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December 23 A CHRISTMAS TAIL (REVISITED) **FROM LAST YEAR......IT'S THE BEST I CAN DO RIGHT NOW. MERRY CHRISTMAS!** A CHRISTMAS TAIL
There was a brisk, icy wind blowing down the street, causing swirls of snow to dance around in random patterns over parked cars here, through silvery bushes there. JD shivered, even though he had his warmest fur coat. Sometimes, the snow would blow right into JD's eyes, causing them to water and he would have to shake his head vigorously to clear his vision. JD had been down this street before. He had been up and down all the streets in this little town recently. JD was looking for a particular house. He remembered it was yellow and had a string of big, brightly colored bulbs strung across the front window. There was a large evergreen tree on the small, snow covered lawn. The mailbox was a miniature version of the yellow house and had a big red bow on it. JD remembered the bow looked a little frazzled, like it had been used many times before. JD thought it was curious how people like to put bows on their mailboxes and doors, string bright lights up, down and around their houses and put out big, plastic people on the lawn. He remembered that people only did this in the winter and wondered why. JD thought the houses would look as festive in the summer with all the bows and lights but he never saw any of these things after the days became warmer and the snow stopped blowing. JD had been traveling around for a long time now. He used to live with his mother and a sister but then his people decided that was too much. So JD was sent to live in another town with an old man. JD heard the female person tell the old man JD would be good company for him. JD didn't know if he was good company for the old man or not, but he remembered the old man liked to laugh at him. The old man was the one who started calling him JD. JD had another name before but he could not recall it. JD thought he had liked the old name and he knew he liked it better than JD.
"JD," the old man would call to him. The old man never talked to JD much when they were alone. Sometimes though, the old man would get a visitor or he would walk JD down to the park in town. Then, the old man would say "JD" a lot. JD would watch how the other people would ask the old man what "JD" stood for. The old man would tell them and laugh. Sometimes, but not always, the other people would laugh too.
"Just dog," the old man would say before bursting into laughter. "It stands for just dog. He's just a dog, so that's what I named him!"
JD didn't like the old man's tone of voice when he said this. JD tried barking at the old man the first couple of times he did this, but that just made the old man laugh harder. JD wished he had another name like the rest of the dogs in his neighborhood. Apollo lived next door to the old man and Duke lived down the street. JD liked their names and noticed their people never laughed at them.
JD lived with the old man for three summers. One day, the old man fell asleep in his chair and did not wake up. JD knew the old man did not get a lot of visitors and thought it might be awhile before someone showed up. So JD pushed open the back screen door and walked around to the front door. JD sat outside the front door and barked and barked. Finally, one of the old man's neighbors came over and told JD to be quiet. JD kept barking and looking at the old man's front door. The neighbor knocked several times on the old man's door and then he glanced in the front window. JD knew the neighbor had seen the old man in his chair because the neighbor turned and gave JD a startled look before running back to his house. Soon, the cars and trucks with lights on them came rushing up to the curb and some people took the old man away. No one said anything to JD though or offered to let him come live with them. JD knew what happened to dogs who didn't have people so he set off walking through the town. After the town, he walked through the countryside and then through some woods. Sometimes, JD would get really hungry but he always managed to find something to eat. Often, it wouldn't be much but JD kept going.
Right before the snow started falling, JD came to this little town. JD liked the little town, there wasn't much traffic and the people were nice to him. Some of them would feed him and give him drinks of water. JD was wandering down one of the streets one day and saw a little boy playing in his yard. The little boy watched JD come down the street and JD watched the little boy. JD thought it was best to be careful around little boys. Some were nice, but others liked to throw things at him. JD and the little boy looked at each other for awhile. JD liked the looks of this little boy. JD thought he looked lonely like JD was sometimes. JD started toward the boy but then a person inside the house called a name and the little boy ran inside. JD decided he would come back again and see if the little boy wanted to play. JD walked by the house for days but didn't see the little boy outside again.
One night, JD was wandering down this street and when he got to the yellow house, he stopped. The little boy wasn't outside but there were lights on in the house. JD looked up and saw the little boy in a window. JD knew the little boy was watching him. JD barked hello and after a moment, the little boy waved. JD barked again and again the little boy waved. JD thought this was a good start and continued to bark. But a man person from the house next door opened his door and yelled at JD. JD knew he had to keep walking down the street so the man wouldn't get mad. JD turned around and looked and saw the little boy was still watching him. This morning when JD woke up he knew it was a special day. JD had smelled a day like this before. JD didn't know what the people called it, he called it the peaceful day. The smell and feel of this day reminded JD of when he lived with his mother and sister. After a day of playing, JD would go to sleep with his belly full, curled up next to his mother and sister. JD liked this day and today JD knew he should go back to the yellow house with the little boy. When JD got to the yellow house, he could see lights on inside but did not see the little boy in the window. JD finally curled up under the big tree in front and patiently watched the house. JD knew this was where he was supposed to be tonight. JD was starting to get sleepy when a truck pulled in the driveway of the yellow house. JD got slowly to his feet and watched from underneath the tree as a man got out of the truck. The man stood by the truck for a moment looking at the house, then shaking his head, the man came around the back of the truck. JD did not know why but something told him to go toward the man. JD came out from underneath the tree and the man looked at him. JD stopped and watched the man. The man rubbed his hand over his eyes and looked at JD again. JD walked a little closer to the man, watching him carefully. The man smiled at JD and said, "It's okay, you can come closer." JD walked over to the man and sat down in front of him. The man stared at JD for a minute, looked up at the night sky and back at JD, shaking his head. Bending down, the man spoke to JD softly. "Well if this doesn't beat all! I don't where you came from dog, but you just might be a miracle. You see, I have a little boy inside this house here. My little boy was sick for a long, long time but he's feeling better now. I love that little boy with all my heart and I would give him anything he asked for. The problem is, here it is Christmas Eve and the only thing my little boy asked for was a dog just like you. My boy was very particular about what his dog should look like and I tell you, I've been all over this town looking for a dog for him. Not one could be found and here I pull into my own driveway and there you are! " The man reached out and smoothed his hand down JD's head and back. JD wagged his tail for the man and inched closer. The man chuckled softly and spoke to JD again. "I tell you what - I'm not about to question this. Sometimes, you have to have faith. So, what do you say, dog - would you like to come and live here with my little boy?" JD wagged his tail again for the man and got to his feet. JD started toward the front door of the yellow house. He turned around to see if the man had followed him. The man rubbed his coat sleeve across his eyes, and looking up at the stars again, said something so softly even JD couldn't hear him. Then the man walked with JD to the front door. JD gave his body a brisk shake to remove any snow and looking up at the man, nodded his head. The man opened the front door and JD walked inside. JD saw a tree like the one outside in the room but this one had a lot of lights and bright, shiny things hanging on it. There was a woman, who looked at JD and opened her mouth, then closed it. The woman glanced at the man and it was then JD noticed the little boy. He was standing next to the woman, staring at JD. JD smiled at the boy and gave a hello bark. The little boy ran over to JD and threw his arms around him. "You got him, Dad! You got him!" the little boy cried as he hugged JD. "Yes, son, I found your dog. Don't ask me how...that's a story that will have to wait. Here's your Christmas present, son and I think the first thing you should do is tell me what you are going to call this dog of yours." The little boy looked in JD's eyes for a long moment. Then, with a smile on his face, the little boy spoke. "I think his name is JD. And it's true, he is JD. Jeffrey's Dog!" And as Jeffrey hugged JD's neck tightly and the man and woman smiled down on them, JD wagged his tail several times. Jeffrey's dog agreed. He thought JD was the best name a dog could have. October 11 Review: Just a Thought!I was asked to review David Woon's blog Just a Thought! http://www.davidwoon.com/blog/ It's a catchy title for a blog and seems to be appropriate as David has many thoughts........on many different subjects.
His latest post is on Quantum Mechanics. I'd heard of quantum physics but not quantum mechanics. According to David, even if I had heard of it, I wouldn't think much about it. David takes it a step further though and explains quantum mechanics in fairly simple terms. Basically (in case you're wondering) quantum mechanics teaches us that no physical phenomenon is certain unless it's being observed. In other words, my blog and this article you are now reading do not exist unless you (or someone else) IS reading it. Which explains a lot.
David also ties in quantum mechanics and religion for those of you interested in the whole science vs religion game.
One post I really enjoyed was a touching and cute story about David's quest to successfully complete a romantic birthday mission for his wife. He obviously put a lot of thought and action into his gift and his post shows a glimpse of David at home.
Most of David's posts on this blog jump from...well, one thought to another. He can jump from economy to philosophy to quantum mechanics to whatever next pops into his mind.
I found his blog entertaining and certain posts were thought provoking. Some of his posts were a little beyond what I personally look for in a blog (I'm all about wit and rants and raves) but I found it interesting enough to keep reading back through several posts.
I would recommend this blog to anyone interested in philosophical discussions, science and religion. David seems to be an ernest, nice guy with a lot to say and I think he would enjoy a good discussion or comment about his blog.
Check out his blog here: http://www.davidwoon.com/blog/
This is a sponsored post. April 29 If You Needed Help, Would You Know Where To Go?It seems like every day there's another story in the news about Britney or Lindsay or some other celebrity in trouble. Celebrities get a lot of press when they're in trouble. They also get a lot of press when they check into their favorite rehab program to "solve" their problems. I don't know how much these rehabs help the celebrities. To be honest, a lot of the rehab facilities the celebrities go to sound a lot like spas or resorts. I'm not sure if that's the right environment for people who are truly in need of help. Of course, that's neither here nor there, since I don't know any celebrities personally. I do know people, real people, who have had drug and alcohol problems and needed rehab to get their lives back together. For these people, a "spa" wasn't the answer - a reputable drug rehab facility was. Stonehaven is one drug rehab facility that has gotten a lot of positive buzz. In addition to the drug rehab program, Stonehaven offers drug detoxification, therapeutic training and life skill courses. They also understand addicts and addictions because they were once addicts. Britney, Lindsay and the rest of the celebrities have a lot of choices when it comes to rehab. But for everyone else, this drug rehab facility is worth "checking into."! April 14 YUCKA DUCKA DEWbeen busy. been broke. there's something wrong with this picture.
yeah, so the wonder drug isn't working out as great as i'd hoped. actually, i suspected this would happen...after a couple of weeks, it's like my body just adjusts and assimilates the new meds and they stop working as good. truly, it's like i'm a fucking borg or something. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE! on a more positive note, tomorrow i get to go to double doses so maybe that will kick the shit out my stubborn gray cells who try to defeat me at every turn. for a week or so, until the collective takes control again. damn borgs!
i'll probably end up in a mental institution someday where i will really think i am a borg. which wouldn't be so bad if i looked like seven of nine. who ever heard of a fat borg?!
work has been good. just finished my work assessment with my HOH consumer. she did great and is ready for job development, although i'm not. my felon somehow escaped jail time for his mischievous stunts the previous weekend and is still free, so I got him extra work time at a factory. maybe they'll hire him. i gave him strict instructions today to NOT mention felonies, prison, what he did in prison, what was done TO him in prison and what hijinks he's been up to since prison while he's working. i also warned him i would be stopping in to check on him and he better be working and not talking! actually, once you get past the part where his mind is messed up from spending almost 20 years in prison and how he can't adjust to life on the "outside", he's not really a bad guy. i kind of feel sorry for him. in fact, i wrote him a letter of reference to use at his latest court hearing. he's kind of pitiful, really. he doesn't understand why I or anyone else would want to help him after the "stuff" he's done. I tried to explain the circle of life idea to him...don't know if he got it or not. (course, i might not sounded as convincing as i meant to..but i did try).
Next week, i get to work in a kennel (or to be more precise, play with the puppies while my consumer works). gotta love that...although i ain't too crazy about getting up at the crack of dawn to drive there every day. it's all good though, i get paid for that long ass drive (and trust me, it WILL be long). the kennel lady says they have a crematorium. why would a KENNEL have a crematorium?? i'm having no part of that, i can tell you right now. i hear the word euthanize and i'll be springing latches on cages like nobody's business. "run little doggies....run!"
odd, i think euthanizing terminally ill people is totally acceptable, if that's what they want. they're dying anyway...seems to me they should get to pick how they go. but animals? okay, i guess if they're terminally ill too, it's the same thing. no one wants to suffer, human or animal. i'm just going to assume that is the only kind of euthanizing they do there. now that i think about it, i'm sure it is.
still trying to set up a work assessment at the crime lab. my contact leads aren't panning out and i'm running out of time. also, i REALLY want to do this, since I am such a CSI fan. gotta figure out a way in there. somebody has to know somebody down there to get us in.
speaking of which, CSI last night was great. i just about shit when that rat popped out the dead guys stomach. ewwwwwwwww. the coroner screamed like a girl. giggle. giggle.
i swear, i came upstairs two hours ago to go to sleep and i've been on this computer the entire time. oh well, this catches up my blogging for awhile anyway.
PISSER OF THE DAY: i sold two bags of books (about 45 books) and they only gave me $6! I'm not doing that anymore...it's just not worth it. it's hurts to part with my beloved books and if i can't get enough to put gas in my car, it's senseless. so, i'm thinking about having a little book sale here in my apartment in a week or so...i think i might make more money that way if i can get anyone to show up. a couple of people have expressed an interest, so maybe....
okay, i'm tired enough now to sleep.
i think.
April 07 SPREADING THE LOVEI haven't posted in awhile so I thought I'd better pop on here and put something. Not much has been going on......mentally, emotionally and physically things have improved somewhat in the past week, thanks to a new, orally administered chemical I've been putting in my body. I don't want to say too much about it right now; one, because I'm afraid I'll jinx it and two - well, let's just say if it stops working after a week or so, I'll be totally bummed. TOTALLY.
Financially, things still suck really, really, really, really bad. But, thanks to the aforementioned chemical, I am not lying in a fetal position crying my eyes out. Totally broke I can handle (unwillingly, but it's not like i'm not used to it); the despair was KICKING my ass.
Work is going good...I've got enough people on my list that, if I can get them all scheduled I should be booked for the rest of this month. It'd be awesome if I can squeeze some OT in too. Right now, it looks like this month I will be working: in a factory, in an office, at a discount retailer, at a dog grooming place and in either an optical or crime lab. I'm hoping for the crime lab (how CSI is THAT???), but the optical lab is good too. I love my job. Oh, and one of my follow along (that means i check on him every week or so) people is working at a Cracker Barrel. Mmmmmmm. Cracker Barrel. It fucking sucks to be broke - I should not have to go to the Cracker Barrel and not be able to eat. Dammit.
That reminds me - one of my fav places to eat around here - a pancake house - re-opened FRIDAY!!! It's been about two years; it caught on fire and they did a complete renovation/rebuild. So, I drive by yesterday and all the parking lots are completely full and there is a LONG line out front (but it was like that before...we're talking good food, cheap). I so happy! I so pissed I'm broke!
I've been setting up my other blog as I can...still working on it, but I've been posting a little. Check it out............ http://arobinsviewfromthepenthouse.blogspot.com
No commercials - all Robin, all the time.
You'll find me there more than here, eventually.
On an ending note, it's 27 degrees outside and some dumb fuck is MOWING the grass across the street. Isn't that against some law of nature?
March 26 HAS SPRING SPRUNG...CONTINUEDHa! The last post even made me laugh. Especially the way I ended it. (Note to self: get a long power cord so I can use lap top outside without having to use the battery)
In fact, I liked it so much I'm thinking of starting a new blog on another site with more of the same kind of posts. This one has gotten pretty dreary, what with me pissing and moaning about my mental state (among other things) and the sponsored posts. So I think I may keep this one for commercials and maybe some political themed or entertainment style blogs to draw in traffic and just do regular blogging at the new site.
These are all ideas just swirling in my head at the moment. Hey, it's better than the usual shit swirling around in there!
I will post the new blog on here when I get it set up.......hopefully soon!
March 25 HAS SPRING SPRUNG?Okay, it is 6pm and I am sitting out on the balconey of the Penthouse enjoying warm, lovely weather.
Squirrels are scampering to and fro; the man next door is cutting his grass (seriously, it's March 25th and the dude is CUTTING his grass. dumbass), the lil bastards in the neighborhood are shrieking, cussing and thumping basketballs and a motorcycle roars by approximately once every 8 1/2 minutes.
Ahhhh......the sounds of spring!
Downstairs neighbor/possible serial killer has made himself scarce the whole weekend. Which is fine except for that little voice inside my head that says, "ummm, because the ground has thawed out?" Aw, who cares - as long as it's not my body he's burying, I'm content to sit here and blog.
I need some furniture out here befitting the balconey of the Penthouse. So far I only have one chair I brought with me from the Ghetto and frankly, it kills my ass and my back. I'd like a couple of comfy chairs and a little table. And some plants. Oh, and some ear plugs to drown out the sirens and the lil bastards playing basketball. I wish someone would teach them to play softball instead - mainly because I have seen no softball field near here, which means they'd have to go elsewhere to make noise.
I just noticed doofus mowing the grass is wearing headphones. Wonder what he listens to? Maybe he's learning Italian - I thought I saw his lips move. Ewww, he's a belly scratcher. Sometimes a penthouse view can backfire on ya. Good, he stopped mowing. No, wait, he's getting something off the back of his little moped thing (yeah, i know and he's like 60 or something). Crap, it's a grass blower. Sigh. Well, it IS sunday and there's a bible verse (i think) about making joyful noise unto the Lord. Of course, "joyful" is a relative term.
Either the lil bastards playing basketball have been called home to eat hamburger helper or the grass blower is drowning them out.
Bellyscratching man just made a signal to someone across the street. Could've been a wave or it could've been a signal to set off some fireworks.
Last night, I sat out here for hours, until my toes got cold. I had my ear buds in, my mp3 player tuned to a classical station (who knew??) and gazed at the stars. Surprisingly enough, despite the glare from the Waffle House, the fire station and other assorted lights, I was able to see the stars.
Fuck. Now, some other lil bastards have gotten ahold of a soccer ball. Are they playing soccer? Nope. They are playing some Moronic City game that involves bouncing the ball, throwing it at each other and shrieking. Ha, one of them just ran into a sign. SCORE!
Urban living may have it perks (not around here of course, but some urban place) but right now, the country's looking pretty good.
Nothing has bloomed, the trees are still bare - but cut my legs off and call me shorty, I believe spring is HERE!
Damn, the battery is going so I better March 22 Talking about Edwards to speak on wife’s health - John Edwards News - MSNBC.com
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March 12 Need to call to or from Overseas?I admit I don't get to travel as much or often as I like. I really want to go to England, Scotland and, recently I've discovered a burning need to visit Italy's Tuscan valley. My brother, on the other hand, is quite the traveler. He goes all over the place. This spring I believe he is planning to visit Portugal. Lucky him! We always like to know he has arrived safely and that everything is going well. I believe I have found the perfect way to keep in touch with him while he's out of the country. Pingo has mobile pre-paid calling cards available for just this purpose! Pingo has some of the greatest rates available. By signing up with Pingo and or linking to www.pingo.com/freeinternationalcallingcards.do you can receive up to 4 hours of international calling! Pingo is not a fly by night operation by any means; Pingo cards are a service of IBASIS, which is traded on NASDAQ. You can also save up to 90% on your calls by using their international calling card service. Current rates for a call from the Of course, Portugal is not the only country Pingo services......check out their website and find out the rates to and from all your favorite overseas countries. Whether it's Poland calling card rates, Portugal or Peru, this is the place to check out for international calling cards.
 Technorati tags: pingo, International calls, long distance, phone card, calling card, International mobile & International cell phone March 11 ANOTHER WHINY POSTGot an email from Janet tonite. Sent one back with whole bunch of shit she probably doesn't even want to hear about. She probably will read it and say, oh stop whining, bitch. She'd be right. I just can't seem to get it together anymore. Alright, it's been a LONG time since I had it "together."
Doing the best I can, but it keeps getting harder and harder, instead of easier. Obviously, I am just going to have to buckle down and get professional help. It's not going away and I'm tired. Tired of dealing with it, tired of TRYING to deal with it. Just fucking tired, actually. Haven't talked to my sister since before new years. She's probably pissed but she's not one to understand stuff like this so even though I think about calling her, I usually talk myself out of it. One of my brothers is aggravating the piss out of me on our family blog. He thinks he's being funny but I am just not in the mood. I know he loves me and would never purposefully hurt me but I wish he'd cut me a little slack.
Tried talking to Richie, but he's tired of me and all this (well, who could blame him?) and so that doesn't help. I don't really have anyone to talk to so I guess it's time to bring in the strangers. Have to find the co pay money first. I HATE burdening people I care about with this stuff, I know everyone has their own problems and certainly don't want to hear about mine. That's why the stranger is probably my best bet. Now, if I can just find the motivation, energy and of course, money to do it. HA HA...yeah that'll happen.
You'd think somone in my state of mind (whatever that is) would be bad at the work I do. But really, once I get there and I'm working with my people, I do really, really good. I am a good job coach and I enjoy it. And for a little while, I get to help someone else. Which I guess maybe helps me in some way. Of course, the end of the day sucks, since it all comes barreling back. And the mornings sometimes, getting my ass out the house to get there. I want to go, it's just DOING it. The hardest is when I am working with someone with depression. That can get a little iffy, since I can sympathize and empathize with them but at the same time, a part of my brain is saying, yeah spend a month in my life. At least you're getting help. Of course, they've asked for help, which I haven't, so what am I complaining about? I don't get too many of those cases anymore. I think maybe my boss has caught on to my depression. Gee, I thought I was doing a good job of hiding it at work. Ehh well, there's been a few rough spots so..maybe not. I've made some friends at work and they help. A lot. They're there and they listen and it doesn't take as much effort as seeking someone out. Poor them! I'm surprised they don't go running when they see me coming. On the other hand, they seem to genuinely like me, so maybe I hide it better than I thought.
Thank God for my consumers I work with. Working with them, I can forget my problems for a little while.
In my mind, it all boils down to this: if I had the money to get my bills caught up so I could fucking breathe for a minute, get my teeth fixed (yep they are falling out at an alarming rate, due to stress I'm sure - along with my hair) and just not have to WORRY about that so much; I think I could deal better with the rest of the stuff. I know the depression won't go away on it's own but I really think that would help ease it.
Fucking lottery (how come I never win it?). Fucking debts (which keep climbing and climbing). Fucking pain in my legs which is getting worse and worse. I actually had a muscle POP out of my calve the other day- had to push it back in - talk about pain! Also, I have this rash on my calve (same one) that I've had since November. Won't go away, itches like fucking hell and nothing makes it go away. CAN I NOT GET ONE FUCKING BREAK HERE???? Fucking life.
My brother in UT wants me to get his birth certificate and send it to him so he can file for disability. I've bitched and bitched at him to get going on this and now I don't know how to tell him I don't have the money to get this for him and I can't find the time (or energy) to do it. I kind of suggested to him where to call/write for the information and that he could send a money order and they would send it to him but I don't think he understands this. I need to figure out something in the next day or two. I really don't want to let him down, since I've spent so much time encouraging him to do this and I am really proud of him for finally taking the steps.
Oh, and it's my birthday next week, which just makes EVERYTHING so much better. NOT. Here's another year I've fucking wasted. Fuck.
Please God, let this be my last whiny ass post for the remainder of my 43rd year. Every night before bed, I tell Him all the things I am grateful for. I'm beginning to think he doesn't believe me. Probably because I whine so much. Naw, God can weed out the real stuff. Right?
Oh, here's something funny. MSN won't let me say fuck or ass in my title of this post. What are they, the moral compass of America? There's groups on here for incest and beastiality (and god knows what else) and I can't say "fuck" or "ass"? For fuck's sake!
March 10 UPDATE ON JOB COACHINGOkay, so my job coaching case with "H" is going good. She is really doing well in her new position as telephone operator. In fact, H is doing much better than I had hoped. H still manages to mangle the script she uses to answer the phone now and then; but for the most part she gets it right. Or, more accurately, most of the time, she gets most of it right. I tell her and I believe this to be true, with time comes familiarity with the job and as she gets more comfortable, she will improve on that. H still has and will always have issues where her vision impairment comes into play. Although I have set her up with the accommodations to help her do her job now - there are still things that can and will arise that she won't be able to do. I'm hopeful the employer recognizes that and will help her out. One thing they are going to do is supply her with a headset and amplifier. This will free up her hands, eliminate a step for her in answering the phone and I hope the amplifier helps with a problem I've noticed with her hearing. Keeping in mind that H is 70 years old, she has a good memory and has been able to memorize extension numbers, which eliminates her having to read them from the huge visual aids I made for her. Alternately, she has some memory loss which makes it hard for her, day to day, to remember some basic functions on her job. This can't be fixed by me. Either she eventually remembers after working for awhile or she doesn't. Overall, I am just so pleased and proud of her for what she has accomplished in the past week alone. I have two other cases I am working on at this time also. One is with a hearing impaired person and the other is a young woman with a learning disability. The hearing impairment case is going pretty good but I have some reservations on her finding her a position eventually that will meet all her criteria. We are working on that and I may talk more about it later. She is still in the denial, anger and coping with the stigma of the hearing loss stage. Things are going pretty good, considering, so I'm somewhat optimistic about it. The young woman with the learning disability has gotten a job in a daycare facility. That's where I will be spending much of my time during the next week. My client has worked in daycares before so I think she will do okay. Right now, I am thinking about how I need to stock up on some Airborne before going into that cesspool of germs and diseases :-) I love daycares but they are hazardous to my health. Plus, I am not too sure how clean this one is...I should have a better idea after I spend some time there tomorrow afternoon. So far, I am doing really good on getting hours in...for a change! I hope I get some more cases soon so I can keep the rest of the month scheduled.
SHOW ME (SOME) MONEY!!I work two jobs and my blog has sponsored posts and I still can't make ends meet. What am I saying...I can't even make the ends NEAR each other! I'd like to give up sometimes, but that's really not an option. Also, who wants to think of themselves as a quitter? Not me, so I keep plugging away. PayPerPost has been good to me. Yes, they are sponsored blogs, but I'm going to be blogging anyway - why not blog for money? There are some guidelines you have to follow for each sponsored post, of course. For instance, disclosure is a must; which is why you see "disclosure policy" several different places on my blog. I also have "sponsored post" or something of the kind on each "commercial". Here's the kicker: the more traffic your blog gets, the more better paying opportunities you are able to blog about. I'm a newbie - I've just been doing this maybe a month or so. So I don't get to blog about the big ticket items and by big ticket, I mean there are opportunities to post that pay $1000. Yes, I did say $1000. There are some lucky posties out there who can make some SERIOUS money doing this! And yes, that's why I started. I need to get more traffic to my blog. I've taken the steps of signing up on some blogrolls, etc (although I haven't posted them on my blog yet). I also need to start linking to more bloggers in the hope they will in turn link back to me. I'm turning into a ratings whore over this, but I will only link to people whose blogs I enjoy or find useful. Hopefully, those people will like my blog enough to link back to me. Oh hell, I don't care. I'll take a pity link at this point. It may come to the point where I will write a post BEGGING people to GOOGLE my blog and click on the link. The more Google searches, the more Google links, the better the rating. Yeah, that's a HINT. To paraphrase Toby Keith - I talk about my job, I talk about my life, I talk about my neighbor, I talk about TV shows and occasionally, I blog for money. I think PPP can help me do that.......if I can build up enough traffic. Otherwise, I will just keeping doing the little posts that so far have me coming up on a hundred bucks. And really, that's not so bad for less than a month. It's not bad, but I WANT MORE!!! March 03 WELL THE NEXT FEW DAYS SHOULD BE INTERESTING....Of course everyone knows by now (or should if they've read my profile at least) that I work as a job coach. Specifically, I'm a job coach for people with disabilities. A disability can be many things - it's not just people with physical, mental or visual impairments. A disability is anything that can keep you from, prevent you from or impair your ability to work. Believe me, there is a whole gamut of disabilities out there. For instance, at this particular moment, I have clients who have visual and hearing impairments, mental/emotional impairments and a couple of felons. Yes, having a felony (which usually carries a secondary impairment of drug/alcohol abuse; learning disabilities or emotional disorders) can be a disability as it can impair your ability to find and keep a job. Our referrals come from a state funded agency and the company I work for has a policy of not discriminating against anyone. I agree wholeheartedly with this policy. Having said that, I draw the line at working with men who have felonies for rape by force and manslaughter. I'm very tolerant but I ain't stupid. There is no way I'm transporting a man who has been convicted of rape or manslaughter of two ex-wives (apparently while divorce was not an option to him, murder was) to and from work, alone in a vehicle. Luckily, my boss agrees with me and these clients are assigned to male co-workers. I really, really like the work I do. I feel like I'm making a difference in somebody's life; I get to work with a really diverse group of people and I get to work (so to speak) in a variety of places. It's almost always interesting but sometimes a little boring. Beats the pants off of any job I've ever had! The next few days I will be job coaching a client with macular degeneration. Really cool lady, about 70 years old. She is blind in one eye and has the mac degeneration going on in the other. Literally, she is blind in one eye and can't see out the other. This has made my job extremely difficult for several reasons. One, the lady has a lot of denial about how much and how well she can see. She tends to tell me what she thinks I want to hear instead of how things really are. Fortunately, I figured out quickly how bad her eyesight really is and can now call her on it when I suspect her of not telling me the whole truth. So, somehow she obtained a job at mass discount retailer. I'm not a real big fan of this company. To say I would just about rather cut off two of my toes with a dull knife rather than attend another one of their "orientations" is putting it mildly. However, this particular company is johnny on the spot for hiring people with disabilities. They pay them pretty well too - depending on the job, sometimes well above minimum wage. So, because of their hiring policy, I feel I have to cut them some slack, despite my own personal feelings about the store. Yes, I do shop there, but I don't like it. If I wasn't so poor, I would probably never shop there again. Such is life. Getting back to my client. First, they hired her to work in the bakery department. This was quite puzzling to me, since she can't see worth a damn, but gamely, I went along to orientation with her. After explaining that I would need to fill out ALL her paperwork and have her just sign it, the employer began to catch on to just how bad her disability is. Several whispered conversations took place between management and personnel. I let them whisper away busily for a few moments before I introduced myself to the manager and asked if we could talk about my clients specific duties. Off we trotted to the bakery (client in tow) to assess what she could and could not do. Not surprisingly, this turned out to be little. The woman can't see at ALL, so stocking shelves would be a problem since she can't read the labels - on the shelves or on the merchandise. The manager was NOT happy. Manager made remark to me about why someone would hire her for this position. I made remark back about it doesn't matter now, hire her they did and with full disclosure about her disability. I visualized a little balloon over my head with the words "LAWSUIT" and that conversation was quickly dropped. Because I am a nice person and because I am there as an advocate for my client, I did explain to the manager I would have a rehab engineer come in to assess the situation and see what accommodations could be made to help my client do the job better (or at all). Manager agreed and I set about doing my job. Alas, there is no accommodation that could help my client do this job. The employer then graciously offered to move her to a different department where she might be able to do the job. I'm all over that (as I said, I have no fault with their disability hiring) and agreed. So, now my client (let's refer to her as "H") is answering the telephones for this store. Problem: H can't see the telephone. Not the buttons she needs to push, not the lights that light up, not the telephone list of extensions. Nothing. H does pretty good at dialing numbers, because she has learned to by touch. Once again, I call in a rehab engineer to find out what kind of accommodations could be made to help her do this job. Together, we come up with device that magnifies the phone onto a 20" flat screen TV so H can see what she needs to see in order to answer the phone. Rehab engineer gets me a loaner device and I set about training H on using the telephone. NOT an easy task. I use visual aids - brightly colored Velcro tabs on certain buttons so she can see and feel them and make HUGE charts with HUGE letters and numbers that hopefully she can read to figure out extension numbers, etc. Next comes teaching her to look at the TV screen but USE the phone. Not an easy task, by any means. H does pretty good on the phones sometimes, other days she kinda forgets everything she has already learned. Then again, she IS 70 years old - all in all, she's done pretty good. One problem and this is where the fun part comes in. H has a script that the store requires she reads when she answers the phone (or anyone answering the phone, for that matter) and H can not get it right. We practiced and practiced and eventually I had to have her just say the bare minimum. I explained that as H got used to answering the phone, we'd add more of the script. Baby steps. H managed to mangle that script in more ways than I can possibly describe here. Often, she would just totally rename the store. Sometimes she would pick up the phone and say, "Yeah?" or "What?" Other times, her dentures would come loose and her words would be totally garbled AND she would get strangled. Try as I might, I could not help but convulse with laughter when this happened. Thankfully, H has a good sense of humor and would laugh with me. Lest you think I am a useless fool, I would take the phone from her and rescue the caller from their bewildering conversation. I was not as successful in keeping the laughter out of my voice while doing so. Well, it's been two months of working on this sporadically - the state funded agency and rehab engineers can not work as quickly as I'd like - tomorrow, H will have her own equipment mounted and attached to the phones and will start working her 8 hour shifts. She has come a long way with the script, has memorized a lot of the extension numbers and is doing better at looking at the TV screen while answering the phone. Is she ready to work alone? Not by a long shot. I will be with her all weekend, Monday and probably most if not all of Tuesday. I have high hopes that by next weekend, when her shifts roll around again, that H will be able to "go" it alone for most of her shift. If not, I will be there to help. I'll say this for her - H is extremely determined to work. She WANTS to work, for personal reasons. She has never really worked outside her home and this is a new and exciting experience for her, as frustrating as it may be at times. I have explained to her, all along, because I like and respect her, that even if this doesn't work, after all the accommodations, we will try to find her another job, doing something she can do. H is thankful for this, but I can tell she really, really wants to do this job and work at this place. The next four days will be long and, at times frustrating for both of us - but for her sake, I hope she is able to do the job. And hopefully, my next blog will be about how well she is doing. I feel like I have to throw this in because so many people are unaware of this: the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal law that prohibits employers from not hiring a person with disabilities when a reasonable accommodation can be made or when they can do the job with little or no accommodations. The accommodations are usually paid for by the guv'mint or sometimes the employers. Employers also get a tax incentive to hire disabled workers. It's a proven fact that people with disabilities are more dependable, more accurate in their work and have a better work ethic than most "regular" people. Ain't no reason to give them a chance - spread the word! Now, you know a little bit of why I like this job so much!
February 25 GOOD FRIENDS PART DEUXA couple of months ago, I posted about good friends. One of the friends I talked about in this post was my best friend, Janet. When Richie read this, he told me he thought he was my best friend. I told him I'd post about that later and I never have.
The thing is, I was thinking about this last night. Richie IS my best friend. Not to take anything away from Janet, who is my best GIRL friend. But when I think about Richie and how far we've come in the last 6+ years, I know Richie is my best friend.
I know our relationship might seem strange or different to other people, but it works for us. Kind of....we've had a lot of bumps, hurdles and pauses during these years together.
But you get that with any relationship, including friendship. I think those bumps, hurdles and pauses is what makes a relationship strong. The strength that comes from dealing with these blips defines the relationship.
I love Richie. I really do. He can make me laugh and sometimes, he is incredibly kind to me. But he can aggravate, annoy, piss me off and just generally get on my nerves faster than anyone I have ever met. At times, I think he does this on purpose for reasons known only to himself. It should also be noted here that Richie can be a real dick sometimes and he has hurt me and my feelings many times. Usually, it's hard for people to hurt my feelings and I'm not overly sensitive, but Richie has an undeniable (and not appreciated) talent for this.
Having said that, I'm no walk in the park either. My faults and failings are many, I'm sure. To list them would take a whole separate post. I try to be a good person, really. But when Richie irks me, it all flies out the window and it ain't pretty. I can turn into a mean, hateful bitch when that happens. I HATE that about myself.
I've put a lot of distance in my relationship with Richie this past year or so. Not just him, with others too. My mind has been very troubled and so much keeps happening, I just cannot deal with any more negativity. I get negativity from Richie, my sister and others. When that happens, a caution flag goes up automatically. I have to back away - it takes everything I have some days just to go to work and be able to talk (in a productive manner) with people. I have nothing left over those days. I need positive thoughts, positive feelings and positive feedback and those are the people I tend to gravitate toward lately. People who make me laugh when I didn't feel like laughing, people who thank me for my help when I haven't felt very helpful and people who praise my intelligence and worthiness when I don't feel very smart or worthy. It's a very dark tunnel I'm in but I like to think that somewhere up ahead, there's a bend and around that bend is a light. Richie does not, I think, view things the way I do and that's been another reason for the distance.
And yet. When we are sitting on the couch, watching a movie or TV, and I lean my head on his shoulder and snuggle up to him or he puts his arm around me and kisses my forehead, I feel contented. I feel...peaceful. The blackness and busyness in my mind just goes away and I can feel my whole body relax along with my mind. I am a chronic insomniac and I suffer (literally, at my age) from sporadic sleep deprivation. But when I sleep with Richie, I rarely have a problem falling asleep and sleep much deeper and soundly than when I am alone. It must be from just knowing he is there because he snores and he does this weird thing where his legs "run" in place, like a dog. Yes, yes I snore too but the leg thing...??!!
It is these things he gives me - the peace, the rest, the laughter, the unexpected gifts - that make Richie a very good friend to me. But it's the memories, the way he gives me Valentine's Day cards from him AND from his cat and the fact he thinks of me and cares about me - this is what makes Richie my best friend.
I hope Richie is always in my life because I really can't imagine it without him. I love you, my little _ i c _ t a _ e r!
   NOT SO DESPERATE HOUSEWIVESOh, I've been so bad today! I have just watched several episodes of The Real Housewives of Orange County or whatever it's called. They were back to back on Bravo and I just COULD NOT stop once I started. Yeah, I am a reality tv nut - I admit that. But I truly never thought I would stoop this low.
It's like seeing this horrible train wreck and you want to look away, you really do, but you can't. These women have been totally re-done and re-made from top to bottom. Literally. I think the show's slogan is something like "Fake bodies, real diamonds." Enough said? Oh, not even!
There are five women - Vickie, Jo, Jeana, Laurie and Tammy. They are not all married, although most have been married at least once before and they don't all have kids. Jo is living with her boyfriend (with the unlikely name of Slade) and his son, Gavin. From what I can tell, Slade pretty much supports Jo. She supposedly has a job doing something in sales or real estate but in all the episodes I saw today, she didn't do a lick of work.
Vickie has an insurance business, which although it makes an "enormous amount of money" (her words), it still isn't enough so she is doing something with a website. Fair warning. Jeana does buy and sell real estate and does real estate investing. Or so we are all led to believe. Laurie works with Tammy's ex-boyfriend doing something I'm not sure about. All I saw them doing was sitting in a home office talking about Laurie's bikini wax. I don't think Tammy works at all, if so she is even more low key about it than the others.
They all, with the exception of Jo, have kids. His, mine and ours in some cases. Actually, the only one that had a kid with a current significant other is Tammy. She has a little boy with her ex-boyfriend, Duff. I get the impression that Duff just very recently became an ex because he is still hanging around although it is very obvious from Tammy's face she is SO already over him. Stupid Duff.
The kids. Oh. My. God. The girls look just like their mothers. If the mother has bleached blond hair, fake boobs and kohl'd eyes, so does the daughter(s). Fruuhreaky. The boys seem to be little dicks already. One girl, Kara, seems to be okay but I doubt that'll last long. One of Tammy's daughters got her driver's license one day, had a minor fender bender in her mom's car the next day and her daddy bought her (the daughter) a brand new BMW the day after that. Mom Tammy was pissed. Not so much because it was like a reward for wrecking her car I thought, but because the daughter's car is so much nicer than Tammy's. Tammy even said that. Actually, I have to admit that these kids don't seem a whole lot different than most teenagers I've encountered recently - with the exception that they know or expect there to be endless amounts of money at their disposal. Hmmm, actually I guess there is no difference.
Ha.
Although these housewives aren't pegged as "desperate" and aren't as funny with their shenigans as the TV (fictional) show; to me, they seem very desperate: in their quest to buy and manufacture beauty to get a man with money to enhance/support their lifestyle; in their attempts to appear as good parents while basically handing their kids every thing they ask for and in their superficial friendships and relationships.
These are not people who were brought up with a lot of money and it shows. There seems to be an increasing amount of white trash people with loads of money. Not a lot of class, but a whole lot of money.
I made a wrong turn somewhere in my life. Still, I'm hooked after the marathon today so I reckon I'll be watching further episodes. Now, what does THAT say about me?
 QUE SERA, SERAWhen I was just a little girl, I asked my mother what shall I be and she said.."I don't know but be quiet because my "stories" are coming on." That's what people used to call the soaps and I guess some of the older folks still do.
My mom and me would watch the soaps every day. Seriously, EVERY day. It was a ritual. First, the Young and the Restless. After that, The Bold and the Beautiful (when it came along). Then, the classics....As the World Turns and Guiding Light. School sometimes got in the way but Mom gave me an update when I got home. But I had summers and holidays to get back in the groove. It was an addiction. These people (the actors) were like, a part of our lives or something. We watched, we discussed and we speculated.
As I got older and had to work for a living - it became harder and harder to stay caught up on all the goings on with my soaps. A lot of the characters stayed the same, but a character could have a baby one year and the next year that baby would be about 12 years old and the next year the "baby" would be a young adult, having affairs and carrying on just like everybody else. It's very confusing if you don't stay with it.
The job I have now, I am sometimes home during the day and I have started catching a few of the shows again. Luckily, there are still characters (and the actors who play them) on that I remember but EVERYTHING has changed. There's a lot of people I don't know and stories that make no sense to me.
So, in my relentless internet searching I've been doing lately, I came across CBS Soap Operas - a really good place to catch up and find out what's going on. They have recaps, gossip, spoilers (which I REALLY LIKE, it's all about instant gratification to me) and links to specific actors websites.
It's updated every day and the registration for full access to the site is FREE. There is a list of all the soaps with updates, etc for each one. It's quick, it's easy and you get all the information you want. At least, I did.
I think this is a pretty new website, but for me, everything I wanted to see right now was there. I do think a "Remember when..." section would be cool for those of us who have watched these shows for 20, 30 or more years. Maybe they'll add something like that soon.
In the meantime, CBS Soap Operas is a good way to get my fix. I WANNA PLAY IN THE THE SUNI know spring will be here eventually. I mean, it has to, right? But some days when it's cold or just yucky and dreary outside, I begin to doubt it. When that happens, I like to daydream (see title of blog *wink*) about being somewhere else. I've heard a lot about this country over in the Middle East for about a year or so now. What I mean is that Dubai has had a lot of press lately. Apparently, it is going to be the next Riviera. I've seen pics of Dubai and what all is going on over there. They have made these palm tree shaped islands (yeah, I said "made", as in man-made!) where they have hotels, shopping and extremely expensive homes. From what I understand, many millionaires, billionaires and celebrities have already checked it out and are either vacationing or purchasing homes. I'm sure one of the perks is that there is no income tax. Also, it's hot there all year round. Sigh. Just think - warmth and sun. All year. Continuously. Every day. I don't know if I could afford to live in dubailand or even vacation there anytime soon. But that's why they call me a "daydream believer." What's a little dreaming gonna hurt? February 20 IT MUST BE TRUE WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT LAS VEGASI was thinking about my old friend Gail the other day. I haven't heard from her in a long time and I wondered what's been going on with her and the family. We've been friends for almost my whole life - Gail is one of my oldest friends. We have stayed in touch through her moving to a different neighborhood, when she moved to Las Vegas, when I moved to Georgia and when I moved back here. I came across some old letters awhile back (yep, from when people actually wrote "letters") and I guess that's why she's been on my mind a lot lately. I know she loves Las Vegas and has begged me to come visit her many times and for one reason or another I never made it. Even though Gail lives there, she still takes advantage of the fun; the gambling, the shows, etc. and has promised me if I ever make it out there, she will show me the town! With all the stuff I've been going through lately, it's sounding pretty good. If I like it, maybe I'll check out this website Vegas homes to see what the real estate is like out there. I do know I need to call her and find out what's been going on and how she's doing. It's been way too long! DISCLOSURE POLICYI feel it is pretty important to state (as if it wasn't obvious, lol) this blog has commercials.
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