This Post Will Ramble..Be Warned

OKay so I'm in the mood to blog but have no 'destination' in mind. So bear with me..or just go read Juds. He's got a good blog so you can't lose.

On Saturday we were both awake at the crack of dawn. Again. Part of the problem is the fact that our bedroom is on the east-facing portion of our home. Add to that the fact that we have some very sheer lacy pretty curtains and they are covered by some somewhat sheer white curtains. I told Mags it's like being in a Nazi interrogation room. The room is filled with light at 505 am and being a big baby, I cannot sleep with all that light flooding in. I also need it to be almost silent to go to sleep (I'm a lot of work aren't I??). But I digress.
My back is feeling better today. I had some pretty heavy pain going on during the end of last week into early Saturday morning. I am feeling better today, although, I've been up since 5. Mags went back to bed at 7 and just got up around 1030 or so. I'm happy she did because she hasn't been feeling to good. And besides, whilst I may be slightly grumpy, I can get by on less sleep better than she can.

Yesterday we went to the in-laws for most of the afternoon and evening. We grilled some good food and Mag and her sis whipped up some salads, including potato, fruit and green. Plus Mags marinated a tasty sirloin. Dotties man Dave was the Master of the Flame for the evenings festivities. He's a really nice guy and he seems to genuinely care for Dottie. Plus he cooks a mean hamburger. So he's good in my book.

Dottie pureed a couple of burgers for the Big Guy and he enjoyed those. We sat and had some good conversation after dinner. I like to see Mags and her sis just sitting together talking. They don't see each other too often and between them they are really holding things together for their mom in this very hard time. I'm not sure what Bubs will do when Dottie has to go back to Albany. We will of course be here to assist.

There is one thing that burns my little ass and I guess maybe unless you know my SIL you can't truly appreciate this but...both Bubs and my SIL own Boston Terriers. A nurse at the rehab told Bubs that a standard collar is very bad for these dogs because a) they have respiratory problems becasue of their flattened little snouts and b) they are 'pullers' and choke themselves when you wlak them. plus c) they get hung up with a collar and hang themselves. All bad right?? So he suggested a harness. Two weeks ago Bubs asked me if I'd be so kind as to go to our local PetSmart and get her a harness. "Of course" says I, and I did. A pretty pink number with little white paw prints all over it. Now here's my problem, the SIL comes over and decides the dog would rather choke herself to death and puts the collar 'back' on her (because her dog wears a collar) And when I go over I have to put the harness back on her. Really?? What's the deal here?
I threatened last night to Super-Glue the harness on her. Bubs chuckled a bit so I think that means it's okay...doesn't it??

Today I think we may run to our local Wegmans and maybe visit again. We've had a good weekend so far, and lest I jinx Meself, it has not rained once....shhh...

Happy Independence Day Everyone

Three Day Weekends Are My Friend

Yes a 3-day weekend is upon us. Work was tough this week. Physically tough. For me anyways. Mix my bad back with 40-60 pound boxes of books and the lifting of said books and you've got yourself one tired and achy Leprechaun. It's cool though. It was worth it when I got my check yesterday. My wife was also pleased with the check. I learned how to use the RF scanner gun at work yesterday. My boss is cool and told me 'if you have any problems just ask. I'd rather answer 20 questions and have it done right. And don't feel like you're buggin me. Just ask." This put me at ease. So I immediately, of course had a question. As the day went on though, it got easier.
The guys I work with, except for the GM, are all younger than me. Significantly younger I think. This is weird to me. I feel my age at the end of the day and when I hear these young dudes saying " I can't wait 'til I turn 21 so I can buy my own beer..."..well geez...

This morning CrazyDog had us awake at 5. It is tough for both of us. Especially Mags who has not only a stressful job, but with her Dad being very ill, it's twice as bad. She got up early with the pooch and told me to stay in bed and see if I could go back to sleep. I was going to protest but..I fell back to sleep. Sorry hun.
I mowed early and then ran to our local Shop Rite, which was packed to the gills and then to Home Depot and then the beer store.
Then I came home to do a few household things that needed doing and then I hit the shower.
It looks like it may rain again but I have 3 days off, as does me wife. So hopefully we'll get some quality alone time in.
Well I'm off to see my pop-in-law.
Have a good day all.

Work and Such

So the new job is going well. The guys are cool and the work, although very hard physically, is easy enough. The machine I drive is pretty new and seems solid. I like the feeling of knowing if I'm 35 feet off the ground the machine will keep me safe. Plus I've many years of experience and I'm confident ( but not cocky) in my operator skills.

So the biggest thing is sleep. or lack thereof. For some crazy reason, one of us, Mags or Meself is waking at 4 am or in that area every morning. It is getting really bad. We are both exhausted. Always. We get up exhausted and we go to bed exhausted.

Anyways, what I'm leading to is..Thursday morning I was awake at four and could not go back to sleep. I usually try to sleep until 530 or the latest 550. Traffic is light at 615 when I leave my house and if I can grab a few extra winks I will.

On this morning I was wiped out. I was only able to get one cup of tea into me and then it was on the road. On this little side road I traverse, I am cruising along, not speeding mind you, just cruising with the windows down, letting the cool morning air blow in, trying to wake myself up. The tiny part of my brain registered something darting from the woods into the road. Suddenly all my nuerons are firing and I realise the thing in the road is a rabbit. A baby rabbit. It it scared shit and freezes in front of me. I deftly nudge the wheel and try to brake all at once. I say to it 'stay there' because I know I will pass harmlessly above it if it does stay put. Sadly, the animal is terrified and makes a break back for safety and I hit it. I hear the sickening thud under my rear wheels. I look back in my rear view and sure enough, I have murdered a bunny.

I feel like I may, cry, puke or both. I mean I love all creatures, but if it weighs less than four pounds, has fur and looks like it may be cuddly, I'm all for it.

This ruined my freakin' day. I drive to our local Starbucks and grab a tall cup of strong tea and make my way to work. I'm not feeling any better about what happened, but as Mags said when I told her, there was nothing I could do.

So I'm now working in a book warehouse and I'm putting books away ( mostly kiddie books) when I notice some of the titles. "Do Rabbits Have Christmas?" , "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tullane" (about a china rabbit), "32 Third Graders and Only One Rabbit" and the title that almost reduced me to a pile of quivering snot "Momma Rabbit Loves Her Baby Bunny." The cover which showed momma bunny nuzzling her tiny little baby.

Thankfully the day ended with me driving home without killing anymore woodland creatures and promptly consuming a frosty cold Saranac Pale Ale.

I worked today. Love that O.T. and when I came home Mags had a deelish dinner ready for me and even bought me a pint of my fave Ben and Jerrys as a 'reward' for working so hard today.

She also did groceries, cleaned the floors, did laundry and took CrazyDog tro be groooomed.

So again, we are both cream-crackered. Hopefully tonight at least one of us will get more than 5 hours of sleep.

Better Late Than Never

Just a quick entry to wish my father-in-law, a.k.a The Big Guy, a.k.a The Boss a very Happy Father's Day.

He came home from the nursing home yesterday and I think he somewhat enjoyed everyone making a fuss over him.

A man and his dog...

Sweet Jaysus You People Are Kooky

I am speaking not of the Octomom, the Mormon cultists in Utah or wherever those freaks live, but the wing-nuts at PETA. All the panties at PETA are in a twist over our the 'brutal slaying' of an innocent fly by our President, Barack O'Bama. (He is Irish). Our man 'B' was trying to conduct an interview on CNBC when the pesky little bugger starting swooping and 'buzzing' him. The President kindly asked it to stop and then, when the little camera-hog persisted on trying to fly up our leaders nose, he crushed him like the RedSox beating the Yankees.

Really. I'm serious...PETA sent him a letter and everything...man..read a paper you guys.
What really, umm, bugged PETA was the fact that 'B' showed no remorse over the killing and even hi-fived the camera man, screaming "I got you you little prick!", before grabbing the poor flys wee carcas in a tissue and stomping it in time to "Another one bites the dust."

PETA has also sent the Prez a few,.. oh God I cannot believe these people are allowed to breath my air, special bug traps. Yes bug traps. They safely trap naughty little pests like gnats, mosquitos, flys and earwigs, then you can ( gently) carry the traps to an outdoor locale and release them back into the wild. Honestly?

PETA is also demanding the flys be fed for the duration of it's captivity, or, they will be marching on the White House demanding the 'prisoner fly' be fed and provided clean drinknig water for all of it's 15 day long life span. When the significant cost of housing (that will be passed onto the tax-payer) and feeding a fly for that time was pointed out to PETA, the response was quick. "It is a living thing. Look, we can build homeless shelters and levies in Louisiana or we can help the flies. The choice is obvious."

Meanwhile, CNN has an exclusive report on a note found at a New Jersey dung heap where the murdered flies cousin 'Joey' was living, it was written in a hurry and was barely legible but went something like this...

"Mr. prezident, I saw you kill my couzin, boy am I mad! You think the people at PETA are mad just you wait 'til I get there you are in troubl..."

When other flies dining in said dung heap were questioned the reply was simple. "Yeah he was pisssssed..but he was 14 days old....poor guy didn't live long enough to finish the note...tsktsk..buzz buzz etc..."

The Internet Hates Me

So today was my first day at the new place. We got a lot done considering that there was a crew of electricians in there on scissor lifts installing lights and there were numerous trucks arriving during the day to be unloaded. The offices are still not done, as is the break room and, sadly the bathrooms. That's right, we're using porta-potties...oh, sorry, "Mr. John". Gross.

My coworkers are very cool and this is a great relief to me. I had the 'new guy' concerns, you know..nobody bothers with you, you get the majority of the work, people aren't willing to help you too much...total opposite with these guys.

So anyway I come home to file my final unemployment claim and their website is goofy and has locked me out. I need to call and talk with someone. I call and am told by that generic computerized voice my wait will be 45 minutes. Crap. I need to do this so I hang on. When my call is finally answered by a lovely woman named Alberta (or something like that) I am asked the standard questions and she types in all my info..I am put on hold, asked more questions, put on hold, asked more questions, put on hold..you get the picture. Long story short, after waiting 45 minutes to speak to someone, being put on hold 6 times during that call, answering every question under the sun, including the old, "how much wood could a woodchuck chuck..?", I am told their system will not let even kindly ol' Alberta process my claim. So now I must wait. She said she'd call if it did not get done. So far, no call.

I then tried to apply for my benefits for my new job online. My new employee ID number is apparently invalid.

Then, I tried to log into the game on Facebook called YoVille. YoVille was temporarily down for service.

So while I had a good day at work, my computer time was slightly not so good.

New Job Update

New job is going well. They are moving to bigger digs and I got a sneak peek on Thursday. The place will be big. They are still running the electric and should be done by Monday.

Today they had a big warehouse sale and I was elected to direct traffic. Easy stuff, just standing outside telling people where to go..hmmm I guess I did enjoy it after all....

Anyways, it was going well until about 2:30 when the skies opened up. I pulled my car to the end of the driveway and watched for traffic and when needed, made a dash out to the road to talk to our customers.

So the new job thing is going well. Everyone is super cool and the building will be brand new.

The rain continues to fall and it looks like it may carry into tomorrow.

I can't tell you how relieved I am to have a job again. It's a good feeling to be a productive person again. And well..making money too.. that's nice