Meet my new daughter Keira Lin



She was born January 5th at 12:30am. 6lbs, 14oz, and 20 inches long.

yes, i am now the father of two little girls. *shudders*

Oh man, that means that I have two prom dresses to buy, and two weddings to pay for.

Yeesh, they weren't kidding when it was said that girls are more expensive than boys!

But after all that waiting, and "when's the due date?" games - the waiting had finally paid off, and I got this little thing in my life.

So far, two months after she has been born, she is starting to smile a little bit, and loves taking baths! The first bath she took, she didn't care too much for, but now she's like a damn fish - she loves the water.

Her big sister, my first - Kaylee; absolutely loves her to death. She loves to hold her, sing to her, and be around her.

And yes, this picture is one of the most recent ones:


I dont' know what the hell is wrong with TV.com...  no matter how I re-size the image - it keeps cutting off the left..  but y'all get the idea, right?

One of the gifts for Xmas was a nice digital camera, so I'll be able to take many pics of the two of them, which was something I wasn't able to do with Kaylee

So there she is. Y'all were wondering, and again, ol Tavi produces.

Well well well...

Looking at this year in review - it's been a helluva bad year. First, my wife's Mom dies, then her dad gets hooked up with a girl who's 7 years older than me, then we have to put our cat to sleep, and continuing daycare costs and such put us basically in the poorhouse...

But there's now a light.

First thing was - is that I managed to score a B in my last class - a math class that I had to take to finally get my damn sheepskin. So for starters, I finally got that Bachelor's degree a comin'. That right there - signifying the end of my long and arduous school career - is a huge relief considering, I've been "back in school" for almost 7 years now. But, now that that money pit has been escaped (once I make my final payment), then it's done. Wait six months and pay off a 180/month school loan. I can handle going to work, and coming home.

No more having to go to work at the butt-crack of dawn, go to work, get off, go to school for three to four hours, while dealing with snot nosed punks who are all in bands, and are only concerned with the next party (college kids), then either go back to work, or go home, and have to hit the sack, to do it again the next day. No more having to stay up until 2-4 in the morning, running to Kinko's for printups because you have an assignment due the next day. No more having to continually put money on the parking card - and always wondering if you have enough on it... No More!!!

I literally feel almost lost - what will I do with my time now? Get re-addicted to the video games that I used to soak myself in so long ago? Get re-acquainted with the role playing games I used to enjoy? Start building model rockets again? Now that I have all this extra time after work - what shall I do? Obviously, taking care of the kid(s - when the second one finally decides to show...) would be first priority - but when they're not around, or asleep??? I don't know what I'll do!!! (this is a good stress - I'm not worried about it at all!!!) I got so used to having to worry about something after I get off of work - that it's hard not to have to worry about that anymore! LOL!!!

Oh.. the second light.... Well, I've been offered Department Manager at Lowe's. DM of Building Materials, Millworks, Lumber, Hardware and Tools (yeah, five departments...:roll: ) We are talking a substantial raise over what I was making. Substantial. May I say that again? Substantial! I ranted previously that I'm 30 and not even making 25,000/year - well not anymore. It's well above the 30,000/year mark!!! So the money has finally started rolling in.....

Who knows? I may even have to say screw the side work.... (although, I love it so... having that extra money rolling in, is quite addictive...) Although, unfortunately, the money wont' start rolling in, until January 6th.. which is okay, I guess, in the end.

Do I want that kind of responsibility? Sure! I say bring it... It gets stifling when you outsell the specialists in your department, and handle all the freight. Doing this means that I won't really have to worry about putting up stock, and doing projects... I can delegate that out. It's great!

Slightly unnerving though.. here are a bunch of people whom I already know - that I'm going to have to turn around and lead...
Well, it's all good though - luckily I'm good with everyone.

So those are the lights that have shown up here in December. Still haven't gotten to meet baby #2 yet... but should soon enough.. (the wife and I are wondering when in the hell this thing's going to show... :roll: )

Either way, I'll keep y'all posted on that part!!! But yay for me otherwise!!!

HASTA!

Hmm. Ever have anyone puke in front of you? I had the strangest thing happen to me on Sunday. I had just clocked in at the hellhole, and my coworker, a female, was, as usual, all hyperactive, and running around the store like a chicken with it's head cut off...

Well, she disappeared for about 10 minutes, and as my other co worker and I were sitting at our desk, working on something or another, the female runs up to us, says for me to move slightly, so she can grab the garbage can. Okay fine, I move. She grabs the thing out, and bends down and just yaks away....

Me and my other co-worker (an older gentleman) were staring going "WTF???" Here she is, in the middle of the busy hours, with customers all around, just hurling away. WTF??? So we have a customer come up behind us, and my other co-worker goes up to her, and I kind of stand in front of Ms Yaks-alot, to block her from the customer's view...

I mean for God's sakes!!! GO TO THE BATHROOM!!! You don't puke in the middle of public!!!! The stupid part is, is that a minute or two prior, she was near the bathrooms (which are in the front of the store. Our desk is in the back.) I mean was the garbage can cleaner or something??? Did it feel more comfortable to be yakking in??? WTF???

Heh heh, needless to say, next time I see said co-worker, I get to razz the crap out of her.

I look forward to that!!! :twisted:

Tavi

Ugh....

After just recently having the baby's due date bumped up even further to "around Thanksgiving" there's nothing yet.  But it's getting to the point where the waiting is killing me.

I want to meet this little bugger, that surprised my wife and I so much, but yet, I don't.  I don't want to have to get used to having two kids yet...  I'm nervous about it. 

Will I be able to love my second kid as much as I do my little girl?  What if it's a boy?  Will I be able to love him as much as I do her?  Will I be able to learn to work with having two kids?

These are some of the questions that are blazing through my mind.  I've been told that when you have multiple kids, you find out that you can love one as much as the other.  Even if they're opposite sexes...    And I put faith in that.  I know I'm going to love this new kid as much as I do my daughter. 

I can't wait until I have my daughter and my other kid (Man, I hope it's a boy!!!) sit in my lap, so I can read to them both...  I can't wait until I have my daughter actually hold her sibling!!!  Already she says things like "baby cute" when she's talking about her baby doll, or a baby on tv or something...  but that's nothing compared to what she could or would say about a younger sibling. 

She's a very emotional child (my daughter) so I think she's going to love her sibling like nothing else, and I can't wait until I see her give him/her their first kiss -

Yeah, yeah, this is an emotional bunch of rants coming out of this azzhole's mind, but if you don't like it, you can F yourself you punk little sh***.....

Back to it though.....The wife went to her midwife today, and her mucus plug is gone.  she's effaced, and somewhat dilated...   so her midwife says that she wouldn't be suprised if her next appointment with my wife would have baby there with her.....

*shakes*

It's coming...   Not there yet....   but it will be here soon...  very soon.  I got the vibe it'll be within this next five days....  

Tavi

Wow.

I just got told a helluva bit of news. There is only about two weeks left until Thanksgiving. That makes for three weeks until the wife has to start popping Primrose to get her ready for labor....

Wow. Is it coming up on December already? Holy hell, it still feels like bloody September. The baby's due date is theoretically December 27th... but there's been so much confusion about when the conception date was, that it's hard to actually pinpoint one. We're expecting between the 17th and the 25th... Man, that'd be messed up if it was born on Xmas....

So that makes for about three weeks for me to do a crapload of things.

1) I have approximately three quizzes, 12 homeworks, 2 tests and a final exam I have to complete for my last BS class of school - FINALLY. But school is the easy part....

2) I have to move my daughter from her current bedroom, to my current den/office. That involves, painting the room, buying her her first twin bed, and of course bedding to go with it. Replacing the door (since it won't shut...), window casings, base molding, light and electrical fixtures. New blinds in the room (faux wood). Luckily I already installed the carpet, so I don't need to worry about that!!!

3) However, to do that, I have to put my puter, and desk downstairs in the basement. Which of course involves:
- tear up the carpet that's down there
- wallstone cracks in the wall and Drylok the walls to keep them from letting water through.
- rough paint the ceiling (michigan basement - too short to install a drop ceiling - so I'm just going to prime and paint the joists above.)
- frame in the outer walls, as well as a doorway leading to the laundry room, and a closet.
- install doors - one interior swing, and one set of bifold doors
- Insulate the walls - especially now that I bloody ripped out all of the friggin old knotty pine that was down there, and got rid of it - I can now insulate the walls and attempt to make it into a halfway warm living space...
- Drywall all the walls - with mudding and sanding and priming and oh my!
- floorstone the floors, and install carpet and padding in the main living space, as well as sheet vinyl in the laundry room, as well as vinyl tiles in the storage area.
- not to mention run new electrical wiring and connections throughout the entire area, making for plugs, switches, recessed lighting in the ceiling joists, and electrical for the storage area and new plugs for the laundry area... YAY!
- prime and paint to a color of my wife's selection...and all the trim work that goes along with it!!!

4) hmm.. amongst all this, I have to work to make money!!! (ah, all you folks who have mommy and daddy paying for your schooling, and your car(s), and your new things... y'all got it too easy!!!) Let's count:
- 2 jobs!!!!! First and foremost, the carryer of my benefits is of course the full time gig I have at (B)Lowe's....
- and second off I have more than three side jobs to complete (remember that 3000 dollar bill I had talked about in a previous blog???) - a small carpet repair, a 90 yard carpet job, and a 75 yard carpet job... and the list has been growing... of course, by my damn self!!! my brother in law is about as worthless as **** on a bull and the only other friend that lives around me, no longer exists - he's off driving a truck... and his old lady won't let him talk to me.... figures.

5) Oh yeah.. and there's all those leaves in the yard which I have to rake up... 9 month pregnant women don't do that!

6) Hmm.. Brakes on the car been a little squealy.. Gotta change them out again... (yes, I do it myself...)

7) Xmas shopping!?!? Oh holy hell!! The list grows!!!

---

Hmm. It is now November 7th... the day after I started this. We just went to the midwife. heh... the baby has engaged (it dropped head first into her uterus) and her uterine walls have started thinning out (effervescing - I think it's called.)

So now there's a new due date. Thanksgiving! *passes out*

.......................................

Oh crap.. where was I?? Oh yeah. With this new information, it kind of steps up the time frame doesn't it? HA!!!

heh - both the wife are in a rather bad bit of shell shock - the whole pregnancy's been in question the whole time - we could never hammer down an exact due date, nor a conception date. With it being this close already - wow - that means she was four months pregnant; and didn't know it.

Oy.. till next time.

All that can be said is The Cardinals deserved it (after all, the shellacking we gave you in 68 made most of you cry....)

But I wonder what the hell happened to the Tigers - the same team that beat the Yankees, and swept the A's???

Eh, only if Jim Leland had listened to Drew and Mike - we might have actually had a hit or two... 

Pitching went to hell, Hitting went to hell, Errors all around - yeesh.

---

Well, at least we can go back to giving a crap about something that really matters.  World Series or not - Sports don't mean anything, IMPO.

---

Well, let's look at this realistically:  Things are going to hell in a handbasket.  The economy's trashed, real estate is piss poor right now, Unemployment, outsourcing, Iraq, Politics, Crime, Molestation, Sexual Predators, Internet Predators, MySpace Predators, and just the fact that MySpace sucks alone!!!

All these things are much more deserving to be looked at, than any sporting event.  That's the one type of person who pisses me off the most - the sports fan.  The guy who listens to WDFN (Detroit's "The Fan" Sports Talk Radio), instead of NewsRadio.  The guy who sits on his ass, and watches a baseball/football/basketball/hockey game, instead of cutting his grass.

Let's face it.  Most of these "true" sports fans - are lazy.  They know jack **** about what's going on around them, HO but they can talk about Barry Sanders for hours, provide exact statistics from the last 20 World Series Games, and know each and every player's history.  Ask them about that little kid that got killed by it's mother and they ask you in return "did you watch the game the other night?"

WTF - (yes, this is turning into a rant...)  So, in other words, you only tune into the news to watch the sports scores?  Do you even know what Gas prices are now, and what the trend is turning towards?  Do you even know who your senator(s) are in Congress?  Do you even know what your tax dollars are going for?  Do you even know what in the hell your kids are doing in school (most people here won't - I strongly doubt most of the readers of this blog have kids)? 

ooh - but so and so won the so and so!  *shakes head* 

You know, dammit.  Even sports themselves suck nowadays.  Just like movie actors/actresses;  Professional atheletes get paid too much money, and act like primadonnas on a regular basis.   And the pathetic part is, is that a regular hockey game gets more viewers than your nightly news broadcast.  More people read (and jerk themselves to) Sports Illustrated (and I don't mean the Swimsuit Issue) than regular newspapers. 

To be continued....

   All ranting aside, this time I thought I'd take me a little time to talk about me.  I just got in from moving four contractor bags of debris from my basement tear-out that the bastard city neglected to take this morning (which is a whole other rant) back to my garage. And I realized something.  It was actually hard to do that.  Muscles were burning, back was hurting and hands were getting cramped from gripping garbage bag. 

  Interestingly enough I did it.  But it seems as though my physical capabilities just aren't what they were ten years ago, when I was 19.  How strange, what that getting older thing does to you.

  When I was 19, I was laying carpet with another guy on a jobsite.  I was skimming around the carpet on my knees without any pads, with no problem.  Sweating a little bit, but not too much and banging that knee kicker like it was nobody's business....   Over the course of last summer (I was actually 28 at the time) I laid in the carpet in our family room, and hallway.  It about damn near killed me!!  I had to break into my wife's leftover supply of Vicadin, just to set the rug!!!   My left knee (old accident injury) was hurting so damn bad, I could barely walk the next day.

  I ask - WTF?  Even at work - A long time ago, I could sling ceramic tile boxes like they were nothing - Carry two to three at a time (hell, when I would build a deck, I would carry two 80lb bags of concrete on each shoulder from the truck to where we were setting posts!) and now, when I have to re-stack a pallet of tile, I cringe - Because I know that I'll more than likely blow my back out again (which happened for the first time when I was 25 - and been happening since.)

  Hell, even a box of wall tile is heavy to me nowadays!!  I mean, really - What the hell?  Am I starting to lose strength or what?  GAH!

  To give you all a little background information - I've been a powerlifter since I was 13 years old. I started lifting weights in my Dad's garage, on a religious basis - lift more, lift more, gain strength.  And I got good at it.  I scored my first job in the carpet industry when I was 15 years old - I was a stock guy for old New York Carpet World.  And that was a golden opportunity to strength train - back then, there was rubber pad, hair pad, and foam pad that was damn near an inch thick - great for weight.  Not to mention carrying carpet!!!   What not a better strength trainer than a 30+ foot roll of Berber carpet!  So I started carrying bigger and bigger rolls of carpet - At one time, I could carry a 80 ft roll of plush carpet from one end of the store to another.

  Yeah - back when I was 15-19, I was king ****.  I could lift up the ass end of a F-150, and so on.  Hence my earning the nickname "Ox".  I was a bull.  Not anymore.  Working for who I work for - I have hard time standing up a 15 ft roll of carpet, and even trying to shove it in a remnant rack.  Yeesh.

  My wife tells me it's because I blew myself out when I was earlier - created such back problems by doing what I did, that I'm feeling the consequences of it now.  Let me tell you all - It does not feel good, at all!  I'm 29 years old, and I hobble for a minute when I stand up, until the back gets used to having weight on it.  I see a chiropractor - but I still can't help but wonder if I'm going to need surgery one day.  The chiropractor helps, but it never fails, the next day - my back is back to hurting.  Damn.

Shoulders, arms, hands - I've lost strength in them all.  The mad bummer about is, is that I used to be able to crush a glass with my bare hand, back in my youth - can't even get it to crack nowadays.

And there's no bigger bummer than having consistent knee pain throughout the entire winter.  When I was 16, just got the drivers license, and got rear ended by a dude going 35, and stopping by hitting me.  My left knee got pushed into my old Chevy Berretta's driver side vent.  I didn't even know it - until I looked at it a few days later, and saw the thing was shattered and the duct was cracked back about three inches....  Funny part is, is that my knee didn't hurt back then - I didn't start noticing it until my early twenties when it was cold, humid, or rainy.  My left knee would start getting a shooting pain right in the middle of it.

I've been to doctors before for the knee pain, and they tell me it's just a flexibility issue because there's no deformities on my X-rays.  So my bones are fine, but I have to stretch the knee. :roll: 

Lest they forget, that scar tissue from the ligament tear or whatever happened back then, doesn't show up on X-ray (This is by another doctor, as well as my father-in-law chiropractor.)  So it's one of those things that eventually, I may need Knee Replacement Surgery - who knows.

Damn - if I'm not in trouble.  Well, they say live fast, die young, and leave a good looking corpse...  That's the rate I'm at.  Physically, I'm 29, but I friggin feel like I'm 45.  I find myself telling people that there are things that I can't handle - which back then, I could do anything.  *shakes head*

So, I had made a post before that said "I'm not as good as I once was..."  Which I can't help but feel is entirely true.  I know there's other things such as stress, physical, and emotional (which my world is upside down right now...) that effect the way a person's body reacts - but for God's sakes!!!   I'm only 29!!!!! *shakes head*

Well hell..  Here it is 10:00 at night, and I'm delirous from sleep deprivation (I think....) so time for ol Tavi to hit the sack.

Ah yes, time for a good old fashioned Infliktidian rant - Well, not really - I received this as an email - and it rings so true, I had to take five minutes, and share this.... It's SO true!

---

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning ... Uphill BOTH ways yadda, yadda, yadda And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!

But now that I'm close to the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia! And I hate to say it but you kids today you don't know how good you've got it!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!! Is there anybody under the age of 18 who actually knows what the Dewey Decimal System is? I mean damn! First off, having to try to get your parents to take you there in the first place, and live with that whining, then trying to actually find the information you need in a 300+ page book!!! Is there actually anybody left who when they have to write a report with a Bibliography - there's actually books on them - and not just websites?

There was no email! We had to actually write somebody a letter ...With a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there! Then you had to wait until they decided to mail you a letter back, and if they were lazy about it - you could wait upshy a frigging month before getting a response!!!

There were no MP3's or Napsters! You wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the record store and shoplift it yourself! Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up! Not to mention, if they ended the song early, and put a really crappy song afterwards - or a commercial? We didn't have XM radio or anything like that back then!!! We actually had to listen to the damn commercials back then! And if and when you had to tape the song (and you always did...) you had to make sure that the tape was in a perfectly set place - or else you were F'ed!!! You had to wait longer to get it again!!! Does any of these "new generation" people actually realize what it's like to have a stiff ass - from sitting in front of the radio for so long - just waiting for that one song???

And if you wanted to mix your own music - there was no CD burners back then... you actually had to sit in front of your stereo all day, listening to the songs, rewinding tapes, and finding good spots to start recording and so on! No computer manufacturing there!!! You'll have a CD burned in a matter of a minute or two - back then it would take six hours or more - just to make a mix tape that you'd listen to for a week or two, and have to do it all over again!

And talk of about hardship? You couldn't just download porn! You had to steal it from your brother or if you could - your father (or your friend's father - for the really horny) or bribe some homeless dude to buy you a copy of "Hustler" at the 7-11! Those were your options! That was it!

We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it! No conference calling, no call blocking, no nothing!

And we didn't have fancy Caller ID Boxes either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy Sony Play Station video games with
high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like "Space Invaders" and "Asteroids" and the graphics sucked ass! Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination! And there were no multiple levels or
screens, it was just one screen forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died!... just like LIFE!

When you went to the movie theater there no such thing as stadium seating! All the seats were the same height! If a tall guy or some old broad with a hat sat in front of you and you couldn't see, you were just screwed! Not to mention the floors were stickier than all hell - you couldn't walk without getting that sucking sound coming from the bottom of your foot, and always sitting on other people's dropped popcorn and other gunk always around!

Sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 15 channels and there was no onscreen menu and no remote control! You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! And you also couldn't buy your favorite shows on tape! You either had to tape them off the TV - or you were screwed! Too bad, so sad - you'll have to wait for re-runs twenty years from now!

You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to Change the channel and there was no Cartoon Network either! You could
only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-bastards!

And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up. We had to use the stove or go build a
Frigging fire ... Imagine that! If we wanted popcorn, we had to use that stupid Jiffy Pop thing and shake it over the stove forever like an idiot.

Also back then - when we were teenagers - we didn't have a choice in crap! School educators, parents, politicians, etc. made all our decisions for us! Nobody would listen to us - We were KIDS to them! Nowadays, you have these teenage losers trying to get involved with politics, telling adults how to vote and all that horse-****, I mean what the hell!!! Back then, if we told someone how to vote - we'd be told to shut up - now there's actually the "Teen Choice" awards (like that means anything...) shows, and so on. It's pathetic!

And another thing - we couldn't sue our parents - we couldn't disown ourselves from them - if our dad beat the crap out of us for doing something wrong - too bad! That's how discipline worked back then. Nowadays, we have all these people suing their parents- hey, back then we had to suck it up, and actually stop doing what our folks didn't want us to do, in order for the beatings to stop. We were actually forced to - follow the rules??? (wow, I can hear a million teens scratching their heads - "what are rules?", they ask..:roll:.)

And one last thing - and I'm sure there's more things I'll think of later (which I will post on here as well - Tavi) - Who are these **** that bring a gun to school? Back then - if we had an issue with somebody - we would actually fight using our FISTS! Not guns, not knives, not friggin sticks, but fists. Whatever happened to "fighting like a man?" Sheesh - you ****!

That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled.

You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in the 1980s!

I'll tell you - not here, that's for sure. What just happened is one of the biggest reasons. I had a whole damn story typed out - the whole friggin story as to why I haven't been around - and this stupid ass website just decides to delete the last 3/4 of it, and leave the first few paragraphs - so now I have to type the whole Goddamn thing over again....

But that seems to be the story of my life as of lately - getting screwed - figuratively. For starters - acquired some new bills lately - Daycare, which is an additional 200 bucks a week against an already strapped paycheck, not to mention having to pay out 960.00 to my f'in college for the last damn class that I have to take - a friggin math class, nonetheless - Financial aid won't cover it because I'm not in school at least six credit hours. So that leaves the bill up to me - 300+ bucks a month, due Sept 15th, Oct 15th, and Nov. 15th. And to compact that down on top of the heap - is a 3 thousand dollar bill, due to my wife's midwife - tis the price you pay for pregnancy... But that's due by the end of November!

Work f'ed my hours up on my last paycheck - so I had to withhold paying my mortgage - so that means that now in Oct, I have two payments due!!! Frickin hoo-f'in-ray!!!

Not to mention that work - first of all **** BLowe's..... I have never been so psychotically in hate with a particular employer - I wish the company would just fold. These damn bastards...They pay overtime at 6 bucks an hour. I did almost 8 hours of overtime, only to be paid 6 bucks an hour. What the hell..... They say they're done with the "Chinese Overtime" bull****? BAH!

You can't take a second job, because in order to be full time, you have to have complete availability, no fixed schedules, and so on. So you have to take their crappy rate of pay (which in my case is all of 23K a year - and I'm frickin just shy of 30 years old!! F'in pathetic isn't it?) and provide (as they say) WOW customer service...

Yup - you have to provide WOW customer service, AND teach a class on how to install some sort of flooring every Saturday... yet, you can't install for the customers who come in, because they want you to sell Lowe's Installation. If you install (which I am SO tempted to do...) then it creates a "conflict of interest" and they'll fire you for it. But yet, we'll teach folks how to install their own floors.....WTF?

So - no raise in sight, no promotions in sight, since they don't like to fire non-productive liars....(Folks, if you're a lifetime salesman - say a furniture salesman - you'll fit right in - or hell, if you can't sell, but you can run a register - you qualify for specialist) no veritable break in sight.

Well, pardon my lack of joining anyone on the Titans Forum lately, much less even showing up on tv.com, or MSN....

I've had way too much going on to even attempt to come here much. Biggest problem is, is that I've started a math class *gag*, however it's an internet class - meaning that I take classes over the internet; in theory. They're really just videos of some guy or lady telling us how to work certain problems, but that has definitely eaten up my time.

Next problem is, is that, life just hasn't afforded me the time, or initiative to type in those few letters that make up this site. Hell, I haven't even touched my Xbox in about three weeks. Whether it be moving my brother in law, or rescuing his cat, or dealing with a sick child, or being sick myself, and so on.

Life has a funny way of making a person go absolutely f'in crazy. The old lady's family has been ripped to shreds since the mom died. Her old man, has himself a new fiancee with four brand new kids. The youngest kid, is my daughter's age. Needless to say, this doesn't set too well with us, nor any of her brothers and sisters.

Dammit if I don't need a smoke right now. Typing all this has gotten me so pissed off, that I don't even want to continue this friggin rant. My heart rate is through the roof - I'm falling into a hole - that I can't climb out of.

Life really ******* sucks right now.....

*shakes head*

This is an interesting email that I had received. Albeit a little long winded, and run-on thoughts, and just plain stupid sounding here and there - The concept behind it is genius isn't it?

Take a read:

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It is Time for America to SPEAK UP

I am sorry but after hearing they want to sing the "National Anthem" in Spanish - enough is enough. No where did they sing it in Italian, Polish, Irish (Celtic), German or any other language because of immigration. It was written by Francis Scott Key and should be sung" SANG "word for word the way it was written.

The news broadcasts even gave the translation - not even close. Sorry if this offends anyone but this is MY COUNTRY - IF IT IS YOUR COUNTRY SPEAK UP ---- please pass this along...

I am not against immigration. - Just come through like everyone else. Get a sponsor; have a place to lay your head; have a job; pay your taxes, live by the rules AND LEARN THE LANGUAGE as all other immigrants have in the past --- and GOD BLESS AMERICA! If you don't want to forward this for fear of offending someone-----YOU'RE PART OF THE PROBLEM !!!!
Will we still be the Country of choice and still be America if we continue to make the changes forced on us by the people from other countries that came to live in America because it is the Country of Choice??????

Think about it!

All we have to say is, when will they do something about MY RIGHTS? I celebrate Christmas...........but because it isn't celebrated by everyone .............. We can no longer say Merry Christmas. Now it has to be Season's Greetings. It's not Christmas vacation, it's Winter Break. Isn't it amazing how this winter break ALWAYS occurs over the Christmas holidays ?

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We've gone so far the other way, bent over backwards to not offend anyone, that I am now being offended. But it seems that no one has a problem with that. This says it all! This is an editorial written by an American citizen, published in a Tampa newspaper. He did quite a job; didn't he? IMMIGRANTS, NOT AMERICANS, MUST ADAPT.
I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their Culture.
Since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Americans. However... The dust from the attacks had barely settled when the "politically correct! " crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others.
I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to America. Our population is almost entirely made up of descendants of immigrants. However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand.
This idea of America being a multicultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. As Americans.....we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle. This culture has been developed over centuries of struggles, trials, and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom.
We speak"ENGLISH", not Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, "LEARN THE LANGUAGE"
"In God We Trust" is our national motto. This is not some Christian, Right wing, political slogan.. We adopted this motto because Christian men and women.......on Christian principles............. Founded this nation..... And this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home.........because God is part of our culture.
If Stars and Stripes offend you, or you don't like Uncle Sam, then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet.
We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from. This is OUR COUNTRY, our land, and our lifestyle.
Our First Amendment gives every citizen the right to express his opinion and we will allow you every opportunity to do so! But once you are done complaining....... Whining...... And griping....... About our flag...... Our pledge...... Our national motto.......or our way of life...I highly encourage you to take advantage of one
other Great American Freedom......
THE RIGHT TO LEAVE.
It is Time for America to Speak up.
>
If you agree -- pass this along; if you don't agree -- delete it!

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Interestingly enough - of course I passed it on. What red blooded American Citizen who is proud to be screwed by his government at tax time, and only wants to work harder because millions on welfare are depending on my tax dollars wouldn't?

But I digress - like I had some of this person's rants are rather stupid sounding... but nonetheless, the concept that us - black, white, and other American Citizens are continually getting screwed by the Latinos, Arabs, Jews and so on...

I think it really is time, that we all should start saying "to hell with that..."