Yep, as of noon today, I'm unemployed. After one final "screw you" from the powers-that-be, of course.
If you're reading this, you've probably said wonderful things to me about how stupid my old employer was and is (oh, you have no idea how stupid, but yes, they are) and how you're sure that I'll land on my feet in a much better place (that would not be too hard) and how you wish me the best of luck always.
Thank you. I appreciate every one of those comments, and I thank you.
I'm free.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Amazingly inspirational
For those of you who don't know, Greg and I are lucky to have wonderful friends who live in Yorkshire, England. Dan and Kerry are amazing people, though Dan is more than a bit bonkers. Why would I say such a thing?
I say such a thing because in about 5 hours (our time), Dan and nine of his friends are starting on a walk for charity that's going to take them 78 miles or so (mostly uphill, it looks like). They have a week, and I think you'll understand why I say Dan is crazy when I tell you that the first two days are 16 miles each (mostly uphill, did I say that?). Kerry has graciously volunteered for the task of schlepping the luggage around for all of these guys. Who says men pack light? Check this pile out.
Dan and his friends are taking on this amazing challenge (mostly uphill, did I say that?) to raise money for a charity run by a wonderful couple he knows after they suffered a tragedy and wanted to help others. They sound like terrific people. You can read Dan's further explanation and appeal here. This is a wonderful cause. Please, it's not too late to help by making a contribution. And if you just can't swing a contribution, please stop by Dan's website to check out their progress over the next week and to offer some words of encouragement. Please, about mile 31 of day 2 (of mostly uphill), they're going to need it.
Thank you!
I say such a thing because in about 5 hours (our time), Dan and nine of his friends are starting on a walk for charity that's going to take them 78 miles or so (mostly uphill, it looks like). They have a week, and I think you'll understand why I say Dan is crazy when I tell you that the first two days are 16 miles each (mostly uphill, did I say that?). Kerry has graciously volunteered for the task of schlepping the luggage around for all of these guys. Who says men pack light? Check this pile out.
Dan and his friends are taking on this amazing challenge (mostly uphill, did I say that?) to raise money for a charity run by a wonderful couple he knows after they suffered a tragedy and wanted to help others. They sound like terrific people. You can read Dan's further explanation and appeal here. This is a wonderful cause. Please, it's not too late to help by making a contribution. And if you just can't swing a contribution, please stop by Dan's website to check out their progress over the next week and to offer some words of encouragement. Please, about mile 31 of day 2 (of mostly uphill), they're going to need it.
Thank you!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
So what's up?
Well, I'm just about ready to start applying for work. There are three positions that I'm aware of that I want to submit my resume for, but that document needs "The Greg Stamp of Approval." Since Greg writes for a living, I value his opinion (and proofreading skills). Last night, he took a quick look at it and said something about widows and orphans. I don't know what that means, but I'm sure Greg will bring everyone together into families without much trouble.
At my current job, every day is kind of an ordeal. I have things to do, they're not bad things, but needless to say I've lost my heart for it. I just want them to let me go. They recognize the knowledge I have in my head and that they should try to get that stuff passed on, but the way they've asked me to do that . . . Without going into details, I'm so discouraged by recent decisions that I certainly recognize our "relationship" has come to an end. I can't quit, or I won't get unemployment. At this point, I'm thinking I'll be done by next week--or maybe even this Friday, who knows. Just let me go, people!
Greg is starting a campaign for me to be released and it has a slogan: FREE DEBBIE! FREE DEBBIE!
At my current job, every day is kind of an ordeal. I have things to do, they're not bad things, but needless to say I've lost my heart for it. I just want them to let me go. They recognize the knowledge I have in my head and that they should try to get that stuff passed on, but the way they've asked me to do that . . . Without going into details, I'm so discouraged by recent decisions that I certainly recognize our "relationship" has come to an end. I can't quit, or I won't get unemployment. At this point, I'm thinking I'll be done by next week--or maybe even this Friday, who knows. Just let me go, people!
Greg is starting a campaign for me to be released and it has a slogan: FREE DEBBIE! FREE DEBBIE!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Yay for breathing!
There's a letter to the editor in our local paper, talking about the victory the writer and others in our city have achieved. All of the full service restaurants in our town of 12,000 people are now smoke free. The writer says that he believes this is the first time a change like this has been accomplished in Wisconsin without having to pass a city ordinance.
Yay for Norm (the writer)! Yay for the other people who worked long and hard to get this completed. My family will no longer stink like cigarettes after eating Friday fish fry. We'll no longer have to try to explain to our girls that some people like to smoke right before and after they eat while they sit at the table next to us, even though, yes, they know it's going to kill them.
We'll probably have to walk through clouds of smoke to get in to the restaurant, but it's easier to hold my breath and hustle my kids through than to breathe it for an entire meal. Heck, we'll probably consider sticking around and ordering some of the delicious pie that a couple of our local restaurants are known for since we don't have to breathe other people's smoke.
Oops, opened a can of worms with that one. No, I'm not going into an obesity lecture (even for myself). I was kidding about the pie! Honest! One health issue at a time, people.
Yay for Norm (the writer)! Yay for the other people who worked long and hard to get this completed. My family will no longer stink like cigarettes after eating Friday fish fry. We'll no longer have to try to explain to our girls that some people like to smoke right before and after they eat while they sit at the table next to us, even though, yes, they know it's going to kill them.
We'll probably have to walk through clouds of smoke to get in to the restaurant, but it's easier to hold my breath and hustle my kids through than to breathe it for an entire meal. Heck, we'll probably consider sticking around and ordering some of the delicious pie that a couple of our local restaurants are known for since we don't have to breathe other people's smoke.
Oops, opened a can of worms with that one. No, I'm not going into an obesity lecture (even for myself). I was kidding about the pie! Honest! One health issue at a time, people.
Monday, July 07, 2008
Ugh! - - - Ahhhh!
Outside is just not a good place to be these days. What with the flaming chunks of firecrackers, the mosquitoes, the very high humidity, the mosquitoes, and the heat--it just seems prudent to spend time indoors.
So yesterday we took the kids to see Wall-E. Cute, very cute. Fortunately, our kids are old enough that when they ask questions during the movie, they whisper instead of holler. And fortunately, they stay in their seats, unlike a little boy next to us who went wandering around the aisle more than he sat down. And fortunately, our kids (meaning Julia) just cover their ears when there's loud noise, instead of scream at the top of their lungs, which is what the aforementioned boy did. Fortunately, the theater surround sound mostly drowned him out. Mostly.
We ate a little bit of popcorn and drank some lemonade and enjoyed the show. No mosquitoes. No humidity. And no heat (in fact, I had on flipflops and my toes were cold!). We should do this every night!
So yesterday we took the kids to see Wall-E. Cute, very cute. Fortunately, our kids are old enough that when they ask questions during the movie, they whisper instead of holler. And fortunately, they stay in their seats, unlike a little boy next to us who went wandering around the aisle more than he sat down. And fortunately, our kids (meaning Julia) just cover their ears when there's loud noise, instead of scream at the top of their lungs, which is what the aforementioned boy did. Fortunately, the theater surround sound mostly drowned him out. Mostly.
We ate a little bit of popcorn and drank some lemonade and enjoyed the show. No mosquitoes. No humidity. And no heat (in fact, I had on flipflops and my toes were cold!). We should do this every night!
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Our Independence Day
Allie wanted to go see the city fireworks. Julia wanted to go see the city fireworks. Greg wanted Allie to help him set off our fireworks in the driveway. Julia was supposed to watch but she only watched one or two before she came in, holding her hands over her ears. Allie watched all of it, but said that the smaller fireworks were boring. I was in and out of the house watching some of them and towards the end, Greg was lighting things, throwing them towards the road, and neither he nor Allie were even looking at them. Isn't that the point? All of us got completely eaten by mosquitos.
Then it came time to leave for the city fireworks. Julia had to change her clothes because she had on a sundress and it was only about 70 degrees outside. She started crying because her head got stuck and then she remembered that she apparently burned her fingers slightly on a hot sparkler. She was horribly tired anyway, so I suggested that she stay home with me. It was a measure of how tired she was that she thought about it and immediately said yes.
Julia went to sleep despite the noise outside and about 10:15, Greg and Allie came home. They banged on the window of the living room to try to scare me. When they came in, Allie immediately got into her pajamas and she went off to bed. For about 3 minutes. Then she came out on the landing and said plaintively, I don't want this night to end!
About that time, Greg and I realized that Simon the cat was missing. Greg looked all over the house and became convinced that Julia had let him out earlier when she was watching the fireworks in the driveway and holding the front door open. I suggested that Greg get some leaves off our catnip plant and see if that rousted him. I think the leaves from our catnip plant could entice a dead cat (yes, we do have cat visitors to our garden). Simon did not appear but Rabies had a great time. Greg went outside with a flashlight, risking intense mosquito attack, and I checked the house again. We both realized that if Simon had gotten out, the fireworks would scare him to death and he'd probably be long gone.
I went into the basement and opened the door to the storage room and behold! There was Simon, eager to get out and get upstairs to the catnip. Today, our plans are to go buy collars for the cats. There's a pet store in Madison that has cats, dogs, birds, ferrets, lizards, fish, spiders, snakes, hedgehogs, crabs, etc. It's like going to the zoo without getting eaten by mosquitos. Ah, summer in Wisconsin.
Then it came time to leave for the city fireworks. Julia had to change her clothes because she had on a sundress and it was only about 70 degrees outside. She started crying because her head got stuck and then she remembered that she apparently burned her fingers slightly on a hot sparkler. She was horribly tired anyway, so I suggested that she stay home with me. It was a measure of how tired she was that she thought about it and immediately said yes.
Julia went to sleep despite the noise outside and about 10:15, Greg and Allie came home. They banged on the window of the living room to try to scare me. When they came in, Allie immediately got into her pajamas and she went off to bed. For about 3 minutes. Then she came out on the landing and said plaintively, I don't want this night to end!
About that time, Greg and I realized that Simon the cat was missing. Greg looked all over the house and became convinced that Julia had let him out earlier when she was watching the fireworks in the driveway and holding the front door open. I suggested that Greg get some leaves off our catnip plant and see if that rousted him. I think the leaves from our catnip plant could entice a dead cat (yes, we do have cat visitors to our garden). Simon did not appear but Rabies had a great time. Greg went outside with a flashlight, risking intense mosquito attack, and I checked the house again. We both realized that if Simon had gotten out, the fireworks would scare him to death and he'd probably be long gone.
I went into the basement and opened the door to the storage room and behold! There was Simon, eager to get out and get upstairs to the catnip. Today, our plans are to go buy collars for the cats. There's a pet store in Madison that has cats, dogs, birds, ferrets, lizards, fish, spiders, snakes, hedgehogs, crabs, etc. It's like going to the zoo without getting eaten by mosquitos. Ah, summer in Wisconsin.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Now on TV
Tonight, my family watched a new show called "Baby Borrowers." The premise is that five teenage couples who all think they're ready to have a baby are given individual homes in a cul de sac and their own vehicles. Then they wear an Empathy belly pregnancy simulator thing for two days and then they get real babies. The infants ranged in age from six months to eleven months and the kids got them for three days and nights. After the first day, one of the kids stays home with the baby and the other goes to work outside the home (and believe me, there were fights over who got to leave). The real parents could watch 24-7 on surveillance cameras and a trained nanny stayed the entire time in the house, but the nannies were told not to comment or intervene unless the child was in physical danger.
In future shows, the kids are getting toddlers, then preteens, then teenagers, then senior citizens. It was pretty interesting stuff. Some of the kids were just completely overwhelmed. The couples would start arguing over who had to take care of "it." Yes, they called the baby, "It." In most cases, the real parents ended up popping in to either chastise the kids or give them a pep talk (mostly chastising). Two of the girls just stopped trying to take care of the babies. I've read reviews of the show, and apparently in a future episode, a nanny has to step in when one couple decides to leave a toddler alone in a house.
Allie and I had a good conversation while we watched. She ended up saying that she doesn't want to get a baby (yep, she said "get") until she's at least 38, like me. Oh, boy. I told her that she can have a baby when she's younger than 38. After all, I had Allie when I was 34 and I think I would have been ready by 28 or so (I'm a late bloomer!). But I think now she's going to be checking the parenting credentials of future boyfriends!
In future shows, the kids are getting toddlers, then preteens, then teenagers, then senior citizens. It was pretty interesting stuff. Some of the kids were just completely overwhelmed. The couples would start arguing over who had to take care of "it." Yes, they called the baby, "It." In most cases, the real parents ended up popping in to either chastise the kids or give them a pep talk (mostly chastising). Two of the girls just stopped trying to take care of the babies. I've read reviews of the show, and apparently in a future episode, a nanny has to step in when one couple decides to leave a toddler alone in a house.
Allie and I had a good conversation while we watched. She ended up saying that she doesn't want to get a baby (yep, she said "get") until she's at least 38, like me. Oh, boy. I told her that she can have a baby when she's younger than 38. After all, I had Allie when I was 34 and I think I would have been ready by 28 or so (I'm a late bloomer!). But I think now she's going to be checking the parenting credentials of future boyfriends!
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