A little bit of nuthin'
I just finished the 11th book in the series I'm reading: Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" Mysteries. (Each book is titled with a letter of the alphabet, "A is for alibi" "G is for gumshoe" etc.) This creates two problems: 1. Now I don't have anything to do to keep me awake until my shift ends at 8; and 2. Ms. Grafton's just finished "R". I don't know how patient I can be. That means I only have seven more books until I run out of series. Then I have to wait until she finishes a new one. I'll have to find a new series to read in between. Not much else going on in my life.

Things may get a little hairy at work in the next week. The manager's had it up to here (indicating point 4 feet above head) with the childish nonsense that has unfortunately become the norm around here. So, she's going to stop being "nice" (think lenient), and start putting her foot down. Or, so she says. I've heard that one before. But, I haven't seen her as mad as she was yesterday morning. As a result, someone was terminated. (Remind me not to piss her off!) I don't understand why people have to lie, and act so stupidly. What on EARTH would possess a person to come into work HIGH? Or drunk, for that matter. Both have happened in the last 2 weeks. I really don't get it. I guess I should be thankful that the things I'm "addicted" to can't ruin my life like drugs and alcohol could. I mean, yeah, chocolate can make me fat, but it will NEVER control me. And no matter how many times I chew off my fingernails, they'll grow back. As far as I know, none of my bad habits will ever cost me my (or anyone else's) life. The day I start endangering others is the day I change the way I live. Maybe I'm just too naive. I don't know what to think. Am I living in a dream world, where everyone gets along, and bad things don't happen? Possibly. But if we lose sight of that dream, how can we deal with the reality of our lives?

Jim-ism
Yet another jewel in conversation with Jim: "I think I've been sniffing too much birdseed." This morning he went to the "Exotic Animal Sale" in Madison, where he spent time with his 11 year-old son and his ex-wife. (He knew they would be there, it wasn't an accident.) Along with assorted birds, reptiles, and small animals, (for instance, one man was selling 200+ guinea pigs, and a lady had 84 pairs of cockatiels) there were African antelope, odd species of goats, spectacled cayman, leopard tortoises, white peacocks, an irridescent green turkey, and an entire herd of miniature horses with colts the size of puppies. He also saw a small blue parrot who mesmerized the crowd by performing a Bill Cosby routine! Ever seen a group of people laughing at jokes told by a BIRD?!?!? (Not suprisingly, it sold for $8,000) Upon hearing all of this, I regretted not going with him. I woke up with a doozy of a headache (possibly due to the B-52 I had last night!) I spent the entire day in bed. Oh well, there's always next time. This sale goes on twice a year. We also have Val's swap meet in the next few weeks. (She's a friend of Jim's.) Maybe I'll get to go to that. And there's the Zoo Sale over in Donovan. Not sure when that one is. That's about all I have to say for now, maybe I'll blog more later... :)

Hail the conquering hero...
Mood:  celebratory
Ahem, ahem, (taps mic) AS OF THIS MORNING, I HAVE LOST A TOTAL OF 20 POUNDS! (crowd erupts into thundering applause) May my weight continue to dwindle until I reach my goal. Hooray!

I Shot the...target. (actually, I missed!)
Mood:  rushed
Now Playing: ...Sheriff. Clapton is King!!
Went out and shot rifles again today, still in the sighting in process. Was windy, and a little cold. Both of us had trouble keeping it steady. I was wiggling/shaking so much I shot way off to the left. In fact, I missed the target by about an inch. Pretty bad. Jim wasn't doing as well either, so we decided to call it a day, and try again later. I still say it's because neither of us had eaten yet. I get shaky when I don't eat. We're going to go up to Butterfield on Saturday (I hope) and get these things hammered in.

The Sun'll Come Out...
Mood:  happy
Wishin'...and hopin'...and thinkin'...and prayin'...Plannin'...and dreamin'...If Cari moves heeeeere, then maybe life won't be so dreeeear(y). But only if she decides that's the right thing for her to do. I don't want to make it sound like I think she HAS TO. It sure would be nice, though. Since I moved to Norfolk, I've been in a seemingly theatre-less existence. First I started seeing less of Amanda (nobody's fault, it just happened), then she moved to Oklahoma. Thus stretching my link to the theatre world very thin. It's not gone completely, Jim still looks at available shows here on occasion, but it's not the same without her. Them's the breaks, I guess. Maybe if Cari moves here I'll be more aware of what goes on up at NECC. I usually don't hear about shows I might be interested in until after they're over. That's just my luck. I keep meaning to call the Performing Arts Council, but I forget. (That's easy to do after working 9 hours overnight.) Maybe if I write it on my hand, I'll remember to call tomorrow morning. Then I can find out just what's available here. I've got to find some outlet for my creative/performance tendencies, I'm driving myself (and Jim) nuts. I miss it. The last thing I did was "Mattress". That was over a year ago. It's amazing how many things change in a year. I'm curious to see what will happen next...

Lookee there!
Mood:  surprised
We went out and "sighted in" our rifles today. According to Jim, I did very well for my first time out. Those of you who know me are aware that guns and I are rarely seen together, so the concept of my OWNING one is rather strange. Jim shot a "cloverleaf" (all 3 shots touching) with his first 3. He said he's never done that on the first try before. Yay us! Click here to see a picture of the target, with shots labeled.

aGAIN!?!?!?
This darn blogger is driving me nuts. I've tried to get in here for the last 2 DAYS, but my blogs weren't there. I don't know where they go, it's like they take a little vacation every now and then. (This has happened before.) Well, at least they came back...

Now Playing: Never There - Cake
Nothing new to report...life goes on...

It's my life...and it just keeps getting better...
We had catastrophic system failure yesterday morning. Unfortunately, this happened 30 minutes before we were scheduled to receive 70 calls. I wasn't able to bring the system back up in time to get those calls. Well, the last time this happened, we were told to call a certain company. The 800 number is prominently posted on the white board at the front of the room. So that's what I did. Well, apparently that wasn't the right thing to do. To make things worse, I forgot to call the owner and tell him what was going on. I wanted to get the problem fixed, and then report in. That's not the way he wants things done. According to him, I just lost him $20,000. If you ask me, that's a load of hooey. He says that every call is worth $250. We haven't been getting as many calls as we're scheduled for, and even if we did, not every person who calls registers. And, not every person who registers attends the workshop. And, not every person who attends the workshop buys the software, which is (I think) where he came up with the $250 price tag for each call. So his $20k figure is bunk, if you ask me. But, he was really angry about not getting those calls, and he wanted me fired as a result. Or, if the manager didn't want to fire me, he wanted her to suspend me for a week without pay. She talked to me for almost an hour before I left, getting all of the details of what had happened, and the steps I'd taken to correct the problem. She told me that she was going to have to give me a written warning for not following the correct procedure, but that she didn't think anything else would happen. She's overriding the owner, because she can't afford to fire me or give me a week off. We're just too shorthanded. There's no one else to cover my shift. Not exactly a comforting thought. If I get sick, who can I find to cover for me? The problem is that each shift is supposed to have a supervisor present. Well, we only have three supervisors and an ops manager. The manager and one supervisor (her sister) typically work 8-5 only. They cover other shifts if they absolutely have to. I am assigned to third shift. The other supervisor works 12-7pm. So there is a gap during second shift from 7-11pm where there is no supervisor present. We tried to rectify this situation by suggesting that Jim be promoted to second shift supervisor. The owner didn't think that was such a great idea. The manager may be overriding that one too. Even so, we'd still be short on supervisors. We've got four new people starting Monday, one of them worked here several months ago. I think we're going to promote her to weekend supervisor after she's gone through a short probation/training period. That will help a little. I hope we get some more people in here, this constant overtime is getting old. Seems like all I do is eat, sleep, work, repeat. Sometimes I don't even eat. I've been skipping meals quite a bit lately, mostly because I sleep through them. That may also be part of the reason I've lost 14 pounds in the past 6 weeks! It's a good thing, but confusing because I'm not exercising any more than I was. I guess the meds had a larger affect on me than I thought. (I didn't start losing weight until after I stopped taking the meds.) Whatever the reason, I hope I keep dropping the pounds. :)

Well, as Amanda Kay says, I've said my say for today, so I'll be signing off now...

Mi Vida Loca
Mood:  cheeky
(singing) Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh, Agony, Misery, Woe!

Ok, maybe it's not quite THAT bad, but I'm definitely not happy. On the bright side, just thinking about my favorite musical has cheered me up. "The giant's a woman!" "This is ridiculous, what am I doing here, I'm in the wrong story!"

Talked to my mom today. According to her, I still have Christmas presents to open at her house. I guess the dog chewed a corner out of one of the boxes and ate the M&Ms that were inside. Stupid dog. Oh well, that just means I can't eat them and get fat. My sister has strep throat. She's STILL not done moving. She's been at it for over three weeks now. Granted, she's been sick, but good grief.

Well, that's all I have to say for now, so I'll be signing off...toodles!