February 2006

FEBRUARY 2006

Kagali
the Cherokee "Bony Moon"

The moon of Kagali is traditionally a time of personal, family feasting honoring and memorializing those who have departed the world of the living. A family meal is prepared with place(s) set for the departed. This is also a time of fasting and other ritual observances. Before the Europeans decimated our people and destroyed our religions, a community dance officiated by a Didanawiskawi (Medicine-man) was performed to honor "The Bony Moon" ... called "Kagali".

Imbolc
the Celtic Observance of Brigid

Brigid is the Celtic goddess who in later times became revered as a Christian Saint. Her festival on February 1st was known as Imbolc (or Oimelc), heralding the return of the of Spring. Later, the Catholic Church replaced this festival with Candlemass Day on February 2, which is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and features candlelight processions. The powerful figure of "Brigid the Light-Bringer" highlights both pagan and Christian celebrations. Learn more.

12:24a – All my chores are done. I just got home and am having a few beers. I still have to fix a bite to eat. I am not sure when I should got to bed. I still need to get my schedule figured out. I might like working this shift. I especially like the fact that the traffic is ...[my system rebooted right about here... again!] ...

12:38a – I especially like the fact that the traffic is practically nonexistent. Driving in at 2:00p was a breeze with no slow downs, and driving home after 11:00p was even easier.

It's hard to ruffle my feathers any more. I am especially pleased with the fast paced intense training! I love it. Almost everywhere I have worked before has kind of just taught you as you go. The City of Orlando was pretty good, but even they were not this focused on training. And of course, WU was very training deficient. Worse yet, they declined to make use of my years of experience, ignore my attempts at producing productivity reports, trend analyses, call load projections... I was even told to stop such activities that it was making my coworkers look bad! Oh well... that's all history. I hope they're having fun. I am off to bigger and better things.

12:54a – However, I do have a serious concern. Should I pursue the SSDI route? I never wanted to go on SSDI in the first place, but it was starting to look hopeless. I am supposed to receive a phone call from them on the 15th, but I don't know if I will be home. I guess I will play it by ear. I would rather work than be on SSDI anyway. If I can I will. I just hope my health holds out. Sometimes I forget (or deny) that I have a serious set of health issues. I have been so healthy, energetic, dynamic and in shape most of my life. It's hard to accept my injuries, weight gain, age, and being on so many medicines. I guess it could be worse though.

12:59a – That's enough public introspection for now I think. I need to go through email, and fix supper. I have some drumsticks simmering on the stove now. Now sure just what I am going to do with them.

1:48a – I just got off a long phone call with Calisa. Sounds like they are thinking of moving away from California back home to Indian Country near Darlene. Steph's foot is healing up fine and she only has one more trip to the therapist (then the legal action commences...).

2:13a – Still up. I am going to go figure out something for ... my meal... (supper?).

2:44a – Bills are done (except for the car payment which I need to take care of tomorrow). Supper is almost done too. I have a chicken soup in progress. I need to go to bed soon too! (I think...)

3:07a – I have my food done (cooling down). I have a lunch made for work tomorrow too. And I got my clothes for tomorrow ready this morning, so I am all prepared. I think I will readjust my "pill taking time" from 6am and 6pm to noon and midnight to accommodate my new schedule. I skipped pills today, except for my atenolol chloro-whatever...

I wonder if I should set my alarm? I think not. I will be awakened by the day light. I also have the window cracked open and will hear the birds in the morning. Kira usually gets me up by 7am anyway.

8:13a – I am sleepy now. It's catching up with me. But I have to be in Belleville in 45 minutes to meet with Terri about the rental assistance.

8:55a – I arrived for my meeting in Belleville with Terri, but she had to go home sick today. So I dealt with her fill-in person, Damian. I got the paper work all filled out. I was feeling pretty tired through the process I noticed. On the way home, I ran by Taco Bell and got some junk food.

I had some wild dreams. In one I was some kind of caretaker at a zoo. I was in a pen with a lion and was trying to trim his nails or something. If this wasn't bad enough, there was a huge (Grizzly?) bear in there with us and it was starting to get aggressive with me. I was remaining calm, but I was VERY concerned about my safety. The dreams shifted, and I discovered the bear was upset because its offspring had fallen in a crevice and died. I have no clue where that dream sprang from.

Then I had another short dream before waking up about the car. It seems I was leaving work and went out to the car to find it was still smoking after sitting for hours. This would not be a good thing! I know where that dream came from. Odd that I am dreaming about work after only one day!

10:35a – The weather is 52°F. Amazingly warm for Feb! It's kind of cloudy, but not too cold at all. I just got back from my appointment for seeking rental assistance for March. Gassed up the car. Picked up some food from Taco Bell. Going to eat and take a nap before work. I am already feeling the tiredness like a weight.

2:10p – I took a nap for about 2 hours, but I did not sleep much. Anyway, time to head in for day two of the new job. I have to be there early (3:00p) again for some orientation. Tomorrow I should be able to start at the normal time of 3:30p.

Calisa called me with questions on how to set up her OutLook Express on Comcast. How funny... I am already getting support calls with only ONE day of training!

12:08a – DAY #2 of intensive training is done. I took my first test tonight and got a 96%. Better than I had hoped! These tests actually apply toward our later rankings and/or possible promotions in the future. We covered a lot of various tools, including the help desk system we will be using, which is Remedy™. Remedy™ is the same program that Barnes Hospital uses, so even though I have never used it, it is kind of familiar to me in a way. The basic process seems to be very much the same as SupportMagic™ or Applix, which I am very familiar with. However, Convergys seems to be genuinely organized! I am increasingly impressed and enthusiastic. The training is grueling, intense, long, and fast paced, but I can't really call it boring. I know that all this material is going to be vital to me once I get on the floor and start taking calls myself. In time I am confident I will be flicking through the various screens, pinging, doing trace routes, etc., with the same speed and ease of the many other applications I have mastered over the years. It will take time, but I will get there. That's one of the best things about getting older and more experienced! I know myself, what I am capable of, my failings, and the patterns that I can expect follow in the process.

1:49a – Skip made supper tonight and left a skillet of chicken & rice on the stove for me to warm up. That was nice of him! I will have to put it away, and set him up with a lunch. I have it on warm now.

1:57a – I have nearly all the computer tasks done for this eve... err... morning that I had set myself to do. Email is checked, WG bills entered, journal updated, etc. I guess it's time to eat and crash. I can sleep in tomorrow. Oh, and I also printed my name and employee number onto my "training manual" insert, with my picture on it! I just had to be different!

10:19a – I was planning on trying to sleep until 11:00a, but I woke up and didn't feel like going back to sleep, so I got up a little after 10:00a.

12:29p – I've eaten a bite, got email caught up, updated my journal main page. I even got the car payment paid finally. I've been so busy this week, I had trouble getting around to it.

2:23p – The envelope is off to Blake. Stamps are bought. I ran by Q-Mart too. Now to dress and head out for DAY #3 of training...

11:59p – Day #3 is over! I learned tonight that the class we are taking now used to be taught in 3 weeks of 8 hour days. Now they are crunching the same materials into 2 weeks of 7 hour days. Tonight we went out on the floor and sat with an agent taking live calls. We listened in an watched how they performed and recorded their trouble shooting. It was good to get a feel of what the *real* job will be like. We also got most of our logins tonight; except for me and Whitney, who both started a day late. We seem to be a day behind on everything.

12:10a – It's good to sit down and relax! I don't know why my feet hurt. We haven't been doing much walking. Mostly just sitting in class, but I feel like I've been on my feet all day. Odd. Probably these shoes.

1:46a – I finally got WinTV reloaded on my PC and used it to set the VCR (attached to my PC) to record "John Doe," "Star Gate SG-1," "Star Gate Atlantis," and "Battlestar Galactica" on Friday evening. Oh, and I also got my TV schedule added to my MyYahoo main page, and moved to the top of the list. About the only thing I have left to do is to correct a bill entry in WG, eat pizza for supper, and go to bed.

2:34a – Pizza eaten. It wasn't that great. Not worth $7 for sure. Anyway, off to bed.

1:27p – I actually slept almost until 11:00a this morning. I feel much more "normal" today. I think my new sleeping pattern is becoming established. It will probably become scrambled again on the weekend, but we will see. These hours are actually much better for my personal biorhythm anyway. I am not sleeping as much, only about 6-7 hours per night, yet I feel more rested. I am getting more done it seems too. Also, I am drinking less too. Last night I drank about 56.25% less beer than I typically do. Than can only only be good for my health (and my weight).

This morning I got the dishes done and the kitchen cleaned up. I have not even eaten yet, but I have food cooking.

Terri called me this morning with bad news. The rental assistance cannot be done this month since Interfaith is out of funds until next month. I may still see if I can get funding for April just to try to keep finances from getting further behind than necessary. At least she assured me they can still take care of the utility bills. As long as this job continues on course, I should be fine in a couple of months.

I also got a letter from SIU telling me that Ken P. is no longer working there. So now I do not know how I am go submit my COBRA information! I need to find out if whoever is taking over his place can receive and process my info.

2:00p – Not only did I get the dishes done, but I cleaned out an accumulation of several dishes in the icebox. I used some of the leftovers to make my lunch and prepared a bite to eat to take with me for dinner tonight. I need to leave in about 45 minutes. My showering & shaving is all done and I have my shirt set out to wear. They want us to wear a red shirt for national cardiac car day (or something like that). I wore my red pullover shirt yesterday, but I realized last night that I have my red Wash U shirt. I am going to wear it with just a little bit of irony and impudence.

12:13a – Home at last! And it's FRIDAY! What a grueling week this has been. Very rewarding though. I figure the hours I put in this week will come to $265.50 before taxes. I am used to making $653.60 per week, so this is a huge drop in what I am used to. Of course, I did not work a full 40 hour week. Still, this will be adequate for me to get by on and raises will come in time. I should be making gross pay of $380 per week once I have been there for 90 days. If I understand correctly, we are eligible for increases every 1,040 hours.

1:35a – My WG bills are entered. I am holding at #76 in Illinois. It's odd, but for the first time in years, I have more money in my wallet than I do in my bank! Kind of scary too...

12:52p – I got up about 10:50a feeling kind of groggy. I am still sleepy. I made an excellent pot of soup earlier, flavoured with a bit of bacon grease and Sriracha sauce, a hand full of pre-chopped vegetables, some pre-chopped meat (a mix of chicken, beef and pork), and some noodles. The I sat down with Skip and re-watched Spiderman-II.

We are planning on going to the store later. He wants to buy a new microwave oven.

We wend to Wal-Mart, but the microwave Skip was looking for was sold out. He ended up buying a ceiling fan instead (and then paid me off the balance of what he owes me). Then we went to Radio Shack where I convinced Skip to buy a new keychain remote for the security system, and I splurged a bit myself, picking up a new remote lamp switch to add to the security system.

I will put this one in my room since the switch on the ceiling fan is broken and I can't turn my light on. I have to feel my way through the dark and turn on the lamp in my room. I picked up a replacement switch to put on the ceiling fan light, but I haven't been able to figure out how to get the original one off. It appears to be braded together. I think I will have to break it open. I don't want to just cut the wires because they are so short already.

Skip put his ceiling fan up this evening and I kept annoying him by taking pictures of the process. I don't know why I was being such a pain in his neck about it... maybe because it was fun!

1:14a – Supper is done and we are eating now. I made fried drumsticks, rice, and fresh green beans in white sauce.

11:00a – I slept fairly sound last night, getting up around 10:45a. Kira got me up 2 or 3 times of course, but I fell back to sleep quickly enough. I probably slept so well because I did not take my medicines yesterday. I only have about 3 days worth left anyway. It will probably be a while before I can afford t resume taking them. I just hope stopping suddenly does not cause me to get sick before I can start them up again.

Chooga had a chunk of cat poop glopped up on his tail this morning. I finally cornered him with my expensive $60 scisscors and snipped the offensive matter from his tail.

11:52p – Skip and I decided to go to "Jade Garden" ... a Chinese restaurant down the road from us. They turned out to be closed. In fact, they appear to be PERMANENTLY closed! It look very dead. So we ended up rolling over to Radio Shack where Skip returned his speaker system that he bought yesterday (and which sound like poop!). Then we went to Popeye's Chicken and got fast food for supper.

We also stopped by the Dollar Store where Skip looked for some new light bulbs for his new ceiling fam system. I also picked up some bulbs for my light and some fabric softeners. Then we ran by Q-Mart for beer.

I got home and figured I did not really want to eat, but I decided to sit down and have a chicken wing. I started my tape of Star Gate Atlantis from last Friday while I ate. I ended up eating all of the chicken, the biscuit, coleslaw and all! I was not all that hungry, but once I got started I could not stop.

12:08a – I am now listening to the History Channel babbling from the living room. I just heard reference to the destruction in the great fire of the Alexandria Library. I can't help but to think of what a horrble loss to mankind that was. It brings me to tears to think of this shameful loss. How sad! How... shameful for humanity.

12:56a – I am off to bed soon. First I need to fix something for supper though.

Here is the story of THE WREN. I will provide a link telling this story in Ashokhe.

1:31a – I am about to eat. Skip just got up and started turning off the lights and TV! He thought I had passed out. Err... not quite!

1:44a – Anyway, I am off to bed now. Oddly enough, this is *early* for me!

2:15p – I actually managed to sleep until about 11:00a this morning. Now I am trying to rush to get food fixed. I have to leave in 30 minutes!

I got the garbage out and rolled the dumpster to the road ... tomorrow is trash day.

12:12a – I am home and finally sitting down. I got dishes loaded in the sink by about 11:55p, then I put on a load of laundry. I pulled the clothes of the dryer and sorted them. They were Mine and Skip's mixed. I fed Chooga and Kira, gave Kira her pills, took my pills and changed a light bulb on the patio (I must remember to get more bulbs, that was the last one). Next, I also sorted a bunch of coins and rolled another roll of quarters up.

12:23a – I just activated the Visa card, but the balance is still zero. I suppose it will be a few days before my refund is deposited.

12:36a – Email is checked. Journal updated. Time to go wash the dishes I set to soak. And take the cans our to the drum. I sure wish Skip would do some of the house work!

1:03a – The clothes are in the dryer, I put a new tablet in the toilet tank, and I dumped the cans out in the recycling drum. I think I will try to wind down a bit now. I don't know what I want to do though. I have a movie rented to watch that was due back today... "Corpse Bride." I should probably watch it so can return it on the way in to work tomorrow. I also have Battlestar Galactica recorded from last Friday to watch. I am more in a creative mood than a "sit on my butt & watch TV" mood though.

2:18a – This is so annoying. I just don't have anything I feel like doing! This is "my" time to relax and all I've done is housework. Oh well.... I think I will eat and go to bed. Skip left some beef stroganoff for supper. I am warming it up.

2:51a – I have still managed to get one cartoon translation into Esperanto done tonight, a letter to my niece (Katie) written, and my current change/bills entered into Where's George. Time now to eat and crash I guess.

1:42p – The movie is finished with plenty of time to spare. However, now I have a couple of chicken thighs in the oven baking. I am not sure if the will be done in time for me to eat one. I need to start getting ready for work now. I leave in an hour.

2:18p – The time is working out better than I had hope. The movie is watched, and the chicken is baked and eaten. I am taking part of it with me for dinner tonight. My shower is taken and now I just need to get dressed and head out.

12:03a – I learned tonight that we are not going to be tested on ACSR/ACP ("billing"). I was all ready to take the test, but for some reason we don't have to take it. Next week we begin our full 8 hour shift from 3:00p to 11:30p. We will be working with "live" customers on the floor. I thought we were told we would graduate at the end of this week, but I learned tonight that it is at the end of NEXT week. That makes sense. I supposed they want to see how people do in the real environment with live customers. I wonder how many don't make it? What the percentage is?

Oh! It was starting to snow a little bit when I left class. Nothing heave... just a slight flurry.

2:05a – I recreated my password list and printed it out for use in class/training tonight. First I scanned in the old one and tried editing it, but it looked like crap. So just created a new form in Excel from scratch. It look MUCH more professional.

2:07a – I just finished pulling my sheets off the bed and tossed them into the laundry. Whites only, with bleach (they were starting to look dingy). I put fresh linens on the bed (long over due), so I should sleep comfortably tonight. I always sleep better with a hot bath an fresh bed clothes!

2:48a – I need to eat and go to bed I suppose. I have a burrito from Taco Bell for my ... umm... supper?

2:56a – I just updated my Where's George entries. I dropped a couple of notches to #78 in the state of Illinois ... grrr.

2:57a – I have to love this new job! I get to stay up to 3:00a, drinking beer, sleep in to 11:00a, and have plenty of time to get my chores done, plus free time during the day for personal matters! Tomorrow I need to run to the store for a few things if I don't forget.

3:22a – I was just watching Jay Leno and Ron Howard's daughter (Brice?) was on. I did not even realize "Opie" had a daughter! Having grown up with "Mayberry RFD" and Opie Taylor, and later on "Richie Cunningham," this kind of freaked me out.

12:01p – Kira did not need out once all night. That's the first time that has happened in ages! She is out of her Proin medication, which she takes for a bit of an incontinency problem, but she has not had a problem at all. I think I will not bother with getting more for her if she continues to do well. I see no reason to continue subjecting her to another drug for no reason.

I got up around 8:00a and let her out anyway, however. Everything was WHITE outside! The snow must've started coming down much more seriously after I went to bed. I went back to bed, but now I was wide awake and had trouble getting back to sleep. I turned on the TV and after Mayberry RFD, an episode of I Dream of Jeannie, and a few minutes of Bewitched, I finally dozed off. I actually managed to sleep until almost noon, and woke up to an episode of I Love Lucy which was affecting my dreams quite oddly.

2:12p – I need to rush and get ready now. I have made a trip to the stores, and picked up a hamburger... it's just about time to get moving.

12:07a – Home again! Just two more training classes before we hit "transition week" and start taking live calls! I had to stop and fill up the tank on the way home. That was another $30. I took Lisa's resume in to HR today and Nok told me the timing was perfect, that she had just received a new project. I called Lisa on her next break and, to my surprise, Nok had already called her. Unfortunately, the time slot she was calling about was 10:30a to 7:00 and Lisa could not work those hours due to her daughter's school schedule. Maybe they can call her in for another tour, but usually you have to work there for a while to get those more favorable tours.

12:12a – Anyway, the "kids" are fed and I have a half a chicken in the oven wrapped in bacon slices. That should be tasty. I will probably make some rice with it.

I have another roll of quarters rolled, and I only need one or two more $1 coins to complete a $25 roll... that will be my first.

4:20a – Supper was pretty good. (Or breakfast? ...whatever...). I am off to bed now.

2:44p – I slept well. Kira wandered out of the yard again this morning. In a rush now... off to work...

I carried my lunch with me today, but not in my usual lunch container, since I have forgotten to retrieve it from the lunch room at work for the past two days. I took the Thai style rice I made last night with have the bacon wrapped chicken. It wasn't too bad. It was cold today. The snow is still lingering in patches and the melted puddles of frozen into ice slicks. Class tonight was another brain throbbing experience and I think everyone it starting to get tired of cramming so much information into their heads in such a short time and not being able to apply it. I look forward to staring actual calls FOR REAL on Monday! Anyway, we had our second big test tonight. I was the first one done, which worried me. I mean, I was done in about 20 minutes and the test went on for another 40 minutes or so. I was worried I must have missed an entire page or something stupid like that. However, even though we did not get our test results back tonight, Pam did say to me that I passed. Then she added "by the skin of you teeth..." I hope she was just joking. I think she was. As long as I passed! (Though I would like to have passed with a high score.

The drive home tonight was fraught with police and emergency vehicles for some reason. I got on I-170 and started to rev up to 65mpg and set my cruise control when red/blue lights started flashing behind me and my heart did a little flip-flop! Yep... it was a cop... but, "nope" he was not pulling me over. He was pulling over the vehicle behind me. <whew!> Then there were several more fire trucks and such on the I-70, and when I passed through St. Louis, there was even MORE emergency vehicles on the East-bound side. I saw a car smashed up and flipped around on the highway, so that's what they were there for. Then into Illinois on Route three there was another vehicle pulled over by an unmarked car. It seemed that every few miles there was some emergency or police event going on.

12:01a – I am finally sitting down with a cold beer... unwinding. I got the kids fed and pills distributed, clean dishes put up, and dirty ones soaking. I also fixed the toilet paper dispenser which came loose and fell off the wall this afternoon. It was still laying right where I left it. I don't see that Skip has done a thing for the house except leave stacks of videos in the living room, a full ash tray, several beer cans, etc. The living room really needs vacuuming again and I guess I will have to do it. I am starting to think Skip does not no how to drive a vac, despite the fact the repairing vacuum cleaners is a major part of his work.

12:26p – I managed to sleep until a little after 11:00a this morning. Ah... It's Friday! And the last day of in-class training at last. I am anxious to find out what my score is from last night's test. I hope I made something in the 90's, but I think I missed a few. I think I passed but only with a score in the 80's. We will find out tonight!

Wow... my computer has not rebooted all week. Not since I cleaned it out. I guess it WAS indeed overheating.

2:35p – Just about time to go to work again. I am glad its Friday, and excited about starting real work next Monday. Next Friday we will get paid. I thought it would only be for one week, but I hear it will be for two weeks. This pay check will be smaller than future checks since we are only "working" for 7 hours. Next week we will go to a full 8 hours. I hope to see a full paycheck on March 3rd.

2:33a – The photo above depicts the multicultural blend of foods that I created for supper last night, and had for "lunch" at work today. (err... yesterday? ... I get confused!).

11:54a – I got up around 10:50a. I slept fairly well, except for some disturbing dreams. Y'eptk' aany' iimdraengye youtb' aakhre!

Skip is smoking up the house again this morning frying bacon and eggs. I don't know why he has to fumigate us.

I spent a good portion of this morning performing moderator duties in the Tsalagi group. We have a new member who is sending all kinds of crap to the group, including e-cards. I will have to get her trained. I am allowing her messages to go through if they are addressing someone in the group or if they are Native American related, but e-cards and "Grandpa's words of wisdom" and such are being deleted. If she doesn't catch on, I will have to oust her. I've never done that before, and I don't want to do it, but if I have to I will. I had never deleted a posting or rejected one either until yesterday, but I have had to deleted/reject several of this person's postings.

I was a bit perturbed with Valvoline. Apparently they did something to disconnect my horn when they worked on my car today. The horn worked when I pull in to Valvoline. I know this because I locked the doors and the horn honked to confirm it. After we went to Costco, I discovered the confirmation honk was not working. At Best Buy I tested the horn and discovered it did not work at all. I went back by Valvoline on the way home, but they were closed.

12:44a – Skip is very mad at Barnabas, who just pissed on a pile of his clothes in his room. Barnabas is just getting really bad about this "marking his territory" thing... really bad....

12:59a – I have stir-fried some beef & chicken with left-over rice. Time to eat...and crash...

2:02a – I am heading off to bed now. I have not heard from RD all day, which is unusual. I hope she is okay...

Skip and I decided to try that Chinese place again today. I stopped by Valvoline first (it's just across the street). They tried to get out of being responsible for it, but I pushed the issue. They found the wire to the horn was old and had been splice in the past. They even admitted that it probably happened when they were flushing out the transmission. But they said they could not fix it. I am very disappointed in them. They broke it, they have the car up so that they can get to it from underneath, they are the mechanics with all the tools, yet they can't fix it and send me home with a broken horn (making my car illegal), and expect me to fix the problem with a little jack and no clue what I am doing!? I think its time to write a letter to the Valvoline main office and express my displeasure.

So, we drove over to AutoZone and I spent about $35 buying a new horn, wiring, and a set of jack stands. Skip thinks he can fix it. I hope so.

Then we went to the Chinese restaurant. Not the one we have been trying to go to (they were closed again), but the one we usually go to next to Block Buster. We discussed the other Chinese place with the guys at Valvoline and they did not give the place very favorable reviews.

We went to the Dollar Store where I picked up a few items, including a couple of boxes of light bulbs.

Then we went to Wal-Mart. I got a 3" binder for my Comcast training material, which cost way more than I thought it should at $4.74. From Wal-Mart, I drove over to Q-Mart for Skip, then we headed home where I dropped him off and headed back out again. I went to Adequate Clips... oops, I mean Great Clips and got my hair cut. She did a pretty good job this time.

Then I walked over to Shop-n-Save and picked up a couple of cans of cheese sauce, 2 boxes of Stove Top Stuffing and a large store brand box of instant potatoes.

12:15a – Supper was EXCELLENT! I am full, Skip has gone to bed, and supper, which consisted of stuffed pork chops in a lentil gravy, with broccoli and peas in a cheese sauce, was ridiculously delicious! I am off to bed in a bit though...

...and here they are stuffed (the 2 pictures on the left)
and cooked (the 2 on the right)

10:57a – I managed to sleep until almost 11:00a, which is good. I am still about half asleep though.

11:02a – I had a lot of dreams last night, but one particular segments stood out as odd. In the dream I was at work, learning the ropes of a new job. (No genius required to figure out why I was dreaming that!). As we were leaving a building, going through what appeared to be a mall parking lot, a flock of ravens flew over. All of the ravens were carrying something in their beaks, and one of them was carrying a very large plastic bag. The bag twisted and turned and I marveled that the raven could fly with it so well. The the bag turned in such a way that the air caught it and opened it up like a windsock. At al most exactly the same time, the other ravens all swooped down a dropped whatever the were carrying into the bag. Of course, the single raven could not carry all this weight and the bag slipped from its grip and plummeted to the Earth. I watch all this, bemused, but my companions seemed to be oblivious to this sky borne drama. Meanwhile, the bag continued it's fall toward the parking lot... and crashed with a loud noise just out of sight behind some cars. I yelled at my co-workers that something had happened and beckoned them to follow me as I went to see what had happened. I turned out tha the bag-turned-missile and slammed into what may have been a glass greenhouse display. It was basically unrecognizeable except for shards of shattered glass and the twisted skeletal remains of the shining metal framework of the small building. It dawned on me that the ravens had acted in concert together and had caused this distruction intnetionally. Something abou that thought concerned me greatly. I think I woke up at this point.

12:53a – It's just about time for me to started getting ready for work. I am getting increasingly nervous about tonight! I am not worried so much about handling the customers as I am about using all the tools at the same time. It will come to me in time, but it is in my nature to be apprehensive, and ... well, I am!

12:21a – Woohoo! I made it through my first day of LIVE calls! It sure was intense though. I only took about 8 calls, and one of them was from a "grandmother" type who kept me on the line for over an hour. I think we finally got her working though, and she was very happy with me for being so patient with her.

I still do not have my permanent ID badge. I was told to come in early today and see security to get it. (there are about 6 of us in the same boat). The badge system was our of service again and they told us to come back on our lunch break. I don't think that was right, but I did so and then the told us, "It's too dark now. You were told to come back on your lunch break." What?! It WAS my lunch break... HELLO! We take lunch at 7:00p ... IT'S DARK! These security people are not too bright.

So, I am supposed to go in early again tomorrow. Right. We will see. How many times must I go in early and waste my time? This is becoming annoying.

2:27a – I got some of the meat purchased this weekend packaged and put away this morning. All the pork steaks and hamburger mean. I still have a huge pork loin to divide and store. I am making "supper" which consists of some boiled pork, left over soup from this earlier today, and some of the lentil & stuffing from last night's pork chop meal. It smells good... I hope it is palatable. I think I will eat now and go to bed early. I am tired. Drained...

3:00a – Earlier this morning/evening, after I fed Kira, she left her dish with food in it. Chooga decided to nibble on some of her food, and Kira went ballistic on him. I couldn't find him for a while, but finally found him hiding in the laundry room. He has some missing hair on his face. Apparently Kira was very displeased with him! I hate seeing Kira be some vicious, but he is old, territorial, and dealing with the pain and discomfort of advancing arthritis. She was just in no mood to deal with an interloper and expressed herself accordingly. Chooga will be okay, and hopefully learn to give Kira's food dish a wide berth in the future. I gave him some cuddles and hugs and I think he has come out of his state of shock over Kira chomping on him. He is such a naive creature...

10:04a – I got up a little after 9:00a, which is way too early. I thought I was going to go back to bed, but I am wide awake now. I was having some really wild dreams. One dream included a little girl who was the granddaughter of Augustus ("Gus") and Stella Eleopolis who used to own an alfalfa ranch in California. Their children were Alexis and Pietro. The little girl in my dream said she was Gus' granddaughter, but great granddaughter seems more likely. She also taunted me in the dream, saying something like, "My brother, Jason, got his ear pierced before you did!" What an odd thing to say!

In another dream I was Lisa Z and her daughter, and one other woman. We were at some restaurant-bar which was apparently predominantly patronized by women. Very rough women. Men were not generally made very welcome, or so it was hinted. I felt uncomfortable being there, but did not say anything. We moved some tables around be sitting down, but I ended up sitting at the table by myself. The girls sat somewhere else and left me with a beer to drink. After sitting here for a while, I finally had enough and walked over to where they were sitting and told them I was leaving. They seemed surprised and ask why. I explained I was bored, sitting alone, staring at a wall. I think we left at this point, but the dream gets fuzzy here...

10:16a – Since I am up so early, I think I will go watch Skip's rental DVD of the latest adventures of Zorro.

1:44p – I finished watching the Zorro movie. It was much better than I expected... I really enjoyed it. I need to finish getting ready for work now. I am trying not to let that feeling of apprehension envelopment. I need to keep a positive attitude, a smile on my face, chin up, etc...

Oh... I am pleased to announce that my PC has gone over a WEEK and has not spontaneously rebooted! It was rebooting several times per day until I cleaned out the fans. That must have been the problem!

1:54p – I just went to let Kira out before going to work and she couldn't get up. Her arthritis is getting worse I fear. Maybe her leg just went to sleep. I had to help her stand up, but then she was able to walk, though here lately she walks very stiffly with her back legs.

2:17a – Day 2 of "transition week" is behind me. My neck hurts from tension. Last night I took about 8 calls total. Tonight I took 12 calls. I did at least one call with NO assistance from floor support, and maybe 3 calls with only minimal help. That felt like an improvement.

3:47a – Supper was excellent! I made extra for lunch tomorrow. Meanwhile... time to crash!

3:58a – I *think* I just set my pay check to go "direct deposit." We will see...

12:08p – I have spent the last hour doing email. I need to fix something to eat and by then it will be time to start getting ready for work.

2:07p – It's time to head off to work again. I think I feel a little more prepared today than yesterday. No where near to being "over confident" however.

12:27a – I logged about 16 calls tonight with an average call time of about 11 minutes. I am not sure how that rates, but for my third day I think it was not bad.

2:48a – I finally have my email updated. It can be quite a task sometimes. I am off to the kitchen to figure out supper here shortly.

11:59a – I got up around 10:37a feeling groggy. I think I drank more beer last night (this morning) than I realized. I was not really paying attention. Then I went to bed after 4:00a. I made some tomato & beef soup this morning and just finished eating. I am perking up some now, but I fear this will be a long night at work...

2:04p – Time to get dress and to. I am still feeling yucky, but its my own fault, so too bad for me.

12:34a – Transition Week (aka "Hell Week") is almost over and we officially graduate tomorrow (err... today). I handled most of my calls without assistance tonight and even used online Floor Support a couple of times. I logged about 18 calls and my average call time for the first half of the day was about 11 minutes, but the second half of the day jumped up to 13 minutes.

1:29a – Great... now my PSP8 is crashing every time I try to buttonize something.

We had our "graduation ceremony" today. I received a certificate of completion, plus an extra certificate of "perfect attendance."

So, "Joe" (or "Terry" ... or whoever), go mull on this one and
stuff it where the sun don't shine! LOL! (what a doofus....)

My worst call of today was probably from a lady who suddenly lost connection to the internet. Thank goodness she was fairly pc-literate!. I finally figured out that her modem was given to her by her ex-roommate. It worked for a while, but then his account went delinquent and her (his) modem was shut off. I had her account and his account all intermingled! It was a mess. Even my experienced Floor support person got lost with this one... (Thank you Chuck!!). I finally figured it all out, and she got another modem out and we registered it. Despite this very long call, I managed to keep my average call time down to about 17 min.

Oh.... I also handed in my very first TKS adjustment form! (To correct errors on my time keeping).

3:57a – I have almost everything under control, except I have an annoying case of the hiccups!

5:33a – I need to go to bed. Skip just got up... and Marty just got up to go to work and chatted with me online... lol... and I have not even had SUPPER yet!

11:56a – I got up around 11:00a. Too early. I "celebrated" a little too much last night... I mean, this morning.

You really had to be there to appreciate the humor of the moment, but I took a picture, if it gived you any idea.

1:32p – I learned some devastating family news last night. Aim' iisne, Calais, aanj' erh' uzhaandbe, Joey, iib' othb' aany' erhoyinwe! 'lisa sh'atreingy' uut' elpe. Eth' iib' ekteingy' Ethmaadonye uut' aitr' uut' elp' emthe tg'aafy' aavy' iith' erhoyinwe. I wish we could be there to help. Calais must be made to realize iish' illw' aide fye iish' iipsk' aany' uudeingy' iith' erhoyinwe!

2:56p – I have some lunch cooking (hamburger and potatoes). I just got my WG bills entereed for today. I dropped from 75 to 76. Still not bad out of 3,617! I need to reboot this PC now. I did updates this morning.

7:26p – We just got back from a trip to Wal-Mart, Schnuck's, Block Buster and Q-Mart. Skip was looking for his "Doom" movie, but it was still not it. I got "Zathura" ... a sequel to "Jumanji." It will probably not be as good without Robin Williams. I also have "The White Dragon" ... a martial arts movie, which I rented last night.

11:29p – I am eating supper. Skip has gone to bed already. I am watching the movie he rented, but I don't know the name of it. It stars Anthony Hopkins and Chris Rock. An unlikely couple.

12:51a – I just finished watching the movie Skip rented. I was pretty good. I still don't know the name of it though. Supper was good too. Anyway, it's time to go to bed. This is a bit early for me. I go to work at 4:00p tomorrow.

I was having sporadic stabs of pain in my right ear yesterday. I woke up in the middle of the night last night and felt like heat was coming out of the same ear. I wonder if I am getting an ear infection? If so, it might because by my perpetual sinus problem (right side only). So I got up and applied some antibiotic ointment to the lining of my nasal passage. Maybe that will help.

1:59p – I just started watching "White Dragon." A martial arts movie. So far it a bit corny. I need to take my shower now though, and start getting ready for work.

I just had a call a few minutes ago from the collection agency about Terminix. I began explaining my situation, how I was laid off, how Terminix continued to provide service after the contract was up, how I never signed the contract, and yet I have still said I would pay them and have even set up a payment plan in bank account. She interrupted me during my explanation and said I do not have to pay it. So, I have cancelled my automatic payments.

3:00p – I am all dressed and about ready for work. Here we go... my first "real" day on the job.

1:34a – The work day did not go by too badly. My calls kept running longer than I would have liked them too, but I got about 18 call completed. My average time was down around 9.59 minutes at one point, but some long call raised it to about 18 minutes. I was fairly successful over all, but some of the calls were a bit convoluted. I, and several of my teammates had trouble finding a seat at the beginning of our shift. I had to sit at a more permanent person's desk with their person pictures all around me. That's an awkward feeling. After that, I was able to stick to schedule adherence to within 5 minutes.

1:40a – For tonight, I have pork steak laid out to thaw and for tomorrow, I have a quarter of pork loin thawing. I noticed the Ziploc had popped open and the loin has become slightly freezer burned. That sucks, but I think it will be ok.

2:57a – Wow... its almost 3:00a and I have not even started supper! I just got my email caught up. Off to cook now.

12:27p – I got up about 10:50a. Checked email. I just made a bite to eat of chicken, nuts, veggies and noodles.

2:16a – I got home just a little after 1:00a, and just got my email caught up. I have a pork loin and a couple of potatoes backing in the oven. I hope they get done quickly. I am going to go finish watching "White Dragon" now... finally (I hope). I still have "Zathura" to watch too.

4:17a – Supper was great. Roast pork loin smother in onions & peppers, baked potato, and Chinese noodles in olive oil & garlic/herb. The movie ("Zathura") has been very entertaining too. I will try to finish it in the morning. Now, it is time for bed though!

3:38p – Time to head off to work. I will drop the DVD's off at Block Buster on the way. Oh darn, I hope I have enough gas...

2:53a – I got home a little after 2:00a. My last call of the evening from a very nice lady in California lasted until about 1:20a. Then I hung out for a spell after work discussing a problem that went on all day. The people working around me were making so much noise. Laughing, singing, practicing rap songs, flirting with the girl sitting next to me, and even braiding hair! I heard someone refer to the section I was seated in called "ghetto row" (or alley, or something like that). I was starting to get a bit angry at the lack of courtesy and professionalism. I reported it at least twice and I think the Team Leads realize there is an issue.

3:33a – Email is all caught up. Supper is cooking (though I don't know what I am making... something with boiled drumsticks apparently...).

5:24a – I made some arroz con pollo for supper (and lunch tomorrow). It was quite tasty. I am off to bed now... very VERY late!

2:18p – This is my "Friday" ... of sorts. I have tomorrow of. But, I have to work all weekend. Time to start getting dressed. I need to leave in about an hour.

3:06p – Time to go. Of course, now I am getting sleepy. Just what I needed... NOT.

2:09a – Home at last! This was a long day. I took a total of I think 22 calls. Before lunch I took 12 calls with an average time of about 18 minutes. After lunch I took another 10 calls and up until my last call my average time was down to 9 minutes. Then I got that last call at about 12:22, just a few minutes before my shift was over. That call dragged out until after 1:00a. Someone came along and pushed buttons on my phone to log me out, so I did not see what the final average time was. It is probably best I did not because I am sure it blew my 9 minute average to pieces.

3:54a – I just completed major work on one of my most tedious and complicated Esperanto Cartoons. (Move you mouse over the various areas of the cartoon for the translations...)

3:14p – I got up at about 11:40a, ate a bite, checked email, and did about nothing. I am so sleepy now, but I need to get motivated and go to the store.

9:58p – I finally got motivated and went to Wal-Mart. I got some oil "stop leak" for the car and some fuel injection cleaner. Then I went to put some air in the tyres, but they all seemed to be fine (I thought the front left tyre was low). The vacuum cleaners were out of order (both of them) so I did not vac the car out. I got the car washed and in the process water came in through the sun roof and got me wet! I put the oil and fuel additives in the car, but I did not get gas since the tank is about full. I went home and decided to stop by Tad's on the way home to see if he still needs his DVD burner installed. He was not home, but Deana and Ricky were there and, "yes" ... he still needs the device installed. I left there and went home for a few minutes, then I went to 5th&Mo and picked Skip up from the train station.

10:04p – I changed "Lupagebla" to "Luebla." The word "Lupagebla" means "rent can be paid" whereas "Luebla" means "Rentable" (or "For Lease"). (Thanks to Dean Moore for the art work, and Alan Mendelawitz for the translation.

12:58a – Supper was EXCELLENT! Pork loin, baked potatoes, fried okra & onion rings, and gravy. Ym! Now, however, it is time to go to bed.

11:02a – I slept badly last night. I kept coughing and I had a low grade fever. I event dreamed about it at one point. I got up this morning feeling horrible. I started coughing uncontrollably to the point I was gagging and threw up. That left me weak and shaking. And I have to go to work this afternoon. I would like to call in sick, but I am not even certain what number to call.

11:31a – My shower is done. I still feel awful. Skip is outside seeing if he can put the new horn on the car.

12:09a – I am still so sick. I have had a fever almost all day. I fear I will have to call in sick tomorrow... and I really don't want to do that. Off to bed now. Maybe I will feel better in the morning, but it's not likely.

8:41a – Still very sick. I am thinking about calling the doctor. My left lung is hurting now (probably from the coughing). I have some fluid build up in my lungs and when I roll of, it shifts and starts me to coughing violently (gagging racks). This is all kinds of "not fun." Last night I took some Tylenol PM to help me sleep. I think it helped a little. However, my nasal passages are getting raw and burning intensely. I have been applying Neosporin to alleviate this, but it's not working all that great.

12:07p – I just found some cold & sinus gel caps from the last time I was sick and took them. Maybe they will help some. My left lung is starting to hurt more and I am finding it uncomfortable to lay on my left side. After getting up and fixing some chicken noodle soup and a diet soda, I went back to bed. I've been laying their "existing" in discomfort, not quite sleeping most of the day. It's noon now and it looks like a beautiful day. What a shame to waste it laying in bed feeling like crap. I should probably make another bowl of soup and get it down, but it's so much effort, and I am not really hungry, besides which I cannot taste anything properly. Everything has a bland paper-like taste to me. I need to call the doctor too, but I don't think I can handle the drive into St. Louis to see him. I will have to wait. I'm just going back to bed again now.

1:24p – I could not sleep. I just got up and reheated the leftover spaghetti and meat sauce that I made a couple of days ago. I think I slightly tasted the food, and the diet soda had a vague sweet taste to it. I suppose that's a good sign. Am I going to be well enough to go back to work tomorrow? I hope so. If I have to miss another day, I will have to go to the doctor to get a note so that I can combine my absence as "one incident."

1:46p – I just took a good, hot shower. I think it's the first bath I've had since Saturday! I really needed it, and I think I am feeling a little better. Maybe its just the gel caps working. If so, I should go get some more of them.

4:03p – I am trying to feel better. I was able to dredge up the energy to empty all the garbage and set it out for pickup in the morning. It would be nice if Skip would help out with some of this, especially when I am so sick. The kitchen is a disaster, and more than I can tackle at the moment. He has really gotten bad about coming home and locking himself up with his computer and games in his room. I think its starting to become an obsession.

9:51p – I've been feeling a little better until just now. I had a coughing fit that left me weak and shaking. I nearly collapsed in the hallway. I had to lean against the wall to keep my feet. I don't know if I am going to be able to make it to work tomorrow or not. We will see. I think I am going to go to bed early now though.

9:37a – I did not sleep more than an hour last night. I think this thing has turned into pneumonia. I got a doctor's appointment scheduled for this morning at 11:00a. I guess I will have to call in sick again. I need to see if I can rach my Team Lead and let him know what's going on. I really hate this. Every day of work I miss is a day of PAY I miss! And I really like this job and don't want to mess it up.

1:00p – I left the house at about 10:26a and just got home again. I had an x-ray taken and they are clear of pneumonia, thankfully. I got some general blood work done and then stopped by Wal-Mart on the way home and got a prescription filled. I am so tired, but if I lay down, I won't be able to sleep.

2:19p – Once again it's a beautiful day out. It must be in the 70's today. But of course, I feel horrible and can't really appreciate it. I am watching Skip's overdue DVD of "Doom" and trying to hold my eyes open. I have some beef strips boiling on the stove. I am not sure what I am going to do with them.

3:52p – Okay, I have now watched "Doom." It didn't suck quite as bad as I expected. I am going to see if I can lay down and sleep now without coughing. I am so tired I can't stand it.

10:08p – I went to bed and "lay there" for several hours. My coughing would not let me sleep. I finally got up and had a bite to eat, watched some TV, and now I am going to bed again. I just want to get some sleep.

Iithe Nre’nre Listen to this story.

Iithe Nre’nre
Listen to this story.