I can't punch a coworker

I walked into the production manager's office today.  He is also the head of HR.  I asked him, quite innocently, "If I punch a coworker in the mouth, would I get written up, or is it instant termination?"  He chuckled a bit and said, "I'm sorry, but it's termination."

Damn.

I can handle the needs of my clients.  I can fix errors, educate customers, support software, answer receptionist calls between CS calls and leap tall buildings in a single bound.  I can NOT deal well with folks who are lazy and want me to finish the job that they started, and only half-ass started at that.

I mean, really...if you took TWO minutes to listen, you'd know how to handle this yourself.  But you don't WANT to handle it.  You want to push it off on someone with more knowledge, then return to your scripted answers.  It's easier that way.  It's easier to dump on me.  It's easier to be lazy.  I don't CARE if you're approaching retirement age.  If you can't do this job, then retire now.  I beg of you.

Retire now.

Thanks for letting me vent, dear readers.  I needed to get that out.  I won't punch her, but I'll smile every time I think about it.  *evil grin*  The thought of my knuckles hitting her square in the mouth.  That'd take her down a notch or two.  *evil grin*

Back home at last!

Most of these pictures were taken by Natalie, and one by a pesky coworker. 

Natalie and I headed out around 4:30 on Friday, arriving in Carthage at 7:00.  We lounged around with Grammy and watched The Wizard of Oz.

Saturday, we ran some errands, then met up with Kevin's sister, and went with her to Joplin with her son and his friend.  We took the kids to the mall, and visited the arcade there.  Natalie had a lot of fun, although Steven's friend annoyed the heck out of her (and me.)

Saturday evening, we had a birthday gathering for Grammy, Kevin's Mom.  Only one of our four offspring made it, but all of her other grandkids were there, as well as a husband and fiance' of some granddaughters.  It was enjoyable, and it's always good to see K's grandma, GG.  She's pretty feisty for an 87 year old.

After that, I visited with 2 of my friends until almost midnight.  I had seen a third friend, and her new baby, earlier in the day.  The baby is adorable, but I didn't hold her much, since I was scared of her broken collar bone.  Sheesh, what a way to start a life.  It will supposedly be healed up within a couple of weeks.

Today, I visited with some other friends, after hooking up the DVD player that we got for Grammy.  We finally hit the road at around 3:30.  What a BORING drive.  Natalie spent her time trying to get truckers to honk, and taking pictures of other motorists.  That would freak me out, if a passing kid was taking my picture.

Now, we're home, and I'm in my jammy pants, and it's time to watch some quality television. 

On the flip side, Clyde.

Tomorrow!

"The sun'll come out, Tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar that Tomorrow, there'll be sun...Just thinkin' about, Tomorrow, clears away the.....bleh, never mind.

Tomorrow is another day.  Fiddle de de, as Scarlett would say.  Tomorrow, lots of things will happen:

Tomorrow, I'll go to work early, and work my ASS off to make sure that things are done before the weekend.  Never mind that I've worked 9-12 hours every day this week (usually close to 11).  I have to kick it up another notch tomorrow.  I have to make sure that things are squared away so that I can enjoy my weekend off.

Anywho....I'm going to Carthage to visit my in-laws, and my friends.  I can't wait.  Kevin will bring Natalie to KC, and she'll sit with me until 5, when I'm done working.  Then, we'll hit the road South.  I'm so excited about this trip.

My buddy Beth just had a baby.  I get to drool over a new baby.  You may need a crow bar to get me away from this little angel.  Seriously.  I may have a problem.

I get to see Grammy, Kevin's mom, for a whole weekend.  She is the most awesome woman.  I get to see Jonathan.  Darling boy of mine.  He may be 21, but he's going to school and working and making good decisions, and I can't wait to catch up with him.

I can't wait to see GG.  That is Kevin's grandma.  She will be 87 in  a couple of weeks, and she's still got the fire in her to tell you to kiss her ass.  I love that woman.  

I will sign off now, but I will tell you that I'm signing off happy.  I love my family.  I love Kevin's family. I love my job, and my employer.  I love my life.  Sometimes, work sucks, but I still love it.

Sue me.

See ya 'round, silly clown!

I'm home safely, and weekend plans.

Well, no brushes with death today.  Traffic was crazy, but nobody tried to kill me.  PHEW! 

This weekend, Natalie and I will head to Carthage for a visit.  Kevin will take the girls down for Thanksgiving, but I can't go, due to the fact that I have to work the day after, and possibly on Saturday.  Because of this, I thought I'd go down this weekend and see everyone.  Monica has a school dance on Friday night, so she's staying home with Daddy.

It's Grammy's birthday, so it's a good weekend to visit, AND I'll get to see my running buddies from when we lived down there.  One of them, Beth, had a baby yesterday!  It's been a LONG time since I've had a new baby to love on.  I can't wait.

Tonight will be a channel-flipping night.  The country music awards are on, but so is Kid Nation, and Kitchen Nightmares.  *sigh*  What a rough life I have, huh?  Kevin had dinner hot and ready when I got home, so you'll not hear any complaining from me!

Well, time to check out some journals before the shows come on. 

Seriously, I am SURE that I have it made.  Dinner ready when I got home, in my PJ pants and surfing the web by 6:30, and nothing pressing that needs done.  Yup, I think I'm in good shape tonight!

I almost died today, and other ramblings

OK, so I'm on the way home tonight, life is normal.  I'm used to seeing idiot drivers, and I can avoid them like nobody's business.  I can tell, way before I get near them, that they aren't driving smart, and I take measures to stay way back, or get past them quickly.  But, today was another matter:

I was in the left lane, and going the speed of the vehicle in front of me, and that of the person behind me.  It wasn't quite the speed limit, but it wasn't 90, either.  Here we go, down the fast lane, getting along famously.

We began going past someone in the right lane, who was going WAY below the posted limit, about the time that my lane of traffic slowed to about the posted limit.  No problem, who cares?  Right?  As I drew up beside this car, I noticed that the dome light was on....WTH?

About the time I was directly beside them, I saw that the passenger was reading a road map, and the driver was leaning over, assessing the situation.  Holy SHIT!  As he gazed at the map, he started moving toward the left...toward ME!  Crap!

I couldn't go faster, there was a car in front of me.  I couldn't go slower, or I'd get plowed by the truck behind me.  All I could do was drive, and watch this little car moving slowly into my lane.  I was pretty sure I was going to die, or at LEAST be maimed.

I saw the car to my right, and the evil ditch to the left, and I made my decision:  I braced both hands firmly on the wheel, and used my thumbs to press HARD on the horn.  I drove like this for 2 hours (it was probably 10 seconds) without reaction from the map-reading driver. He finally shifted slowly back to his own lane.

I stopped shaking about 15 minutes later.  I knew I was going to die...or at least wreck, or at least be freaked out.  I was freaked out.  I had to tell all to Kevin when I got home (although he would have been better off not knowing) so I could ditch the feeling.

I drive in Kansas City rush hour traffic every day.  Who knew that I'd be this close to a TOTAL mess(or death or dismemberment), over 20 miles from downtown.  Yeah, it freaked me.  I have until tomorrow morning (early) to get over it, and get behind the wheel again.

Wish me luck.

Have you seen my parents?

Well, I think my parents should be home from St. Louis by now, don't you?  I mean, seriously, how late do they plan on getting home, anyway?  It's going to get dark earlier, and they should be here.

I'm really concerned.  Yup, I'm concerned that it's 4:00 and I haven't seen pictures yet!  It's all about me, you know.  LOL  I'm also anxious to see Jim's pictures from his ride today.

We went to a fundraising thingie here in town.  They are raising money for new Christmas lights, and we jump on a chance for a meal catered by Nadler's.  Yummy brisket, with all the fixins.  We walked up there, and were home less than an hour later.  Just in time for the kickoff of the Chiefs game. 

*sigh*  The Chiefs game.  A moment of silence, please.
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OK, now, let's get back to reality.  There is plenty of race left, although Edwards is sucking it up right now.  *sigh* Edwards.  Then again, I could watch the Colts/Patriots game.  I think I'll do both.

Later, I plan to make some beef stew.  It's been sounding good, lately, so we bought the ingredients this morning.  I wonder if we have any corn bread?  Hmmmm.  If not, It'll still be good.

New England just took the lead, Edwards is still in 39th (after clinching the Busch series championship yesterday,) while the Busch boys run 1st and 2nd (blech) and the stew isn't going to make itself.

See ya 'round, Charlie Brown.

Catching up

Well, Halloween went off MOSTLY without a hitch.  Natalie was pretty bummed about not going, but we toasted her pumpkin seeds and she stood behind me as I handed out candy, so she could see everybody. It wasn't too bad.

Kevin's Dr. appointment was pretty much what we expected.  He's off for at least two more weeks, and no therapy this week.  He'll go back to therapy next week, then get evaluated the following week.  *sigh*  I'm sick of him hurting all the time.

Monica is supposed to have a friend or two over tonight, but one's phone has that very fast busy signal, which usually means the phone is temporarily disconnected, and the other was supposed to be here 30 minutes ago, so I don't know if anyone is showing up or not.  I'd be fine if they didn't, but she'd be disappointed, so I hope someone shows.

Natalie is back in school.  There is a staph infection which is VERY resistant to antibiotics in a few towns in the area.  I just found out that it's in the next town over!  That is some scary stuff.  I hope our school is taking measures to prevent it.  I'll power wash the walls with bleach, if they need me to!

Well, I'm off to see what trouble I can find out there on the world wide web.  I might play some Vaults of Atlantis slots on pogo, maybe some Destruct-o-Match on Neopets, maybe some surfing on the JokeADay message boards, or maybe even some chatting.  Who knows?  I'm a wild card.

ROFL!  That cracked even ME up.  See ya later, agitator.