Erg

So. . .catching up is hard to do. But I should be able to between the two sites after all of the finals madness. Most of my grading is done but I am (really) trying to get something banged out on the dissertation. I actually have an opening for the theory chapter. Go me. Now I need to do more with it.

Anyway, I'll update you all on that as well as other stuff as soon as the madness eases a bit. Should be some time next week. Hugs.

I'm So Sorry

Last night Michael's second family, the Seibert's, lost their matriarch, Miss Johnie. She'd been sick for years but it was still a shock as no one expected her to go as quickly as she had. I think everyone thought that this was just a "routine" trip to the hospital. After years of someone having declining health you get used to the pattern that happens.

I feel so bad for them all. Even though they knew it was coming, there really couldn't have been a true preparation. Vern and Kathy are like Michael's second parents. Miss Johnie was Kathy's mother and, I guess, like another grandmother for Michael. I spoke with Jennifer a few minutes ago and she gave my standard answer when I'm just existing and someone asks me how I am, "I'm here." I wish there was something that I could do. And her poor sister, Kristen. . .ugh. . .she is going to be an absolute mess. She was terrified that this would happen because she just last week moved to Hawaii. Her husband, Mike, is in the navy and that is where they will be stationed when he gets back. The navy said that was when she needed to move to get settled. So, now she has to fly in. She'll be here tomorrow. As Jen weakly joked, looks like she'll make the wedding anyway. (sigh) I really wish that hadn't been why.

This so sucks for them. And what really sucks is that they will all try and put on happy faces for us on Friday. I suppose having something good happen right after can alleviate the pain but. . . . The whole thing brings tears to my eyes. I feel so bad for them because they have all been nothing but accepting of me into their family from the start and I've been feeling like they are a second one for me too.

Michael's mom said last night that God will be smiling down on the wedding because the weather is supposed to be perfect but I guess none of us could have seen the cloud that would be hanging out there as well.

Let There Be Air

When last I blogged. . .

I was behind in my work. But no more! I actually managed to get ahead in my work for my students. I just plugged away after my blog entry and got everything set up (including quizzes) for the semester so I don't have to worry about them. Yay!! I am taking over some classes for one of my peers tomorrow because she has to be out of town so I'll get my grading done then for my students and be on track there too. I know, gasp. More icicles in hell! Yay!

As for the title of this entry. . .we lost our AC last week for a few days. It was hell cause the humidity was up past 80% and the temps were hovering at 90 degrees. Blech. See, earlier in the summer I complained about how I thought the air wasn't as cool as it should be. I mean, when you get 100 degrees outside, it is hard to keep the house below 80 inside but the night air just seemed not to be cooling as fast as usual. But when Michael checked, it didn't seem odd to him. So, we just dealt with it.

Well, last Wednesday night, the AC was definitely having problems. I spent a very sweaty night. By Thursday afternoon, it was obvious that the AC had gone kaput. The fan would still run, but no coolness. Michael's brother, Philip, works in AC repair (mostly commercial now) and so we called him for help. He walked Michael through looking at it but, in the end, it was obvious that we would have to call somewhere.

Philip's recommended place doesn't service our area so I called 2nd Wind because they have great reviews and have consistently gotten the Best of Columbia award. Hey, there are worse ways to pick a business. Well, they came out Friday night and, because Michael was able to eliminate a lot for them, after only a few minutes the guy was able to tell us that our compressor had gone kerplunk. Michael was hoping just a freon thing cause that wouldn't be too bad in cost. Nope, we had to end up with a $1500+ repair. We don't have that. Obviously. The guy left and said he would be back in touch on Monday to let us know the specifics. (sigh)

Well, we had already had two restless nights so we decided to buy a window unit for the bedroom. The good thing is that they are all on sale. We got a good small one for $130 and Michael managed to jerryrig is so that it was an inside unit. See, our window screens run the entire length. We have great windows and didn't want to mess them up. So, Michael made it so that the condensation would leak out the back properly. It was great. And would do for the winter until we could save up for the repair.

Still, the rest of the house remained 80+ both night and day. It made us both grumpy especially as I had given Michael my cold.

On Monday, 2nd Wind called Michael. Turns out that our former landlord/person we bought the house from had bought the unit from them to begin with. I hadn't been sure who he had. I did know that he had a service agreement with someone and had been expecting them to contact us to see if we wanted to continue that but never heard anything. Well, along with the unit, Hite bought a ten year warranty with it and 2nd Air said they could transfer that to us for $150!!! (happy dance) I swear, I almost cried. I mean, how great is that? Yes, we can live without AC. But if I don't have to, I don't want to. So, thank God for the break, Hite for the foresight, and 2nd Wind for their honesty. Cause they sure didn't have to tell us. We would never have known. Then again, what would have happened if we had asked Hite? Yeah, well, they could have just claimed that the time for change over had expired. But they were nice and honest and so getting plugged to people. They truly deserve their status as Best of.

So, Tuesday night we had the right temp in the house and it felt great. Sorry, Jim and Cynthia, for roasting you while you were here. But now we know why. And this way when other peeps come to visit, we won't roast them either. Cause, even though winter is coming, in SC summer hangs on for a while. The nights might drop slowly but the days can stay hot and humid into December.

It feels good to be able to sit in my chair here in my office without sweating. Ah, I am spoiled.

Back in Session

Well, school is back in for me. Last week was the first full week of classes. I think that between running around a humid/hot campus and being around tons of people again caused me to get the cold I have now. I almost talked myself hoarse on Tuesday. Had a sore throat on Wednesday but was hoping that was because of Tuesday. Thursday the throat was worse and I felt like I might get sick but I hoped not with some sleep. Nope. I didn't feel well on Friday but went out and got some stuff done.

Michael kept waking me up Friday night because I kept snoring. Excuse me for drippy sinuses. I finally gave up at 6:30a and did some work in my office. I grabbed breakfast and headed to class. I gave the lecture even though my throat was still blah. I had scheduled us a couple's massage and that helped.

Michael and I did some errands. At that point it was just my throat and not my sinuses being too bad but as the day progressed, they went down hill. Probably partly because of the massage. They tend to get things moving along when I am even close to being sick. Helps to push it out of the system.

I ended up spending part of Saturday night on the sofa because Michael kept waking me up again so I gave up. I was so out of it. I went back to bed before 10a and told him I wasn't going to church. He got up. I fell back to sleep. Finally I got up and he made me some soup and I had a pb&j sandwich. The latter actually helped with getting rid of the last of the throat scratch. Jonathan had wanted to go see Hamlet 2 yesterday and we'd been planning it for a while but I wasn't sure. So, when he called I said we'd see for the evening. But I ended up falling back to sleep some time around 3:30p and didn't get up until 8p.

It's amazing I slept last night. And so, here I am, behind in my plans for the weekend. Oh, well. I will work on the invitations after I do some stuff for school. I've got to get some things together for that so they're out of mental need to do pile. Once tomorrow comes, I'll be off and running on my usual schedule until the wedding with only AWA as the blip. Gonna be busy. Two months to go and a ton to do. Yay!! lol

Another Politician Has Lied About An Affair

Oooo, stop the presses. Really? Ok, so I'm being sarcastic. I must admit that I was a little shocked to see that the current adulterer is John Edwards. After all, he seemed like the all around family type with a wife of 30 years and 4 children. But then again, what can you say for appearances.

I don't so much care what foibles the politicians commit in their own lives. Nobody is perfect and it really is between him and his wife. If they get caught, I do think that they should just own up to it and move on. You would think that people would know by now that once they are in the spotlight for something (politics, arts, etc), they are analyzed to the nth degree. Fair? Nope.

What is ironic is that, during his run for the Democratic bid, Edwards talked all about how we need to have someone lead us who has a strong moral compass and whatnot. Okie dokie. I don't disagree with that but I'm thinking that's just a bit hypocritical.

But that's not what gets me about this whole thing. What sticks in my craw is that he had an affair while his wife of thirty years is dying of cancer! Did you get that? All the responses I've read so far have spoken about him as another lying bastard/man/politician/white person. . . . But is that really the point. Not to me. I admit to not knowing much about Elizabeth Edwards. But I do know this much: she has incurable cancer (which has spread to her bones) and has been dedicating her time and energies into her family and John's campaigning. I don't care what their life is like behind closed doors. It could all be a farce. But let the woman die with some dignity in public. And how stupid can a person possibly be to have an affair under such a circumstance (public or private).

No doubt the media will twist this to make her out to be a victim (which she kind of is). Watch. . .she'll handle it with grace and dignity. She won't leave her husband but will do all she can to smooth everything over.

More on the Media

I was going to respond to Natalie herself when she sent me a very nice little message about the last blog entry but I wanted to share the article I just read with all of you. So, here's what I was writing. . .

I was just reading an "Entertainment Weekly" article where they speculate that Katherine Heigl could be killed off on "Grey's Anatomy" for being outspoken. She refused to run for an Emmy this year because she didn't feel like she had any material worthy of such an honor (she won one last year anyway). That could be a jab at herself but it's being taken as a stab at the writer's of the show. Well, one of the regular columnists, Mark Harris, wrote about the incident later in the magazine and said something like I did about Britney. About how the internet is dragging down the media into the gossipy pits of hell from 50 years ago. Not that they ever completely pulled out of it but at least it was mainly trashy tabloids who stuck to that stuff. Now it's every where. Harris mentions clicking on some of the same links I have (he didn't say if it was via AOL like I do) and just rolling his eyes at the articles. The title's catch our attention so we read. For me, it's my version of a car wreck, I guess.

But yeah, they attack everyone so I guess they see it as fair.

If you want to read the article (and it really is a good one) go here:

Katherine Heigl's 'Grey' matter - EW.com

A Burst of Britney

Ok, stop reading if you don't want my brief rant on Britney Spears. No, I am not a huge fan though I do like her music (what can I say, it has a good dance beat). Yes, I am sympathetic towards the famous twit. Only to a point, mind you, but people do stupid stuff all the time (maybe not shave their head and bash at a car with an umbrella but, well, we're past that I hope). Normally I just roll my eyes at the media coverage of her. But, well, their latest take is just too ridiculous. Poor woman can't do anything right. Granted, they have a point to a certain extent but they make the incident seem so tragic.

In case you didn't catch a blurb on it, here's the summation: Britney was in her L.A. home hanging out on her balcony talking on the phone and smoking a cigarette. Her 2 year old (I think he's the youngest) grabbed her cigarettes and lighter. She rushed to stop him like she should.

Horrible, non?

Stupid is what it is. No, she shouldn't be smoking around the child (that was the main argument the article had). Heck, she shouldn't be in general (but that's my view and some of you smoke and I love ya so we'll leave it at that). But she's trying to get her act together so if that is the worst thing that happens around the kids right now. . . . I have to wonder if the writer of the article smokes or ever has. Hell, I haven't and I say knock it off. Yeah, yeah, I know that they have to have someone to pick on but I thought we were past the Britney phase. Apparently we never will be. And they wonder why she went nutso. Sheesh

AOL should have headlined something else.

Flying With Carry Ons

I just read an awesome article while I was eating lunch. Well, it's more of a flight attendant's rant than an article but it was still very informative and interesting:

Flight Attendant Pet Peeve

I skipped over some of the description of the hypothetical passenger's trip to the airport but it was amusing. I have to say that I can see the woman's point. Heck, back in October (the last time I flew), I saw too many people bringing on big bags. I can only imagine how bad it is now with the new price guidelines for luggage.

Michael and I think that, while annoying, the luggage cost thing is fair. Yes, they pack people in as much as they can and, yes, there are other ways that the airlines can cut back in order to save money but what do you do with the one person who brings five bags to someone else's one? Of course, it all also depends upon how high they start jacking up the prices on tickets too. And they need to stop having the corporate mentality that multi-leg tickets should be cheaper than straight flights between major cities. I have never been able to figure that out. The only reason I can see is to show justification for flights between certain destinations. Oh, you have to love corporate logic. Sheesh

Anyway, I hope you like the flight attendant's blog entry (I think that's what that is). I did.

Urk

All of you people who have never suffered from procrastination and/or been a pack rat. . .you suck! lol The rest of you will feel my pain. (sigh) I've spent the past two weeks working on getting our spare bedroom dug out. Well, I've finished the first level of sorting, as Michael put it. Yes, we have levels. Why? Because I have too much stuff!

Ok, there are reasons for most of it. But then there's that 25% where I go. . .what was thinking when I moved last? Oh, that's right, I wasn't. Because I never think when I move. I never go through stuff. I just pile it all together and say, "I'll sort it out when I get to the new place and start fresh." Um, no. Cause at the new place I just ignore it. (sigh) You know, like a cat with its paw over its eyes, "If I don't see you you're not there?" That would be me.

Now, some of the stuff I've schlepped around over 4 moves in 13 years hasn't always been with me but it has accumulated. It's amazing how much stuff can pile up over the years.

Magazines: I had a gazillion subscriptions at one point (about 10 years ago) and threw out a good bit of them but still had far too many. They are now down to a few plastic crates (about 5 I think). This may sound like a lot and it probably is but when you figure that I threw out I don't know how many times that. . .well, it's not so bad. Mostly what I have left is fantasy stuff plus things that could be useful for academic ("Psychology Today") purposes.

Cards: My God, I have my own Hallmark store. I always joked that I kept them in business. Yup, I did. Do. Sheesh. Well, once I get them sorted, I will have a nice emergency stash. A good chunk of the cards are going to be donated to Michael's church because they are ones that I got, unsolicited, from charities at one point. That's what I get for donating when I can (I have 4/5 that I try to but haven't been able to for a long time). Then there are the cards and letters that people have sent/given to me. I have every one, I think. It may sound insane but it's hard for me to just toss a card, even a simple one. It's like tossing away a smile because that's what I do when I see the card. So, I keep them. Every one. I have since I was a child. I think it's because mom used to so I guess she started the idea but by my teens it became a habit. And I won't change that one even though it takes up space. Even the cards from people I no longer speak to (for whatever reason) because the memory is precious. Guess I should write for Hallmark too.

Stuffed Animals: aka Plushies Ok, this one I cannot be completely blamed for. I've had them my entire life and still have, in pretty good condition, the ones from my childhood. The ones that are my fault are the Beanie Babies. I admit that cause I was an adult when they came out. However, I didn't buy them solely because they were a collectible at the time, I bought them because of my love for stuffed cute toys. Yes, I know how old I am. I don't care. Live with it. lol

Collectibles: aka Dust Catchers lol Had to put that on there because that's what dad would have called them. Mom is partly to blame for this one because she would do series of items from time to time. That and buying me things to decorate my room. I also put under this category anything themed that anyone has ever given me. So, this is a big one because it's not what I've bought. My contribution to this category is maybe a third. Unless you count each bookmark separately in the stash and then, well, it jumps up. lol I looooove collecting bookmarks!

Paperwork: Good Lord! I have school stuff from back in high school! Not much. I so need to go through it cause this is taking up too much space. At least the plushies we could toss in the attic in sealed containers. I am not too upset with myself here because most of it will probably need to be saved "just in case" since it is a professional tool but still. Michael wasn't kidding when he said that the house would go up like a match. Sheesh.

Photographs: Way more than I thought I had but then, I've added to the stash over the years. That's gonna be a fun project when I have time. (laughs hysterically) ahem

Miscellaneous: Odds and ends of things that I will stash in a drawer to use at some point.

You know, it would make life simpler not to have all this stuff but I can't seem to get rid of it all just yet. I am getting better though. When I get frustrated enough. . .I toss it. Some things I may donate. Some I will give to friends to add to their piles of stuff. So, it all works out in the end. I hope.

I Give Up

Ok, so that whole high school like debacle that I wrote about last time came to a startling conclusion. My friend bolstered up some courage and then got turned down with a, "I will be busy for the foreseeable future." Ummm Ok, color me confused. Granted, it is a true statement and maybe the person being pursued just doesn't want to get into any relationship stuff right now (which was kind of said to me in the first place) but we were simply talking about hanging out, not marriage.

So, whatever. I give up on trying to figure people out on this. But I am very proud of my friend for giving it a shot. It's hard to set yourself up for the possibility of that kind of reaction. And it can be very draining. But kudos for trying!!

As for every singleton out there, if it can happen to me, it can happen for you. I mean, I thought I was going to be the eccentric old maiden aunt with the 52 cats and now I'm planning a wedding. It still seems surreal to me. I found a man who really does love me despite my faults -- nay, in some respects because of them since they are entertaining -- and is happy with me. And the really ironic part? Everything I'd ever done wrong in trying to pursue something with guys in the past was exactly what I had to do in order for him to buy the clue. I wasn't doing it wrong all those years, I was just doing the right thing with the wrong men. lol So, buck up. There is hope. And friends to smack you when you start to doubt. Hugs.

It's Not Complicated, It's Difficult

Man, it is always so much easier to give advice about love than it is to take it or act upon it. Why do we always complicate things to the nth degree even when we know better?

See, I have a friend who has been flirting with someone for a long time. I know the second person in a chatty sort of way. Now, the situation has been going on for a long time. My friend even got up the nerve to actually finagle a way around finding out if the other person was single. But the question that still needed answering was whether there was any interest.

I got bugged about chatting with the "love interest" in order to find out the answer. Felt a little silly but I wanted to help out. I had two choices since chat time was limited but outside events: 1) I could simply say hi and that my friend says hi too or 2) I could just come out and ask. Now, had I not known this person before, only option 1 would have been available. But since I do and time was limited, I went for it. Besides, any hinting I could have done would have let the cat out of the bag without ever answering the question. However, yes, there is an interest! And it wasn't feigned or anything. I happily told my friend that the pressure was off because we had an answer and no rejection was nigh.

So, what do you think happened?

Yup, my friend freaked. Now, I can understand a whole, "Oh my God I cannot believe you did that!" spiel. Yup, understandable. But it should help to know when another person has interest right?

Nope. I miscalculated how much communication anxiety my friend could actually get. I mean, I know nerves and have had them but today was major fear. I've been telling my friend all week that now is a good time to ask the interested party out. Nope. Michael thinks that the problem is that it's being done in too public an environment. That's probably partially it but I think phone would be too much to. (sigh) So now what? I don't know. I tried to help and made it worse and now I feel really bad about it. I mean, is there something I can do to fix this or do I just let my friend wallow in fear and misery? I am a little confused because they have known each other for a long time even though they have never been friends. I would have thought the familiarity would make things easier. But no. . .I want my friend to stop moping and take a chance. I thought it was time to but I guess I was wrong. But I wonder when the time will ever be right to pursue this dream? Any suggestions?

Updates

Well, it turns out that Chuck (my brother) is fine. Nothing wrong with his heart. So, he's been put on cholesterol medicine to lower it. Yeah, that could do it when coupled with stress. But at least we know.

As for my car debacle. . .turns out that someone on one of the next streets had his car spray painted too. The paint is the same but what was on his was totally different from mine. So. . .the only real connection is the paint because I don't know my "neighbor" and there doesn't appear to be any other connection. Still, the detective is professional enough to pursue the student angle if I want him to. Michael says yes but I dunno. I mean, it could be someone covering their butts or they vandal(s) made a mistake at first. . .too many variables. (sigh) Michael had said Sunday night that it looked like the spray can had run out of paint so I suspect the other guy got hit first but I don't know that.

Anyway, the rest of the week has been quiet. Well, except for my hyper bunny mode. Two days of massive energy rush. Of course, Michael has benefited from that so I guess it's all good. lol Gotta get some work done though. I just realized that not much has been accomplished this week. Where did it go? Then again, it was thrown off by the holiday and stuff so. . .guess I should have expected it. Will let you know if anything else exciting pops up. Hugs

Well, Last Night Was Interesting. . .

And no, not in the way any of you perverts were thinking. Sheesh

Seriously though. . .Michael, Jonathan and I went to see the new Indiana Jones movie (it was pretty decent). Jon had to work at the store so we met up afterwards. Well, Michael and I'd had a late lunch so we were hungry after the movie and stopped at Waffle House. The evening was going well until we pulled into our driveway about midnight. As Michael's headlights hit the back of my car we both noticed something odd and shiny. As we got closer, we realized that someone had vandalized my car.

Yup, someone decided that spray painting my car last night was a fun recreation. Across the back part of my trunk and passenger light and around the side was a bronze graffiti: BITCH. The passenger side also had streaks of paint across it. Looks like whoever did it focused on the word and ran out.

"Who?" You are asking yourselves. Good question. No idea. Well, not specifically but considering I just turned in my spring semester grades on the 11th and I had a few unhappy students (as usual). . .that is our best guess.

Yes, we called the police and I reported the incident. They took pictures but we'll see if anything comes of it. Michael actually managed to get the paint off without doing more than scratching the plastic over my lights. Go me and not forking out money like I used to to wash the car more regularly during pollen season because that and the fact that it was humid kept the paint from settling in. Oh, and go Easy Off oven cleaner!! Took Michael two hours to get it off but he was determined not to let it set in. (sigh) Stupid people. I'm annoyed and hurt by it more than angry. I won't speculate on here but will let you know if anything further comes of it.

So, a good weekend ended on an annoying note. But it picked up today because we had lunch with my friends, Ruthann and Roy, who are both in town. That was great cause they finally got to meet Michael. So, that made it better. Now I'll just chill a bit and relax. You can always email me with questions about the incident if you want to know what I'm thinking. But eventually it will pop up on here. Hugs.

Verrrry Interesting

According to the Washington Post, Barnes and Noble is looking to bid on Borders. I read this on AOL a little while ago. I also read the comments that were posted about it. I wanted to post too but it wouldn't go through. Here's what I wanted to say:

Borders is currently the only major bookseller that still has small in-mall stores: Waldenbooks. Barnes and Noble got rid of most, if not all, of theirs years ago. So, what happens to that brand if B&N takes over? Either way it doesn't matter because no one seems to care whether Waldenbooks succeeds (which it could do if given the right kind of support).. I like both chains but they tend to use up and squash the little guys. I will buy from amazon when I need something hard to get or out of print. They are a great resources and it would be interesting to see them buy Borders (with whom they were online partners until this year). As for Walmart. . .yeah, they are cheaper on bestsellers but they don't have a very good variety of books in general. I refuse to buy books from them for various reasons. Support the bookstores!

No one on there seemed to realize that Borders owns Waldenbooks. That's not really a surprise since Borders doesn't advertise it. I do agree with several of the responses that they are basically the same anyway (B&N and Borders) in concept with the big stores. I prefer Borders but that's only because I've had better luck with getting help at various ones than at B&N. And the B&Ns tend to be very dark inside. Still I did have a card there once until I started working for the competition. lol And now, well, can't buy much until after the wedding. And then I'll probably go back to what I did pre-bookseller career and buy from various places depending upon the book and how quickly I want it.

Still, I found the article interesting and can't wait to see what happens from it.

Go Kyle!!

Yay!! Kyle (northern) finally got his psychology degree. I am so proud of you (I know he reads the blog but I wanted everyone to know too)! Doing a big happy dance right now. Won't talk about how long it's taken (wink) but that step is over. Dude, wish I could have been there. You look so tired in the photo but so awesome too:



I want to hear all about it so call me when you have time!

We will have lots to celebrate this year. My two youngest nieces are graduating from high school. Cynthia's is on the 30th. I'm not sure when Cheri's is. I so wish I could go to both but there just isn't any money to spare. But I am so proud of them too. They are college bound.

And Kyle? Well, he's grad school bound right?

Guess I better get my diss done before they all catch up to me! (wink) Love to all.

Economy Rant

The following is a poli-business rant so don't read if you don't want to. lol

Ok, so, the government wonders why we are in a recession. They are sending most of us "stimulus checks" to try and help boost the economy. Um, maybe instead they should look at some corporations are doing business. I swear, the following three examples must have all had their higher ups train at the same "Management School For Dummies":

Corporation A: They were taken over about a year ago by a company that had no real clue what some of the products are. Instead of asking employees to explain their various jobs, etc, the new company just runs over everyone like a bull in a china shop. Cliché but accurate description. Now they are asking every employee to sign a ridiculous contract that basically gives them the right to control the employees' lives for two years after they leave the company (no matter what the circumstances cause the leave). Briefly: the contract states that employees are not allowed to get a job with any competitor and/or with a company that has any remote connection to any field that they are attached to. Example: an employee would not be able to go work for (even as a janitor) any software company because they sell software too. I kid you not. The former employee can only work for someone else where there may even be the slightest conflict of interest (in the eyes of Corporation A) if they get a waiver from Corporation A. If the former employee moves, etc, they must report that to Corporation A. Basically they cannot make any life decisions without Corporation A knowing about it for two years or they are subject to a breach of contract and retribution. If an employee does not sign the contract, they are fired. Of course, this has led them to firing so many people that the ones left who won't sign can't be let go until their replacements are trained. How's that for screwing yourself?

Corporation B: This company bought out a smaller one years ago so that they could use them as a means of paying for their larger branches until they were firmly entrenched. Once the larger ones became known and popular, the smaller ones were left to basically rot (degrade). For the past few years, the rules and stipulations that have been put on the smaller businesses have been such that they can't possibly meet the outrageous goals of the larger firm. So, the company finds that since the larger stores are now hurting in the economic slide and the smaller ones (which could have been a balancing asset) can no longer help because they have been clipped so much, they must put everything up for sale and hope for the best. In the meantime, they are seeking a way to save money. And how are they doing this? Well, the latest is the following: 1) no new hires for stores until June (which leaves one local store with only 5 employees), 2) training mangaers are no longer allowed to travel, 3) district managers are not allowed to travel for at least five weeks (how they are supposed to help their stores who knows), 4) several VPs have been fired, and they will no longer offer holiday pay. This comes on top of insane sales plans coupled with low hour offerings. Store managers have been expected to take up the slack by working six 8-hour days a week. Everyone has seen the slide coming for some time. Oh, and the higher ups have hired an outside company to help them develop a plan that will help them save money. Yeah. Sure. Why not ask the more experienced employees? Oh, right, like with Corporation A, that would make sense.

Corporation C: Has jumped on the outsourcing bandwagon. All jobs will be outsourced to India. But that's not the kicker for its future former employees. The real punch in the gut comes in the form of being given the option of personally training their replacements or losing any benefits (on top of severance pay) that they had accrued with the company. It's almost as bad as being replaced by a robot because they can do the work longer and faster. Only, in this case, the employee is being replaced by someone who can be paid less than a third of their salary. Hey, great for the new guy, bad for the old.

And doesn't that all just sum it up? Companies expect their employees to be loyal but they refuse to show them the same consideration. I mean, yeah, this is business and the point is to make money. But that just perpetuates a cycle that is partially responsible for dragging down our economy. Either stupidity or greed is robbing us of our stability. It's only a part of the problem but it is a big one: companies are taking advantage of people because they know that folks will do what it takes to earn money to put food on the table. But that only means they are shooting themselves in the foot when the ripple affect hits and there's no one to buy, etc, what they have to offer. Good grief.

Ok, I'll stop and be back to "normal" tomorrow.

Send Happy Thoughts, Please

I was online late last night because I wanted to email Valerie some info before I forgot. Well, my brother, Chuck, popped online and I IMd him. He's been in Hawaii for the past few months on a work contract for some company. He wondered what I was doing up at midnight my time but you know me, the night owl. lol Anyway, he was online because he's thinking of getting a second Masters degree. His first is in Elementary Education (his BA is in electrical engineering, I think) but now he;s thinking Psychology!! Wow, I never would have thought of Chuck going for a psychology degree. Actually, I think that he would make a good one but, well, I guess things have changed a lot from past conversations.

Sidetrack: I just realized that I am surrounded now by people pursuing degrees in that field. I find that ironic since I've been studying it since high school and have always thought I would eventually get one myself. lol Very interesting.

Anyway, the need for happy thoughts comes in here. . .Chuck said to me, "I am going to the hospital on Thursday so on Friday they can do a cardiac catherization to see why I have chest pains and also a bad stress test." He's only 44! Of course, he does tend to put a lot of stress on himself so, I guess that would explain it. Actually, he's been the healthiest of us. So, I guess that's why it's a shock. He has to stay through Saturday because he doesn't have anyone to look after him. His wife is in Nevada at their home and, knowing Chuck, he probably told her not to spend the money to go to Hawaii. I assume this because he said, "I am fine, just need to know what is gong on so I can get it fixed." And, "I will be fine after all I am in a hospital." Sheesh, that latter gave me a chill. Famous last words. lol But yeah, he should be fine. Promised to email me on Sunday so I'll let you all know.

I told him he wasn't allowed to get sick until AFTER the wedding! Seriously though, I worry. Hey, that's what sisters are for, right? I just passed on the word up home. They really need to clean up the answering machine. That beep lasted forever! More soon. Hugs.

Relief Is Spelled W-O-R-K

lol Like the title? I know it seems wrong but in this case it's true. See, I always teach a summer course on base for USC. It always makes though the number of students varies. It's been a close call the last two years but has gotten enough students last minute. Well, this year has been different. Classes start next week (they run it differently than on main) and up until yesterday I only had three students signed up. Then I had a fourth yesterday. yuck So, I've been a little frantic inside because, well, it would help if I had a job for at least part of the summer. Granted, doing the dissertation, wedding planning, and housework are all jobs in and of themselves but they don't provide funds.

I got an email about the start of classes next week, blah blah. General one. So, I emailed her and asked what the procedure was since I only have four students. She said that there is a soldier pending to take the class and that they put the paperwork through today. Woohoo! I have been moving from shock to relief over the past hour. Normally I think I am supposed to have 10-12 students registered before they will do that. But I am so not going to argue about only having five. Talk about an easy job. The hardest part will be coming up with things to do with them so that we actually use some class time. lol My normal way of doing things is geared towards 15-20 students needing to do their speeches. hmmm Can we say guinea pigs?

Man, this is just awesome. Michael is really going to be relieved. Cause, this was about to suck big time. I mean, who's gonna hire me when I would have to quit in August? And I will not lie about that. Oh, I do have an interview next week with the university's test prep center to teach for them but I have no idea when that would start if they hire me. They may not want me considering how swamped I am in the fall. But we'll see. Ok, time for lunch!

Flower Day

Well, yesterday could have been better. Started out well enough as the last post mentioned. See, Wednesday night I had gone to bed with a migraine. Had a few pains before I wrote the blog but nothing bad. But as I sat in my office doing stuff, my head got worse and I started feeling nauseous again (I had the night before). My head was swimming. So I went home and laid on the couch. Took some medicine and waited for Michael to come home. He took me to my classroom last night to meet any students dropping off their finals. By the time we got home I was crampy.

Yes, I know. I don't have a certain female organ anymore. But I still have my ovaries and my cervix. So, you can imagine my surprise when I realized that I felt like I did last year. Well, I looked stuff up and it's to be expected from what I can tell. I mean, the doctor did say that I could still experience PMS, etc symptoms because I still have the hormones. I just don't have the obvious outcome. (sigh) So, that explains the migraine because it wasn't the weather and there wasn't anything else I could think of. I was pretty miserable last night and slept badly. So did Michael because he hurt his shoulder. What a pair we make.

I was pretty frustrated with everything last night because I felt like crap. (sigh)

Anyway, today was better. I checked out a new spa here and had a facial and it was wonderful. The woman was awesome and I will definitely be going back. So, I have a new place now called Tranquil Moments Day Spa. It's nice to have a new place and it will be great for getting prepped for the wedding. (grin) The weather was lovely. So overall I felt better.

Michael beat me home. And he left a surprise for me in my office:



Aren't they lovely? He did it just because he felt like it. The cats have sniffed but are mostly ignoring them. So, that's good. They are so pretty and make a nice splash of color in the room. Thank you!! Michael only buys me flowers when the whim strikes him. He got a massage for his thoughtfulness.

Well, my head is starting to hurt again so I'm gonna call it a night. Hugs.

Calm Week

Well, this week has been fairly laid back. I've been giving myself some down time because it's finals week and my schedule is whacked. I have a ton of grading to do though so I'll be working on that some today.

I told Michael that I would get a temporary job if one popped up but that no one would hire me for anything else when I have to start back at school in August. And I won't lie about that to get a job. But there is the possibility something will pop up for a few hours a week. Never know. If not, it's not like I don't have a gazillion things to get done any way, right? lol

I want to give a shout out of Happy Birthday to my eldest bro, John. It was on Tuesday. I'd also like to say huge congratulations to Rebecca and Nathan who are the proud first time parents of a baby boy. And congratulations to Celeste on finally getting her doctorate! Talk about inspiration. You go, girl!

Everybody please send kind thoughts and good energy to Andi. She's having a tough time right now. Poor dear. It will be ok.

Well, that's about it. I know, hard to imagine my life being fairly "quiet." Oh, geez, I probably just jinxed myself. (PS It's only quiet now that the housekeeping lady is out of my office and off our phone from discussing some drama. Sheesh lol)