My Marathon

So, my plan now is to have at least 100 posts in place by Christmas. Yeah, you read that right: ONE HUNDRED POSTS by Christmas.. I don't really have anything else planned quite yet leading up to Christmas, so maybe this is doable.

Maybe.

So, news on the job search.... Nothing yet, but I've submitted my resume at a number of places, most of which mean a longer commute. I applied for work at JP Morgan and Chase for a training job quite similar to a job I had 7 years ago. I applied to the Credit Union Centre of British Columbia, looking for a Government Contact Liaison. Again, similar to work I've done before. The best, and closest was to Trinity Western University in their IT department in an extremely similar job to what I was just doing before my sudden departure.

There were others as well, but those are my top 3 hopefuls. I'm dying to hear something --anything-- soon. My resume is online with 'Monster' and hopefully I hear from an employer. So far, I've gotten a call from Primerica, but I'm smart enough to know to stay away from them ;-)

Meanwhile, it's up to eBay to help me support my family. Fortunately, my wife has been more forgiving of my time on the computer since I'm putting it to good use in her eyes. I usually do useful things on the computer, but she never saw it that way before. Right now I have 28 things on eBay. Not much, I know, but I'm trying to get a bunch more ready for this weekend. I've noticed a new trend and curious to see if any other eBayers have seen it. People rarely bid early on anymore, but add the item to their "watch list" and wait until the last day to bid. I have a couple items with 10+ people "watching" them. They all end on Sunday. Some of them I was hoping to see got for $20 or more, but they don't even have bids on them yet. Frightening, but then I just look and see how many people have checked the auction out (one is currently at 164 visits which I think is the highest I've ever had) and how many have added it to their list (in the case of the 164 visitors, there are 7 'watchers').

Speaking of the other half.... she got a call last night and is officially employed on a regular basis through to New Year's now. I can breathe a little easier knowing that something's finally happening for her. She loves retail work (I hated it when I did it --and I owned my own business) and even though she has a degree, she's seriously done nothing with it. I don't have my degree yet and at the rate I'm going, I never will.

So, off to the races, eh?

My Next List of 101 Things

I've been inspired by 2 muses, so I'm compelled to do another 101 things about me and my life.

1. My 2 cats are named after characters in an obscure British comedy from the 80s.
2. Out of their entire litter, there are only 3 surviving of the 6. The mother is long dead too. My sister has the other surviving cat.
3. 'Sex Caffeine' was 15 emails away from becoming the "#1 most-referred-to" in my work email before I left.
4. The #1 person ended up being a woman I worked with off-and-on since 1998. She was laid off temporarily back in the spring of 2000 and we corresponded quite frequently as I was relaying "news" to her while she was away. We'd had 584 messages relayed between 1998 and 2004.
5. Sex Caffeine and I had 569 messages in just over 2 years.
   
6. Twice weekly, during the summer, I head over to a place called Grab-A-Java and get a mocha milkshake. If I just want a regular coffee and the owner's there --it's free. We've known each other through a network of people for over 10 years.
7. Every July 1st (Canada Day), I go out early in the morning and pick strawberries from our garden. Wash 'em up, slice them and put a maple leaf design on the breakfast pancakes for the family.
8. Apparently, I wasn't the only one called into face the music last week. 'Drama Queen' got hers too. Sweet. Only 2 people are shocked by this, though. My old boss and DQ herself.
9. For the new job opening in that department, my boss sent DQ to pick up the resumes. She read through them on the way back and talked to the various people who had applied. Dumber than I thought!
10. My favorite artist is a man named George Perez. He's an extremely talented comic book artist and has been drawing for major publishers since the mid-70s.
    
11. I have a hardcover book about his artwork and it's one of only 15 in existence.
12. I started my own 'tribe' on www.tribe.net called "Hairyhoser's Lonely Party."
13. There's only one member.
14. I once tried to get my friends to vote for me as the Greatest Canadian, but forgot to send the message. So, I'm the greatest slightly-inept Canadian, eh?
15. The wedding gift from my parents was a jumbo-sized can of Ravioli.
16. Actually, they splurged for the honeymoon, but they thought the Ravioli was good for a laugh at the gift opening.
17. The honeymoon consisted of a 10-day trip to England to visit Oxford, Stratford-Upon-Avon, and London.
18. We went to Oxford to visit Magdalene (pronounced "maud-lin") College where C.S. Lewis taught. We ate dinner that night at the same table at the Eagle and Child where Lewis would sit with J.R.R. Tolkien and others and discuss their stories. I had pizza and beer.
19. In Stratford, we saw a couple of Shakespeare plays (of course) and did a little shopping.
20. In London, we stayed at a hotel on Baker Street (of Sherlock Holmes fame) and went on daily shopping trips along Oxford street.
21. One of our last days there, the Underground was shut down on strike and the city was chaotic with traffic. My wife & I had our first big fight.
    
22. I've only been fall-down drunk twice in my life and one of those times was in England in 1994.
23. I'd just finished climbing the cathedral spire in Salisbury, the highest spire in England (maybe Europe, I can't remember).
24. I'm afraid of heights. Get it?
25. I'm also a little claustrophobic. I don't like pressing crowdsof people.
26. Although 13 is my lucky number.
27. It's the number I have on my hockey jersey.
28. My favorite hockey player of all time is Mike Gartner. He scored over 700 goals in his career and never won the Stanley Cup. I think he was the oldest player to win the All-Star MVP award, though.
29. He's Christian.
30. 'Hairyhoser' actually is 2 nicknames of mine combined. I used to be called 'Hairy' in high school and 'Dreama' started calling me 'Hoser' when I called her 'Brat.'
31. I once taught Sunday School for a year and pretty much hated it.
32. I've never smoked pot.
33. I have inhaled, though.
34. It was at a Pink Floyd concert in 1986. Yep, I was 13 and at a Pink Floyd concert.
35. Prince Charles once stepped on my sister's foot.
36. It was on her 15th birthday and the same day my father was in a TV commercial.
37. The last concert I went to was Swollen Members. There was almost a riot. I was backstage and the head of security gave me a hat form his company for helping out.
38. I watched one of the gates while the guards went to hold the fence together.
39. When I was 25 years old, I bought my first house.
40. It has 5 bedrooms and a kitchen area that can seat 10.
41. My wife and I were all alone in that house for the first 2 years.
42. When I was 26, I owned my own business.
43. I was 27 when I shut it down.
44. I owed over $2000 in rent and had less than $50 a day coming in.
45. The tax breaks were phenomenal.
46. The first pirated movie I owned was Lord of the Rings.
47. Or maybe it was Monster's Inc.
48. I once vowed never to own a dishwasher after my wife insisted anything going in the dishwasher needed to be washed off first (huh?).
49. After the year we lived in the condo, sans dishwasher, I changed my mind.
50. The entire year we lived in the condo, our street was under construction, first being widened, then being repaved.
51. The day we moved into our first home in a different city, they dug up the main street.
52. When I went to get pizza for dinner that night, it had been repaved already.
53. My very first kiss was with a girl in my grade 5 class.
54. My coldest day of school was my first day of school in Dawson Creek (no relation to the show --trust me) in January 1982. It was -44C outside (or -47.2F).
55. There was barely anyone in class as the schoolbuses were frozen solid.
56. Being the complicated guy I am, the #1 choice of anywhere to live would be in some warm, but remote (read: quiet) place. Kind of like when my family lived in the Okanagan.
57. Barring that, I'd rather live in a condo in downtown Vancouver. Go figure, eh?
58. My favorite cartoon while growing up was Starblazers.
59. My second favorite was Scooby Doo.
    
60. Until Scrappy came along.
61. A college friend & I once went on a mad hunt for Koogle. We didn't realize it had been nearly 20 years since it had been discontinued.
62. We also had an acquaintance in college who used to cry during exams and once flushed a paper down the toilet because the prof had failed him and it was "obviously shit!"
63. This guy once told my friend during a fire drill that he hoped he'd burn in Hell.
64. We used to tell stories to anyone who'd listen when we worked together at the tourist site.
65. We went on a hunt for him once too. I'd run into him (almost literally) while walking with my wife in Victoria. I took his picture (he was wearing a sandwich board for an Italian restaurant) and sent it to our favorite profs in college.
66. I once had a crush on Olivia Newton John around the time she & John Travolta starred in 'Two of a Kind.'
67. I always thought that a very cool super power would be time manipulation, much like one of the characters in... Two of a Kind. (like that transition?)
68. Olivia Newton John wore a very, very short pink housecoat in that movie.
69. This is from memory. I think I last saw that movie in 1986.
70. In high school, I was in honours French and honours English.
71. My English teacher once scored me 'x out of 20' on a short story. It was "too good" to give it a mark.
72. He eventually decided to "weigh it" to give me 100% if I ever did poorly on any other paper.
73. It didn't happen. Even during the public speaking portion of class I got more than 100%. We received a bonus if we volunteered to speak first.
74. The next year my teacher accused me of plagiarism for a children's story we were assigned to write. She didn't think any child would like a story with knights, dragons and a wizard explaining that the knight would die if he killed the last dragon.
    
75. I wanted to be an artist or cartoonist, but my parents spent years convincing me it was a bad idea and I should do something more productive with my life,
76. One of my close friends in high school ended up going on to animation school.
77. Not he's done much with his career.
78. Fortunately, that 'bad idea' of mine only brings home about $120K a year, but who needs money?
79. Or a job?
80. My wife has more cousins than she can count and some of them married other cousins without realizing they were related.
81. Her dad has 5 siblings.
82. Her mom has 5 as well.
83. Most had 3 or more kids, so do the math....
84. I have one aunt and uncle and 3 cousins.
    
85. All the boys in my extended family were named after Westerns... my cousins are Brett (as in Maverick) and Landon (as in Michael).
    
86. My grandparents have all passed away.
87. My wife's grandmother organized her 98th birthday party last year.
<>My grandfather on my mother's side died exactly 4 years after his wife. We figured he'd realized he'd lived long enough to see his first great-grandchild born and that was officially enough to say he'd lived a full life.
88. Originally, we were a little miffed that all we got in the will was the family pictures and family Bible.
    
<>My aunt took the car and brand new stereo. The stereo's obsolete. The car's toast as well.
89. I have pictures of family I never knew I had.
90. My mother once fainted in a bookstore.
    
91. She'd opened up a 'Country Living' magazine and there was a contest winning picture of "cottage life." It was her father and grandfather with a fish they'd just caught.
92. I have a copy of the magazine somewhere.
93. I have 2 pictures left of "My First Love." I don't know where the rest are.
94. I'm assuming they're hidden along with all the other pictures of my ex-girlfriends...
95. I was once on a bowling team where every single kid had the same first name.
<>I was the youngest bowler there and they put me on an older team just so I could play.We were the best team and I had the lowest average at 166.
96. My next best sport as a child was tennis. My tennis partner in high school went on to play women's basketball and lost her leg below the knee in a bizarre in-game accident. She returned to play with a prosthetic leg the very next season.
97. I claim my ease of spelling and writing came from endlessly reading comic books when I was a kid. 'Prosthetic' was a word I could both spell and define when I was 7 years old.
98. In the second grade, I officially mispelled one word all year. It was during the spelling bee, so I came in second.
99. I used to shoplift all the time when I was 12 years old. My best friend got jealous that I got away with it so often that he tried stealing some rubber mice.
    
100. He got caught. It was the only time my parents said I was a bad influence on someone else.
101. I was once grounded from riding my bicycle for 4 months because I'd gone riding for about 9 hours without telling my parents where I was going. I've never ridden a bike since.
     

My Replies

Wow! There's actually other people reading this!! Thanks for the comments, they are appreciated!!

I didn't lose my job because of surfing the net or even having the Blog (although either would've made it worse). Nope, I lost my job for sharing my opinion too openly with people about working with the Co-Workers From Hell in what is now officially the Department From Hell. Nothing but problems, and the beat the Hell out of me that Ileft --and that wasn't enough for them.

No, I'm completely gone now and doing the active job search. I could be bitter (and will be a little --it makes for interesting writing), but I need to move on and LOVE that I've had so much weight lifted off my shoulders.

Coincidentally, a job opened up right nearby in the exact position I was just doing. I applied the very same day I left this last job. It's looking good and I have faith it'll work out.

Time will tell, yes?

My Life Rating


My life is rated R.
What is your life rated?
Well, duhhhhhhh.....

My Top Ten Positive Thoughts

10 - I can finally have that 'Andy Richter Controls the Universe' marathon.
9 - Late night, shmate night. Nothing to get up early for right now!
8 - No more eBay excuses.
7 - Phone calls from Co-Workers from Hell? Just try it!
6 - I can kiss my children good morning and good night.
5 - No more queasy feelings whenever the big wigs have a "sit-down" with my boss.
4 - I never have to figure out if I'm going to get in trouble for surfing the net.
3 - I can shift my focus to something I like for a change.
2 - I don't have to wonder how these people got their educations anymore (although, seriously... who took 'em in?).
1 - I never have to drive to that stinkin' town again. Ever.

Her Goodbye

It took her a few hours, but she did reply:
To say this email came as a shock would be a gross understatement. I
read it earlier at work (I'm at home now) and started to cry...it has
taken me about six hours to try and sort through my emotions so I can
respond properly.

I won't ask what happened and why you're gone because that's not
important. What is important is that you're OK. We all make
mistakes and the most crucial thing is to make sure we forgive ourselves
when we do. I pray you will remember this and give yourself the grace
you deserve to get past whatever it is that took place. I think you
know me well enough to know that I'm not the kind of person who pays
much heed to gossip and rumours. I still think you're a great guy and a
friend who always stood behind me. As I would (and will) stand behind
you.

Thank you for sharing with me what is in your heart about the special
kind of love you have for me. I am honoured by this gift and want you
to know that I hold it with the utmost respect. It takes great courage
and selflessness to love somebody to the extent that you free them to
find their own joy. I want you to know that I AM happy and that
your happiness for me in this makes it that much sweeter. Your words
and the sincerity with which you've stated them mean more to me than I
could ever express...I am truly moved.

I know that you will be rewarded for the integrity and maturity you've
shown in how you've dealt with your feelings for me. You allowed God to
work through you so you could give unselfishly to me, and you will be
blessed for this.

I don't know what else to say except that when I think of you,
it is with love as well.

I'm sure somewhere along the line our paths will cross again - the
world isn't THAT big!

You'll be in my prayers. I know that wherever God is leading you next,
it is somewhere wonderful.

I won't forget you or the gift you've given me.

My Goodbye

In leaving work, there was only one person I wanted to talk to. I knew I wouldn't be able to talk if I called, so I simply emailed her:

Hey there girl....

You may find this strange that out of all the people I know there,
you're the one I'm writing to and the only one I'm writing to.

It may be because of our history together or just the plain fact that
you're the one I valued most as a friend.

And we'll never see each other again and that's why I'm compelled to
write.

You'll hear rumours as to why I'm gone and I'm hoping most of them are
false. I'll admit to making a mistake and honestly not thinking of
just how bad it could get. I've been treated fairly by the people
that count and that's all I can ask for.

But I need desperately to clear one thing with you before I say my big
goodbye.

I can say now that I love you --but it's how I love you that I want to
make clear.

I realized a long time ago --thanks to you-- that I was making another
mistake and unfortunately, didn't back away soon enough. You called
me on it and I do appreciate it. And thanks to God I know now that I
can love you in a very special way.

I can pray --and I have prayed before-- that God does whatever it
takes to makes you happy. That's what I realized is that all I want
for you and of you is that you're happy.

That's why the first time I heard you finally had someone to share
your life with I was actually happy. Because I knew that's what you
deserve.

I'd like to say you're a good person, but that's not enough. You're
great person and I thank God met you when I did. I'd like to still be
able to think of you as a friend and ask again for your forgiveness
that you've been at giving me in the past. Thank you for that too.

I'm sorry I won't be there to make you laugh. And I'm sorry I was
there to make you sad. And I'm sorry I won't be around to see you
live your happy life.

I'll miss you a lot and I'll pray that you're happy. Don't miss me
because I'm gone but remember the times we shared a laugh, shared a
story and did what we could to be friends.

Take care --I'll miss you always.

My 101 Things

This is borrowed from a few other blogs, but these are 101 things about me and my people. Good, bad, indifferent. It's THINGS. *Despite the day I've had, I decided "screw it" I'm doing this anyway.

1. Although I tell people that my father never really supported me, he did. He was the manager of my soccer team when I was 6. When I was involved in youth groups in my teens, he was always a part of them too. Driving, support, advising, whatever.
2. My father was 38 years old when I was born. Most of my high school friends thought he was my grandfather when they saw him at Grad. He was 56 and most other parents were in their late 30s and early 40s. He'll be 70 in July 2005.
3. I've actually found a famous person in my family tree. I'm related to Thomas Edison, the "American" inventor of the telephone.
4. My mother, father and grandfather have all worked for telephone companies. I worked in telecommunications for a few years.
5. A somewhat favorite job was at a tourist attraction where we'd fire black powder muskets. We were pretty good and could fire them twice a minute.
6. I hated my co-worker there too. He used to say, "Greetings and halogens" all the time and I hated it. Out of everyone I worked with there, he's the only one left.
7. I worked for Little Caesar's Pizza just after high school. Every once in a while I can wrangle a free pizza out of them still.
8. I only occasionally talk to one of my high school friends and we both worked at Little Caesar's.
9. I quit that job after a year because I'd been passed up for promotion twice. They seriously picked fights with me on my "review" days and each time it cost me a promotion.
10. I've never been fired from a job until today.
11. And I'm not actually upset about it.
12. I've been laid off twice.
13. One of my biggest fears is that I'm going to get fired from my job for something really stupid.
14. It's really a big fear now because I'm enjoying my new department.
15. Out of the entire building here at work, there's one other guy who has the same first name as me. He's 3 cubicles away from me. People use our last names to talk to us because otherwise we start answering the question asked of the other person.
16. Our son's were born 5 days apart.
17. My wife's 2 brothers are married and so is my sister. Despite so many couples, my sister's family is the only other one to have children.
18. My nephew had a heart defect when he was born. A valve had an opening in it and he wasn't developing as he got older.
19. At six months, he went in for open heart surgery. My entire family was devastated, but I told them that everything would be fine and he'd pull through with out any problems.
20. He did pull through and he's a great little kid. I love him to pieces and so does my daughter.
21. It was the 5th time I'd ever seen my father cry.
22. The 4th time was when my mother got mad at him for helping out a girl in trouble. She had moved out of her mom's place when she was 18 and needed money. My father hired her to help with yard work and cleaning around the house.
23. The 3rd time was when his father died.
24. The 2nd time was when my other grandfather died.
25. The 1st time was after our house fire and we'd received a care package from his friends.
26. The house fire was early on in my college education and it took me years to get out of the slump. Not one prof gave me an extension to finish term papers, despite having lost all my work and the computer.
27. The next academic year, my registration date to pick classes was the first day of the school year.
28. It was the following summer that I made my first big jump in my GPA. I took 2 summer courses and got an A and an A+.
29. Because of those classes, I decided to take a college tour to England the following summer. I took 4 courses while in England.
30. I met my wife in England on that tour.
31. We did so much walking that summer that I lost over 30 pounds.
32. My sister was in Australia at the same time and met a man and they got engaged.
33. My parents were concerned that we were both in "long distance" relationships. Mine turned out for the best, though, as she turned out to live only 20 minutes away. Sweet.
34. Nobody in the family ever met the man from Australia. They broke up the following summer. He was abusive.
    I got engaged about a week beforehand.
35. We planned on a summer wedding a year later.
36. Apparently, I had mono that summer and lost the same 30 pounds again in the month of August.
37. Mono, I was told, strikes 3 times in the year, but I've never had it again. That was 9 years ago.
38. I became a father 9 years faster than my father. I was 27.
39. My wife is 6 years older than me. Smart as anything too. She skipped 2 grades in school and was starting high school when I was in kindergarten.
40. She graduated in 1984 and I did in 1991.
41. My first pet was a runt of a cat born in mid-February of 1980 and not expected to live through winter. She died in 1997.
42. I've owned 2 other cats. They're now 10 years old. One likes crapping 'wherever' in the basement and the other beats him up all the time. They're brothers.
43. I go to church regularly. Well, at least 2 time a month. I've been burnt out over the past year because of all the "commitments" they expect of me.
44. When I was a teenager, I was involved in a group called DeMolay. It's loosely affiliated with the Masonic Lodge, but is strictly for young men between the ages of 13 and 21. I unofficially joined when I was 12 and left just a few months before my 21st birthday.
45. Relating it to the Flintstones' Loyal Order of Water Buffalo, I was elected "Grand Poobah"4 times, but only sat in office 3 times. I quit before the fourth term. Most guys get elected once around the age of 18-21 and finish off their time (whatever age their at) in the position.
46. I was 15 the first time I took office.
47. My 3rd girlfriend (also referred to as My First Love) was involved in the girls' version: Job's Daughters. She still is.
48. We met at a dance when she and her best friend started taking my clothes off. Yeah, I enjoyed it. I was 14 at the time --I think.
49. And no I wasn't a virgin. Lost that when I was 12.
50. I do have a theme for my blog posts for 2004. 'Dreama' was close to figuring it out, but she guessed 1 step too soon.
51. My wife actually forgot one time where we went for our honeymoon. So much for a memorable trip.
52. The flight to England nearly crashed going into Calgary (it was a stopover, not the destination) when we hit an air pocket descending to the airport. We dropped big time.
53. The last time I experienced a drop like that was the time I was in an elevator that fell. 4 floors.
54. I've personally known 4 outed gay men in my life --and one still in the closet. One died of AIDS in 2000.
55. He was in our wedding party and made my wife's dress, all the bridesmaids' dresses, and the vests for the men. He wore a white suit as the "Bride's Escort"
56. He was an ex-boyfriend of my wife's. Apparently, she's gone out with 3 or 4 gay men in her life. No wonder I keep trying to make our marriage work ;-)
57. If I had to say I had a favorite movie, it would have to be 'Delicatessen.'
58. My taste in music changes so much that I can't say for sure what my favorite song is.
59. I've witnessed over 100 accidents in my life and been involved in 4. 2 of which I was the driver and neither time was I at fault.
60. I was in the backseat of a friend's Mustang when we were in an accident. I didn't have my seatbelt on and only got a small scratch above my right eye. I was thrown across the car, though.
61. My grade 3 teacher had us read comic books to teach us basic story techniques like plot, themes, protagonists, antagonists, foreshadowing and irony. I've collected comics ever since.
62. In 1999 I spent close to $1000 a month on comics.
63. In 2004 I spend about $20 a month if I'm lucky.
64. The last movie I saw in the theatre was 'Hero.'
65. The last movie I saw at home was 'Fahrenheit 9/11.'
66. I don't like to miss an episode of 'Daily Show with Jon Stewart.'
67. Although 'Scrubs' is my favorite primetime show.
68. I failed Math 11 in grade 11 and got 51% the next year. One girl in my class failed with 20% but the teacher passed her on a promise that she'd never set foot in the school again or use math in her life after high school. We all respected him for that.
69. I was told I had 're-speck!' when someone asked me what the 'ES' in my car's model name stood for and I said "Extra Sexy."
70. I once had a conversation with the General Manager of the Atlanta Hawks (NBA) without knowing who he was.
71. I can honestly say I have one friend I can "most likely" hang out with on a weekend.
72. He lives 45 minutes away.
73. There's a man walking by my office. He's wearing green pants. I've seen him wear those pants for 2 weeks now.
74. I went to 5 different elementary schools in 4 different cities.
75. My best friend in grade 4 and 5 is now a professional curler.
76. My best friend in grades 6-10 is almost completely bald. I hadn't seen him in nearly 10 years when he suddenly recognized me at a gas station late on a Sunday night. I thought he was some drunk looking for a fight.
77. I've had a slice of pizza to eat today. Nothing else.
78. I just talked to the guy I consider my only true friend at work today. He's been sitting at his desk in shock for 3 hours. Don't blame him.
79. Knowing I have nothing else to lose, I told Sex Caffeine how I feel about her.
80. I'm never going to see her again anyway.
81. I have 5 autographed posters in my computer room and every one is personalized to me.
82. And every single one of the signers thought I was really weird.
83. I never planned on selling them on eBay, I guess.
84. I have plenty of time to sell everything else now though!
85. I have absolutely no reason to be happy right now.
86. And there's no logic as to why I'm not crying my eyes out.
87. When I was young and got extremely sick, my kidneys would bleed.
88. I was referred to a urologist by 3 different doctors. He said I had Lupus.
89. I was actually dehydrated --I was throwing up something fierce and too young/too stupid to rehydrate myself.
90. One of those doctors isn't allowed to practice in Canada anymore.
91. One of the others doesn't have a practice anymore.
92. I've taken language classes in French, Japanese, Mandarin,and Russian.
93. I speak poorly in all of them.
94. If I could date one celebrity, it would be Jennifer Garner. I'd just tell Ben Affleck there was another crappy movie being made around the corner. And they asked for him. By name.
95. I once was an extra in a movie. "We're no Angels" with Sean Penn and Robert DeNiro.
96. I was an altar boy or something. In the parade scene, I'm the sleeve on the right.
97. My coolest celebrity encounter was meeting Vincent Price in 1986. I was 13 at the time and talked to him about 'House of Wax' which at the time was the only movie of his I'd seen.
98. I think he was impressed by this kid talking about a movie like that.
99. I once had an art scholarship to the University of Southern California. It wouldn't've paid for a semester's tuition so I never went.
100. I'm going to start drawing again.
101. I was at a church group meeting tonight and the warm-up question was: "What was the last thing you did for the very first time?" I answered that I don't have a last thing, but tomorrow is the first time I'm going into life completely on faith.
     
     

My Weird Day Revisited

Okay, click here and read what I wrote.

They got me.

They really got me.

I'm done.

My Good Laugh

Oh, bullshit!: http://sympaticomsn.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1098797162736_94206362?hub=topstories

Happy marriage eases work stress, study finds
CTV.ca News Staff

Being happily married could go a long way to mitigating the unhealthy effects of stress and strain at work, a new study says.

In a study of 248 full-time Toronto hospital workers, all of whom are married or have partners, Dr. Sheldon Tobe found those who said they were in the most supportive relationships also had the lowest blood pressure.

In his study, the Heart and Stroke Foundation researcher discovered the inverse was also true -- that a stressful relationship at home could make their blood pressure worse.

"Our research is telling us that people who have high job stress should seek more support at home to balance out their life," Tobe told The Canadian Press. "And perhaps people who have stressful relationships at home should seek a work life that is more supportive and less stressful to balance their life as well."

High blood pressure increases the risk of more serious medical conditions such as heart attacks, strokes or kidney disease. As many as one-in-five adult Canadians are believed to have high blood pressure, rising to one-half of those aged 65 and older.

For his study, Dr. Tobe strapped blood pressure monitors on 135 women and 113 men between the ages of 40 and 65. After wearing the monitors for 24 hours, they then answered questionnaires on stress at work and the state of domestic affairs.

According to Tobe, who sits on the board of the Canadian Hypertension Society, the findings should raise alarm bells in offices across the country.

"Most employers are happy that they're putting high job demands on employees to be as efficient and productive as possible," Tobe said.

"But where people don't have the ability to make decisions on their own, for example, an air traffic controller who has to put up his hand to go to the bathroom, employers can help."

In light of recent trends toward giving fewer employees bigger workloads, Tobe says easing up on workplace pressures can go a long way to keeping them healthy.

His study is being officially released Tuesday at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress in Calgary.

My Plans

So, we're coming up on Christmas. Naturally as a man I wouldn't think of Christmas until at least December 24th, despite constant reminders from my wife. This year shouldn't be any different except that I noticed stores are already sneaking in little Christmas displays hiding behind the Halloween ones... waiting to pounce on unsuspecting prey.

Regardless, Christmas means we're getting close to the end of 2004 and the end of My Year, which also means I only have a few weeks left to try and fulfill some of the items I said I'd be working on this year.

It also means that I have to think up a new theme for 2005. I think I have one, but it essentially means I have to post 3 times a day in order to complete it in time. 365 days in a year and 3 posts a day is 1,095 posts. That's a lot. But I'm also looking at, well, "digressions" on a theme, but not really revealing what that theme is... Well, not easily anyway. It could be interesitng 'cuz I'd have to come up with some interesting posts to fulfill that promise....

Maybe I need to make other plans instead.

My Telephone

Granted there's nothing special about my telephone, but it's worth writing about since 'dreama' (dreamazone2.blogspot.com) insists I write something --you got it.

It's been 9 days since I switched to the new department and the... people (oh! The terms I could use) I used to work with are still at it with the emails and phone calls.

Incessantly.

The great thing about the phone systems here is that I know when it's a call from inside or outside. It rings differently. Sweet.

It also means I know when my old boss, or one of the co-workers from Hell is calling. Actually, they're esy to pick off because not a one of them has figured out my new phone extension (it's only posted on the network directory and automatically in any email response I send them...), so they have to contact the front reception desk and have them put through to my phone.

Which means I don't pick up the phone when they call. They have to leave a message.

I've also set up my email so that their messages are automatically moved into a special subfolder dedicated to their messages. I found out this morning that I can't tell through our email system when messages are put in that subfolder. I have to manually check it to see if anything's there.

And I'm totally motivated to do that.

And checking this morning, there was a flurry of messages about some work that needed doing, oh, back in June that hasn't been done yet. My old boss asks "What have we done about this?" And my response was "I did what you asked me and got the work quote and filed the request. You needed to sign off on it. Have you?"

It's apparently, still sitting in his mailbox.

I do hate being mean to them now, but I'm still disgruntled over the crap I went through just for a goodbye lunch.

So, now I'm talking to the front reception desk (and guess who hired them 'lo those many years ago?) and they're just going to put the calls straight through to my voicemail. I never have to talk with them again.

I love my phone.

My Damned eBay Thing Again!!

What’s the deal now, eh? Alright, it’s been a few weeks since I’ve put anything on eBay again. Most days, as soon as I sit down at the computer to start getting things ready, my wife starts in with the “you’re not going to be on there all day?” routine. Very annoying, so I just stopped with the eBay stuff all over again.

And again.

But lo and behold, my unemployed wife suddenly notices that we have more money going out than coming in (really?) and that we’re sliding on the slippery way more than she thought. Yup. But I’m abandoning my family if I try and do anything about it. Geez!!

But, finally, I explain why I “haven’t been doing my share” (of all the workload) and she succumbs and lets me get to work on the eBay stuff again.

I use a program created by eBay called ‘Turbo Lister’ which greatly speeds up the process by recognizing your previous entries and mass listing once you’re ready to do so. I once had 50+ auctions end within a minute of each other and bidders were trying to get multiple items and bid higher than normal to try and get them all. Sweet.

Friday night, after baths for the kids, I plopped myself in front of the computer and started my ‘originally-intended-for-Thanksgiving’ “scan-a-thon” and eBay entries. All night Friday and into early Saturday morning I scanned. Later on Saturday and late into Sunday morning I wrote up HTML and uploaded jpeg files to my website. Sunday afternoon, I entered the HTML into separate entries in Turbo Lister. Essentially, each item takes (from scanning, research, HTML, FTP transfer, and Turbo Lister listings) about 10 minutes. Early Sunday evening, I’m set. I have close to 100 items ready to go immediately.

All files uploaded in Turbo Lister.

All information is correct.

All systems go!

GO!!

Failed.

What?

User not known.

WHAT?!?

Into my eBay email account I go to find a message dated a week earlier stating that my account has been suspended –get this-- because auction# so-and-so has an outstanding dispute on it and until it’s cleared, there’s nothing I can do on eBay. If it’s a dispute that has been resolved, I can get in touch with the complainant and have them email eBay to settle the problem.

But I only have a number to go on.

So, a couple hours of searching brings up the item number. It wasn’t even listed on eBay anymore (guh!) as it’s incredibly old. Even worse was that it was with my old account with the now-defunct email address.

Oh, and the user is no longer registered with eBay…

The worst bit of all, though, was that it was the same user I had the big fight with last Christmas when the post office took 4 weeks longer than expected to deliver the item. It was going to New York, not some Podunk town where it may be more inconvenient to get to. No, no. They just took their bloody time and got both the user & I severely pissed at (each other, them, and me with eBay).

Lo and behold it’s come back to bite me in the ass almost a year later.

So the defunct eBay account is suspended. My current eBay account is suspended and I decide it’s time to open up eBay account #3. But wait! There’s more! Both accounts have been suspended because my credit card on file is the same for each!

I go to use my wife’s credit card and set up another new account, this time using a new Gmail email address. Unfortunately, THAT credit card was also on file and I’m screwed again. They won’t open the new account for me.

And then I begin to think: Did I just commit fraud?

Well, since I’m on a roll, I decide to use that last, best bastion of hope. I called my Mom.

Mom permits me to open an eBay account in her name, with her credit card, and her home address. But by the time I get this all sorted out, it’s getting to be very late at night. I missed my window of opportunity.

Going to go bald soon if I keep tearing my hair out….

My Stress Relief

Sent by a dear friend who was enjoying my stories from work...

The following picture was used in a case study on stress levels at St. Mary's Hospital. Look at both dolphins jumping out of the water. Both dolphins are identical.

The researchers concluded that a person is under stress if he/she finds that both dolphins look different. The greater the number of differences found between both dolphins, the greater the amount of stress a person is experiencing. So if you see too many differences between both dolphins, you are advised to pack your bag, go home, and take a rest.

<>Good Luck

Image

My Copy and Paste

I'm not one to normally just grab something from another blog and paste it into my own, but this was one item that I really enjoyed and found myself moving on too quickly to another blog (that 'next blog' search item in the corner can be a little adenturous on occasion).

Anyway, I'm sharing even though I'm sure it's on numerous journals, blogs and what-have-you by now:

A girl asked a boy if he thought she was pretty- he said no.
A girl asked a boy if he liked her- he said no. A girl asked a boy if she were to walk away, would he cry- he said no.
So the girl began to walk away, and the boy grabbed her by the arm and said...
"I don't think you're pretty, I think you are beautiful-
I don't like you- I love you-
and if you were to walk away, I wouldn't cry- I would die"

My Eerie Prediction

So, I'm doing the finishing touches on a job evaluation on Friday. It's not looking good. Too many mistakes for a fairly routine job. Not considered a dependable person and doesn't seem to have the ability to handle the details. So, yeah, doesn't look good.

I tell 'The Boy' before I leave that department for the final time that there could be another opening in the near future if he's serious about transferring soon.

I come into the office today to submit my report to find this email waiting for me:

Died of a heart attack on Saturday.

I feel really creeped out now. Oh, and do I really need to say I'm not submitting the job evaluation?

My Hutch to His Starsky

After a continual parade of Co-Workers From Hell, I really didn't think I'd ever have the chance to work with someone I actually liked. But 'The Boy' came through.

We have very similar tastes in music and jokes. We also used to bug each other about "talent scouting."

If you're not aware of what "talent scouting" is, it's basically a new term for scoping (ogling) women. We were both quite good at it, I'll admit it.

Oh, and we both wanted to throttle Drama Queen on a number of occasions.

"The Boy" and I shared an office and we usually only worked in there at the same time for about 5 hours a week. despite it all, we had great communication and constantly shared stories. In fact, people started referring to us as "Starsky & Hutch." And, yes, we're both old enough to have watched the TV series. It all started with a little "Yeah... do it. DO IT" conversation...

Lulls in any day usually ended with a conversation starter like: "You know who's hot?" And off we'd go on a tangent. Drama Queen actually announced during one meeting that she felt as though she was being shut out of our work because we were constantly ignoring her and not talking around her. Well, first, she always tattle to the boss when we'd be joking about things, so we stopped talking around her. And second, we did shut her out. While we both agreed on an "open door" policy, closing the door on purpose became a new hobby. One day, she offered to share some food (I think it was a curried something or other) and I just laughed and leaned over to close the door. "If you close that door," she shouted, "I'm not going to share this with you!!" I gasped, smiled and shut the door. Not a fan of curry, but closing the door in her face was more fun than having to talk to her. And good ol' Starsky enjoyed that immensely.

Over the past 18 months, I've gotten to know a lot of 'My Kids' friends and they even came up with a new nickname (a tolerable one even) for me. I'm not sharing it here, though. Too close to home. Regardless, when it came time for me to leave the department, Starsky was quick to organize a little something for my second-to-last-night. Starsky has a pub band that he got to come down to the pub in the building.

And close to 200 people came. But Starsky "forgot" to mention it to my boss and Drama Queen until the very last minute (and neither wanted to come).

I walked in at 8:30pm with $45 in my pocket. I left at 12:45 am with $45 still in my pocket. All my food and drinks (and there were plenty) were paid for. By friends, My Kids, their friends... Hell, even the wait staff bought me a few.

Living up to our tradition of "talent scouting," just before a bunch of us headed down to the pub, this girl walked past. Now, I'm not sure who she was or where exaclt she came from, but I'm sure the snap of every man's neck was heard as we all whipped our heads to watch her walk past. One of the Kids grabbed me and pushed me forward towards her and shouted out, "This man right here! That's what the whole thing's about in the pub tonight!" She turned and smiled (gorgeous!!) and continued walking towards the pub. She was wearing a short grey skirt, a white shirt and black sweater. HOT!

She came back twice. And seriously, she looked better every time.

So, we all walk down and as I enter the pub, 'Starsky' stops the music on stage to announce that this is now officially a party for me. And the crowd goes wild.

With everything going on, songs dedicated to me (seriously, it was a very strange night for me), I just kept staring at this hot girl who's suddenly appeared. All night.

And then I got busted in the worst possible way.

As Starsky goes to sing one final song, Tupelo Honey, he cuts into the lyrics with, "We'll dedicate this one to the girl in the black sweater who [Hoser]'s been eyeing all night." Oh man, I'm under the table. He got me.

It wasn't the only time under the table. I went there again when she stepped outside for moment and took a puff from a cigar. That did me in too.

One the road to Recovery the following day, Starsky asked how much I remembered. I looked at him and smiled.

"Man, that girl was HOT!"

I'm going to miss my Starsky.

My Finale

It's finally over for good. Today marked my last day working in the dreaded department and Tuesday everything starts anew in my new department in my old, old, old, old, old job.

But before I actually left, there was of course a few final fuck ups (sorry, I can't call them any less) by my final Co-Worker From Hell, Drama Queen.

First one:
DQ drops the bomb on another project and I'm left to pick up the slack. I coordinate and manage to get everything done just over the project deadline. It was about 10% done 2 days prior. But because it wasn't done on time, my boss is down my throat about it (hello? Not my project in the first place!) and then DQ sends out an email to the higher-ups waiting for the project that I'm behind on it. Wha?

Second one:
My goodbye lunch. Here's how difficult it is to organize a goodbye lunch:

1. Pick a restaurant.
   
2. Call restaurant and make a reservation based on everyone you plan on inviting.
   
3. Email or call everyone you plan on inviting.
4. Tell them the place.
5. Tell them the time.
6. Get them to RSVP a day or two beforehand to give you an idea how many people are actually coming.
7. Call the restaurant again to confirm once you have the RSVPs.
8. (this is my trick) Add two seats. Just in case.
9. Call and remind everyone the morning of the lunch.

Easy. Except for DQ. No, no. She calls and tells people two freakin' different restaurants! So, some people went to one and some people went to the other. Way to go. Fucking loser.

The other way you organize a goodbye is how my (now) good friend 'The Boy' did it. But that's a tale for another post.

Let's get back to my pissed off rant, here.

So, I get to the restaurant --fashionably late by 5 minutes-- only to find that only 3 others have arrived. 3 of 'My Kids' are there, but not my boss, the man "treating" for lunch. DQ is not there. 'The Boy' is not there. The other 'Kids'? Nowhere to be seen. It's a crowded restaurant and My Kids are all standing in the entry way. I check with a waitress and discover that there isn't a reservation. So, within 5 minutes I'm on my cell phone calling people to see where they are. My boss is on the highway (why, I don't know) , 'The Boy' is making his way over from the office and arrives within 2 minutes. DQ had left 30 minutes before him and finally made it to the restaurant twenty minutes after 'The Boy.' Still no sign of my boss and we've now been standing in the entry way for half an hour.

We finally get a table a little after 1pm. Why? Most people are headed back to the office, that's why. Still no sign of 'My Boss' and it's looking more and more like I'm going to be paying for everyone's lunch because DQ (the uber-organizer) has disappeared once again to try and figure out where the boss has gotten himself to. I finally insist that everyone order as it's getting late. We order, we talk for a bit. The food arrives and 5 minutes later, so does my boss. He apologizes. He was at the other restaurant. He orders a snack (he's already eaten, get it?), turns to me and asks:
"Well, you're coming up on your last day. Are you excited to be going?"

Now, the intelligent thing here would be to say something along the lines of: "Oh well, you know... I'm excited for the new opportunities ahead of me." Or maybe "I'm leaving with mixed emotions to be honest." Nope. I actually answer before he'd even finished asking the question.

"Yes," I answer, "I'm really excited."

The rest of lunch is finished in silence. The only other comment from my boss is somethng about how hard it is to believe I've only been there for 18 months when it's like I've been there forever.

Forever. It truly has felt that way.

I don't get a card. Not even a little gift (I once did a quick "fill in" in one department when one person was suddenly hospitalized and they spent over $100 on a gift for me). Even some token of gratitude would be nice.

But all I got was a grilled ham and cheese sandwich.

The Boy.... and My Kids. Now they know how to throw a goodbye party. But, as I said earlier, that's a post for another day.

My Weird Goes Away...

Phew.

got called into my boss' office a few times today and each time I weirded out a little again. But it was just to have me put out "fires" started by my other co-workers.

At this rate, he's really gonna miss me on Tuesday. I can't wait.

My Weird for the Day

The countdown to the end of this job is at 4 days now. Tuesday to Friday and then I'm outta here.

I've been sick off and on since last Wednesday though and missed work on Thursday and Monday. Had to go in on Friday as there was a problem that apparently only I could take care of and I needed to wait for an important phone call. I did spend the day in the office and suffered greatly because of it.

But now I'm feeling really weird about going into work today. I'm not entirely sure why, but it's almost like I have 4 days left to figure out all the puzzle pieces this job has thrown at me and the mess isn't going to be cleaned up. And I'm the one stuck with the mess.

Or the blame.

I'm hoping I'm being extremely paranoid right now but part of me doesn't want to go back to that office. Ever.

I think it partly has to do with the fact that my boss isn't very happy with my departure. I admit it comes at a bad time for the department (we're extremely busy), but it was the right time for me. I haven't said it to anyone at work, but I actually regret giving more than 2 weeks' notice. Had I just given the 2 weeks, then today would be my last day. Not Friday.

And I'm thinking it was a mistake to wait so long.

We'll see what happens by the end of the day.

My Lessons

I can't believe it's frickin' October already. Man, I swear I was just looking forward to my holidays in July and now suddenly is freakin October.

Crap.

But this is probably as good a time as any to reflect on what I've learned in the past year.

Why now? Because by December, you'll be sick of seeing these lists.

1. My Work Ethic has altered slightly. For the first time in 8 years I feel like skipping work. It's not that my work ethics have actually gotten that bad as I'm already looking forward to my new start on October 12, it's that I'm regretting having to wait that long after dealing with the primo-bozos in my current department.
2. I'll admit I love Sex Caffeine. But what I've discovered is that I love her as a friend. I'm very happy that she's found a good man, but at the same time I hope she doesn't get hurt. I just want her to be happy and I think I'm in a good spot feeling that way. So there.
3. I still love my first love too. Now that she's pregnant (not mine), I find I'm emailing her quite regularly just to see how she's doing. It's a caring love, not a passionate one.
4. I still love my wife. Probably gets the biggest sigh of relief, but it's true. I've been in a bad place for over a year now (more like 2 or 3 years, really) and have kept a "work comes first" attitude as it's what pays the bills. It still is "what pays the bills," but the raise and steady schedule make me realize more and more that my bad place turned out to be my office. We haven't argued about anything major in a few weeks now.
5. I hate my current job. I'm the "old man" in the department because I've been working there for 7 years. The others all don't add up to my experience and my "lessons" have fallen on deaf ears. I understand policies, they just don't care and I'm the one that hear about it from on high. I'm outta here.
6. I love my new job. October 12 baby! I sat down today to see if I could remember everyone in the department. Yep. Got 'em all and only mispelled one guy's name. They're getting impatient waiting for me to start. So am I.
7. I have a new addiction. Actually, 2. Maybe even 3. Recently got copies of both City of Heroes and Sims 2. Having a blast with both. #3 might be NHL 2005 which I haven't gotten around to installing quite yet.
8. I'm a bit of a pervert. I'll admit to downloading the censor-patch remover for Sims 2 and then almost immediately donwloading nude skins. Just makes the game that much more interesting...
9. I hate being sick. Can't tell if it's stress related or just a plain common cold, but I'm sniffling, coughing and hacking all through the night right now. May have to miss a few days of work next week.
10. Alcohol is my friend. I'm drinking regularly all of sudden (well, at least before this stupid cold hit). I've gone out with co-workers on 3 occasions in the past 2 weeks. And I've had a little something nearly every night too. The 2nd & 3rd times were back-to-back Friday and Saturday as part of a good-bye thing for a friend of mine in a different department. She's off to explore the world for the next year or so. She propositioned me the 2nd night and I stayed away (but oh so tempting!!) and on the 3rd night she did it again and it was really difficult to stay away. Managed to do it, though and almost literally crawled off to sleep in my car.
11. I have one week left with my Co-Workers From Hell. I'll have to get 'The Boy" to send me updates on what the CFHs are doing. The Boy's quite sad I'm leaving and I feel (a little, but very little) bad for him too. Apparently, Drama Queen has also gotten a transfer out of the department, but she's going to an even busier one where perfection is key. I hope she can step up to the plate and deliver, but something tells me she's done by Christmas. The Boy is basically left alone with the boss now and that won't be a good thing.

What do I do for stories now?

My Escape

The countdown's on for real now.

I have 5 days and 6 hours to go. Sadly, that's still not fast enough. Fortunately, today I'm sans boss and Drama Queen which should make for an easier day. They can't cause problems if they're not here.

If the plan is to make me want to leave the office that much faster, it's working. I dread every day I come in right now.

Hard to believe that a year ago when I was asked to rate my job on a scale of 1 to 10, I actually said 10. It's difficult to hit a 1 right now. Maybe it's all the years I've been here and therefore know/understand why policies are in place, but that doesn't phase anyone else from not following them. Bugs me.

What stresses me out is that my boss keeps handing assignments to DQ and she passes them on to me. I've decided to ignore most of them and then pass them back to her next Friday when I leave.

I've got the bonus call display in my new office, so even if they call, they won't actually talk to me....

On that note, I have to think up a new voicemail message for the new office. I'm thinking of relating it to people down here, so my 2 choices so far are:

"Talk to the tape, girlfriend, 'cuz the man ain't gonna listen to ya."

~or~

"I'm not in right now and therefore not answering the phone. Please leave a message and I'll prioritize it and get back to you later."

My current joke around the office is that anything my boss lists as a "#1 top Priority" is currently on my list as Priority #1-A, or Priority #1-CC.

Not that that's stopped him from giving me top #1 priorities...

My Dust

It's going to be a difficult few weeks around the office, to be sure. I need to maintain some level of enthusiasm for my job.

Before I leave.

October 12 will be my first day at my new job --which, coincidentally, is also my old, old, old, old job.

It's the best department I've worked for in my many years here and boy am I excited about going back!

October 12. Soon,

Phew!

My Pause For Concern

Yeah, I meant pause not cause.

I mentioned quite some time ago about running unexpectedly into my ex-girlfriend from lo those many years ago. I had quite a few people joking around with me at work because they figured we "hooked up" when we met. Yeah, we got together a couple time afterward...

I still get "Hey man, how's the ex!?" From some of the guys here and with the recent news, I had a great response:

"Pregnant."


[pause]


After it soaks in, I laugh it off. It's not my kid (unless drinking coffee can do that sort of thing --insert Sex Caffeine joke here), but the timing is eerily coincidental. She's due almost 9 months to the day that we first ran into one another. Hehe.

My First Cartwheel

That was quick. My interview to return to my old, old, old, old job is scheduled for Monday afternoon. The timing couldn't be better.

A little uneasy about it, just because I have so many friends over there and I'm worried that if I don't get it, they'll all think I'm mad at them --not true. Sex Caffeine and I were up for the same job a year ago in July and she got it over me. She figured I'd never talk to her again, which obviously isn't true (although the excuse would've been great, but at least we've become good friends at most since then).

I talked to SC about the potential move and how I was feeling, but she mistook my feelings to mean I felt that my co-workers here would be mad at me. "No, no! Screw them!" I replied.

Seriously, this is a much-needed opportunity and I'm hoping for the best. I need the switch and soon.

My Top #1 Priorities

I just had a departmental meeting where, during the round table discussion, I requested that my boss not hand me any more "Top #1 Priorities" for at least a week. I have way too many "Top #1 Priorities" on my plate as it is and I'm losing ground on what should actually be a priority according to my job description. A week should be good, I told him, because I'm at least a week behind. He agreed, fortunately.

Unfortunately, however, before the meeting was over he'd requested 3 more items to be my "Top #1 priorities."

And apparently, "No!" is not an appropriate response.

Ugh --really starting to hate it here. Here's hoping I can do some cartwheels about a different job. And soon.

My Worst Fear

This is the third week of Hell at work and it wasn't like this a year ago. I recall around this time in 2003 doing a "quiz" stating on a scale of 1 to 10 how much I liked my job --and I put 10. Now, it's tough to get a 1.

Everyone's stressed and acting stupid. I'm forgetting little things because of all the big things going on. An email from a co-worker on Friday started out with "Jesus Christ, man! I told you what you needed to do already." Okay, but I was just asking for clarification.

It's not just me either. A friend in the IT department is quitting in a few weeks because he's had enough of the stress. He was balled out by one of the nicest people I know. I've known her for at least 10 years now and not once have I ever heard her talk down to anyone --and suddenly, she's off on a rant. Wow.

My boss isn't helping me either. Everything --and I do mean everything-- over the past few weeks has been a "top priority" from him. Right now I have a list of 10 top priorities and if I get 9 done in a day, then he's hounding me about #10. And I've had more than enough, thank you.

I said I'm 100% ready for a move to my old department, but that could very well be 110% now.

And that's my worst fear.

I'm so looking forward to a move (and the sooner the better) that if it doesn't happen, I'm going to lose it. Only twice in my 7+ years there have I ever been depressed. I was thinking more along the lines, today, that I'm exhausted. Not physically, no. Emotionally, though. I can't watch sad shows right now because I start getting choked up (even Wizard of Oz got to me) --and don't you dare make me watch 'Cold Case' or that'll send me over the edge.

I'm a 31 year old (I admitted it) man and I feel like I could cry at any moment just yo get over this. It's kinda crazy.

Even Sex Caffeine stated she's worried about me. She saw me on Friday and waved and I never noticed her. At all. And today, I almost forgot her real name.

I really need some good news. And soon.

My 5%

Apparently, a few weeks back, my boss decided to diss me in front of the other staff in the department. Not a good thing to hear when I'm waiting to hear on a promotion. The good news is I heard it from Drama Queen, so who knows if he actually said that.

Regardless, I've also applied for a position outside of the department, one of my old, old, old jobs from years ago. While this job has its perks --special events, major projects that really build character, and a strong supervisory role; my old, old, old job doesn't have any of those traits and is simply a straight-forward office job. I'm 95% convinced I'll take the job back if it's offered to me again.

So, what is the 5% that could hold me back? Well, if I'm offered the job, I want to talk to my boss before I accept the old, old, old job. I want to know if he actually did insult me in front of my co-workers. If he did --I'm gone. If he didn't, then he knows that people are putting words in his mouth which doesn't make him look good. The 5% is if my boss says I'm in for the promotion. I'm not holding out hope though.

See, after the past 2 weeks, the 5% has started to vanish. Last week saw me put in 36 hours of overtime. That's more hours of OT than I'm actually allowed to work at a regular full-time basis. 71 working hours in one week. 203% full-time work. Too much.

We were all focusing on 2 major events for the week and all other priorities (and there were plenty) fell by the wayside. We needed to focus, and DQ waiting until the last minute on several items meant that I had to pull everyone's fat out of the fire yet again. Somehow I managed to fit in hiring My New Kids too.

And then this week, I start getting dumped on for the things that didn't --COULDN'T-- get done last week. Little things --some that could wait, others that shouldn't have to. Then my boss started in on me too. "Why wasn't this done?" Why? Because it's sitting on his desk waiting for approval. Why didn't he approve it yet? Too focused on the events of last week. He wasn't the only one, but apparently he's too blind to notice. But I'm the only one who did wrong, right?

My 5% has vanished. I should know by next week whether I stay or go.

My Age

When the Hell did I become the old man and why didn't I see the memo?!?!?!

I was talking to one of my kids tonight and found out he's registered for a 3rd-year history course that I did the research for nearly ten years ago.

And that's when I realized that the past 10 years have really been wasted. My degree was "just around the corner" in 1995 and the only thing that's changed about that last statement is that the '199' has been replaced by '200.'

Holy shit I've lost 10 years!

My Justice

Hey, do you think I think it' wrong/immoral to download music and movies? I don't. I have my reasons, especially when it comes to movies. I've mentioned the dread whenever I go to the movies and get stuck close to the official 'theatre idiot' and Saturday night was no different.

I saw 'Hero' on Saturday and had originally just intended to download it. A friend form work wanted to go see it, so he brought his wife and son to my house to visit my family while we went to see the movie.

It's a Chinese movie with English subtitles. The movie begins with a brief history of China, surrounding the events.

There were a few people walk out of the movie, if for no other reason than as the guy sitting in front of me said: "I didn't come to the movie so I gotsta read it." Fine. Go home.

Later in the film, one of the characters makes a momentous decision that results in a scoff from behind me and the comment: "Stupid Japanese woman." Yes, stupid Japanese woman. Although, she's not too stupid if she has such a good grasp of Chinese and comes from, oh grasping at straws here..., CHINA.

Oh man, give me the privacy of my own home to sit down (like I am right now, watching 'Lost in Translation') and watch a movie. Lost in Translation takes place in Japan. I wonder if there are any stupid Chinese women in it...

My 24-hour Labour Day Weekend

Yeah, it was a short weekend. One friggin' day. Had a major project that we just finished about 11 Sunday night, so my long weekend was today and now that I look at the clock I realize that I'm finally relaxing on my long weekend at 12:15 on the Tuesday morning.

8:45am: I'm woken up from my 5 hours' and reminded that I need to mow the lawn today. After over 9 weeks with less than a centimetre of rain, it's been raining off and on since mid-August and the grass has sprung back to life and about 5 inches in height. It's finally dry enough to cut. So, I'm into shorts and a t-shirt before a shower (why shower and then work up a sweat?).

9:00am: Circumstances saw me rushing to fax some info about the project to various places in the U.S. Had to get it done on a deadline and didn't have time last night. I tried installing a 'fax' program on my computer that's offered from my ISP "free of charge." Free of charge to me doesn't include a $12.95 set-up fee and $7.95 confirmation, plus 10 cents per page. What's "free" again? So, off to the convenience store I got and spend $5.40 (I had $6.50 in my pocket...) on the faxes. Yeesh.

9:30am: When I came home I saw that my wife's car had a flat tire. Naturally, she didn't think much of it, but I knew she wasn't going anywhere (especially to her first ay of her new job) with a tire this flat. I decided I'd put the donut on right after I mowed the lawn. The lawn is bad and a little choked in the lawnmower. It takes over a tank of gas to finish the yard. My father-in-law drops by with some wooden palettes that will be chopped up later in September to keep the house warm in the winter. Our wood situation isn't too bad this year, but it could be 'good' for a change.

10:15am: Screw the shower. It's time to get the donut on my wife's car. What's a donut, you ask? It's the piss-ant spare tires that come cars these days. Donuts are slightly bigger, so I'm actually being unfair to donuts. I know this work and heavy concentration always turns into perspiration for me. Problem is, I can't get the frickin' hubcap off. It's got a special tab hidden alongside the valve that just springs the thing off the tire. I can't get it to budge and feel if I exert any more strength I'll break the plastic (is there any metal on this vehicle????).

10:50am: Fine. I'll take it to the closest gas station and fill the tire with air before I go to Canadian Tire. As I'm backing out of the carport, my wife bangs on the window --scaring the ever-lovin' crap out me-- and says her dad can help (has an air compressor) and he's closer than the gas station. So, off I go to his place. Second time today I've seen him and it wouldn't be the last time.

11:15am: Well, if it wasn't for me, my father-in-law would've discovered at an inopportune time that his air compressor doesn't actually work. He bought it on sale at Canadian Tire and he's not impressed now. We put the spare tire on eventually.

11:50am: I head down to Canadian Tire to get the tire fixed. There's a nail in it and had probably been there for months, but of course it makes it's statement on Labour Day. I tell the guy that I need to get the tire patched and put back on the car AND if they have the time to replace the crappy valves they put on this model of car. "Sure," he says, "It'll be an hour to an hour and a half." Whatever. "Just bring it right in here," he says. I drive into the shop and he gives me a dirty look. "I thought you were just dropping off the tire." "No, that's why I asked you to put it back on the car." I should've known then, right?

12 Noon: So, I have about 90 minutes to kill and my cell phone battery is dead. I have $1.10 in my pocket , but I need to call home and let her know what's going on. She's annoyed because she figured she could take care of it later (never mentioned that before...) and I'm asking for her to come pick me up. It's that or I'll go see a movie. She's going to be 15 minutes or so, so I go for a stroll through the mall. I have a little cash on my debit card and I'd promised my daughter earlier in the week if she was a good girl I'd get her a present. She was (to the point of getting my wife water when she sat down to relax) and now I need to get her something. She started ballet last year, so I opt for a children's book about ballet. Score.

12:40pm: I sit and wait outside the mall for my wife to arrive. She doesn't but my father in law does. He's confused as to why I'd brought the car down to get the tire fixed (seems he and my wife had discussed the best scenario and neither shared it with me). Finally get home in time gather my stuff and head to the office for an hour to clean up a few things from the weekend.

1:00pm: I'm finally heading out the door and still haven't showered, eaten breakfast or had a coffee. Naturally, an hour at the office doesn't include 30 minutes to get there and another 30 back home.

2:40pm: I call my wife before I leave the office to see if Canadian Tire has called or not. "They don't call" I'm told and to just come home as my wife has enough money to pay for the costs. I was planning on putting it on my credit card, but if she's got enough cash... I'll head for home and grab the cash.

3:30pm: Finally home (Labour Day Weekend traffic...) only to find out my wife has her purse hidden under the front seat... of her car.

3:45pm: I'm at Canadian Tire, paying for the tire seal. The forgot about the valve replacement and had trouble putting the hubcap back on.

Okay, gripe time.... No valve replacement and they're confused by the hubcap and put it on wrong. You'd think a place called Canadian TIRE might know something about, oh say, TIRES????? Nope. An old high school friend owns a tire shop near work, so she gets my business from now on.

So, the car stays while I go home. I'll bring my wife down later to pick it up.

4:00pm: Finally have my breakfast coffee and hop in the shower. You'd think I'd be hungry and my headache is telling me that I am. No matter. Dinner will be soon, so I'll never hear the end of it if I have something to eat now.

4:30pm: Finally make it downstairs to get some work done on the computer. It last for nearly 30 minutes.

4:55pm: Apparently, we're having dinner at my wife's parents' place. If I'm lucky, we'll be home by 9pm.

8:10pm: Leave the In-Law's and head for Canadian Tire. There's a note on the window stating they couldn't get the hubcap on again (and they still forgot the valve replacement. The note actually says that the keys are under the seat beside her purse. I'm surprised the windows aren't smashed in.

8:20pm: We drive home and I'm following her car. I'm waiting for the hubcap to come flying off and as it is, it looks like the tire is wobbling. It's not --it's just the uneven hubcap. Idiots.

So, it's 12:15am before I get my opportunity to relax....

My holidays, ladies and gentlemen, gotta love the relaxation.

My New Kids

One of my more stressful & exhausting tasks last week was hiring my new batch of kids for the year. I had 6-8 positions to fill and interviewed 14 people.

It wasn't just people from before --there were a few of those (some have moved on, some were sick of it, some just didn't make it to the list) and they needed to be interviewed again, but there were also some new kids to meet and hire.

I needed somewhere an awful lot more private than my office area to interview and since Drama Queen was nice enough to do the schedule for me, I had 15-minute timeslots for each interview.

Shit.

Fortunately, the first 3 didn't even show. One though it was a different day and the other two (sisters) had car troubles and had forgotten to re-schedule. Still, in one of my busiest weeks, it was a little annoying to waste nearly an hour of my day.

Eventually, I got down to the interviewing of people who showed up (1 point for them) and it went great. I interviewed them in the cafeteria (believe it or not it's more private than my office). At one point, one of my old co-workers came down for coffee and saw me sitting at a table with this one candidate, a very stunning blonde (she didn't get hired, although... *sigh*). He looked up from the coffee counter and gave me a smirk. And I knew what he was going to do next. My assumption is, he went back to the office and commented on the cute blonde I was talking to in the cafeteria. There's 3 guys he could've told and sure enough, about 10 minutes later one of them came down. Problem was, I was interviewing someone else. A young redhead. Hehe. So, there he was giving me quite the inquisitive look. Why? Where was the blonde? So, he must go back to the office and call the other one an idiot for mistaking the redhead for a blonde. They argue about what she looked like and a third guy decides to check things out for himself. Only now Alberta has sat down with me and we're discussing issues for the coming year. Yep, she's blonde (and stunning), but she's not the one the first guy saw me with. So he goes back and says she's definitely blonde and that gets them all going. Guy #4 has heard enough (gets quite jealous of me and the ladies.. ;) ) and he makes his way to the cafeteria as well. Nope, no blonde and no redhead. I'm talking to a young Japanese girl (she didn't get hired either). Now the fight really starts and they decide to all come down together and finalize this argument. Alas, I'm talking to someone else when they come down --an extremely cute little brunette. She did get hired, but I really heard about from the stooges when I dropped by the next day...

One of the regular kids from last year, whom I lovingly referred to as 'Pain in the Butt' was told (by me) why she wasn't coming back. It wasn't completely my decision --my boss wasn't impressed with her last year and when she forgot when her interview time was it all but finished her chances. She also had a poor interview (hello? You went through it the year before!!) and that helped make my decision easier.

Man-Child is coming back, but I've cut his hours. I'd opted not to have him back, but my boss likes him (don't ask) so he's back but with barely any shifts. Alberta is back (of course) and I'll be working with her immediately after the long weekend. Naughty Thursdays are about to be joined by Naughty Tuesdays, but I'll manage... I did before. A few others are back too and we'll see how the new kids work out.

My Beef with Frances

So Hurricane Frances is about to strike Florida --big time. It's a category 4 storm, which is also known as... bad.

So was Hurricane Charley that hit Florida on August 13th.

So Floridians are busy fleeing, escaping, boarding up homes and... buying wood at the local hardware store. In fact, the hardware store's are running out of wood fairly quickly.

Quick question: What did everyone do with the wood they used to board up their homes on August 13th? Do they take it back to the store?

What? No one that another hurricane was coming?