His Highness

I am so happy that our fearless leader finally was able to find a way to distract from the stuff going on outside his pseudo ranch. I really feel that behind closed doors the guy has got to be dancing a jig. Now he can play President again and with any luck his standings in the polls will go back up. Funny that he can do that. He, and his handlers, are masters at taking advantage of a situation. If only the other side could wake up out of their fog and do that.

The Weather

Funny thing about the weather. One day last week they were saying there was a 70 percent chance of rain. Sun shone brightly all day. Not a cloud in the sky. A couple of days later the chance of rain was 20 percent. Rained like crazy. Yesterday and today a 100 percent chance of rain. Sunshine all day, although it did rain last night. This morning I hear that there's an 80 percent chance. Sun is shining. I know they can't be right on the money every time but what I don't understand is how can they be so far off? With all their technology you'd think they could at least get close some of the time, but no. Makes me wish now I had studied to be a weather person.

Where Did the Time Go?

I saw a lot of people at the funeral service that I haven't seen in many, many years. The last time I saw some of them they were just kids. Now they are grown and have kids of their own. I saw an old girl friend whom I hardly recognized. It all served to make me feel my age and wonder what everyone wonders...where did the time go? It's so easy go get caught up in life and lose touch with friends and relatives until something like this happens. Then it's the realization of how much time actually has past and how quickly it has past. At the end, everyone vows to keep in touch but this is just the emotional part coming out. I've heard that many times before and it ends up the same way. You one day sit and ask yourself where did the time go?

Another Day, Another One Gone

Thursday my brother-in-law had a massive heart attack and died. This is the third member of my family to die in the past two months. My nephew, my sister, and now my brother-in-law (my other sister's husband). It has been quite an ordeal for everyone. There's not even been enough time to deal with one death and then there's another one. As I stood yesterday looking at him in his coffin it seemed unreal that only a couple of weeks ago we had been standing side by side talking about her and her death. I sincerely hope this is the last one for quite a while.

I Am Tired

There are times, like today, that I feel just mentally and physically drained. Having to deal with the emotional stress of family deaths (my brother-in-law the latest - yesterday), the stress and trials of work, and dealing with the upkeep of a house and cars, there are times I just want to sit and stare out in space. It would be nice if it were possible to just turn the mind off, or at least put it in neutral for a while. Just to think about nothing. Unfortunately for me, my mind churns constantly. There are nights I don't even sleep well as I wake up numerous times during the night thinking about something. Tomorrow I'll most likely be fine, but today I am tired. So very tired.

Cutting the Grass Day

Today is my grass cutting day. I, at one time, did it on Saturdays but seeing that this pretty much killed my every Saturday decided it would be to my advantage to cut it during the week. At first I cut it on Tuesdays. The problem with this was that by the weekend it looked as if it needed cutting again. Then I switched to Thursdays which does leave it looking OK for the weekend. Thing is that by this time every year I am so tired of cutting grass, period. I start out in the Spring all gung ho and ready but by this time of year I've pretty much gotten burned out on it. For me, Fall will not arrive soon enough.

Here At Home

We not only have a major university here but also a Navy school. The Navy school is on the list of bases they are proposing to close. On the one hand the local and state politicians are up in arms and plan to do all they can to make sure this doesn't happen. On the other hand, especially locally, there are those who are already making plans on what to do with the campus and buildings once the school is closed, should it be. It, to me, is again a display of the hypocrisy of the local politicians as well as the local citizenry. Everyone was so upset when they first announced the possible closing but it almost immediately transcended into a "how can we make a buck out of this" mode. I look for the base to be morphed into apartments or condos. It's amazing to me how people can wear two faces at the same time.

Something New

Until I began this blog I really didn't realize how difficult it would be to find something to write in it. I thought surely I could come up with something to write in here everyday. For the first few days it was new and easy but as time has passed I find myself sitting around the house trying to think of something to write in here. The reason I try to put something in here daily is that I read once somewhere that everyone should keep some kind of diary to let people close to them know what kind of person they really were. So, here I am today just writing drivel just to get something down. Give me credit. At least I'm trying.

Monday Again

It's been a quiet Monday so far. Not that I expect it to stay that way. One of the things I have the most difficulty in dealing with, not only on Mondays but any day, is walking into the office and being hit with some calamity before I can even get the lights on. It's tends to really make the beast come out and I become terribly irritable. I keep telling myself that I should try to take it in stride and try to enjoy myself more as one day I'll retire. Once I'm sitting at home bored and trying to find something to do I look back on these days. But, for right now, I'm stuck in my daily grind.

Boring Weekend

Talk about a do nothing weekend. This has been one of the most uneventful boring weekends I have had in my life. I don't know how any less can happen. Other than mowing my lawn yesterday there has been nothing going on. When mowing your lawn is the great excitement of your weekend, there is a problem somewhere.

My Politics

Up until this past election I had always been a staunch Democrat. But, due to the Democrats ignorance and arrogance and their morphing into Republican Lite, I no longer feel that I can associate myself with any political party. I truly am an independent. This is not to say that I would vote for a Republican. Right now I wouldn't to save my life. But, I will have to see a big swing in attitude before I get all excited about a Democrat getting my vote. Overall, I feel the country and world would be much better off with a Democratic president and congress, but it didn't happen. If they don't get their act together, it won't be happening any time soon either.

The Boss

Trying to discuss anything with my boss is like living in a dreamworld. Not a nice dreamworld but one in which I feel like I am talking to someone who isn't really there. I have worked in this position for many years. He, on the other hand, came here about a year or so ago with absolutely no experience in this field but with the attitude that he knows everything. I ask for advice and get some unworkable solution, then try to explain why that won't work. This makes him angry as if I am just not wanting to take his advice. It only puts more pressure on me as then I have to try to not only figure out how to make his solution work, but then try to explain it to the people working under me. Usually they act as if I'm insane. I keep trying to convince myself that he won't be here that long as he is either going to do something to piss the wrong person off or he just won't be able to keep on dealing with the stress and pressure inherent with this job. He even told me once he was very unhappy with his job. Question is when will he leave? Whenever, it won't be soon enough for me.

Read the Newspaper

If I happen to be in a particularly good frame of mind and for some reason I find I don't want to be I read the newspaper. This depresses me faster than anything I can think of. It's not that I am looking for inspiration but rather just the facts. Not someone's opinion or slant. My local paper has a very conservative slant, which is odd considering this is the aforementioned college town and artsy town. This would be fine if they would save their slant for the editorial/opinion pages but they slant everything. I do get a range of emotions from the editorial pages. From downright comedy to downright stupidity, the pages are filled with letters from mostly very conservative people who either are deaf, dumb, and blind or brainwashed. It's one thing to support a cause but quite a different thing to blindly support a cause and not see the reality in anything presented that opposes that view. Like the one veteran who boasted about serving his country and how he would do it again to protect the idiots who live here. Being called an idiot really opened my mind to his point of view. I can only gather from their tone and attitude that what these people really want is not a democracy and a president, but a dictator. No questions asked, just do it. Otherwise, why would they have such a problem when someone questions or criticizes anything they believe in? Well, the way things are going now it won't be very much longer before this dictator thing will be a reality rather than an attitude.

Skyrocketing Gasoline Prices

So, what is the real deal with these gas prices? Here they have shot up by $.1o to $.12 cents a gallon just over the weekend. Then I hear on the radio on the way to work that they expect the prices to ease off after Labor Day because the demand won't be so great. Does that figure or what? Almost like it was planned that way. I have also heard that the petroleum companies profits are soaring. So, if their profits are soaring why aren't we catching a break of some sort. Because it's all part of the plan. We have a President and his cronies who are all in the business, the oil business. They are making profits too. I just find it incredible that the media and American people have become so uncaring. Why is there nary a soul (atleast that I am aware of) who is wanting to find out why gas prices have shot upward so quickly. Again, where is the outrage? I feel it every time I pull in the gas station and fill my car up. I suppose no one else does, huh?

Reading the Sunday News

It is very disheartening and downright scary to read the news these days. Not only does the media have it's giant head up it's giant ass, but a large percentage of the populace seem to also. All that is in the news is talk of wars and more wars. Where does it stop? Sadly, so many people are so ignorant or just don't care that there's nothing to stop our leaders from doing whatever they want. A huge touch of irony is that the very people who so carelessly want to bomb their way around the world are the very ones who fought so tirelessly to keep their own asses safe and sound during Vietnam. Where is the outrage? Have we become so complacent and brainwashed that we will accept anything, including lies and treachery, govern us? Right now I am afraid so.

It's Friday

Friday. Gateway to the weekend. The day I am more fond of than any other. I love Fridays because not only is it the end of my workweek, but I can plot and plan the weekend with great excitement. Not that much of it ever works out the way I'd like, but it gives me something to strive for anyway. Saturdays are OK but normally I have things I need to do on Saturdays. Sundays aren't my cup of tea simply because I have Monday on my mind. It's always back there somewhere that the next day is Monday and then it's a whole week until another Friday. For me every other Friday brings me money too. So, all in all, these are the reasons Fridays are my favorite day of the week.

College Town

Living in a rather small town with a rather large college can be interesting. You would think it would be a rather wide open town with all the students but this isn't really so. The local government wants to keep a tight reign on things and make ordinance after ordinance to either discourage the students or the downtown business owners who cater mostly to the students. The result is a very regulated, sadly lacking business area. There are enough bars so that everyone is aptly accomodated but other than a few local little shops, it is business dead. To make matters worse, they try to over regulate outside dining, inside smoking, and have as of late, installed observation cameras all over town so that the cops don't have to do anything much other than stand around and shoot the breeze. It has gotten so bad that at one time I considered moving into this county to be closer in, but have given up on the idea because of the local government. For the people!!!

Co-workers

What is there to say about my co-workers? I would like to say they are great people who are genuinely interested in the job. I would like to say they are self motivated, caring people. I would like to say they are generous, caring people. Yes, that would be nice. It would also be a lie. They are the most selfish, self serving, unfeeling, lazy, complaining, griping people I have ever had to deal with. All but one of them are in their mid 30's. Is this a trait of their generation? If so, I feel for the rest of society in having to deal with them. I wonder if they are this way at home with their wives and kids. I can only assume they are in which case I have to feel for them (wives/kids). Maybe one day their eyes, minds, and hearts will open. I doubt I'll be around to witness it.

Back at Work

I am back at work now after the four days off for the funeral. Every time I take off work for any length of time the night before I return is a tossing, turning, sleepless night. Last night was no exception. At one time I enjoyed my jo immensely. Those times are history. Due to personnel changes and general policy changes it has become little more than a joke. It reminds me of the old saying about the inmates running the asylum. The past two people in charge have been very weak leaders who, due to the low salary, were hired without any knowledge of the job or what it takes to perform the job. This has lead to the leaders pushing more and more off onto us underlings as they don't know what is supposed to be done. This, in turn, has pushed morale to new lows. There is no way for me to get out of this position at the moment. How to deal with it and still have any self respect is a mystery. It has developed, for me, into a nightmare. I have at least six more years before I can retire and get the hell out. I fear I'm in for some long years.

Rainy Sunday

I have been away for this past week due to a death in my family. A death such as this, which is the second close family member I have had to die in less than two months, makes me wonder. I wonder about my own life and death and what is the purpose of life anyway. I realize that when someone dies you can keep their body around forever, but it seems it's all a neat little package in that there is a three day period where arrangements are made the first day, the viewing is the second day, and the funeral the third. It's all over so quickly and you are so caught up in all of it that it really doesn't hit you until after it's all said and done. Sadly, this has been the scenario for each and every funeral I have ever attended.

Life

Trust me. Life is too short not to enjoy it. Stop worrying about all the small stuff and just have fun. You only live once. Don't waste it!

No Respect

I find it somewhat unsettling that on another blog site I have I had made a statement about being bored and not knowing what to do. Someone wrote a comment which was not only very offensive but also immature and insensitive. They made a statement saying in effect that I should go and watch my parents have sex for all they cared. Who cares if you're bored? First off, it is offensive because my parents have been dead for quite some time. It is insensitive for the same reason. This may be how this low life gets his jollies but my opinion is that it is my blog and I should be able to put whatever I want on it. If this person doesn't want to read it, then don't. But, I fail to understand what would possess anyone to make a comment like that. Amazing the respect we show our fellow man, huh?