happy X Holiday", especially "Happy New Year." I do so with good reason. My year's always start out like crap and end up ok only to start the crappy cycle all over again. This month my wife has to get a c-pap machine. For those of you who don't know, it is a machine to help her breathe properly when she sleeps. Turns out she tops breathing several times a night. On top of that she also has to have a root canal, then a filling a capping of the tooth. Needless to say I am going to be spending a few thousand dollars I don't have in the next week or so. Grant it insurance will cover most it, but only after I have paid for most of it up front. On top of that I signed up for a flexible spending account to cover these situations and my card hasn't come yet. Novel idea to have the money set aside and taken out of my paycheck. Worthless if I can't use it. Hopefully it will come in the next few days, then I won't have to stress out and can use it for the expenditures. Oh well, shouldn't complain. Should be use to this kind of stuff by now. Oh well, here's to another "Crappy New Year".

The New Year

I am having an issue with the new year only because everyone keeps saying "Happy New Year". How do I know its going to be a happy one, it's only the second day. Now don't get me wrong, I hope this is the greatest year ever. It may turn out to be the worst. All I know is that I will say it was a happy new year when I have proof. Until then it is just another year, where I am older, hopefully wiser, and am trying to make things better.

So far the year is looking good. Am hoping to have things more stable on the financial side, wife's health is the same as ever, the only thing up in the air at this point is my health. My health seems to be getting questionable. I won't get into details because I don't want to gross anyone out, but I just need to get my butt to a doctor and find out more. I might actually go soon too, who knows.

My plans for the year are nothing spectacular. Am looking to get some debt paid, maybe try to slim down alittle, also need to save money. I have a trip to Jamaica in Feb. '10 and a possible cruise in Sept. '09. Other than that I will just see how it goes a deal with the cards as they are dealt.

I will end by saying that I hope everyone has the year that they want to have, but I won't wish you all a Happy New Year because a wish from me is cursed.