Warm and touching farewell

Tonight was the last night of my coworker's work at our job. Now he has to move into his house in another town this coming week. He is psyched up and looking forward to it. He got a new job at some manufacturing plant. I told him when he clocked out to not let the door hit him on his way out. Before that, I said that I was informed that this was his last night here and I didn't have a present for him, I'm sorry (sniff, sniff). At least, I made him smile. He said Good Night. I said Good Night back. I am good displaying warm and touching farewells to coworkers who quit.

At one job I had, it was tradition to saran wrap your manager's car when you quit. Pouring milk, whip cream, and eggs on the car was optional. When I quit I had to assure a nervous manager that I was not going to destroy her car with whip cream and saran wrap. I am grown up. But I told my coworkers they could if they wanted to. I think someone actually did trash her car and lucky for me I had the day off so I did not get the blame for it. I was told my manager cried about it. I found out later someone in another department did the trashing for me because I said I was not going to and got the scoop what they did to it. Oh well, it washed off. Post later. Bye!

Freaky

Hello again. Today I heard on the news that a 70-year-old man drove through the gate of the Air National Guard last night and led a chase over the tarmac and taxiways of the Des Moines Airport causing the airport to shut down for 15 minutes. A police officer said they were considering using deadly force on the man. Lucky for the man arrested they did not. He was just arrested charged with trespassing and resisting arrest. Security breaches like that tighten security for all. Thanks, we need our security officers paranoid and edgy. They are not stressed enough already. Post later. Bye!

Big day

Today was a big day. Not because I started my volunteer work, because I had several things going on. Yesterday I got a box of baking soda to attempt to rid the rotten smell still lingering in the microwave because it is too damn cold to open the windows all day to air my apartment. It just won't stop raining keeping the temperatures in the 50's. Then coming back I saw a notice above the mailboxes saying the water will be shut off 9-5 the next day (today). So took my shower late at night instead of the daytime. I tried so hard today to get my bangs to go backwards. I lost. My hair refused to obey. I got ready for my volunteer job and scooted right over. Of course all the doors to the museum are locked so I had to ask how I was suppose to get in. I was guided over a rope and opened the unlocked door.
Then there was school going through the house when I entered so I introduced myself to the lady when she came around. I remembered after a minute which door was to the basement and put my stuff away. I watched the second and last group of 10-year-olds. I did get to answer one question on an object, mosquito netting. Not a common sight here. We do have mosquitos carrying West Nile Virus, but we have screens on our windows and doors to keep them out. There are also pesticides sprayed in standing water to kill the eggs. During picnics outside we have bug spray and mosquito coils the burn an unattractive scent to repel bugs.
Once the school group was out we shook sheets used to keep carpet clean from many muddy feet stepping on them. She showed me around and explained where things go. She gave a lesson on the wood burning stove. Then we went into the basement and filled spice jars. Then I ironed (electric iron) aprons and a tablecloth while she changed into her street clothes. This place has shower in bathroom. The last thing we did was sweep the floors and I was told I could go early. I was introduced to the horses in the barn. I started out to discover again the doors are locked. After pulling every one, I finally climbed over a fence in a ankle-length dress to get out. And I left a half-hour early.
I made it home and changed clothes. Been watching TV and eating ever since. People ask what do I do besides watch TV. Not much. Post later. Bye!

Same thing every time

It has happened again. People are demanding the state of Iowa reinstate the death penalty after the murder of a child. According to the news the death penalty for state crimes (not federal) was dissolved 40 years ago. For as long as I can remember (29 years), every time a child is murdered people petition to reinstate the death penalty. I noticed when an adult is murdered this petition demand does not occur. I recall once in high school when the legislature defended voted against reinstating the death penalty because the latest child murderer would not fall under the law and forcing a person live with the consequences to their actions sitting in jail the rest of their natural life is a much worse punishment that the easy way out to only answer to God. Or something like that. Though, every time the murdered child is eventually forgotten and the demand for the death penalty disappears, until the next child murder. Go figure. Post later. Bye!

Management email

I have been informed the manager will be sending out an email regarding personal phone calls at work. The manager warned this coworker it was coming saying it is not directed specifically at her. It is meant for everyone. I told her she can blame me for the upcoming email. I emailed my manager a week ago about an incident where a coworker talking to his wife on the phone asked me to get the ringing phone. I was helping a customer at the time he said that. Then had to ask the customer what he said since I was interrupted. I hope my coworkers won't me hate too much from this. Customers should take precedence over personal phone calls. If you find yourself in the situation where an associate ignoring you as they talk on the phone, do not be shy about complaining. Associates resent it too. At one job, a coworker often glued to the phone said that our jobs are so easy. I said that was because I'm doing all the work.

Today a coworker called in sick. Nobody believes he is sick. He was glued to the phones all day yesterday because his brother was flying in with his family. They went to dinner that night. Then on top of that he comes up with an allergy to a dog excuse and felt nauseous with an upset stomach. Nausea is not a symptom of an allergy. I have allergies so I know. The man has 2 dogs since he moved here and suddenly he is allergic to them when his brother is in town. A coworker came in on her day off with a cold to cover for him. I asked why he didn't just ask for a couple days off to spend time with his family. That is allowed. She said, Exactly. I said he could have food poisoning or drank too much wine. We can only hope. My coworker said that he is making her look good and himself look bad in the eyes of management. We have agreed to stop helping this coworker so much and let him hang himself. He is doing a good job of it. I told her to give him a hard time tomorrow. She promised to. Post later. Bye!

Amazing

Today I still have people at work asking when I am quitting my job to work at a museum and how much will I make doing hard labor. Apparently, I have not made the word "volunteering" clear enough. And trust me that nobody would do hard labor for free. Volunteers are not in a chain gang. I have yet to start, Tuesday is my first day. But then few ever listen to me anyway.

Then I ticked off the post office by neglecting the four-digit secret code numbers needed to explain what street and what floor I live on. Gee, I thought the house number, street name, and apartment number explained where I live. Every apartment complex begins the 1st floor with a 1 or A and so forth. The letter explained the high speed mail sorter can only read zip codes (so why write the rest of the address?) so it is most important that I include my full address to receive my mail in a timely fashion. Sorry I never noticed it being slow.
Post later. Bye!

The Ship is Sinking

I don't believe this. The past couple weeks we have received many customers complaining over our reservation line operators. They don't speak English, when speaking in English their accent is so strong they can't understand them, and extremely ignorant on American geography. One customer asked if the reservation line is located in India. No, I said, They probably hired a bunch of immigrants because the center is in the States. I emailed my manager about what the customer said. She emailed back saying it was in India. I emailed asking if she was joking, people in India making American reservations. She emailed back the it was not a joke, the reservation line was moved to Inida to save money. Yeah, angering mulitudes of customers is really going to save them money. I foresee a sinking ship that will be bought by yet another company (on the corporate level). I wonder who the genius is who thought up moving the reservation center to another country would save them money. Moron. Post later. Bye!

Good deed for the day

Hey there. I did my good deed for the today. A woman comes to me begging to wait for her husband arriving after we close. Um, no, we only wait for people with reservations who have flight info in. She asks, So if he makes a reservation you will wait. Yep. So she retrieves the 800 numbers from me to call for a reservation. Her husband calls me wanting me to make the reservation because he can't understand the operator (very common complaint). SO out of the kindness of my heart I make him one. We normally transfer people to the reservation line because we can get customers coming to our counter and it becomes awkward when someone will not get off the phone. Of course I know a trick to get the reservation in the operator didn't know. We close at 12:00 midnight. Placing the reservation time at 11:59 PM will let the reservation go through. The man's plane comes at 1:09 AM. My good deed for the day.

A guy at work teases me how I set myself up to wait for this person's flight. My allergy medicine wore off so I should be earning the nickname whiplash instead of sneezy. I thought I had more medicine in my bag, but found out I didn't. At least I had company. I shared my tabloid news with the gal nex door waiting for the same flight. I'm doing crossword puzzles until I can't think straight. My brain does not function well after midnight, it gets fuzzy around 11. I rented the man his car and rented to other guy behind him. I finally get home and drop my coat on the floor to grab my allergy medicine I badly need. At least people got to see what happens when it wears off. Now I sit in my flannel pjs ready for bedtime. Post later. Bye!

Terrible day

Yesterday, I had such a bad day I thought for a second someone placed a voo doo curse on me. First I can't get out of bed, my brain wants to go back to sleep and does. Soon, I have 20 minutes to get ready for work. Next I burn my frozen breaded fish fillet in the microwave. It looked like a steaming lump of coal. And my entire apartment reeks of burnt food. It still does. Open all windows and turn on all fans. 15 minutes and counting. Place new fish over burned glass plate. Finish dressing for work, eat fish, and close windows because it is too cold to leave them open. Outside the apartment is a crew scraping the top layer of concrete off the repave the street with tar. So I begin to wonder if this will effect my coming and going out to work. I am 5 minutes late to work.

Next I get to know my coworkers too well. I hear a tale of a shower with a neighbor's dog my coworker is petsitting. The dog jumped in the shower and refused to leave. Next I hear a tale of seeing a woman's new thong panties exposed as she leaned over out in a parking lot. My female coworker was horrified at the view. Then I hear a tale of gaining weight and buying new panties by guessing at the size. When she took them out of the package, they were giantic. Worse still, they fit perfectly. Now she is on a diet. Next I answered the phone to find a scratch paper pad about 10 sheets thick with holes poked all the way through. I ask my coworker, What is this? He points out the holes are in the shape of a smiley face. I work with weirdos.

As I leave it is raining cats and dogs outside. Plus windy, flipping my umbrella over and exposing my head. I tilted the umbrella toward the wind to flip it back right. I was soaked as I got into car. Drove home to notice the traffic light in front of my apartment now has stop signs, I guess from th construction. Then driving into the lot, the street lights are out and so is the apartment halls. I fumble in the dark getting my mail, climbing 3 flights of stairs, and finding the right key to a keyhole I can not see. Hang wet pants on a door knob and re open windows. Add scented candles to erase horrible smell. Sit in the dark eating the last piece of cake and glass of milk. Shortly, before going to bed the lights come back on. Reset alarm clock, TV, and VCR. Go to bed. I turned on the heat as I cuddled into bed.

Today, I get up to find on my computer someone has asked to add me to their contact list for instant messenger. Great, just what I need. Someone who does not email for extended periods of time, then sends 10 stories of deep religious faith out of nowhere, and not one email about how she is doing. Her husband has cancer since last winter, if still alive. I think her emailing might be emotional swings. Anyway, I know now when she is online. As if I care. I email when I have something to say or question to ask. I don't care if response is immediate or the next day. I just like keeping in touch with people I know. Post later. Bye!

Mothers on Oprah

Hey there. I saw the Oprah show where a columnist wrote a horrific article about her wonderful sex life and not devote every waking moment to her four children. Mothers were outraged she did not love her children and put her husband above her children. Such cruelity. OK, what are these mothers plan on doing when their babies move out and they are left alone with a husband who is a complete stranger. I can't tell what they are planning for that day, but I know what they will do. Empty nest syndrome will hit them like a ton of bricks on their heads. They will constantly call their children at college worried they are starving, not brushing their teeth, not studying, and wearing dirty clothes because they are lost without their mothers doing everything for them. They will hear, I'm fine Mom, stop worrying. When children get married their mother will insist on planning everything as if it were her wedding. They will hear, It's my wedding Mom, not yours. They will spoil the grandchildren with treats and presents because their children are not raising them right. They will hear, Stop cleaning my house, you are a guest here. Then when these mothers get a job, they will mother their coworkers and employees who do not want their motherly advise. They will hear, It's my life and I will do what I want with it.

I had 2 managers claim to not think of themselves as managers, but as mothers. I went home to tell my Mom that I don't need another mother, I need a boss. When I quit, these mother managers cried wondering what they did wrong to make me leave. My decision to quit had nothing to do with them. Several coworkers feel the need to mother me. One accused me of torturing her on purpose because I came in every day with my shirt tag sticking out. When asked why I purposely leave it out for her to tuck in I said something I had said to my Mom, just to make you mad. One coworker took my disobedience of her advise personally and demanded to know why her advise was not followed, I said because I didn't want to do what she suggested. Another coworker was aghast when I suggested not paying her drug addicted son's bills anymore and let him feel the consequences of his actions. She thought I was a monster because her child needed her. Another coworker believed she was ruining her sons' Christmas because she forgot to buy stocking stuffers, then angry the next day because they did not even notice the missing stocking stuffers. Another coworker I had a huge fight over the fact I don't have matching furniture. Another coworker fight was over the fact I don't want or need a 10-foot tall entertainment center. I ask why these people care what my apartment looks like, they don't live here.

In short, I think it a negative thing for mothers to focus completely on their children because they don't know when to stop mothering and are lost if no one needs them. Post later. Bye!

Forgiveness

I saw the Dr. Phil show today where a woman was still angry and bitter of somone who tormented her in high school after graduating 30 years ago. She did not know how to stop hating this person. The tormenter came on the show and claimed not to remember this girl at all in high school. This really made the victim angrier at this insenstivity and lack of remorse from this tormenter. What did this woman expect after 30 years?

People grow up and move on. I did. I forgave all schoolmates for the mean things they said and did years ago. I went to my 10 year reunion with a smile on my face proud of the novel I was completing and took a copy of the outline for anyone there to read. I got several people excited about it. That night I shared french fries on the plate of a classmate who was not so nice in childhood and adolescence. It felt weird, but a good weird. We both grew up and moved on. I hold no grudges against anyone I once knew because I want to be happy. A man on the Oprah show grew up in a concentration camp watching Nazis kill people. He said the best revenge is to be happy. I believe that. I don't need apologies on national tv to forgive former tormenters and be happy again. They are the ones missing out on me. Post later. Bye!

A Tale of Two Cities

It was the best of the times, it was the worst of times. That is how Charles Dickens began his tale of the French Revolution. Today while Rome with Cathloics and non-Catholics around the world celebrated the election of a new pope, Oklahoma City mourned the 10th anniversary of the bombing of a building by an decorated American soldier. Concerning the Pope, some question his Hitler youth days and wonder if he is the right candidate to lead the religion. Are we forever going to define a person by what he/she did during World War II, or more currently Vietnam? That was a short period of time a long time ago. If we condemn the Pope for not rebelling against the violent and oppressive Nazi regime, then we condemn every German, Pole, French, Czech, Dane, etc. who watched the horrors of the Holocaust and beyond. I say if he is not guilty of mass murder then let it go. What good is a rebel being dead?

Timothy McVeigh was executed several years ago over the Oklahoma City bombing, in retrospect seemed a spark compared to 9/11 much like the Titanic sinking was a spark compared to World War I. As many discovered after McVeigh's exection that closure and healing does not happen so easily. On TV many still cry when remembering that awful day when they lost a loved one. Time heals nothing. Often tragedy carries on inside us the rest of our lives. Post later. Bye

Calming down

Hey there. It took a day to get get over the thing my coworker did on Sunday night. Let's just say I could physically feel the steam rising out my face from my rage exploding inside of me. Another coworker says he is socially inept and never figures out when his coworkers are mad at him. He figures out when I'm infuriated. I must act like his wife or something for him to pick up on my social cues instantly. I took deep breaths to calm down. Ripping into a man just makes them defensive and nothing is accomplished. I learned that trick from Oprah. Breathing deeply when highly stressed does work.

Anyway my coworker's crime Sunday night: When I was helping a customer and he was on the phone with his wife, the phone rang. I heard him ask me to get it because he was already on the phone. I grabbed it and tried placing the person on hold. She quickly asked her question and I answered it. I then ask my customer his answer again since I was interupted in the middle of my question and didn't hear his answer. Later, I casually asked who he was talking to earlier and we ended up debating what happened. He heartily denied telling me to get the phone. He said he was going to get it, but I grabbed it instead. I said, I must be losing my hearing. It took until now to get over the anger.

Few things make me angry at work, but my coworkers ignoring customers during their personal phone calls really ticks me off. He is lucky I didn't snap at him in front of my customer to get the phone. I do have control over my temper. In the real world there are often severe consequences to losing one's temper. I better go to bed. Post later. Bye!

Shutting down

I am so sorry I ever got my laptop computer on the internet. All it has done is ruin my computer programs I already had before I got on the internet. Tonight for the second time I can not play a DVD. Last time I practically broke the CD/DVD drive from shoving it in and jerking it out trying to play a DVD that required I join a website I don't want to join. DVDs played just fine before I was on the internet. Now I try to play a DVD to read I don't have a capatible DVD decorder on my computer. I tried to order one online. Can't order one either because the order form demands a password to a paypal account I do not have. Don't want one either. I am so pissed I am ready to smash my computer with a hammer. I had enough of this crap. I will just go back to my shitty cell phone internet that can't connect or navigate from one webpage to another without difficulty or halting completely refusing to let me continue to the next page. I think I was better off not having internet access. I'm sure tomorrow I will change my mind. Post later. Bye!

Pet sponsor

Hello again. I read the pet sponsor ads for the animal rescue leagues in this area. Animal shelters do not just take care of cats and dogs. Guinea pigs, hamsters, rats, rabbits, and a rooster are also are at the animal shelter waiting to be adopted. Someone sponsored a pet ad for a rooster. I told my coworker that I thought most people call chickens lunch. I do. Post later. Bye!

Job opening

Hello again. We just had a coworker hand in his 2 weeks notice. He is moving to another town so he is quitting this one and thinking of going back to delivering pizzas like he did before this job. So there is a job opening at my car rental. This is no big suprise since there is a high turnover rate (frequency of employees quitting) for the car jockeys. They are out in the elements, cold in winter and hot in summer, clean cars inside and out, shuttle cars between parking lots, and are suppose to turn things found in cars into we inside people who make more than they do. Needless to say the outside people don't like the indoor people who sit in air conditioning all day. Plus the pay is lousy, like $6 or $7 at any of the car rentals. That is why many of the outdoor car jockeys quit for better paying jobs.

I heard today that one former employee had his probation revoked and sent back to jail. He quit because he finally got tired of washing cars all day because he could not drive them since his driver's license was suspended for drunk driving. Another employee some time ago got sent to jail for domestic violence. I think he quit to take a better job at a gas station. I meet interesting people at my work. One car jockey side swiped a brick building with a car. We ladies missed his cute face after he was fired for lying on his job application. I teased my boss how he broke all the ladies' hearts by firing this cutie. He laughed and said being fired did not make him less cute. The car jockeys did not miss him at all, too much car damage. My job is the type where people say it was nice knowing you and don't let the door hit you on the way out when someone quits.

I heard a customer complaint today at another car rental. She said she will never rent from this car rental again because it was raining when she picked up the car, as if we have control over the weather. Customers can be very strange. A customer last week called my coworker heartless and cruel and we should not be renting cars from our taxes, as if we control the taxes of our state. Sorry buddy, complain to the legislature. Well I better go to bed now. Post later. Bye!

Poor kitties

I heard sad news today. In Wisconsin, despite protests and a petition with 17,000 names signed onto it against a new law allowing stray cats without a collar to be hunted and shot was voted in. Minnesota and South Dakota already have such laws. I will be sure to not live there when I get a pet cat. Though if my neighbor shot my pet dead, does that give me the right to shoot the neighbor. I didn't think so. Animals and humans are not the same in the eyes of the law. Pet owners disagree on that.

It is acceptable in this country to kill unadopted animals in shelters the exact same way the prison guards execute human criminals, lethal injection. And this country is pro-life? I find that hard to believe. I was happy in high school to learn a new word: no-kill shelter. I see they have gained in popularity. I donate money to one to help support a cat with a disease that will very unlikely be adopted. It has been in the shelter for 6 years. Poor thing.

Let me share some stray animal stories. My aunt who is an art teacher discovered a group of students hurling rocks at a stray black cat. She rescued the cat from her students and took it into her home. My uncle hated the cat because it was a mean cat, but never had the heart to toss it out of his yard. I think it got sick and died after several years with my aunt and uncle. It was buried next to their dog by the garage.

My brother-in-law was jogging one night in the rain and heard a cat meowing to discover a tiny yellow tabby kitten that could fit in your palm with a bruise on its forehead under a car. It followed him so he took it home. They asked around the neighborhood and nobody was missing a cat so they adopted it. The vet said the morning after the kitty was found that if it was left out in the rain a few more hours, it would have been dead. Today the grown cat still has its bruise on its forehead. I call the cat my buddy. It loves me. Later, they got another cat, part white, part dark tabby with raccoon-like tail, from a shelter that was said to be wandering around without a collar and no one claimed it. This cat adores me too. Then even later, they almost got a 3rd cat my brother-in-law found while jogging without a collar that they kept in the garage because it was covered in fleas. In a few days after contacting the animal shelter did a neighbor down the street claimed the flea-bitten cat. They were grateful to get their cat back.

I once worked with a woman whose dog had 2 puppies. She was so happy that she called herself a grandma. She even brought one into the store to show and tell. It was so cute. Then one kept eating her out of house and home so she tossed it over a fence into her neighbor's yard and waved good-bye as it barked at her. I was an inch from calling my friend a fucking bitch for that. Instead I simply asked why didn't she just take the puppy the animal shelter herself. She said she didn't want to abandon her puppy that way. She did find out her puppy was taken by the neighbor to the animal shelter and sits in a cage waiting to be adopted, but SHE was not the one who took it there as if that made her actions acceptable. I stopped thinking of her as a friend after that. I have no idea what ever happened to the puppy.

A car rental person next door out of nowhere asked if I wanted a free guinea pig. Excuse me? I asked. She explained she received a call from her friend who owns a salon. The friend said she saw someone in a car in the parking lot throw something out the window and drove off. The friend went out to the parking spaces to see what was tossed. It was a family of guinea pigs. 3 adults, 5 babies. I was suprised the baby guinea pigs' bones did not break went they hit the pavement. Now the friend was trying to give them away. I posted a sign on the back door of my car rental to help find homes for the poor guinea pigs. My Mom would freak at the sight of a guinea pig. She hates animals, especially rodents. The car rental person next door took 2 babies and 1 adult. When I was talking to her, she was on the phone with her husband who was giving the guniea pigs a bath. I could hear the animal noises fromt he receiver.

That's all the TRUE stray animal stories I know. So these legislators who voted this law in are saying my aunt's and sister's cats deserve to die because they had no collar. I am glad they thought otherwise. I thought it was interesting the lobbyists wanting the kill stray cat law were bird advocates claiming feral cats kill tons of birds. OK Newsflash, predators of all species (maybe not humans) miss 2/3 of their attempts at killing prey. Maybe these bird killing cats need to be shipped to my city. Crows and doves every year destroy public buildings, businesses, and churches with huge amounts of bird droppings. People have tried loud noises and flare guns to scare them away without much success. A dove killing law was dead before it came to the floor of the capital for debate from protests. Are these legislators insane passing this law? One bird advocate received death threats from his stand for shooting feral cats. I think that should be a clue to back away from the matter. To my knowledge, the main danger to birds in my state are the west nile virus and other birds, not stray cats.
Post later. Bye!

Party busted by police

Hello again. I just heard on the news about a party being busted by police because some neighbors noticed a lot of traffic going to a certain house and called police. The officers are trying to track down who supplied the booze for teens at the party. Often that is hard because no one talks about it. Another problem often said by police is that the parents of these teens most often are the suppliers. When parents teach teens that one must have beer to have fun, what does one expect but a bunch of drunk teens. I suppose the word "No" is not in these parents' vocabularies.

I worked with a girl who just graduated from high school and she went into shock when I said my fridge is not stocked with wine coolers. She thought all adults need alcohol after work to calm down. Um, sorry, not all adults need alcohol to be happy. I just never felt the need to get drunk and have hangovers on a regular basis. In addition, not all teens need beer and drugs to have fun either. My 17-year-old niece is not a big party girl and she thinks those teens who get drunk and/or stoned on weekends are losers. I'm so proud. She don't need a D.A.R.E. program to change her views on drugs. And she wants to be a lawyer. I encourage that. Now my second niece is 13 as of last Saturday. I don't fear her becoming a party girl trying every dangerous behavior. She doesn't know what she wants to be when she grows up. That's ok. She just turned 13. Post later. Bye!

Motley Crue concert

Hello again. Last night, I went to see Motley Crue in concert. I showed up plenty early to get a Tshirt and get to my seat. I found a long snaky twisted line to get through security. The line was so long it was hard to know where it ended. Soon the lines disapppeared and it was just a mob pushing to get in. I played solitaire on my cell phone inching toward the gate. I finally reached the gate after an hour of standing to be barely touched by the lady searcher. She did get excited over the cell phone in my jacket pocket and asked me to take out. I showed it and she let me go. Then there was a mob at the Tshirt stand. But the show was scheduled to start at 8 and it was already 8:30 so I sprinted up to my seat stepping on a few feet to get to my assigned chair. I sat exhausted and dripping with sweat for about a minute when the stage curtain rose. There were a couple acrobats on a box before that.

The funny parts of the concert were Nikki Sixx tossing and spitting water at the audience, even at one of the girls holding Vince Neil's guitar. I saw the front row grabbing the water cups he threw. Once Vince lifted up the microphone stand up and the mike fell off. He walked over and picked it up with his back toward the audience, Thanks Vince. Then they took a ten minute break and came back on motorcycles. I know I could have gotten my Tshirt then, but I didn't want to get up. Every time the people in front of me stood up, I had to stand up to see. Then whenever Vince or Nikki came over to my side and looked up at my balcony I had to stand and raise my hands up. I was impressed when Vince pronounced my city name the way we say it. That is always impressing when celebrities say our city's name the way we say it. Most people don't. Most say it the way is looks, Des Moines. We say it as, Da Moin. It's French.

The drummer Tommy Lee had a little solo with him being raised to 2 cages I could not see well from the stage lights blocking my view. I couldn't see his drum set on the stage at all. And then there was the camera view of the audience. First Nikki held it the video camera and gave it to Tommy. They were getting close ups of audience members lifting their shirts up and showing them on the big screens. When Tommy was coming over to take close ups in my balcony, he dropped the camera and couldn't get it to work again so I missed out being on the big screen. Oh well, my shirt wasn't coming up anyway. I was wearing 2 shirts with the outer one tied in a knot. The ladies showing their boobs had tank tops or chemises, and no bra on. 2 ladies 2 rows ahead of me were waving shirts to get Tommy's attention. Too bad for them.

There were acrobats hanging from wires and hoops that I didn't pay much attention to. Sorry, women in bikinis rubbing Vince don't grab my interest well. I busy was staring at Nikki. At the end, Nikki smashed his guitar and stage hands squirted water pistols at the audience. I had a good time. Though next time I would come 2 hours early like the airport. I can order Tshirts and posters online from motley.com. I guess I went to the bank to have cash on me for nothing. Post later. Bye!

Flipping channels

I was flipping channels today and viewed the tail end of the Charles and Camilla wedding. Was that today? Maybe it was yesterday, I don't know. St. George's Chapel looked the same as when I saw it, in 2002. Lucky for us that plane tickets shot down when we were planning the trip after September 11. My sisters are huge royalty fans so on the family trip to England we had to view everything that to do with royalty, Windsor Castle, Hampton Court, Kensington Palace, Osborne Manor, Tower of London, etc. Let's just say I'm guessing Windsor Castle is the size of my hometown. I did manage to attract attention from one of the groundskeepers by trying to take a photo of a sunken garden's waterfall and people kept walking in front of me. Needless to say I was getting frustrated. The lady who asked what I was doing was kind enough to direct people behind me so I can get my shot. I said thank you and she said something about the garden I wanted a picture of. I forgot what she said exactly, something about the Queen Mother. Anyway, that was a fun trip even if it was 2 weeks of my mother complaining how different everything is aand why can't they be like Americans. I told my siblings that we should left Mom at home.It was sad I didn't get to eat much British food. Though I did eat fish and chips once. Post later. Bye!

Concert

Shout...Shout...Shout...Shout at the Devil. If that popular song is not familiar, it's from Motley Crue. That bad ass 80's heavy metal band is coming to my city tomorrow (Monday). I'm so excited I can't stop talking about it. I read every piece in the papers about them. I didn't know Nikki Sixx had a biography about him. And here I read the band's autobiography twice. Silly me. I have to look up Nikki Sixx's book on Amazon.com. I also didn't know he wrote songs for a rock and roll Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde movie or play. He's been busy. He is my favorite one in the band. Can't really explain why, it is just an innate magnetic pull towards him. My obsession about him didn't really start until 1998 when out of nowhere I wanted to know everything about him. I once read in magazine about his hating to leave his kids behind when he went on tour. I sent him a Father's day card I handmade myself. I bet he never received it and it was tossed in the garbage with the other fanmail. It was real cute too. I had a picture of a cat in the center of the card with 12 stamped flowers around it. It started with: A dozen flowers and a slip of the tongue (cat reference) to say Happy Father's Day. I signed it from a big fan or something like that. Go ahead and tell me I'm strange, I already know some days I can be. And yes I am fully aware he has 5 kids and married to Baywatch babe Donna D'errico. That don't mean I can't dream. Anyway, I better go to bed. I probably will be up all night, but at least I can get a few minutes sleep. Post later. Bye!

New Outfit

I tried on my volunteer uniform today. It was not as heavy as I feared. Light, see-through cotton fabric in a plaid print. I like plaid even if Mama hates me wearing it. She says I look like a farmer (big no-no) when I wear plaid. Which I find strange she hates the farmer look when she grew up on a farm and married a man who also grew up on a farm, and farms land still though we live in town. I know my Mama is strange sometimes.

We discussed my hair that is in between long and short. My bangs grown out give me shaggy dog look. Guess I will growing my hair out this summer so I can pull it back. I think I look ugly with my bangs pulled back with bobby pins. So naturally I had to go shopping for hair accessories. I could tell prom season is coming by the vast selection. I even found tiaras. I picked my selection of items and went home to play with my hair.

My Dr. Phil show was interupted with Breaking News of the President with other people has arrived to pay their respects to the Pope. So what? That news can wait until 6. I presume since the Constitution forbids one religion dominating the country that the Pope is viewed by the White House as a Head of State of The Vatican City and not a religious leader. I can't remember if the President made a trip for Arafat's funeral, I just remember him saying that we can now have peace. I think Clinton attended the funeral of Arafat. Anyway, I would not want the President to appear playing favorites with religious leaders. That would give Americans a bad reputation of only being Christians. I also bet $100 that the President did not wait in line for 10 hours or have people push from behind saying "Move Along".

Then when the news came on there was troubles again at the high school my former principal is in charge of now. A few years ago on the anniversary of Columbine, someone posted a threatening letter scaring most students home at his school. The note was written by 2 boys who just wanted to get out of school for a day. Like yelling fire in a crowded movie theater, pranks like that will send one addressing a judge. This time the note writer in his school was quickly discovered and the student said that he was inspired to write the note because a kid in Ottumwa wrote out a death list with threats. That kid has yet to be caught. I think for my principal's student, it inspired a way to get out of school and stir up trouble (when I was in high school a kid pulled a fire alarm to stir up trouble and get out of class in the 9th grade). My poor former principal got to be on TV again explaining their plan to keep students safe. He said never in his 33 years of experience did he think he would ever be in this position of protecting his students. He explained that after Columbine, we take threatening notes seriously. Lucky for him it was a 2nd false alarm. The student was charged with 1st degree harrassment, whatever that means.

In other news, because a little girl was murdered by a reistered sex offender in Cedar Rapids, who happens to be the brother of another man sitting in jail for molesting the murdered girl. I think that is called killing a witness. Anyway, because of that, the police will be checking up on registered sex offenders to make sure they tell officials their correct address. The sex offender registry is online, but of course few actually read it. Plus people living near the girl were appalled there was not a public announcement there was a sex offender next door. Yeah, I am positive the reason there are not public announcements to every school, every homeowner, or every business is because the police fear vigilantes will slash the sex offender's tires, throw bricks through his windows, set his house on fire, and drag the sex offender out of bed to be hanged with a noosed rope on the nearest tree. Yes I am being dramatic to prove a point. People will react very negatively if a public announcement is made about a sex offender living in anyplace. I would guess that is why the list is on the internet where anyone who cares to take the time to log onto it. Many public libraries have internet access for those who don't.

I almost forgot to do my laundry today. I got my new ring, which I do not believe it is worth the $30 I paid for it. I thought it was an opal, no plastic looking like an opal. I read through my manual for my volunteering position and suffered TMI (too much information). I lost track of time and rushed to my sister's house. They have colds again. Poor baby coughed and wiped her nose. We watched Pirates of the Caribbean. I retold the story of how I got my Alzheimer's grandma stop talking by placing in the movie. Grandma had the habit of asking the same questions every 5 seconds that can really push on your nerves after a few hours. The plot is simple, it is a pirate movie. There was enough action to keep her occupied and the humor made her laugh too. The fun part was putting the movie in and telling her she never seen before when we watch it every day. Grandma can't remember yesterday let alone my name half the time. At least she is at peace now in heaven. It rain as I left and rushing into my apartment, I realized I dropped my cell phone and had to go find it. I am the master of losing things. I better go to bed. Gotta go to work tomorrow. Post later. Bye!

Meth law

Well the new meth law is causing headaches already and it has only been in effect for 3 days, according to the news. It says only 7500 milligrams of pseudoephedrine in any medication may be purchased by a person during the course of a month (is that 30 or 31 days?)and must register their name in a log at the pharmacy. I just bought my allergy medicine before the law took effect so it will be a while before I need to purchase more. Looking at my medicine box to check the milligrams of my medicine doses, it has 30 milligrams of pseudoephedrine per pill. Figuring for 30 days, to reach the 7500 I would have to take 8 1/3 pills per day. That equals to 4 recomended doses per day. The medicine lasts for 4 hours and it says not to take more than 8 tablets over a 24 hour period. So I'm safe when ragweed season hits me like the plague. All I can say is that it is good I don't have other people in my place (or be a single mother) because I would otherwise be breaking the law if my kid or spouse needed a decongestant. Please tell these drug manufacters are creating other decogesants that can't be used to make meth. I don't care what my allergy medicine is made out of, I just want it to work. Looks like I won't be buying any allergy/cold medicines after work when the pharmacy is closed. That would be annoying to have a runny nose all night waiting for the pharmacy to open again. Post later. Bye!

Train whistles

Hey there. I just heard of numerous complaints from residents who live next to train tracks of train whistles disturbing them in the middle of the night and demand a noise ordinance. I suppose they never noticed the tracks outside the window when they toured the place before moving in. Guess what, Trains make noise and vibrations as they pass too. But I suppose the rumbling and the walls trembling is easy to sleep through. I notice train whistles where I sleep, even though I can't see trains where I live, and they never disturbed my slumber. I live between the train tracks and the airport so I hear much noise anyway, in addition to traffic driving by. Some planes are so loud they block the sound of my TV completely and sound like they are landing on my roof making my walls shake too. Annoying yes, but I am not about to petition the city council to put a noise ordinance over the airport. The Air Force would laugh at that petition I'm sure. Post later. Bye!

Spring is here

I can tell spring is here and not by our warm weather. I have been using my asthma inhaler every day the past week. The thing I hate the most about asthma is the splitting headache I get after I start breathing normally again. The second thing I hate the most is people not taking my asthma seriously. After sucking in the medicine at work, people have to come up and start talking to me or try to make me laugh, which wastes the medicine I just inhaled. I'm suppose to hold my breath for 15 seconds to let it absorb into my lungs. My Mom was the worst about accepting my asthma. She actually told to me breathe normally and it will go away. After my lips turned blue and I had an out of body experience, did my Mom figure out I was not just trying to get out of yardwork. My family still jokes how I'm allergic to work.

Though my asthma should not had been such a shock for my Mom to handle since my cousin started having asthma attacks before I did. I had to resort to explaining how I felt by suggesting she hold a pillow tightly over her face until she feels suffocating. That is very much how I feel having asthma attacks. I rarely excerise anymore and when I do it is light aerobics. I never go to aerobics classes because I need to stop and rest every now and then. I could never keep up with aerobics teachers even before I was diagnosed with asthma. People in school always insisted giving me water to soothe my gasping. Yeah, blocking my airway with water while I'm suffocating does not help me. But naturally, no one understands that besides me and my cousin.

It was beautiful outside today. Coming home was still warm, but breezy. Perhaps I can wear shorts tomorrow if it gets hot enough. I have to make an appointment to get my wardrobe for my volunteering post, place my dishes in the washer, scrub frosting out of my carpet, maybe vacuum the entire floor, and mail my niece's birthday card and decide how much money to send. She will be 13 on Saturday. She is at that age where she is too old for toys, but keeps her interests to herself so I don't know what to buy her anymore. Kids at any age like money. I always did. I better go to bed now, I've been yawning all day. Post later. Bye!

Another car rental closes

Hey there. One of our car rentals within our chain closed March 31, permanently. At first it made me think about another car rental a couple years ago closed within our chain and we had to scramble to find another company to match our price because the reservation was leaving the car in the closed city. Today that leaves just 3 cities in Iowa within our car rental chain. I hope I don't have to look for another job someday from my car rental location closing.

And financial advisors advise investing in your employer, like 401K and stocks. I read a page of financial advice one day in the paper encouraging the public to invest in their 401Ks to get matching contributions from their employers. Not contributing to your employer provided 401K is passing up free money. An stocks prove your loyalty and faith and trust in your employer. Yeah, whatever. The problem with the sales pitch is that my employer does not match contributions so I'm not getting free money and the what if your company tanks making your loyalty stock worthless. Besides that, I would have to come up with my half of the contribution to get it matched if the company did. Sorry investors, not everybody makes over $30,000 a year like you. Money market funds with higher interest sound good if you do not plan on taking out any of it. Those accounts require more than I have saved ($1000 at my bank) and charges a fee if the amount falls under that limit.

Then I read about affordable housing is 30% of your income in a magazine. I remember once a poll in the paper where experts were shocked to discover most people pay 35-40% of their income in housing. I said: Gee, what would they say if they knew I pay 50% of my net income in housing (rent). I thought getting my rent down to roughly 43% of my net income was an accomplishment. And people encourage me to buy a house with no down payment. Yeah, I would like to see their plan on how I would be paying for it. Sometimes, bad advice and unrealistic advice must be filtered out.

In short, I wish someone would give financial advise for people making under $25,000 or better yet, below the poverty level (about $15,000) who is not on welfare or public assistance (like a newly graduated high school or college student). That I could relate to my finances. Post later. Bye!

Separation of war and soldier

Hello again. I read an opinion brief in today's paper of an outraged teen who voiced disgust at someone who earlier said the Iraq war was pointless and defended her father serving in Iraq.
I know many think supporting the war and supporting the troops are the same thing. Let me explain why some of us think they are not.

It is simply a matter of choices:
Politicans can begin and end a war with the flick of a pen. They dictate to the Generals and Admirals the objectives and strategies of the war with the enemy chosen by the politicians.

Soldiers, at the bottom of the hierarchy, sent to fight the war have no choice who their enemy is, where they fight, what their mission is, whether they have the supplies to complete the mission, which comrades are killed, and whether they come back in one piece or even alive.

In short, Supporting the War equates to supporting the politicians we elect and Supporting the Soldiers equates to supporting the actual fighters who obey orders handed to them.

The American Civil War soldiers coined a phrase that reached the heart of the sentiment they felt: It's a Rich man's War, Poor man's Fight. That is separating the war from the soldier.
Post later. Bye!