MARIE ANTOINETTE AWARD NOMINEE

AWARD WINNER (thank you Cindi)

thanks once again to cindi at WISHING FOR MY TURN for nominating me along with 6 other candidates. and thanks, cindi, for sending me instructions on what i am supposed to do, IF I WIN THE AWARD. but since i am only a nominee, i will not be able to nominate 7 others at this point. how do i know who won the award?? this is all Greek to me, lol. cindi's nomination list is at the following link.

http://wishingformyturn.blogspot.com/2008/11/marie-antoinette-award.html

i was shocked to see that i have a wifi signal. usually on the days i am off work, i don't have one. it has poured down rain for the last 36 hours and doesn't appear to be letting up anytime soon. i wouldn't mind the rain usually, but i need to go out and run some errands, and when it is raining, all i want to do is sleep. ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz..........oops, sorry, drifted off.

i have noticed that my entries that are filled mostly with gripes about work don't get comments as quickly as those of a happier nature. i am sorry if those other entries are disturbing or boring, but apparently, so is my work life. i will try very hard to do better. if i ever get a constant wifi signal and can post daily, i will have more "normal" things to post. i appreciate all of you who have stuck with me through it all.

i am going to post this entry, if the wifi powers will let me, and hopefully get back to read and comment on some blogs a little later on.

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GOOD IN THE MIDST OF BAD

I would like to thank Cindi for nominating me for a Marie Antoinette award, but I have no idea what that is or what I need to do, if anything. If anyone has any idea what I am supposed to do other than thank Cindi, please email me or leave me a comment on this entry. I have never gotten any nomination or award in journal-land or blog-land before, so I don’t know how to act, lol.

There is always something good happening within a bad situation. One only need look for it.

Because I am always relating the “bad” things that happen at work, I feel I must relate the good as well. There is often nothing exceptionally good to relate, but last Saturday revived my faith in humanity. It has only gotten better since.

Saturday started out as any other Saturday at the Salvation Army. But during the day something rather miraculous happened. A female customer was shopping with her 2 children. The kids were about 3 and 5. She was a middle class looking woman, well dressed, well mannered and articulate. Her total bill was $39.02. Behind them was a couple and they looked average middle class as well, with the woman being about 8 months pregnant. The man of the couple took his 3 shirts and laid them on the counter and said to add them to the total of the woman with the 2 children and he would pay for it all. Of course, the woman looked at him and laughed, as did I. He reiterated his statement and said he was serious. Had he not been with a pregnant wife/girlfriend, I would have said maybe he was trying to put a move on the mother of the 2 kids. But he convinced the woman he was on the up and up and she allowed him to pay for hers. His total was only around $8, but he paid the whole bill. Since he had done a good deed, I sold him the shirts for 99 cents each instead of the regular price of $2.49 each. That started something in the line. All of the rest of the line helped out the ones in front of them with change they needed to complete their purchase. It was just so wonderful to watch people paying it forward.

There was tension once again amongst the other employees, but after the paying-it-forward incident, nothing was going to steal my joy.

On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, it happened again. An older gentleman came up to make a purchase and all he did was hand me a $20 bill and told me to pay for the purchase of a teen boy and his grandmother who were still shopping. He said he didn’t know the pair, but wanted to pay for their purchases anonymously. Tears sprang to my eyes, as they did for the older man. He patted my hand and I took it and held it and told him he was a very special person and may God richly bless him. When the 2 came up to the register, they each had one clothing item. I started to put both in the same bag and the woman quickly shouted no, she was only paying for hers. I took both items and continued to put them in the same bag, and once again, she grabbed the boy’s pants and said she wasn’t paying for them. I told her that someone had anonymously paid for their items, and proceeded to put them in the bag. The boy looked truly surprised and he thanked me, then the woman did. It really felt good. I used the rest of the money to help others in line that needed an extra dollar or two to make their purchase until the whole $20 was gone. A truly wonderful feeling.

And now on to the usual drama.

On Tuesday all the employees had to be at work at 8:15 am for a staff meeting. I had planned on keeping my mouth shut and was able to do so throughout most of the meeting. The newest girl said something that upset me, and I denied it. But that didn’t bother as badly as what the “resident Christian” said. She made a snide comment that proved she harbors resentment toward me that she hasn’t been verbalizing. It just furthered my suspicions of what has been going on behind my back. Oh well, her problem, not mine.

One of the items brought up at the meeting was an incident that occurred on Saturday between a customer and the “resident Christian”. The man is truly obnoxious, but I have learned how to handle him and have no trouble at all with him when he comes in. In fact, he will often hug me when he comes in if I am not behind the counter. He has an openly known dislike for the “resident Christian”. So while I was at lunch on Saturday, he came in with his wife to shop. The “RC” was at the register covering for me, and as I was coming back from lunch, I noticed the man standing at the other side of the register looking through someone’s items that had been put on the counter for safe keeping while they shopped. He isn’t the only one that does that. I pretended to slap his hand and told him that those were someone’s items and he said he knew that, he was just looking. The “RC” turned around and snapped at him that he was nosey. I thought she was kidding, so when he looked up and said, “Who is nosey?” I said “you are” and I laughed. Then the “RC” told him that maybe the person the items belonged to didn’t want him touching them. Well, that is when it started. Not liking her anyway, he said something like “you are not the boss here, so don’t tell me what to do”. She retorted with “I am in charge and we don’t need your kind in the store”. He yelled something back at her and she said something back, asked him to just leave and I left the front and went to the back and got one of the men who volunteers and asked him to come to the front to diffuse the situation. Well, he took the “RC’s” side and told the man to leave the store and he wasn’t welcome back. Sheesh. The “RC” was rude to the man. But later, when she related the story to the boss, she said she wasn’t rude at all, that she was very calm and cool and told him nicely that he didn’t need to be handling other peoples’ items. Then she said he took the Plexiglas cover to the jewelry counter off and almost hit another customer. I have been removing the cover myself to help the customer better access the jewelry and it hasn’t been a problem till the “RC” made it one. So the boss had the cover glued down. Sigh…………I give up.

The man came in on Monday or Tuesday and asked to see the director. When I went to get him, he asked who wanted to see him. I made the mistake of telling him it was the man who the “RC” had had the incident with. The director said he would be up there in a minute, but instead he went to get the “RC” and talked privately with her for about 10 minutes, then left out the side door and went to the bank, leaving the man waiting for him to come out to talk to him. When the man came back up and asked me if the director was coming out, the man hugged me and asked what I thought about it all. I declined comment and told him that the director had left. The director had told the “RC” to go out and talk to the man and she didn’t even do that, just went out into the store and ignored him. Very badly handled. I was furious, but since it wasn’t any of my business, I tried not to get involved. I hope that the man figures out how to go over my director’s head and reports the whole thing to a higher up. The whole thing was so wrongly handled.

Ever since the meeting on Tuesday, the 3 women in the back have been acting rather mean toward the 2 younger girls and myself. They make snide remarks and do whatever they want to do without regard to the other employees. On Wednesday, the yank ogre said she was craving a waffle from Waffle House. The “RC” and her other cohort said they wanted to get something from the dollar store. Then they were overhead saying they would like to all go to Waffle House. So, at 10:15 am, all 3 left the store without clocking out and were gone for over an hour. They told the new girl she had to stay and watch the back and me and the other cashier had to stay as well. OMG!!!! When the new girl told me what happened, I thought “oh no they didn’t!!! When they came back, the “RC” had the audacity to come into the break room and show me something that one of the other women gave her and was bragging about the biscuits and gravy they had. So, the other 2 young girls and I told the director that we were going out as well and when I asked the “other yank” to cover for me, she asked why and I told her that the 3 of us were going out to eat as well, and she rolled her eyes and headed straight for the director’s office and told him. To keep peace, he came up and relieved me so that I could go with the other 2. We went to the Sonic drive in and scraped up enough money between the 3 of us to have a halfway decent meal. We stayed just as long as the other 3 had and didn’t clock out. I went back in and thanked the director, hugged him and told him how nice it was for him to do that. He said that Thanksgiving only came once a year and he was happy to let us do that.

Today at work the “other yank” ran straight to the boss when a customer went off on me for asking her to fill out some paperwork for us to hold a piece of furniture. She told the boss I was running my mouth again (a community service worker came told me what she overheard, lol). The boss came to me and started telling me to not let the customers get to me and to be nice to them. I began to tell him my side of the story and he didn’t want to hear it. I told him that was so unfair, not to be able to tell my side, and he let me tell him. I told him that the customer actually apologized to me, saying it was her that was at fault since she was in a hurry and didn’t want to take the time to fill out the paperwork. I was cleaning out some boxes the other day and I found my gonads. I am not going to let anyone run over me anymore. One of my readers said that if I just keep my mouth shut I won’t get into trouble. That is good advice, but I have discovered that it doesn’t matter if you keep your mouth shut or not, they will manufacture something to tattle on you. For a bunch of “old” women, they sure do act childish.

I sincerely hope that my weak wifi signal will let me enter this. I have tried to read and comment on several journals, but not sure how many comments actually went through. There is a setting on the blogger site that lets you get alerts in your email like did. Every time someone comments on your blog, an email is sent letting you know.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. There was a lot of chicken cooked and eaten at my house. And there will be lots of chicken that will be frozen for future meals……. Sigh……………

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LIVID........BUT NOW ELATED

i was able to get a wifi signal tonight and was elated to find guido has done it again!! those of you who came to my journals by way of guido or guido's journal......thanks for stopping by. after the week i have had, it was really nice to come see i had comments on my journals/blogs. thanks again, guido.

this week started out on monday as a nice, quiet, uneventful day. then tuesday hit like a hailstorm. customers in ill moods, co-workers sick and in ill moods. but tuesday afternoon, all hell broke loose. we usually turn the lights off at 15 minutes till closing. that "warns" the customers that we are getting ready to close. i was at the register waiting on customers when suddenly the lights went out. i assumed it must be 4:45 pm, but when i looked over at the clock, it was only 4:35 pm. the newest girl has turned the lights out this early before when i closed with her, so figured she must have done it since she was in the back room. then the lights came back on. i called to the back on the intercom that someone had turned them back on. the head cashier called me back and said that the yank ogre told them to turn them back on, it was too early. ok, that was fine.

after we finally closed and locked the doors for the day, the head cashier came up and i brought up about the lights again, and she told me that the new girl turned them off, and when the yank ogre told her to cut them back on, the new girl told her "I" told her to cut them off. then, a community service woman spoke up and said that yes, I had told her to cut them off.

when the head cashier told me this, i went ballistic. at first the cashier didn't think i was serious, so she was laughing at me yelling. then she suddenly realized i was seriously angry. i was cursing up a storm and screaming at the top of my lungs. don't ever accuse me of something i truly didn't do, and most definitely, NEVER LIE ON ME TO SAVE YOUR OWN ARSE!! i was screaming and cursing so loudly, the head cashier backed away from me and the assistant director and her daughter and the daughter's boyfriend, all came running out to see what was happening. i was about to stroke out. after i started calming down, we all laughed about it and the others were doing impressions of me, lol. the assistant director has been kidding me about it ever since.

then, on wednesday, i had a meltdown over a community service worker...a different one. last week he was caught drinking at lunch time and was drunk while in the store around the customers. to explain, the community service workers are there either working off fines or they are serving community service time. most offenses are dui or weed charges. mostly we don't have any trouble with the cs workers. but this guy, who is young, kids around a lot, acting like he is bad stuff, pimpin'. he also has a thing for the new girl and hangs around her all the time. well after he came back from lunch that day, he was hanging all over me and the new girl and whoever else was up at the register. i smelled alcohol on his breath, so mentioned it to the woman in charge of the cs workers and she said something to him about it. he admitted he had gone to a local bar for lunch and had some beer and even had some stashed on the property to drink. he wasn't sent home, nor was he disciplined in any way.

well, on wednesday, i passed by him and smelled alcohol on his breath again. but i didn't say anything to anyone. later in the day he started mouthing off to me. i realized it was mostly in jest, but it was louder and louder and meaner and meaner, and it was in front of my customers. when he smarted off the last time, i told him i was going to send him home if he didn't stop. he mouthed off again and said i couldn't do anything to him, and that is when i said i was over him and could send him home. he yelled at me that i wasn't going to do nothing to him (his words, not mine) and i went straight to the director and sat down to tell him what happened. he called the new girl in to ask her what happened, and she sorta tried to make it all sound like he didn't do anything wrong. well of course not. she likes the way he follows her around like a puppy. then the director called in the boy and then called me in, and the boy apologized to me and i told him i didn't appreciate the way he was acting toward me, and that i did smell alcohol on his breath, at which point he swore up and down he didn't drink at lunch (even though i did see him go back to the same bar). i accepted his apology and asked that he not be allowed back up front.

when the director told me that i could go home early wednesday (only an hour early), i jumped at it.

i was off today (thursday) and before i could even leave the house at 10 am to pick up my check and pay bills, a message had been left on my phone from the director. i didn't call back, just went on to the store. the director wanted me to come in to work around 2 or 3 pm since the new girl had to go to the doctor. i told him i couldn't. after all, it would have made me go over 40 hours for this week, and i wouldn't have gotten paid for the amount of time over 40 hours until next payday.

after cashing my check and paying bills, i only have $5 left over. but at least i have left over money..........when i worked at the other store, i never had enough money, let alone left over money. but i did take a $20 bill to the gas station, filled up, and got $10 back. wooo hooo.

i am going to try to enter this entry.

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A HEAVY HEART

My heart is heavy tonight. As I pulled into my driveway coming from work, I noticed a black fluffy tail sticking out from behind the large bush at the end of my driveway. I figured Gray's kitten, Fluffy, was waiting for me to come home to feed him. I got out of the car and walked around to the other side of the bush and there lay Fluffy. I didn't need to touch him, I knew he was gone. I haven't even had the chance to take his picture from the back porch while he is eating. He is (was) more skittish than his mother, Gray, who lets me pick her up and rub her back, head and belly. It really broke my heart to see him there, even though he looked very peaceful. I hope he found his way to the Rainbow Bridge.

I had a pretty good day at work today. I kept saying to myself that today was going to be a good day. Everyone I worked with seemed to be in a fairly good mood, except the yankee ogre, who came in late due to taking her husband to the doctor. She had a few moments that she had to have her say about something. But all in all, it was a good day.

I felt sorry for my assistant director. She was trying so hard to do the payroll and other important paperwork and no one would leave her alone. She even went out and got into her car and drove to another spot on the lot to try to be by herself to do the work. The director, who was having a really bad day, even went out to the parking lot to find her when I asked him a question about something that HE could have answered. He didn't make any major decisions today nor answer any questions with any conviction. His wife is having some problems with her health. He was asking a couple of us if we knew anything about vertigo. We both answered his questions, but I was telling him I have vertigo, but only when I am going down stairs that have openwork railings on at least one side. He seemed quite concerned about her, and she won't go to a doctor. I actually felt sorry for him today. He hung around work much longer than he usually does, which makes me wonder if he wanted to go home at all. He and his wife had had an argument about going to the doctor last night. He should know how stubborn women are! Lol.

I noticed that though I have 2 followers on my poetry journal, I have no comments on any of the poetry. Not sure if it is because no one is reading my new journal, or if my poetry is too sombre and no one wants to comment. I don't know how to let others know about my journals. I used to go on the journal board and post but that is now gone. I thought once about dressing up in something spectacular and going out into cyberspace and advertise with a big sign.......LOL.

I have had intermittent wifi for several days and have added comments to others' journals when my wifi service would allow. I am trying very hard to keep up. I found out from a reader that there is a way to keep up with comments and new entries........kinda like alerts. But tonight I don't even remember how I found them. One sends an email to you when someone comments on your journal/blog. But since no one has commented on any of my 3 public journals/blogs, I don't know if it works.

It has been really cold here, low 30's at night, 50's during the day. I guess winter has finally decided to visit and stay a spell.

One of my readers asked if I were going to reinstate my KITTYCAPTIONS. I have attempted to add pictures from time to time and my wifi signal won't let me. So I will try one again tonight to see if it works.

Of course, it didn't work. I will keep trying till I figure it out.

Hope everyone is fine and life is treating you well.

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HAPPINESS

An entry from Seduction of Life Journal (Tuesday, December 6, 2005)


SHE LAY SILENT, LISTENING TO THE THOUGHTS RUNNING THROUGH HER HEAD. HER HAND REACHED OVER TO TOUCH THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BED.... IT WAS COLD. SHE SIGHED. WHEN HE WASN'T THERE BESIDE HER AT NIGHT, SHE FELT SO ALONE........

SHE HATED HERSELF FOR DEPENDING SO MUCH ON HIM FOR HER HAPPINESS, BUT SHE DID.

THE HOURS TICKED ON.

SHE HEARD THE CAT GETTING INTO MISCHIEF SOMEWHERE IN THE ROOM. SHE DIDN'T BOTHER TO GET UP AND CHECK IT OUT.

THE QUIET DARKNESS SOON BECAME TOO MUCH FOR HER. SHE GOT UP, PUT ON HER ROBE, AND WENT OUTSIDE, SITTING ON THE PORCH. IT WAS A BIT WARM FOR A DECEMBER NIGHT, AND THERE WERE A FEW STRAY CRICKETS CHIRPING ALONG THE SIDEWALK. SOON, THERE WOULD BE NO CRICKETS. THE AIR WOULD BE TOO COLD FOR THEM TO SURVIVE. JUST LIKE THE COLD DARK NIGHTS OF YESTERDAY WERE TOO COLD FOR HER TO SURVIVE.

NOW THAT HE WAS IN HER LIFE, SHE DIDN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT LONG SPANS OF THOSE DARK NIGHTS. SOON, HE WOULD BE THERE, BESIDE HER, HOLDING HER, WHISPERING TO HER, TELLING HER THAT ALL IS WELL WITH THE WORLD............AND SHE BELIEVED IT...........AT LEAST ALL WOULD BE RIGHT IN "HER" WORLD....................

SHE GOT UP FROM HER CHAIR, WALKED BACK TO THE BEDROOM, AND TRIED ONCE MORE TO DRIFT OFF TO SLEEP. SOON, SHE DID.........AND DREAMS OF WARM MEMORIES FLOODED HER SUBCONSCIOUS.

WHEN SHE AWAKENED, HER BELOVED LAY THERE BESIDE HER, BREATHING PEACEFULLY. HE HAD MANAGED TO SNEAK IN SILENTLY SOMETIME DURING THE NIGHT SO AS NOT TO WAKE HER..............

SHE LAY THERE FOR SOME TIME, WATCHING HIS CHEST RISE AND FALL FROM HIS BREATHING..........WATCHED HIS LONG TRESSES FALL ACROSS HIS FACE, WANTING TO BRUSH THEM ASIDE, SO AS TO SEE HIS BEAUTIFUL FACE, BUT NOT WANTING TO DISTURB HIM.

SHE WAS ONCE AGAIN HAPPY...............HAPPY BECAUSE THE SOURCE OF HER HAPPINESS WAS THERE, SAFE, SECURE, BESIDE HER.

never go to bed angry with someone, and

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POTPOURRI

wanted to once again mention that i have started a poetry journal. i am currently adding already copyrighted poems, but will add newly written ones as the muse allows. i am going to try to send out email to those who are listed as my followers to let them know i have posted. if you don't wish to receive an email, please drop me an email, or post a comment here.

poetry journal: http://regina-aoljournalsblog.blogspot.com/

i had to work today and i must say, i am getting really tired of all the drama there. i thought the internet was full of drama, but it has nothing on my workplace. if everyone would just mind their own business and quit gossiping about others. the newest employee was verbally attacked as soon as she got to work this am by the yank ogre. i also found out that the "resident Christian" made the statement that she wished she and her 2 cohorts could have a break room all to themselves. now how does that make everyone else feel, huh??? i am so done with the drama. i am going to try very hard to stay out of the drama and keep my mouth shut and ears open, which is the best piece of advice my ex-mother-in-law ever gave me.

it is extremely foggy tonight and will be till possibly noon tomorrow. good thing i only have to drive a little over a mile to work.

i have been getting some clothing from work and was noticing tonight when i was hanging them up that my closet rod is very bowed in the middle. i guess i either need to pack away the items that don't fit at the moment or get a brace for the middle. it is a walk-in closet and am thinking of adding another rod to the other side. at the moment i have my scrapbooking carts on that side, but can move them out of there.

i am going to find a story from my seduction of life journal to put in here. i hope i will still have a wifi signal when i get ready to post.

the following is from november 2005. please read it very carefully. the ending will surprise you, and most definitely amuse you.

THANKSGIVING EXCITEMENT

Once upon a time there was this lady, who thought having a nice oven roasted chicken with homemade mashed potatoes and fresh English peas would make for a tasty and simple thanksgiving dinner. a nice treat for two without all the hassle.

she began her meal by putting the chicken in the oven (which, by the way, is a gas appliance, this being important in this story) with lots of nice seasonings, and covering it with foil.

after about an hour, she decided it was time to check on the chicken and start the rest of the meal. she pulled the bird out of the oven, removed the foil, and voila, a beautifully roasted chicken.

but since she liked her chicken more golden brown, she decided to put it back into the oven for a few more minutes, uncovered.

as she started the descent from the stove top to the oven rack, the bird chose to slide sideways, causing her to lose control of the pan, and suddenly all the succulent juices sloshed out onto the oven floor.........................

of course, one's first impulse is to grab the bird.........which she did......but just as she leaned into the oven to do so, there was a loud whoosh and a huge fireball erupted from the oven......

the smell of singed hair is not pleasant............

after insuring the fire was out, and there was no immediate danger, the woman went to the bathroom to check the status of her face and hair...........the skin was fine, but there wasn't a single bit of facial fuzz on her face.........the hair on her forehead at the hairline, and the temples was gone and/or singed. she also got a singed trim on the length of the sides. her eyelashes were fused and there was a distinct singed odor coming from her nasal hairs. but upon closer scrutiny in the mirror, the lady noticed her eyebrows were perfectly shaped....... something she had been unable to do on her own...........miracles never cease!!!!!!!!!!!!

she stuck her now rancid singed head into the shower and tried to wash away the stench. it didn't work...............so she returned to the kitchen to assess the damage.............and was greeted by a house full of smoke, at which she opened every door and window and turned on every fan in the house. the smoke started swirling about her like misty fog from a horror movie. the air was full of the smell of horribly burned chicken grease...........she noticed she had not turned off the oven, but that the flame was out. she tried to turn on the stove top burners, but they refused to light. she grabbed the grill lighter and attempted to light the pilot light............nothing............

suddenly, panic struck.............there had to be gas leaking from the unlit pilots, and she had to do something quickly..............so she grabbed a flashlight and began her search for the main pilot. nothing...............she tried to regroup her thoughts, but she couldn't, and panicked again, calling the only person she knew of that could stabilize her right now......... who just happened to not be with her at that moment.........fortunately, he answered his cell phone............

he told her to first, calm down, then make sure the oven and stove were turned off, check for the smell of gas, and then call the gas company.................

well, no one answers a phone at any company on thanksgiving day...........not even the gas leak emergency hotline.............they are too busy stuffing their face with a stuffed turkey. but she finally reached them and they told her she would have to call a licensed plumber.........

ok, this poor lady is already beside herself with panic, is singed and hairless, and is about to run out the door screaming..............and they tell her to call a plumber..........well, she lost it, becoming hysterical, laughing so hard she couldn't see for the tears...............

after composing herself, she calls her beloved back and tells him the story...........he laughs too, but is more concerned that his lady may still be in danger...........so he starts offering suggestions on what to do about the pilot light.............

after much discussion and no real solution, the lady decides to try turning on the stove again,and voila...........it lights............it was only wet with the chicken grease and juices and wouldn't light.............and, it has an electronic ignition, meaning it was safe all along..............

i can only surmise that this poor lady would offer only one bit of advice after experiencing this unforgettable thanksgiving..................

"I" SUGGEST HAVING YOUR HUSBAND TAKE YOU OUT FOR THANKSGIVING DINNER! ! ! ! !

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THE DIARIES OF CATS AND DOGS

are men and women really much different than this?

The Dog's Diary:

8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!

9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!

9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!

10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!

12:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!

1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!

3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!

5:00 pm - Dinner! My favorite thing!

7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!

8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!

11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!
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The Cat's Diary:

Day 983 of my captivity.

My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.

The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet. Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates my capabilities. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am.

Jerks!

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow, but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released, and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded. The bird must be an informant. I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now.

11-12-08 (11:16 pm)

ANOTHER RANT

The question keeps sneaking into my brain…….WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE TODAY??

I know every job has its quirks. Its share of nutcases, psychos and just plain ignorant people. But it seems that that share is getting bigger. It could also be that the older I get, the less tolerant I am of those listed above. Either way, I am sick and tired of dealing with them. But, alas, I have to work to pay bills and live in a dwelling that doesn’t ride on 4 wheels (living in my car, lol). Sigh…………

I try every day to ask God for a good day. I did so today, but must not have asked in humbleness. Or, possibly God, with His wonderful sense of humor, thought it would be a good day to teach me some patience and humility. Today started out fairly well. I went through my normal routine to prepare for work, fed the cat, and left for work. Arriving at work went uneventful. It wasn’t long into the morning that the “resident Christian” began getting a little attitude toward the CS workers, and even me. Nothing specific, just an air of superiority that didn’t belong. Then the little old yank came to work and began to weave her web of meanness.

There were so many CS workers there that I got my own “helper” for the counter. My helper is supposed to assist in taking clothing off hangers, folding, placing in bags and wrapping bric-a-brac in newspaper and bagging them. It helps me get the customer cashed out much quicker. The girl that I was assigned never came up to the register, so another girl noticed I needed help so she began assisting me. The “Yankee ogre” came up and asked me where the assigned girl was. I told her I had no clue who was assigned to me, but that this girl stepped in and was helping me. The girl got her feelings hurt by the yank ogre and said she was trying to step in and help when she saw it was needed. I hugged her and told her she was fine, and I appreciated her help. The yank ogre told the girl to finish up and go to the back and I was left with no one. Then another girl came up to assist. She wasn’t doing a very good job, so I just told her to check the store for fallen clothing, items out of place, etc. Things went well for a while. Then, an ex CS girl came in the store and was all behind the counter and talking to the girl who was supposed to be bagging for me and they got into a deep discussion and I had a long line of customers. The CS girl had taken all the jewelry from the case and laid all of it in the floor where I was trying to stand and wait on my customers. I kept tripping over stuff and knocking earrings off the little rack and with all the customers in my line, no room to move and no one helping me bag, I began having a panic attack. I had to excuse myself from behind the counter for a minute and looked around for someone to help me. The other 2 employees were busy with customers and I felt helpless. I went back behind the counter and asked the CS girl to please get all the jewelry items off the floor and to help me bag. She said she wanted to finish up what she was doing and I just let it go. Then I realized that my customers were beginning to get ill having to wait on me to work the register and bag their items. The man I was waiting on, who is a heavy man in ill health, was getting noticeably ill at the situation, so I turned to the CS girl and asked her once again to please help me wrap his items and bag them, and she was still busy talking to the ex CS girl and told me she was going to finish what she was doing, that I could wrap his items and bag them. I was ready to explode by then. The man at the counter told me he was about to say something he was going to regret so get him bagged up and out of there. He wasn’t angry at me, but at the girl and the situation.

I was livid. The assistant director came up to the counter and I turned to her and whispered “I want this girl out from behind my counter and sent to the back and don’t want her back up front.” I even told the AD why. She immediately told her she needed her to work in the back and not come back up front. The CS girl continued to finish her task of redoing the jewelry case and mumbled about me or to me the whole time. I went to the back and asked for one of the really good CS women to come help me and she did. She got the line down in no time, and witnessed the CS girl mumbling at me and not doing what she had been asked. When the CS girl went to the back she was asked to leave and not return to our store for CS work. Thank you Jesus.

Then came the phone call.

Our assistant director is in charge of assisting people with help on paying rent, mortgage and other necessities, which we do once a month. She was seeing clients and asked me to screen any calls that came in for her. That is what I was doing when a woman called (caller ID said Subway Sandwich Shop) and asked for the assistant director by name. I asked her to give me her name and reason for calling and she said, very hateful, “If I had wanted to talk to you I would have asked for you!” My director was standing right behind me, talking to a customer, so I turned around to him, without putting the call on hold, and asked him to take the call. The caller hung up. When I told my director what had happened, he laughed and said if they called back give the call to him and he would make sure that they didn’t get any assistance for some time because he wasn’t going to have his cashiers talked to in that manner………whooo hooooo. First time he has stood up for me……..well, among the first, lol. When I mentioned it to the assistant director’s assistant, the head cashier, she knew exactly whom I was talking about, saying she had had dealings with the same woman the week before. I hate it, but she won’t be getting any assistance for at least 6 months.

Later in the day I had a small verbal “tussle” with a customer. Actually, it was my fault for not keeping my mouth shut, but sometimes you say things on your mind because people are just so stupid. I usually don’t fold the clothing “to the T” when putting them in the bag. I don’t cram them in either, but don’t spend excess time straightening them, folding them and making sure they are not wrinkled or crinkled. After all, these are used items being sold in a thrift store and should be taken home immediately and washed, right??!! When I put the clothing in the bag for the customer, she took them back out and folded them very neatly, as if to accuse me of not treating her clothing like new clothing. I told her I was sorry I didn’t fold them to suit her, but figured she would be taking them home and washing them anyway. She said that she wouldn’t necessarily wash them before wearing them, so wanted them folded neatly. Her “good dog” husband stood quietly and obediently by as she made her comments. I told her she really should wash them before she wore them as they might contain “critters”. I laughed, trying to lighten the mood of the conversation and she said “Well now you seem to not want me to buy things here, telling me that you sell clothing with bugs in them”. I tried to explain that I was trying to look out for her since one never knows what people will donate. I mean, you could catch a skin disease, crabs, lice, and other things from used clothing if you are not careful. Ewwwwwwwwwww. Remind me not to visit her house……….

Along those lines, I had a customer a few weeks ago that bought some sheets and a blanket and said she couldn’t wait to get them home and on the bed for her kids. They had torn up all the old sheets. I told her make sure they were washed first and she retorted she wasn’t going to take one set of sheets to the Laundromat just so her kids could wet the bed, write on them with markers and tear them up again. OMG!!!

Later in the day the Yankee ogre came up to purchase a pair of men’s cargo pants. Now, in the past when this co-worker would attempt a purchase, I would say that her money wasn’t any good to me. She would insist that I charge her for the item/s. So I would charge her a lesser price……..such as $1.99 for a $2.99 or $3.99 purchase. She would grumble about it and say I shouldn’t do that; she was willing to pay the regular price. So, today, drawing on history of how she reacts, I charged her $2.79 for a $2.99 pair of pants, and then took off her senior discount, which brought the pants to $2.71. About 5 minutes later a young CS worker came up to purchase a pair of men’s shorts and the yank came up with him and told me to charge him $2.99. Well, it is an unspoken policy among most of us that work there that we either don’t charge the CS workers for small amounts of clothing or we charge a minimal amount. So, not realizing that the yank was still standing nearby, I rang the boy up at 99 cents for his shorts and he saw the total of $1.06 and said the total out loud. I looked at him as if to say hush and looked around and there stood the yank, glaring at me. I looked at her and smiled and she lit into me. She said I charged her full price for the same item I charged him a dollar for. I told her I didn’t charge her full price, to look at her receipt. She said it didn’t matter; it wasn’t fair what I did. I told her she always wanted me to charge her the full price for her purchases, so what was I supposed to do. I had a couple of customers come over and tell me she was way out of line acting like that. One was even a friend of the assistant director’s and told her what happened and that I was not rude or at fault. Oh well…….it still pissed me off. The old crow, I mean yank, is always into everyone else’s business and I am tired of it. She even goes over to the time clock and pulls everyone’s time card out of the slot and inspects it. I put a stop to that by putting a note on mine telling anyone not name Regina keep their hands off my time card.

The “resident Christian” had gone to lunch with a regular customer and was gone for way over an hour. The other cashier’s husband came up to take her to lunch around 1 pm, so I knew she would be gone at least an hour. I figured I would get to go to lunch around 1:45 pm or 2 pm. 2:10 pm, I was still at the counter waiting on customers and no one was even there to relieve me in case I had to potty or had any type of emergency. And there was no way I was going to ask the yank to help me out. The director came back from his lunch around 2:15 pm and I told him I had more or less been abandoned by everyone and would like to go to lunch. He told me to go on to lunch right then, he would take over. As I left for lunch I passed the other cashier and told her the director was covering for me and that I was going home for lunch and might not come back. She must have thought I was kidding, but I was serious. I came home, changed into my house clothes and sat down to eat while watching TV. I didn’t plan on going back. Then I realized that I had left my other bag at work that has my “drugs” and jacket in it. (Drugs meaning ibuprofen, Tylenol, sinus meds, etc). So, after having been gone from work about an hour, I decided to go back. I was gone for a total of an hour and 15 minutes. When I walked in the back, the other cashier said I had scared her to death. When I wasn’t back in an hour, she panicked. I guess it could have been considered job abandonment, so I guess I am glad I went back.

After burdening you with all this garbage, I do have a few high points to mention. Several customers told me that they truly enjoyed coming in when I was there because I was so jovial and lighthearted. Another regular customer told me that she really liked me, better than most of the others that worked there. She said I was a true asset to the store and she would miss me very much if I left there. Sigh……….I needed to hear that after a day like today.

Once again, I have complained enough. I wish I had wifi again tonight. I am off work tomorrow and could get a lot done online. I had a connection when I came home at lunchtime today, but it disappeared shortly after I sat down at the computer. And so is my life.

If I haven’t bored you to tears, leave me one of your workday experiences in my comments section. I love to share others’ pain, lol.

They have put up the light pole Christmas decorations in my town. Which means instead of the usual bright off-white light glaring in my window, I have red, green, white and yellow blinking lights coming through my window. And they leave them on all night. Why? There are maybe a total of 5 cars on my street after 11 pm. And those are usually cop cars going to a call with their sirens blaring. They surely aren’t looking at the Christmas decorations. More of wasteful government spending.

I better close out here before this becomes a novel instead of a novelette, lol.

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THE PURINA DOG CHOW DIET

The next time someone asks you a dumb question, wouldn’t you like to respond like this?

Yesterday I was buying a large bag of Purina dog chow at walmart, for my dog Samson, the wonder dog. I was about to check out when a woman behind me asked if I had a dog. What did she think, that I had an elephant? So since I had little else to do, on impulse, I told her that no, I didn’t have a dog, and that I was starting the Purina diet again; although I probably shouldn’t because I ended up in the hospital last time. On the bright side though, I’d lost 50 pounds before I awakened in an intensive care ward with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and IV’s in both arms. I told her that it was essentially a perfect diet and that the way that it works is to load your pockets with Purina nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry and that the food is nutritionally complete so I was going to try it again. (I have to mention here that practically everyone in the line was by now enthralled with my story.)

Horrified, she asked if I ended up in intensive care because the dog food poisoned me. I told her no, I had stepped off a curb to sniff an Irish Setter’s backside and a car hit me.
I thought the guy behind her was going to have a heart attack, he was laughing so hard! Wal-mart won’t let me shop there anymore………….

(of course, this is not a personal story, just one of those internet "go-rounds")

hope you enjoyed.

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WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE??

Entry from 11-10-08 (7:08 pm)

WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE????

I have had a wifi signal twice today (Monday), but as soon as I was able to get online and access my mail and blog, it disappeared. So I decided to go ahead and write an entry and if I do get access again, I will have the entry done.

I was off work today (Monday) due to having an appointment. I didn’t want to go out in the cold (well it was cold at 10:30 am when I had to go out, lol). Once I got out it was nice to be out. I even rode over to my old job to see everyone and to see what new items I might be missing. I ran into my ex-manager and ex-assistant-manager. I hugged a few of my ex-coworkers and listened to their tales of what had been happening lately. I didn’t find anything I couldn’t live without, though. I left there and came home.

I did something on Sunday (the Salvation Army is closed on Sunday, so I was off work) that doesn’t bother me that I did, but I would like to bounce it off of my readers to see where you stand…………..WHAT WOULD “YOU” HAVE DONE???

I left home early yesterday morning to go to the Ingles grocery store in the next town over. It is only about 7 miles down there, but that is where I enjoy shopping, especially when I can get some really good deals. In the past I have gotten 85% lean hamburger meat for $1 a package (original price usually around $4). I have also gotten New York strip steaks for $2 (original price $5-$7) and chicken strips or boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $2 a package (original price around $7-$8). I also often get gallon jugs of whole or 2% milk for 99 cents. These are items that cannot be sold past that day, but are still edible. Unfortunately, there were no bargains today. At least, so I thought. I went through the entire meat department and there were no “Today’s Specials”, so I went over to the milk section, and no milk was left that was on sale. I made a pass by the eggs and got a dozen (not on sale, of course) and over to the clearance aisle, where I didn’t find much either. Then, as a last effort, I went back to the meat department and took one last look at all the meats, hoping something had been reduced since I last passed by. Well, no specials, but something made me look at the huge package of ribeye steaks. I don’t usually like ribeyes because they have too much fat in them and are very costly. But there was just something about these ribeyes. First, they were HUGE. Almost like small roasts, lol. There were 4 in the package. I glanced at the price and it said 31 cents. At first I thought it was the price per pound, which was still a marvelous discount. But as I looked closer, I noticed it was the PRICE. TOTAL PRICE. 31 CENTS FOR 4 HUGE RIBEYE STEAKS!!! I read the label to see if it was the wrong label, and it said “Ribeye Steaks”. Ok, so I wasn’t seeing things……at least not things that weren’t there, lol. Then I checked out the package underneath that one, and it was marked the same way. 40 CENTS FOR 4 MORE HUGE RIBEYES!!! I put them in my buggy and went up to the meat cutter station and no one was there. So, I decided to take them on up to the register to see if they would ring up for that amount.

I picked up a couple of other items (I only went in for salsa, and forgot it, lol) and went on to the register. I told the cashier to make sure the steaks rang up for the price on the label. When she got to them, she rang the first package and said there was no way she could ring those up at that price. I mentioned that they were premarked, and I didn’t have anything to do with the price being so low. It was down in the meat department. She said she had to call the manager over to the cash register. He came over, looked over the 2 packages and said “Ma’am, these are definitely marked wrong. I cannot sell these to you for this price.” I told him that I work retail and we are constantly having to practically give items away because we either made a mistake in pricing, or someone had switched the tickets. He said he just couldn’t sell them for that price. I looked at him and said “Well, obviously ‘I’ didn’t mark or change the price, so it was an error made in the meat department.” He then asked “Do you want me to sell these to you for this price?” I immediately said “Yes, I do!” And he DID!! I admit, I was going to back down and let them go back to the meat department if he had insisted he couldn’t sell them for the low price. But he asked the question, and I answered it. And I got 8 huge ribeyes for a total of 71 cents. I bet the manager told off the meat manager………..but hey, I have wanted steaks for some time………and now I have them, lol.

I had one for dinner on Sunday and it was wonderfulmous. But my question is……….
WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE IN THE SAME SITUATION?

I haven’t been feeding any of the outdoor kitties for the last week or so. I hadn’t seen Gray around, so just didn’t put out any food. There is a kitty who looks like Gray’s black kitten, so I DID feed it one day. Yesterday when I got home from the grocery store (with my ribeyes, lol), Gray was sitting up on the roof over the porch, outside one of my upstairs windows. She looked really good. I told her to come on around to the back and I would feed her. So she got some moist cat food and some “juice” from a can of salmon I ate earlier and saved the liquid. She was ecstatic……..I could tell from her purring so loudly while eating, lol. She let me pick her up and love on her till she got a wiff of the salmon juice. She was filled out pretty good and has gotten her winter coat. So I guess she has been eating somewhere for the last week.

The weather is playing havoc with my sinuses. I sneeze all the time and have the sniffles. It isn’t a cold. The news reported that there is something in the air, possibly dust, that is affecting numerous people in the metro Atlanta area. I wish it would stop. I am tired of talking through my nose, lol.

Thanksgiving is coming up soon. I think we will have ham this year. Not sure if I will cook one or buy one. The Salvation Army gave us all a gift certificate last year for $25 for a local grocery store to get our Thanksgiving dinner items. If they do that again this year, I will buy a spiral sliced already cooked ham. If not, I will probably just buy a small uncooked ham and glaze it and cook it myself. I am not fond of turkey, especially since my downstairs neighbor undercooked the one last year. I mean, heck, why buy a turkey with a pop-up timer if you are going to take the turkey out of the oven before the timer pops up???? Geeeze………….I was always told to keep it in the oven at least another 20 minutes AFTER the timer pops up. Am I wrong????

I have been crocheting a lot over the last few weeks. I originally planned on selling some items at the fall bazaar at the church across the street, but I missed the bazaar. So I started making a crocheted tam or beret to match each outfit or shirt I wore to work. I have made about 30 hats in the last couple of weeks. I can almost make them in my sleep, lol. I was going to try to post pictures of some of the ones I have made, but I don’t seem to be able to get the wifi signal long enough. Anywho, it is fun to work on them when I am settling down for the night.

I am going to close this out for now. If I get to add it as an entry anytime tonight, I may add more to it then. Otherwise………….have a good night.

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A LITTLE FUN

HOW TO INSTALL A HOME SECURITY SYSTEM IN THE SOUTH

1. Go to a second-hand store and buy a pair of men's used size 14-16 work boots.

2. Place them on your front porch, along with copies of 'Guns and Ammo Magazine'.

3. Put a few giant dog dishes next to the boots and magazines.

4. Leave a note on your door that reads:


Hey Bubba,

Me, Big Jim, Duke and Slim went for more ammunition.

Back in an hour. Don't mess with the pit bulls....they attacked the mailman this morning and messed him up real bad. I don't think Killer took part in it, but it was hard to tell from all the blood.

Anyway, I locked all 4 of 'em in the house.

Better wait outside,

Cooter

HALLOWEEN ANTICS

i realize that it is way past halloween, but i haven't had wifi long enough to really do any blogging. i wanted to relate halloween day at work.

several of my co-workers said they were going to dress up to come to work on halloween. the "resident Christian" was going to come as a witch. go figure. another said she wasn't sure what she would be, but would try to think of something.

i got up a half hour earlier so that i could apply my makeup. i was going to go as a dead rock singer. i have a t-shirt that is black with a skeletal rock star playing a guitar. i was going to wear that and apply makeup that made me look like a skeleton. i also have a biker's leather cap that says "born to be wild" and has the 'born' marked through and 'used' put in its place, making it "used to be wild". there is a silver wig sewn into it making it look like an old person's long silver hair. after putting everything on, i looked into the mirror and who did i see staring back at me???? jerry garcia of the grateful dead. so..........i went as jerry. when my customers saw me, they were amused, shocked and entertained. but only 2 people knew who i was. and they were young people, not old farts like me that were dead heads. most of those that guessed said that i was beetlejuice. oh please........i didn't have on a striped shirt!!!

i frightened one customer who didn't really look up at me till she got right at the counter and she jumped back 3 feet, lol. the few kids we had just sorta stared at me like i was nuts or something. well, heck, i am nuts. you have to be to work there.

it was a fun day even though my face itched under the white "death" makeup. once or twice i forgot i had it on and scratched my face, then had to go and reapply makeup. yep, i had the wherewithal to take it with me.

i was invited to a halloween party on saturday, but just didn't feel like putting on more death makeup and going to a cigarette filled house where everyone but me would be drinking and i would end up being the designated driver. so i didn't go. sorry anne.

i have been trying to transfer all my aol pictures to photoworks, but haven't been successful. thanks again, aol, for making my life more miserable than it has to be. guido made a statement that since so much was going down the toilet, we should be prepared to move our mail to g-mail or elsewhere. i am not sure where aol is going, but i really don't want to see them go completely. after all, they gave me my start in learning how to hate your internet privider..........sigh.........MEMORIES......LIKE THE CORNERS OF.......OOPS, there i go again.........sorry.

gonna try to post this. by the way, i haven't had much traffic on my new journal, "somewhere in time". not sure if people have visited and just not commented. i am going to try to put in some new poetry to add some spice to the journal.

hope to get this in and then try another post in my other journal. see ya!

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WAITING FOR THE GASMAN (post from 10-25)

October 25, 2008 (12:03 am)

Once again, I sat home all day Friday, the 24th, waiting for the landlord to call and tell me that the gasman was on his way to turn on the gas for the winter and service the heaters. They were supposed to come out between noon and 4, which they did. But the landlord didn’t call me because the gasman didn’t call him. They both arrived around 3 pm, but serviced the downstairs apartment first, then came up and checked out my 3 units. 2 of them required something to be repaired first. But since it was so late in the day, and since the guy who was doing the service call wasn’t the guy who was supposed to do it, I was told they would have to come back tomorrow, Saturday, and do the repairs.

Well, normally, that would be ok, except for the fact that I lock my bedroom door every day when I leave for work due to not wanting the downstairs neighbor to enter my bedroom and because I have a cat I don’t want anyone knowing I have. So…..since I cannot take another day off work, I have to go in tomorrow and tell them that I have to leave at a moment’s notice to come to the house, let them in again, and stay till they finish. Now, if this was any other day but Saturday, that might not be a problem. But it is Saturday, and we are extremely busy on Saturday. Even if they call me I might not be able to drop everything and go to the house. If I left the door unlocked like the landlord suggested, they might either discover my cat, or leave the door open and she would get out, or both. I typed up a note stating I wasn’t comfortable leaving the door unlocked and would be able to be here within 5 minutes if they called me either on my work number or cell number. I actually hope they cannot come out tomorrow. It is short notice for a gas company to respond. That way I can possibly make arrangements to be off next week for them to come.

During the day today, while waiting on the gasman, my computer connected briefly with the city wifi. I was ecstatic. But after getting online and opening my mail and my blog, it stopped transmitting. I waited a while for it to come back on before clicking it off and rebooting the adaptor. It never came back on. So here I am, shortly after midnight, trying to get it to resurface and typing my entry anyway.

The house smells like sulfur from where matches were used to light the pilot, then it went out. I made sure that the gasman turned the gas valve off before leaving. Don’t want to be asphyxiated in my sleep.

While the gasman and the landlord were running in and out of the downstairs neighbors apartment, I was on the computer doing some photo editing for later use. Suddenly the computer, the lights and the alarm clock in the bedroom went out. I called to the neighbor downstairs to see if they had cut power for some reason, and she said SHE had, and then asked if THAT box operated my apartment as well as hers. I told her the box was for the whole house and she had just cut my power off in the bedroom. I had to reset my alarm clock, then realized I set it backwards, am for pm, lol. I would have really been angry with her if I had just gotten a wifi signal again and she cut me off. Crazy woman.

I am going to close out now. I cannot put this entry into my blog, so see no reason to keep babbling on at this late hour.

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