We Are Now "The Mean Neighbors"

Yep, Nicci and I are now the mean neighbors. I had the Cops at my house yesterday because of our crazy 93 year old neighbor and her 50 something live in son.

I didn't ask the Cops to come by. They just did. Our neighbor has a Cat that has been digging up Nicci's garden. (Actually it's the son's cat.) It has been using the garden as a litter box and ripping out plants. We haven't seen it do damage but we have seen it peeing in the garden. Nicci has had to replace 5 plants now.

So yesterday when we got home one of the plants in the front was lopsided and there was this big glob of cat poop semi-buried beside it. That was enough for me. I decided I will go to the Humane Society and rent one of ther 'Hav-a-Hart' traps and catch the fiendish feline. But I didn't want to get myself into serious trouble by trapping someones pet. So I called the Township Offices first to see what the laws were. I talked to a nice Police Officer there and he looked up the ordinances for the Township. Sure enough letting an animal run loose like that was illegal. So I told him my plans and he suggested I go and talk to the neighbor first about it. I thought that was reasonable so I did.

As I was talking with the neighbor, who was very cool about it and said he would keep his cat inside for a while so we could see if it really was his doing the damage, the Cops pull into my driveway. Couldn't have been better timed. The neighbor looked at me and asked if I had called them. I told him I had called to find out what the laws were but I didn't expect them to come by.

Well, it turns out that they took all kinds of information and filed a report. An official report about cat poop in a garden. I laughed with them about that one. But they said they needed to do it since I had called. They even looked at the poop Nicci had dug out of the garden! I am not making that up.

Later that evening the old lady came outside and just stood there staring at Nicci with her arms crossed, shaking her head and clicking her tongue. She stood there on her porch like that for 20 minutes or so until Nicci (who was watering her garden) stopped and asked her if there was a problem. The old lady didn't say anything but just walked inside. I'm sure we haven't heard the last of that one. She'll be telling all the neighborhood that we called the Cops on her and her cat.

Now we are "The Mean Neighbors". Somehow I find the whole thing amusing. :)

I'm So Sorry

I'm sorry for those of you who are at work. I really am. I just love the fact that I am off and spending the day with my best bud and the weather is amazing! We will be heading out on our adventures soon but I felt the need to stop in here first.

Weird isn't it? I feel like I am tired of blogging but I still feel like blogging. Maybe I'm confused. :)

I had my morning Starbuck's, chomped on an apple thingy and now I'm heading outside to suck up some air. I hope everyone has a great day. I know I will. :)

The Day After

A lot of people would have some seriously gory things to tell about on the day after their birthday. I have some stories to tell too. Just not this year. All I can say is that I had a fun day. That's all I wanted anyway.

Nicci surprised me with some cool things. The biggest surprise was that she kept a secret. She can never keep a surprise to herself. She gets too excited and anxious and never holds gifts until the day they were intended for. But this time she kept her secret and I didn't even know it was coming. She got me a green diamond earring. I remember posting about the green diamonds we saw a while back. I just never expected her to get one.

The green ones are exceptionally rare. My birthstone is actually Emerald and the green diamond isn't as dark as emerald but it is awesome. She was sneaky and had the store find one and had it made into an earring. It is awesome!

So I went out yesterday, wearing my cool new earring, and managed to have a little fun. I went and looked at new Mercedes. They are nice but I found that I still like the BMW better. Plus they are way more expensive! I was surprised. (Not that I planned on buying one any time soon. I just wanted to compare.) We will get rid of that stupid car Nicci bought asap though. Some of you may remember that whole scenario when she got mad and bought it and I've been mad ever since.

Then I went and had Starbuck's. You didn't think I'd go a birthday without Starbuck's did you? Don't be silly.

What's funny to me is that yesterday I managed to satisfy a few cravings all in one day. I didn't plan on doing that. It just happened. There was the test driving of the car, which I had been curious about. There was the Starbuck's, which is always fulfilling. There was the burger from Wendy's that I had been craving for some time. Then late in the evening we had Papa John's pizza and some hot wings. Then later we snuggled up and watched Bedknobs and Broomsticks. (Yes Peachy, finally!)

The last part was the most disappointing though. Somehow I remembered the movie being way better than it was last night. I know it hasn't changed so it had to be my memory. I was mostly bored the whole way through.

Then there was the sex part (but I won't write about that here.)

All in all it was a nice laid back, fun day. Now the cool part is this; I still have 2 more days off after this one! Ha! It's like my weekend hasn't even started yet. Gotta love that.

I hope everyone else is having a great holiday weekend. Remember what this weekend is for too. This is a time to thank all those veterans and past heroes who sacrificed and gave us the freedom we have. We have some problems in this great country but at least we have choices. Lots of other places don't. God Bless America!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

It's YB's Birthday today!!

I hope you have the best one ever. I tried to stay up until midnight, but I only made it until 11:45. I did wake up at 12:15 though. :)

Have a great day.

Politicians Are So Stupid

I heard this morning that candidate for governor of Maryland Doug Duncan will return campaign contributions made seven years ago by corporations linked to lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Thats nice but I just want to know something: Who freakin cares?!! It was 7 freakin years ago!

Do these politicians really think that Joe Public cares about stuff like that? The average person on the street probably just thinks he's being a grandstanding ass. Plus, returning money from an indirect source makes little sense to me. Besides the point that it was used long ago for another campaign. It's all stupid.

He's just running for higher office anyway so he can hook up with some other lobbyist who isn't dumb enough to get caught. That's the only reason these clowns run for office at all. They make their personal fortunes once they get in office and start working for the lobbyists. They sure don't work for the people like they are supposed to. This is the reason that Lobbying has become such a huge business and why it will never be outlawed as it should be.

To me, the modern politician is like an alien or something. They do things that would be considered outrageous in normal life. (Like that dork Rep. William Jefferson who got busted taking bribes and joking about it.) But the worst part is that we keep pretending we don't know. We keep going to rallies and swearing that 'our candidate' will be different. That they will do their job and we will be happy. It just never works that way.

I think the whole system needs to be scrapped and rebuilt.

Return the money Doug. Do a little grandstanding just like the other clowns have done. Someone somewhere will be impressed and you'll get their vote. Get elected. Then you can find another Jack Abramoff to make up the difference later.

Question Of The Day

When people get mad at other people, why do they (a lot of them anyway) say "Fuck you!!"? And if someone gets a raw deal on something people say they got 'fucked'.

Seems to me if someone is getting laid that can't be a bad thing.

Sounds Like "That 70's Show"

I was just talking with someone I work with. She is an older lady, into her 60's, and she told me that she once grew a big marijuana plant right in the middle of her garden. It apparently got pretty tall. She didn't even know what it was.

She is an avid gardner. One of her sons gave her this "cute little tree" (she called it) and she planted it in her garden. She watered it and fertilized it and got it to grow several feet tall. She said it was really pretty and she liked it a lot.

Then one morning she looked outside and the tree was gone. She ran outside and saw that someone had just pulled it out of the ground and took off. When she asked her boys and her husband if they saw anything they all said no. But she does remember the two boys looking a little sheepish that day.

Then a few years later when everyone was all grown up they finally told her the truth. The one boy had given her the thing knowing she would grow it nice and big for them to harvest later. They knew she wouldn't know what it was. She said she has a corner lot and is surprised that no one called the cops or something. It was in plain view of anyone going past the house.

That sounds like something from "That 70's Show". I have never watched the show but I get the impression it could have happened on it. Plus, it was the 70's when this happened. At any rate, it's pretty funny to me. :)

American Idol Finale

The American Idol Finale just finished. I thought it was pretty damn good. Both Katherine and Taylor were great. Personally I think Taylor had the edge tonight.

This year was a good one. There sure was a lot of good talent. Some that I thought was questionable (like Kevin) but for the most part I liked this year very much.

Tomorrow we find out who wins. I don't think they can get it wrong this time.

This Guy Is Amazing!

This guy was drunk! 18 Times over the Legal Alcohol Limit! "He registered 7.27 grams per liter of alcohol in his blood repeatedly on different devices." The usual person would and should be dead with just 3.5 grams per liter of alcohol in the blood.

I think he is Superman or something. How does someone function with that much in them? How does someone breathe after sucking down that much booze? I'd be full for days.

Wow.

For Cap'n Karen

Baseball Bandwagoner

I'm Always Curious Anyway.....

Ever wonder what your sexual orientation really is? Check it out. (I bummed this from Britni.)

Klein Sexual Orientation Grid

I scored an average of 1.9

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Heterosexual

Bisexual

Homosexual

Meaning

This result can also be related to the Kinsey Scale:

0 = exclusively heterosexual
1 = predominantly heterosexual, incidentally homosexual
2 = predominantly heterosexual, but more than incidentally homosexual
3 = equally heterosexual and homosexual
4 = predominantly homosexual, but more than incidentally heterosexual
5 = predominantly homosexual, incidentally heterosexual
6 = exclusively homosexual

Summary

The idea of this excercise is to understand exactly how dynamic a person's sexual orientation can be, as well as how fluid it can be over a person's lifespan. While a person's number of actual homo/heterosexual encounters may be easy to categorize, their actual orientation may be completely different. Simple labels like "homosexual", "heterosexual", and "bisexual" need not be the only three options available to us.

Take the quiz

New Job Drama

This post really doesn't need to be commented on. (You can if you want to.) I am just putting down my thoughts and feelings about this whole 'new job drama' while they are fresh in my mind. Then I can look back later to remember it all. This is supposed to be a journal after all.

I sat and talked with the current boss about the new job offer on Wednesday. She and I discussed several ideas she had for changing the department around to make it "more interesting for me". The truth is, I'm not disinterested. Maybe I didn't make my self clear enough. That's easily a possibility. Her ideas were all things I would not want to do. We agreed to talk more about it as the week progressed.

That evening I got a call from the new job wanting an answer. They needed to move on getting the new person in place. The project was a high priority. I know the HR Manager as a friend and told her I wasn't 100% sure yet. She told me they might have to retract the offer if it went too long. Now, I know these are techniques that 'sales' type people use to get things moving. I'm no dope. But she is a friend too so I had to take it somewhat seriously. I decided that I couldn't go back into the current job with no options. The boss was laying out new responsibilities that I did not want. Plus, the cat was now 'out of the bag' so to speak that I was bored and needing something new. There was no way I could go into work and say "I have turned them down. Now what ideas do you have for torturing me here." (That's what I envisioned would happen.) So I told the new place I would accept. I saw no other option.

The truth is I am happy here. I like what I do and the people are great. (Most of them.) But as I tried to explain to the cry baby boss, I feel like I have taken a break from work for the past 3 years. There is no challenge. There is nothing to look forward to. I do the same thing all the time. I like it but I came from a high pace, high stress situation. I took this job because I needed a break from that high pace environment. But now I may be done taking that break.

I say that because now when I get to look at something new (the new job) and I start thinking about how I could work out the kinks and how I would handle the processes my mind gets excited. It hasn't been used a lot in the last 3 years or so. It liked the idea of the challenge. Yes, I have it easy where I am. No stress. But is it healthy? I think not. Not for someone like me anyway. I think I am done taking a break from working for a living. It is so easy here that I feel bad about taking the money sometimes. I feel like I work half days but am paid for full days. My brain is more and more upest about that.

As for this company being "sloppy seconds" as Meritt commented last week, I do not see it as that. I had the same thing happen back in November. I got a call and when I saw the new potential job, my mind wouldn't let go. I am still sad that it didn't work out. I would love to still be there. But that has all been documented.

This company really is second rate though. The only reason it is still in business is that a big parent company is dumping money into it to keep it open. This place has not been making a profit for years. The other reason it is still operating is that the service we provide to clients is very specialized. It is in demand and not a lot of places do the same thing. Given proper mamagement, it would do very well. But the place is cursed with mediocre managers, a bad reputation in the industry and complacency with the majority of the employees. (Like I described earlier.) It is like a disease here. A person comes in full of piss-n-vinegar and eventually figures out that they don't have to be that way. That doing just enough to get by is like doing an awesome job here. The culture here makes you lazy. I am embarrassed to say that I have become like that too. Not toally and irrevocably, but it is what it is.

So I go into the bosses office to talk more about the future. This is what we had planned to do. (Her plan.) But now I have this whole thing of a 2 week notice hanging over my head. I wanted to find out just what we could do to keep me from having to move to another job. I really could have been into staying. I believe she has the potential to change our area of the world at least. Hopefully it will be a start for the rest of the company to change the culture. But instead she flew off and jumped on me (see last week's post). Never gave me a chance to explain what happened and why. She took it personally for some reason. Then on Friday she was in and out of this office many times being obvious about not talking to me. She hasn't said word one to me yet. This is a professional?

She spouted off about loyalty and how she values that above all else. I think she should stop it. She walks around telling everyone about how at her previous job she built her team all by herself. How that team, every member, was hand picked and how it worked very well. It was runing very smoothly. Then in the next breath she talks about how that company got into trouble with the government and if they don't fix some major issues they will be closed down. So she left. She left that hand picked team at the worst time imaginable for them. Where is the loyalty there? Please!

I'm tired of worrying about the whole thing. Maybe I could have handled something better. That's always a possibility with me. But I couldn't help the timing of the thing. I certainly can't help being interested in the new challenge. Especially since I have been living wihout any challenges for a while. I think maybe my subconscious is telling me I need to get back into the fire. That I am done taking the easy way. Maybe I'm just crazy because I can work here for a long time (barring the company folding which is always a threat here) and do little but have enough. I don't like that idea so that's why it has been so dangerous for me to consider other offers. I never went looking for a new job. Both times I was called by people who know me and trust me.

The end result is that I don't think I could stay and work for this woman anyway. If she is the type to take things personally all the time and if she is one of those "do as I say not as I do people" like it seems (reference the loyalty issues) then I will be glad to be away from her.

I am supposed to meet with the GM today or tomorrow to discuss all this stuff. We'll see how that goes.

One Of My Fave Baseball Quotes

1962 Mets Record: 40 - 120

Casey Stengel, the Manager of the 62 Mets, knew what he had to work with.

"When one of them hits a single to you," he advised his outfielders, "throw the ball to third. That way we can hold them to a double."

The Boss Is A Baby

Yesterday I gave my resignation letter to my boss. When I did she just looked at me and said (in a very snotty manner btw) "Are you expecting a counter offer?" I just shrugged and said "not really". Then she said (again very snotty) "Because when you resign, you resign!" I was momentarily stunned and then I was pissy. She started to say something else but I just walked out.

It's not like she didn't know it was coming. We have talked about options several times this week. But now she is acting like I have personally attacked her or something.

It was weird and it made me uncomfortable. I have never had this happen to me before but of course I don't change jobs much. This is only my 5th job since high school. Maybe its a more common thing than I know. Anybody else had this 'attitude' thing happen to them before?

Is This Funny?

I honestly can't decided if it is.

Leaving Again, Round #2

So today I will be putting in my 2 weeks notice at work. I have been recruited by my old job (for a different position) and they are being quite good to me. So I really have to take it seriously and get my butt back there.

I left this current job back in November and then came back in December when things just didn't work out. If I leave here again I know for sure they won't want me back. Heck, I wouldn't either. It looks like a pattern but the truth is I never once went looking for a new job. I was forcibly taken both times for tours & interviews. Ok fine! I could have said no but I am naturally curious. I couldn't help myself.

If I was smarter I would just have left well enough alone. I like it where I am and really I have no complaints. But now my brain is working overtime on the problems of the new job and how I can solve them. That is something I just can't resist. I like the challenge.

My current boss and I spoke about this yesterday and she is willing to reorganize the department to give me some more stuff to keep me interested and happy. I'm thinking that it's just not possible to do that now that I have been to the other side and gotten my mind going in that direction. It was a nice compliment though.

So soon I'll be on a different blogging schedule again. Not that I've been the most consistant blogger lately anyway. But maybe I'll be even better since I'll have more limited access to the blog world. Let's hope that is true.

Free Love?

This guy is a crack-up. (Link is here).

Is there really free love? If there is, who's with me for a trip to Cyprus?

Anyone Else Tired Of This?

I am really, really tired of hearing Pres. Bush say over and over that "we are a nation of immigrants". He keeps saying that so that the people who are NOT immigrants will buy into his BS line. "Hey Bushy, the last time I checked I was born here in the United States of America. That makes me a citizen!"

The immigrants that founded the country are all long dead. They passed away long before idiots in modern government invented the open borders ideal and I am sure they would not be too happy with the country being illegally invaded like it is.

His plan allows for people who broke the law to get by. His plan tells all those millions just across the border that they better hurry and get over here so they can get some free amnsety too. Don't be fooled by the bullshit Bush is pushing. It is amnesty.

Why don't our elected officials feel it necessary to protect and preserve our culture? Why are all the other cultures of the world more important than ours, even in this country? Sickening.

Stupid fucktard. I'm not buying into your amnesty plan buddy.

The Preacher Man

Here's something interesting: I recently found out that there is a Preacher living behind me that I know from a long time ago. Not just know but have had an interesting encounter with.

Way back a few years ago (OK, more than a few) when I was a senior in high school I had started hanging out with an older woman. She was 11 years older than me to be exact. Imaging how cool I looked to all the other high school guys. Anyway, as it turns out my new girlfriend wasn't totally single yet. She was only seperated working on a divorce. Personally, I didn't care. But her ex sure did.

He even came by one time and threatened to kill me if I didn't stay away from her. I just laughed at him. To me, he was a dork for even saying that. It also made me want to hang with her more since he told me not too. :)

Anyway, it turns out that this dudes sister was married ti this Preacher. He was trying hard to get them back together. He even showed up a couple of times when I was at her place. Then one night she called me and said he was on his way to visit me. I thought that was weird because I really didn't give a cpar what he wanted nor thought. But he did show up.

He preached to me about how I was breaking up a home and how I was sinning. I just laughed at him too as I pointed out that she came after me well after she left dork boy. (Yes, I used those words.) Then he started the really funny stuff; he started telling me how he didn't fit into the family and that he was trying hard to get those two back together so he could get some brownie points with the parents. When he said that I was just stunned. I asked him why I should care that he married into a goofy-assed family that he couldn't get along with and how was it my problem that "MY BABE" had been smarter than him and gotten out.

Well guess what? That shut him up finally. He just said a few more words and then left. I thought it was funny. He never got them back together either. They tried dating for a few months and counseling but it never worked. Plus, she came running back to me once I graduated and we lived together for a while.

Now that Preacher lives right behind my new place. His yard would connect to mine if we weren't seperated by a small side street. Cool, eh? What a small world. I can't wait to see his reaction if/when he realizes who I am. I may have to ask "How's the family?" ;)

Joke

I usually don't post jokes I get. I get way too many. But this one just reminded me of someone. :)

A Yankees fan was enjoying himself at the game in a packed Yankee Stadium, until he noticed an empty seat down in front. He went down and asked the guy next to it if he knew whose seat it was.

The guy said, "Yes, that's my wife's seat. We have never missed a game since Joe DiMaggio played, but now my wife is dead."

The fan offered his sympathy and said it was really too bad that he couldn't find some relative to enjoy the game with.

"Oh no. I can." the guy replied. "It's just that they're all at the funeral."

(That is so me.)