News

Isn't there any good news on TV? It seems all I ever hear on there is the bad stuff, rather sensationalized. I would love to hear the good stuff for a change. Surely there is more good than bad in this world. Come on people ... give us some of that good stuff. If the crime rate rises because criminals follow suit of what they see on TV, then so too should it hold true that the good could increase as a result of publicizing that. So ... let the sun shine through.

One Journey Ends ... Another Begins

As I write tonight, a friend of mine is in her last 24 hours of life here on Earth. She has courageously fought the demon we know as cancer, but the war shall soon end. At the age of 51, she has had a good life. Sure, it was not without its trials and tribulations, as we have all endured, but the faith that she has has carried her through. She is a wonderful, kind, loving woman. One of God's precious jewels, and God always comes to gather his jewels.

Good night, Michele. May the angels sing thee to thy rest. God bless you!

Cell Phone Hell

You know, if I wanted to be screwed by "Roger" I would want him to be a real man. I promise you that I will NEVER again have a cell phone with a Rogers Wireless cell phone package, EVER. Yes, I am naming them here. This has been hell on Earth having a package with them. Here is the latest scenario.

My son decides he wants an upgraded cell phone, but the package we have (which he has been using all along) has 6 months left on it and cannot be upgraded. I agree to take over the remaining term and will cancel or upgrade with a different company at the end of the term. He gets the new phone, but wants the old phone number, so we are advised to switch simm cards and then Rogers will switch the numbers on our accounts, leaving the accounts in tact, in one month's time. Well ... it is now a month and 3 phone calls later and I find out that this simple request CANNOT be done because it is a "legal" issue. So my son either has to be take the new number and distribute it to his 200 contacts (which he is unwilling to do) or find a friend to take over his brand new contract then take over the one I have with the number he wants, which can now (1 month later) be upgraded. The company who sold us the new phone screwed up telling us that we could make that change, and no one will go good on it because they say they "can't." We live in the same freakin' house and both agree to the changes, but NOOOOOO it can't be done!!!!!!!

I am so ticked off. I have called them on at least 7 other occasions trying to sort out different issues with them. I will NEVER, NEVER, NEVER have a phone with them again. I will go without first. This is THE WORST customer service I have ever received. I will certainly advise my friends never to use their service. This is unbelievable!!!!!

I've Earned This

It is amazing. Our office is moving back to our permanent home next week. We have been in an awesome office environment for the past 9 months, with lots of natural lighting and big work areas. We are going back to a building that is dark, dingy, and with work areas smaller than what we had before we moved out of it.

This year will mark my 25th anniversary of working with my company. I am senior staff member. When I first started working there, I had a window, open space to work in, and a workload that actually allowed me to be bored from time to time. Now, 25 years later, I have 4 times the work, less space, less light (in fact absolutely no overhead lighting in my new cubicle), and little time to even breathe.

I am beginning to feel like a mushroom: kept in the dark and fed bullshit. Gee, I've worked here for a quarter of a century. I have earned this!!!! Gee, MouseGuy, I guess I will be in a dungeon too. Keyboard, does that cave of yours have any better lighting? Unbelievable!!!!!!! All in the name of advancement.

Hopes and Dreams

When God is about to do something great, he starts with a difficulty. When he is about to do something truly magnificent, he starts with an impossibility. — Armin Gesswein

It would seem that my house hunting, with all its restrictions, is an impossible task. I hope this quote is right, and that it will be magnificent. I've been waiting a long time for a lot of great things in my life. I hope they are all magnificent when they finally arrive.

How Men and Women Think Differently

The following are definitions as men and women see them. I think I am part male when it comes to some of these. (haha)

1. THINGY (thing-ee) n.
Female ... Any part under a car's hood.
Male ... The strap fastener on a woman's bra.

2. VULNERABLE (vul-ne-ra-bel) adj.
Female ... Fully opening up one's self emotionally to another.
Male ... Playing football without a cup.

3. COMMUNICATION (ko-myoo-ni-kay-shon) n.
Female ... The open sharing of thoughts and feelings with one's partner.
Male ... Leaving a note before taking off on a fishing trip with the boys.

4. COMMITMENT (ko-mit-ment) n.
Female ... A desire to get married and raise a family.
Male ... Trying not to hit on other women while out with this one.

5. ENTERTAINMENT (en-ter-tayn-ment) n.
Female ... A good movie, concert, play or book.
Male ... Anything that can be done while drinking beer.

6. FLATULENCE (flach-u-lens) n.
Female ... An embarrassing byproduct of indigestion.
Male ... A source of entertainment, self-expression, male bonding.

7 MAKING LOVE (may-king luv) n.
Female ... The greatest expression of intimacy a couple can achieve.
Male ... Call it whatever you want, just as long as we do it. [I can relate to the male interpretation here too. Yummy!!]

8. REMOTE CONTROL (ri-moht kon-trohl) n.
Female ... A device for changing from one TV channel to another.
Male ... A device for scanning through all 375 channels every 5 minutes.

Living Will

Living Will

I, _________________________ (fill in the blank), being of sound mind and body, do not wish to be kept alive indefinitely by artificial means.

Under no circumstances should my fate be put in the hands of cockamamy, ethically challenged politicians who couldn't pass ninth-grade biology if their lives depended on it.

If a reasonable amount of time passes and I fail to sit up and ask for a cold beer, it should be presumed that I won't ever get better. When such a determination is reached, I hereby instruct my spouse, children and attending physicians to pull the plug, reel in the tubes and call it a day.

Under no circumstances shall the hypocritical members of the Legislature (Provincial or Federal) enact a special law to keep me on life-support machinery. It is my wish that these boneheads mind their own damn business, and pay attention instead to the health, education and future of the millions of Americans who aren't in a permanent coma.

Under no circumstances shall any politicians butt into this case. I don't care how many fundamentalist votes they're trying to scrounge for their run for the presidency, it is my wish that they play politics with someone else's life and leave me alone to die in peace.I couldn't care less if a hundred religious zealots send e-mails to legislators in which they pretend to care about me. I don't know these people, and I certainly haven't authorized them to preach and crusade on my behalf. They should mind their own business, too.

If any of my family goes against my wishes and turns my case into a political cause, I hereby promise to come back from the grave and make his or her existence a living hell.

_____________________
Signature

Date__________

_____________________
Witness

_____________________
Witness

Date__________

I Can't Take It Any More!!!!

Something has got to give and give now. I have prayed and prayed and prayed. I've even begged God to help. Why won't the changes I need in my life come? I don't understand. I've been waiting and waiting and waiting and only a few small things seem to change here and there. I can't figure out if any of them are segues into the big changes I need or not. I can't take this one more day!!!

I'm at my wits end. Why won't things come? It damn well better all be worth all this waiting when it does gets here. My patience has worn very thin.

Forward This to ...

Do you hate those e-mails as much as I do that tell you to "forward this e-mail to 10 of your friends or you will have bad luck in the next 3 days." Or they tell you "If you love God, forward this."

I'm sorry, but no amount of forwarded e-mail is going to change fate. All that will do is jam up the Internet with a lot of unwanted e-mails and piss off some of your friends. If the message is a nice one or a great joke, I will forward that to my friends, generally without the "forward this" part. Sometimes I forget to remove that.

For more information about what I mean, click here. This explains it all very well.

And, before you forward to 10 of your friends thinking you will have good luck, think of whether those 10 friends would appreciate the content of what you are sending. Just send the funnies ...

Animals Are Funny

It's another nice day out there. I love the sunshine and milder temperatures. The crows woke me up at 5 a.m. It was funny to listen to them talking to each other. Luckily I was able to get back to sleep.

I was just talking to my daughter too. She has hermit crabs for pets. Strange, but true. She tells me last night one of them decided to change shells as they do when they outgrow the one they are in. She tells me it is really funny to see them "naked." They might think the same thing of her. Who knows. Apparently they make some sort of noise as they shop for shells and stick their claws inside to check it out. Gee ... I guess he is house hunting the same as I am. Only thing is he gets his for free and doesn't have to compete much to find and take possesion of a new one.

Guess I should have been a crab...

A Little Bit of Nothing

I got bored with the old look, so I've taken on a new one. I hope you like it. I almost chose a rose look, but I know my blog friends would never let me hear the end of that one. They are "real men" and don't like pink much, if at all. (haha)

I still haven't found a house to buy, and time is closing in on me. It is really stressing me out. Something has to pan out soon or I will be living in the street. Please say a prayer for me.

I had band practice last night. In one song, the piano player couldn't figure out why the chords didn't seem to fit with the song. Lo and behold, it was my fault. I was singing it wrong. Oh well ... it was actually funny when I realized I had screwed it up. I didn't even hear myself sing it wrong. Amazing ... a real blonde moment for sure. We have a lot of fun at practices and when we lead the congregation on a Sunday morning.

Who got up at 4:30 a.m. to watch the Pope's funeral? Not me, I can tell you that. A friend so graciously reminded me yesterday that my religion would not have existed if it wasn't for an ancient Roman Catholic king that decided he wanted to get divorced and branched out from the RC church to create his own religion that would allow divorce to take place. Got me there, I guess. I still like my church better. I find RC to be too "stuffed shirt" and unwilling to change with the times much. Just my own opinion. Personally, I believe in a universal church of God. I don't believe any religion has all the answers. I like to look at the big picture and not get caught up in the petty details that people fight about. They miss the point.

Anyway, I hope you like the new look of my blog. See you again next time.

These People Vote?

Scary to think ... that these people vote!

While looking at a house, my brother asked the real estate agent which direction was north because, he explained, he didn't want the sun waking him up every morning. She asked, "Does the sun rise in the North?" When my brother explained that the sun rises in the east (and has for some time), she shook her head and said, "Oh, I don't keep up with that."
. . . She also votes!

I used to work in technical support for a 24/7 call center. One day I got a call from an individual who asked what hours the call center was open. I told him, "The number you dialled is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week." He responded, "Is that Eastern or Pacific time?" Wanting to end the call quickly, I said, "Uh, Pacific."
. . . He also votes!

So my colleague and I were eating our lunch in our cafeteria when we overheard one of the administrative assistants talking about the sunburn she got on her weekend drive to the shore. She drove down in a convertible but "didn't think she'd get sunburned because the car was moving."
. . . She also votes!

My sister has a lifesaving tool in her car. It's designed to cut through a seatbelt if she gets trapped. She keeps it in the trunk.
. . . My sister also votes!

My friends and I were on a beer run and noticed that the cases were discounted 10%. Since it was a big party, we bought 2 cases. The cashier multiplied 2 times 10% and gave us a 20% discount.
. . . He also votes!

I was hanging out with a friend when we saw a woman with a nose ring attached to an earring by a chain. My friend said, "Wouldn't the chain rip out every time she turned her head?" I explained that a person's nose and ear remain the same distance apart no matter which way the head is turned.
. . . My friend also votes!

My girlfriend and I were picking up some sandwiches from the sub place last week and she asked the clerk which of two sandwiches was better. The clerk didn't have an opinion but did say that the first sandwich was more expensive. My girlfriend got a quizzical look on her face and asked, "If that's the case, why are they both listed with the same price on the menu?" To this, the clerk responded, "I don't think we add tax to the turkey."
. . . The clerk also votes!

I couldn't find my luggage at the airport baggage area. So I went to the lost luggage office and told the woman there that my bags never showed up. She smiled and told me not to worry because she was a trained professional, and I was in good hands. "Now," she asked me, "has your plane arrived yet?"
. . . She also votes!

Oh well!!!! I vote too, and probably do a few stupid things myself.

Time Change

Over at Sam's Place, Keyboard is talking about the time changing tonight. I have to agree. It makes no sense to me to keep shifting the time. There are other places in the world where they do not do this. Why do we?

I've heard of saving time in a bottle and that is possible when we dry the plants from our garden (thyme). I've heard of people making money from bottling and canning fresh air. I've seen bottles of water from the Jordan River. Perfume bottles contain "Eau de toilette" (that's just gross). But can you tell me how the heck we can "save daylight time." We can increase our efficiency so that we use less time to perform a task, but time is not something we can save. If we could, look how long we could live. We could stop the aging process. Now that, would be something someone could make money from. Hmmm ... perhaps I should look into that. I don't like the effects of aging on my body. Not at all.

April Fool

Hey, Keyboard. I wish I could have seen how quickly you reacted. That would have been a sight to behold. Some April's fool jokes can be funny. Some people play really mean and dirty tricks on people. I don't like those ones, but one in good fun are fun.

No one got me today, thank goodness.

House Hunting

House hunting is a very frustrating task. It is hard to find what I am looking for. I seem to have everyone pulling me in different directions. I am trying to block them out and look for what I feel fits the bill, but it is hard. I'm the one who will be there most, so it has to work well for me.

I think I would sooner hunt for Easter eggs. They might be easier to find, and they'd be cheaper too. Wish me luck. It has to surface very soon.

Hoppy Easter!!

There once was a rabbit named Rex
Whose favourite pasttime was to have sex
He thumped all the bunnies
With cute little cunnies
But no diseases did he expect

Then one day he tried to pee
And in so much pain was he
That he zipped up his jeans
And without being seen
Off to the doctor went he

The many tests they ran did show
That his white blood cell count was low
The infection he caught
Was so terribly wrought
His life it would take from him slow

Such a valuable lesson he learned
Was that for sex to always discern
That when in the mood
Don't f*** the whole brood
Or you so terribly may get burned

Rabbits do it quietly because they have cotton balls!!!

I hope the Easter Bunny was good to you!!!

Long and Short

Keyboard seems to be having trouble with measuring. He doesn't know what the difference is between long and short. I think that is a male thing. They always think 6" is longer than it really is. (teehee)

Keyboard, a weekend is only 2 days long, always. A week is 5 days long, always. We may have holidays that fall on a weekday just prior to or immediately following a weekend, but that doesn't make the weekend any longer than it ever is. It just means we get to stay home an extra day.

A day is a day.
A holiday is a holiday.
A weekend is a weekend.
And 6 inches really is only 6 inches.
You can try all you want to stretch it, just like these sentences.

Just think about it the right way, and you can make anything bigger than it really is!!! It's all in the imagination.

How Long Is Long?: A Response

Over at Sam's Place, Keyboard is trying to figure out the definition of long. That brings a visual to mind that we will not speak of here, but I am sure each and every person's definition is different. I suggest we could ask that of the following people:

• The mother who has just given birth only to be told that something is wrong with her baby and tests will be run. The results will be back to her as soon as possible. What a long wait that will be.
• The person who has to go to the bathroom really bad only to find that someone just got in the shower and there is not another bathroom. How long can you comfortably hold it.
  
• The son who has just been told that his father, who lives 1000 miles away, is on his deathbed and he should hurry home to be with him. How long that time must seem to get there.
• The woman who is at home raising her children while her husband is overseas fighting in a war. How long that wait must be to find out if he will arrive back home safely.
• The parents whose child is lost in the woods and a search and rescue team are trying to find him. How long a search that must seem.
• The person waiting in the emergency room knowing there is something terribly wrong with them and 15 people are ahead of them.
  

For me personally, I've been waiting my whole life for true love. I can definitely define "long" for you when it comes to this waiting time. It is an excruciatingly painful wait. I can only trust that when it does come, it will be so incredible that it was worth the wait.

Good Friday

Today is Good Friday. A day of reflection. I just came from a service where our praise band played. It is rather unusual for a whole band to play during a time of vigil, but we have been asked to do this for the past 4 years. The theme today was about forgive of sins, and the songs we sang fit in very well with that theme and the Easter theme.

My reflections bring these things to mind:

• How often we inadvertently hurt someone and ask for forgiveness. Do they accept our apology or prefer to hold a grudge? Do we or can we accept their forgiveness? Sometimes I think that accepting forgiveness for what we have done is harder than accepting apologies from those who have hurt us.

• How many times do others impose their guilts on us because they judge us by what their beliefs are? Do we accept that guilt or do we know that it is not ours to carry?

• Do we believe these things to be wrong; something for which we need forgiveness? We all do them.
• Make illegal copies of computer programs and install and use them on our computer.
• Buy one legal copy of a computer program and put it on more than one computer, and loan it to our friends.
• Download songs from the Internet without paying for them.
• Make copies of CDs and tapes that we or a friend have purchased.
• Plagerize another person's work.
• Add pictures to our web pages or other published works for which we have not received permission.
• Taken a pen or other stationery items from the office for our personal use.
• Printed something personal from the work printer.
• Checked our home e-mail or do a web search for something personal on work time.
• Knowingly pick up something that doesn't belong to us and keep it because we don't know who the owner is and don't want to look for them.

We are all guilty of sin of one sort or another. As human beings not one of us is perfect. I believe that we are meant to be the best person we can be, and that we first of all need to accept and love who we are as individuals. Then we can begin to become better and more loving people to each other. I believe that we are all capable of being forgiven. The question is, Are we willing to accept that we are forgiven or do we want to carry around a big stick to keep beating ourselves up with as our own form of penitence? Do we keep ourselves imprisoned and believe we are not worthy of good because of any wrong we may have done or perceived to have done?

There surely is a lot of reflection that can be done on this Holiest of days. I will sign off with this thought:

When you throw your burdens into the lake of forgiveness, don't go fishing!!

Oh My Goodness!!

I knew this would be my year of transition, but these past two weeks have been phenomenal. Things are happening faster than anything has ever happened for me. I know that the things that have come are only material things, but I feel like they are the base that needed to be started for the rest to come. This is a summary of what has happened in the past two weeks:

• A big printer company finally validated to me that I had a hardware problem with a printer I bought 6 years ago and replaced it with an updated model that is even better than what I had. They wanted to restore my faith in their products and service. That they did!!
• A relative gave me an unexpected monetary gift that put me in a very good financial position for buying the house I need.
• Someone gave me their digital camera when they updated to a new one.
• My son updated his cell phone and I ended up with the old one.
• When my son updated his cell phone, he got a free portable CD-player that also plays MP3s. He already has these things, so he gave it to me.
• I found out the new computer armoire I bought 2 weeks ago went on sale this week. When I contacted the store I bought it from, they told me I could get the difference back, but screwed up in telling me that, so I took a trip there for nothing. So I called the manager today about the incident to let him know this happened, and he gave me back the difference.
• There are 3 paydays in March, so part of one is "extra" money. Fortunately, I had a fair amount of overtime on all 3 cheques this month too.

These are all material things, but I am very grateful for each and everyone of them. I feel truly blessed. It is also allowing me to pull myself up by the boot laces and try to keep a positive outlook for the rest of my life. The greater plan is good, and I feel it is coming. I just need to try to be patient a little while longer. That is the hard part.

I have next to no debt now and I have toys!!!!!!!!!!!! Wahoo!!!