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Today starts a long journey. Today starts my first vacation in two years. Today three people, myself being one, will climb into a Roadmaster and travel roughly 1300 miles. If you use google maps, starting point is Norfolk, VA and destination is St. Paul, MN. It will be a long ride, almost 24 hours. Once in St. Paul we have a schedule with lots of fun. Our return trip is planned for Friday next week. I have been promised fried cheese curd on a stick by the member of our party who grew up in St. Paul. There will be interviews (harrasment) of Republicans and their protesters, which will be recorded and broadcast on LoCnetwork.com . The may even be a museum and a Ren Fair. I know there will be a visit or two to yarn shops and I can promise many bars will be hosting us. Any questions you would like me to ask of the Republicans or their protesters? Tags: drinking, knitting, loc, question, st paul, travel
Where:: 23502
Mood...:  anxious
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I went to vocational school and completed the course of Business and Office Technology where I mastered the skills of fast typing, 10-key, filing, writing memos and sorting mail. I then got a job as a dishwasher at a pizza joint in Tulsa Oklahoma. Three months after that I got my first call center job, where I spent 8 hours a day sitting and listening to people bitch while I tried to fix their problems (pending they were calling about fixable problems). Fours years later I switched call centers and changed to collections, where I spent 8 hours a day sitting and calling people about the bills they weren't paying. That was short lived and I was laid off. I went to a different call center and was back to listening to people bitch. I moved to San Diego and got a job as a clerk in a 7-11, which did not last and I went to an office supply store to work. They laid me off and I did a summer job as an assistant to a lawyer, sitting and using those vocational skills. As quick as I could I went to work doing dispatch at a tow truck company, sitting and directing drivers via radio, tracking them on the pc, taking pick up orders and handling the occasional "where's my car!!?" calls from drunk people who can't read 'no parking' signs. Laid off again I moved to Virginia, where I got a job in a call center that involved 8 or more hours of sitting and listening to people bitch while I tried to explain things to them that they were mostly incapable of grasping. I was even moved to an escalations team so I could deal with the customers who were already pissed off at the rep before me and wanted to bitch about that as well. Over three years went by and I finally quit and became an assistant manager, then promoted to Facility Manager and given my own store. This was, to me, an active job with lots of walking, moving discarded furniture, picking up trash, cleaning and such. There were periods of sitting in the office, but I was moving more than sitting and steadily losing weight gained from years of call center work. As you know, that time is over and I am in search of my next long term job. In the meantime I have been doing day-labor work just to make sure the bills are covered. One such activity was to work with my landlord for work that payment for would be directly applied to rent, thus reducing at least one bill. The other activity was to sign up for a Temp service company for short term work. Thus for the past four days I have been spending about an hour or so in the morning mowing grass for the landlord and then spending 8 hours of the evening doing 'housekeeping' work at a nearby private school. This housekeeping work has included post-construction clean up after contractors completed a plaster job in the theater and covering a minimum of three peoples sections followed by trash pick up around the campus. Active? HA! I guess years of call center work made me forget what active really is. This job loss was apparently just a way for the universe to remind me what it means to work and help me gain a renewed perspective about what I want to be when I grow up. I want my cushy manager job back. I want to make more money doing less work, yes sir! In a matter of 4 days I have lost 5 pounds. At this rate I could reach my government suggested body weight by Halloween! My routine for the last week, in short: Wake Eat Mow Shower Work Eat Shower Sleep So tired. So very very tired. But the real lesson from this is that, despite years of soft jobs mostly or completely involving sitting, I am still capable of true hard work. I have been keeping up with the people who work there and even have been working harder than almost all of them. The person they have stuck me with this last week is a crazy bitchy woman who volunteers to doing everything then complains that no body else works and it all gets dumped on her. Most every one else works their area and keeps an easy pace about it. She won't sit still even if she finishes all her tasks, instead she starts inventing more things to do. This would be an admirable trait in an employee if she did not spend so much time complaining about all the work she does. She is not work proud and energetic, she is crazy and wants to make everyone miserable because she makes herself miserable. Did I mention she is from Oklahoma? OKC to be exact. I have been keeping up with her and doing all the extra work she finds to do, as well as mowing before work. With this in mind, I believe we can safely say I am a hard worker and still very capable of honest hard labor. It's nice to know. Tags: rant, work
Where:: 23502
Mood...:  exhausted
Tunes - : XM Lucy
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Today I decided to call in the local radio station when they were doing a call-in contest for concert tickets. I was surprised when I got rings instead of a busy signal. "Hello?" "Um.. Bob FM?" "Yep." "Er.. I was calling about the tickets to Dave Matthews Band? Tenth caller wins?" "You're the tenth caller." "OMG Seriously?" "Hehe, yep." "OMG! I won?!" So, I got two free tickets to the Thursday show. The next question was who to take with me. I know several people who would be interested and a few who would not be. I called Piller's mom and asked her if she was free Thursday. She is thrilled to be going. I picked her because her husband is has Alzheimer's and I figured she would like a night out. So Thursday, my day off, I go get tickets and lunch, maybe hit the gym and meet up with her for the fun. I do not know at this time if it includes VIP seating or backstage passes, but I will be happy to go either way. I WON SOMETHING!! Go me '-) Tags: event, music
Where:: 23502
Mood...:  excited
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I have not been on messenger much. Some people would find this a bit confusing and maybe even a point of concern. Allow me to assure you that at this moment my reasons are technical in nature. Point of fact, my five year old computer bit the dust. Literally, some would say. After a brief bit of troubleshooting, the general belief is that the motherboard died. So I will now be searching for a barebones system that I can move everything else into. In the meantime I will be using my new used laptop that has the dust of the middle east in and on it. Very nice. We have discussed putting my hard drive into an external case and plugging it into the lap top, though I am not sure how that would work. In the meantime allow me to entertain you with the following flashback (courtesy of ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) bardsfingertips): http://mightygodking.com/index.php/2008/04/21/fun-from-yesterday/Tags: geek
Where:: 23502
Mood...:  annoyed
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"I wonder why writing is viewed by so many as something that's not worth doing unless it results in a gloss-covered product on the shelf of Barnes & Noble?" http://nathanbransford.blogspot.com/2008/07/this-week-in-publishing_11.htmlThe first point I would like to make is that most people are a touch myopic about their obsession. For someone who is into writing enough to find writing blogs and groups, writing is the end all be all. As far as the original statement, "...why writing is viewed by so many as something that's not worth doing unless it results in a gloss-covered product.....?" The same things goes for actors, though the gloss-covered product is a opening night poster or DVD. You never hear someone saying they want to act only for small plays. The goal is to be famous, on Broadway or on the silver screen. There is "no" second best. The main difference is that people don't think of acting as a hobby. There are people who write for themselves. Who make up stories for kids and never write them down. They do not have a goal of being published and are happy as they are. On the other-and more popular-hand, writers have limited feedback options. There are people who get enough feedback in writing/critique groups that they never move toward publishing. Those that do want more exposure. Humans are rather self serving beings. We do things for praise or reward. Whether the praise is internal only or external only matters in terms of degrees. Most people do not think of hobbies as career choices. The few who do spend as much time and energy toward that goal as writers do toward getting published. When I started knitting I thought it would just be fun projects for my own enjoyment. Then I started getting praise for my finished objects. This feeds the praise crave and I started sharing pics of my knitting with more people, joined knitting groups, found an online forum and have since learned that one can make a living off of knitting. All I have to do is write up great designs (kind of like programing), build a 'name' or 'brand', and then get my patterns published. After that I have to get a few more books done, start teaching classes and then people will pay for me to travel to their location for classes and signings and stuff. Motivated people always want to reach the top. Everyone wants maximum praise. Writers want to be published (which gives us the largest audience and possible fame). Actors want to be the lead (in the largest audience format of their path and possible fame). In knitting there is the goal of being published and being thought of as a source of knowledge and skill. Tags: blogs, knitting, reply, writing
Where:: 23502
Mood...:  contemplative
Tunes - : Poison - Play Dirty
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Have I mentioned that I have been busy? Last weekend I had a three day weekend. Friday, there was a birthday party at one of the local yarn stores. So I got up and went to the Royal Chocolate Shop to pick up a birthday present and then I went to the yarn store. I spent the rest of the work day knitting and eating chocolate. After that I went to a beer and wine store for a wine tasting and left with two free beers. A good day. Saturday I got up early and went to a knitting meet up and knit for half of the day. I also taught some one how to spin yarn. Then I went to see Wanted with a friend. Afterward it was poker with more friends. Sunday was supposed to be a scooter rally, but no one showed. So I went home and cleaned the kitchen. Then I got some relaxation time. Monday I had work and after work was the dreaded clothes shopping for new slacks. I ended up trying on 14 different pants and bought a whopping three different pairs. The first time in about a year. I am down two pant sizes, just so you know. Tuesday was the Mid-year Managers' meeting for my company. From eight-forty-five in the morning until sometime after five in the evening we listened to different speeches. I gave many correct answers and ended up winning various snacks as well as the respect of my peers. Then they had an open (aka free) bar and social hour. After that it was off to the lesbian bar that I spend time at for karaoke. I got much good reviews for my Counting Crows and Janis Joplin. Now I am home and soon I will be in bed. I have an appointment with the doctor in the morning to find out why my knee is hurting so bad and causing me to have to take vicodin again. I hope we can fix the issue this time. Tomorrow is BJCP and more beer. And you wonder why I don't post as much as I used to? Tags: beer, bjcp, drinking, knitting, movie, work
Where:: 23502
Mood...: excited
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Not sure how your 4th of July went but mine involved: 1) going to a large party of brewers and civil war buffs 2) copious amounts of free beer 3) getting to sample home brewed: peach chardonnay, strawberry blonde beer, pear cider, blueberry ale, and a irish red that tasted like a nut brown and was packaged in a corona bottle, as well as other assorted brews. 4) launching fire works from large metal pipe 5) standing 15 feet from a 1859 Civil War cannon, while it went off, 3 times! I love the smell of sulfur at night. 6) riding home on my scooter in the worst rain I have ever traveled through. It was so bad I couldn't see painted lines, curbs or water depth (more on this later). 7) despite wearing water proof everything I got soaked through 8) stalling out my scooter going through some surprisingly deep water. I am told my muffler spat water for a good half a mile. 9) hanging out with friends and home brewers 10) getting practice with the devil sticks and getting to play bocce 11) copious amounts of free food 12) live band at the party 13) an offer of free yarn 14) all this and made it to bed by midnight (important since I had to work the next day) Good day over all. Tags: beer, drinking, holiday, review, va, weather, work
Where:: 23502
Mood...: amused
Tunes - : XM online - Channel 15
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Monday, nothing special. I worked and went home. Tuesday I worked and then went to a knitting meet up afterward. Wednesday, work followed by Beer Judge Certification Program training. Thursday after work I went to the bar to visit with my friends. Friday I went home from work, washed dishes, sorted newspapers, prepped laundry and went to see Iron Man (for the 3rd time in the theater). Saturday I got up and first thing was laundry, then I had to meet with someone on one side of town so I could hear her friend tell me about retirement plans, handled work issues via phone, went to the Bayou Boogalou, visited with Piller's family, then off to meet a friend for drinks at the Taphouse. Unfortunately I did not make the birthday party that I had been planning to go to. Sunday I called my friend Deb as per our arrangement. Her and K picked me up and it was back down to the Bayou Boogalou for more cajun food, music, art and dancing. Then K decided we needed to hop the ferry to Portsmouth and then she went and bought tickets for us to go see the new Indiana Jones (my second time of seeing it) at the Commodore Theater, which serves rather nice food and Sutter Home wines. I've been a bit busy. I think I may have even missed a few things. Tags: art, bjcp, knitting, movie, music, work
Where:: 23502
Mood...:  tired
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History