Friday, March 31, 2006

Things that make you go hhmm.... 86

I think my dog is dieing, seems to be shitting uncontrollably everywhere.....

His breath smells like a frickin sewer....

Last weekend I got him a treat of I can of dog food, a steady diet of canned food is not good for a dog but occasionally is a treat...

I spent the rest of the weekend cleaning up what had to amount to at least 15 cans after being dumped all over the place.

The kid took the dog out to do his business before leaving late Saturday afternoon. I then went to do my laundry and when I returned there was shit in the kitchen, in front of my bedroom, in the bathroom and the hallway...

Not a treat to have to clean up but what the hell...

I go to bed and when I wake up Sunday morning, I have the thought that the damn shit smell seemed to be hanging around...

I get up to find more in front of my bedroom, in the kitchen, in the hall and the bathroom...

How much shit could be left?

The kid and I go with my mother to a pancake breakfast that morning and when I get home, be damned if there isn't anther pile in the kitchen and the bathroom....

At that point I decided that he is never to be fed again, alright, it was a thought but wow....

Got up this morning to find another pile in the bathroom....

This is getting more than a little ridiculous....

Brutus is a Pit Bull who is now 13 years old. His hind end doesn't work right anymore because of the arthritis although he sometimes forgets and pays for it later...

Oh well, what comes will come ....

hhmmm....

Thoughts

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Some more random humour...

Just a couple of "what if these were real billboards"?










Thoughts

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Things that make you go hhmm.... 85

Wasn't a bad day yesterday...

Most of the people I talked to made complete sense and actually deserved some sort of above normal assistance...

The good part of this job is being able to help those that are deserving...

Got one customer who needed assistance because "Make A Wish" purchased one of our products for a trip the kid made.

This was done in November/December.

At this point, we are taking some extraordinary measures to help the mother as the kid passed on in February.

With luck, I will be able to accomplish the task set before me by the mother...

This makes dealing with the asses that think they are all important, self centered etc, a lot less important and gives just a little perspective.

Anyway, this leaves more questions than it answered, maybe down the road I can enlighten just a little more. I am going to wait until, at least, to see if the task can be accomplished...

hhmmm....

Thoughts

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Things that make you go hhmm.... 84

I believe some people should think before they call tech support or "me"...

One lady I was dealing with back in mid February called in three times yesterday while I was on a call with someone else.

She would not give any idea about the issue to the first person she talked to other than to say she needed to talk to me. No biggie, I call back when I get time...

She calls back in within about 5 minutes, I'm still on the same call so she rips a strip off the guy that took that call.

It all has to do with a refund I arranged back in February and should have been completed.

As soon as I am clear of the call I was on, I check on my case notes to find out what was up and it seems that the whole issue was resolved but..... why was she calling in?

She calls back one last time to apologize for he actions of the last 15/20 minutes.

It seems she had contacted her credit card company and only listened to the automated phone system for the transactions that had occurred, not sure how this piece of crap works but she was told by the second guy to talk to a human being about the account.

She decided to do as told and found that, in fact, the amount had been refunded to her account as I had indicated.

Still trying to figure out a bit, the last call was to apologize to me for the calls but I think she should have been apologizing the guy she ripped a strip off of...

hhmmm....

Thoughts

Monday, March 27, 2006

Graffitti Monday... 25

HAPPY GRAFFITTI MONDAY!!




Thoughts

Sunday, March 26, 2006

Some Random Humour...

Just a couple pics, got too much on my mind to throw in a really good post...






Thoughts

Saturday, March 25, 2006

Things that make you go hhmm.... 83

Got a couple more for today....

One guy calls in and asks to talk to one of the people on my team. He asks for him by name but process is to confirm who we have and who they want to talk to.

As soon as I repeat the name of the person he wants to talk to he asks, "Did I ask for Scott?, Did I ask for Tom?, did I ask for Bill?"

I say, "You don't have to be rude, I was just confirming the name."

He then says, "I want to talk to _____, transfer me to him!:

I ask, "And your name please?"

He says, "Tom"

I say, "And last name?"

He says, "He knows who I am, just transfer me!"

I say, "I'm going to need something more, case number, phone number?"

He ends up with, "Asshole!" and disconnects.

He did pretty much the same thing to almost everyone on the team and only once did he manage to get to the person he was looking for.

The next one was a lady who had the cheapest product on the cheapest line of products that she had purchased three years ago. It has a mere 90 day warranty.

She is demanding that she get a "NEW" upgraded replacement because it failed.

OK, she purchased the cheapest damn thing in the world, it had a 90 day warranty and she says that it is "NOT" a quality product.

How do you tell someone that the unit only had a 90 day warranty three years ago and actually lasted more than three times it's life expectancy?

Talk about one cheap ass bitch!

I offered to send her some accessories if she purchased her next unit from the company and she had the nerve to feel insulted....

What the hell is wrong with these people? Where do they get off thinking they are so special that no warranties ever apply to them?

She even had the nerve to say that I helped her no more than the last guy, and that she would be sending a letter to the corporate office.

One last little piece, she then demanded to talk to the president of the company. When I said that was impossible, she said no it wasn't. I asked her if she thought the president of this multinational company would take the time to talk to each and every tom, dick, harry and idiot that thought they could get anything they wanted by yelling at the right person?

She still seems to think she is so special that the president of a company will talk to her and give her anything she asks for.

How sad these people are....

hhmmm....

Thoughts

Friday, March 24, 2006

Things that make you go hhmm.... 82

I guess some Canadians can be as retarded as other people...

Had one guy from BC call into the corporate office in California to get some information about distributors in the northwest states..

The guy was saying how he could not get certain supplies for a particular product in his area...

I told him to check out the online store that the company has and that is when he tells me that he does not have a credit card...

I tell him ask the stores in his area to see if they can order the supplies...

He then goes on a bit of a tirade about how he is not going to deal with that store because of some perceived issue...

I told him that he would either have to purchase locally or get a credit card so that he could order on line...

He then gets into crabbing about not even being able to get a secured credit card...

Apparently he is one heck of a credit risk...

What the hell are ya supposed to tell someone so stupid?

I did find out that the one particular retailer in his area does carry and has in stock the supplies he was looking for so he will be checking it out...

What an ass...

hhmmm....

Thoughts

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Things that make you go hhmm.... 81

Gotta like the people who call in for support....

Had one yesterday who has owned the product for 4 months and was to have it replaced. She decided that since she purchased a new product she was entitled to a "new" replacement.

Per standard policy and process I told her about the refurbished replacement I would send and assured that I would ensure she had a working unit.

She has decided to go to a lawyer on it... hhmmm....

I told her to take her warranty statement with her as it spells it out very clearly.... could be fun to be a fly on that wall...

Another one called back after I replaced the unit as the replacement failed. He has now decided that he wants his money back. I told him that I would ensure a working replacement but he went off before I could even reiterate that and told me that he would be taking other measures...

I wonder what other measures he could be talking about? He has also been told that I am the final word in his case.

One last moron called back for me yesterday.

This one has purchased the exact same unit four times. I sent him another new unit telling him I didn't think it would be the resolution but for customer satisfaction.....

He claimed it to be dead on arrival so I arranged to buy the unit back from him for the full price he paid.

He decides that that is not good enough and wants us to "give" him another model that he has chosen, that is worth more than twice the price of the one he purchased, for "free"....

I said that wasn't going to happen. He decided e wanted to talk to my boss... He went to the level above me who gave him the same answer.. Still not acceptable to him so went to the corporate office where he was again told the same thing...

What is it with some people? They think they are due so much when noone owes them anything.... The company did not break their freakin arm to buy it and we definitely tried to make it right. Too bad there are so many asses in the world but I guess I wouldn't have a job if it wasn't for them.

As a side note to the last one, this guy has never done any actual troubleshooting to see if the frontline people could get it working, he would just bully them into transferring him back to the place of purchase for another replacement.

Some people...

hhmmm....

Thoughts

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Things that make you go hhmm.... 80

Why is it that management does not have to qualify and answer for the job they do?

It seems to me that there is some management that is afraid of those of us that they know will give them competition for their jobs so they keep us from progressing to a position that would be competing.

I had a meeting with HR yesterday and the ass who decided that I was mediocre in my position does not have to qualify that fact that he deemed me to be mediocre. I, in fact, have to qualify why I believe I am not.

Guess this is just grousing on my part but I haven't finished with this yet...

They think they have this guy cornered and will put me out of "their" little "kingdom"....

Little do they know...

hhmmm....
Thoughts

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Things that make you go hhmm.... 78

Ever think that maybe your lot in life is a hole lot less than you really feel it should have been?

Today is one of those that I think I have dome all that I am going to and will just fade away, leaving no mark in this world.

don't get me wrong, I really don't care if anyone knows or cares whether I existed but I would like to have done one shitload more than I have so far.

I really wanted to make changes but I can't seem to get out of this rut I call my life.

Anybody got one I can borrow? Just for a year or two? No? Oh well......

Guess I'll just continue this crappy route to it's completion....

hhmmm....

Thoughts

Monday, March 20, 2006

Graffitti Monday... 24

HAPPY GRAFITTI MONDAY!



Thoughts

Sunday, March 19, 2006

Tiny post...

Wish you could do this?




Thoughts

Saturday, March 18, 2006

Things that make you go hhmm.... 77

Well, Mr I'm 65 and I don't have time and I don't want to learn anything, called back yesterday.

I was kind enough to help him with a workaround that is fairly quick and will do exactly what he wants.

He complained about it being a little time consuming and cumbersome.

I told him that with time and some practice, he would find it to be very quick and probably make others look slow when trying to do the same thing.

He thanked me, and sounded sincere when he did, and disconnected.

Much later, he calls back when I am not available and tries to get someone else.

When dealing with me and my team, these people just don't seem to be listening. I am the owner of the issue that he is having, no one else on my team will touch him in anyway, just refer him back to me.

What is it with some people? They think that the multinational, multi-billion dollar company will cease to exist without their once every 6 year, $120 sale!

Got news for ya people, the company will carry on quite nicely without you and your money because it actually cost a hell of a lot more than that product to be escalated to my team.

As for "there is always someone higher", just where the hell do you think it stops?

When you call the corporate office and they transfer you to me, I tell you that I am the final word on your case, you might want to listen....

Anyway, just a little more ...

hhmmm....

Thoughts

Friday, March 17, 2006

Have A Helluva Happy Saint Patty's!!!

A thought for the day,

God created whiskey to keep the Irish from taking over the world!

Think about it, I could have been King of the world...

Thoughts

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Things that make you go hhmm.... 76

When should it not be a requirement that you need to take time to learn something no matter how old you are?

One of my pet peeves is someone who spends anything over $500 on a computer (used to be $2000 to $3000) and does not want to know anything about it, they just want to feel like they are doing something by "click, I'm doing something, click, I'm doing something".

I talked to an ass yesterday that did just that.

A piece of software goes with the hardware that he purchased and because he couldn't just click and be doing what he wanted, he was more than a little irritated.

His first words to me were, "I just plugged my printer in and it printed out a full page of a picture of my floor!"

This is not the product I support and the software that was causing it is very limited support. I told him how to empty the print queue which cleared up one of his issues.

He then demanded a manual for the software. I noted that he could just check the help files to do what he wanted. I have a similar but much newer version of the software than he does and attempted to assist but the look and menus are different so the help I could offer was very limited.

The one thing he kept throwing at me was the fact that he was 65 and didn't have the time to learn the software. WTF?

He was so ignorant when I said that for any software that he had, he would have to take some time to learn, I just couldn't believe it.

He called back later and complained that the store where he had purchased the product 3 months ago, had the nerve to require a 15% restocking fee.

I told him that I would not be refunding anything for a product that works and that he just felt he didn't have the time to learn.

That was the second time he hung up on me. Go figure, as you get older you have the right to not have to learn. I wonder if that would work for me?

hhmmm....

Thoughts

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Things that make you go hhmm.... 75

More stories from the tech support world...

Guy calls in because of an issue with a particular product.

The decision is made to send a couple of parts for the unit, I come to find out by talking with him that he probably bullied the front line agents into it, and were setup as next day delivery.

He called in on Saturday and did not receive them by Tuesday and called back with some of, what I consider, wild demands.

He has decided that he wants his product paid for but that he gets to keep the product, WTF?

When he was escalated to me, remember, I am one of the people that customers are referred to by the corporate office, and made three very specific offers to him.

1. I will dropship a brand new product in 5 to 7 business days, no questions.

2. I will buy back the product, no questions.

3. Keep the product and deal with the issues you are having.

Now, it seems all bases have been covered but apparently the guy seems to think he is entitled to more?

He wants me to pay for the unit but he gets to keep it and continue to hassle and cajole the agents to do his bidding, would this indicate some slight retardation?

He decided that he wanted to talk to my manager, and as is true, I am the final word which I told him.

He notes that there is always someone higher.

Where do these people get the idea they can just keep climbing the ladder to get what they want no matter how outrageous the demands?

I told him that any other contact with the company will come back to me and I will provide the exact same options. I didn't tell him that the next time we talk there will be a time limit, should prove interesting.

As a side note, I was listening to the radio this morning, seems a poll was released yesterday and it showed that 50% of Canadians think that the USA is our country's best friend. On the other hand, only 20% of the USA people think Canada is their best friend. 68% think that Britain(they call it England yet) is their best friend.

Upon some thought I can understand it when you think about the country that jumped into the Iraq war with them.

Just some more stuff to ponder.

hhmmm....

Thoughts

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Things that make you go hhmm.... 74

More senseless people....

Had a guy call in looking to get a CD to install one of the products he owns.

I usually let the customer tell me what they want which quite often includes venting about their experiences with support...

This is just part of the job, let them vent and blow off the frustration and then get to the issue and resolve it, if possible....

The first thing this guy tells me is that he called the corporate office who transferred him to technical support. No biggy, they don't order CD's or troubleshoot or anything like that.

He then tells me how he talked to them but they required a serial number and some contact information so that they could order the CD but that they just kept telling him that they could not do it.

On and on, round and round, he talked about all of the people who would do nothing to help him.

I couldn't get any information from our database with the information that he provided so I told him that I would start a new case but that he would need to give me some information so I could get him what he was looking for.

I did tell him that the product he was looking to get the CD for was out of warranty and that he would have to pay for the CD.

He then claims that the unit is only a few months old. I say that is fine because I can circumvent the process for warranty validation.

When I got to the point where I asked for the serial number, he went off again...

Said that he was not at the unit, it was too hard to pull it out of the cabinet that it was in, etc, any excuse not to have to provide the serial number.

He then asked for my boss, too funny.

I told him that without correct and complete information, there was nothing else we could do for him and I would definitely not be passing him to anyone else until said information was provided.

He then told me that he was going to contact the corporate office the inform them of my actions.

Now, I wonder just what he was thinking? He called the corporate office and was transferred several times to technical support where he was unwilling to provide information. Does he really believe that everybody he talks to is just that much dumber than him?

Would these people keep up the foolishness if they knew just how stupid they sound and look? Do they know just what kind of entertainment they are providing to a lot of people?

Made for an interesting day, by the way, he hung up on me too, like that is going to garner him any assistance.....

hhmmm....

Thoughts

Monday, March 13, 2006

Graffitti Monday... 23

HAPPY GRAFITTI MONDAY!!


Thoughts

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Really, I'm not a plant person...!

I got this damn flower kit for someone else for Christmas and before it was time, found something more fitting so I kept the kit

When I remembered having it and opened the box, I found that it had already started to grow so I planted it in a clay pot I had.

I think it is about time somebody told this stupid flower just where it is.... one of the plant killers..

It's not that I try to kill them, it just happens.

Anyway, here are a couple of pics of the damn thing....






Thoughts

Saturday, March 11, 2006

Don't think I've posted this yet....

This will piss off some of you, but what the hell. Hint, get ready to do a lot of clicking....

http://www.geocities.com/shining_star_of_2003/annoying

Thoughts

Friday, March 10, 2006

Things that make you go hhmm.... 73

That was some friggin bug....

I felt something coming on when I headed to work yesterday and took a neocitran which will usually get me through the day.

I was so far gone by quitting time, I really don't remember what I was doing...

I got a ride home and arrived by shortly after 7 when I tried going through the various email accounts and blogs before doing anything else.

I wasn't able to complete that. I went to bed at about 7:30 with another neocitran as that is all I had in the house. I had asked the kid to pick some robitussin up on the way home but he didn't get home til after 9:30 and by then, this damnable bug had a good hold.

I took a dose of the robitussin and 4 tylenol ultra for the head ache and went back to bed.

I kept waking up and looking at the clock every ten to fifteen minutes.

At 6:30, I got up, called into work to let them know I wouldn't be in, took a double dose of robitussin, 8 tylenol ultra and a shot and went back to bed.

I can't tell you how many times I got up and went back to bed.

I can say that I could swear that my face was going to fly off across the room with the pressure in my sinuses and every muscle in my body spasmed sometime during this whole nightmare...

I was finally able to crawl out of bed and into the shower at about 5:30 this evening...

I have never had a bug that could knock me down so quickly and so viscously in my life...

I hope never to get hit by this one again...

I like a fired up burger patty with a little salt on it but even that tastes like crap tonight, guess I'll settle for a few grapes and some water...

Anyway, the weather is looking up and I may be able to enjoy a wee bit of the weekend...

hhmmm....

Thoughts

Thursday, March 09, 2006

Things that make you go hhmm.... 72

Just what do some people expect?

Had to call a customer about a dead camera, it will not power on at all...

He was offered replacement for a particular cost because the camera is over a year out of warranty...

He said that was not acceptable, he just wanted to troubleshoot the "no power" camera to see if he could get it to work...

OK, what is wrong with this picture? He has tried other batteries and the camera will NOT power on...

Just what kind of troubleshooting do you need?

My suggestion, although I couldn't tell him, was to throw the damn thing against a wall or possibly see if he could give it a boost with some 220 for maybe a stove connection...

Actually, pulling the wires from the back of the stove, separating them and then attaching one to either temple may be enough to enlighten him...

hhmmm....

In case I wasn't clear,

THE CAMERA WILL NOT POWER ON!!
Thoughts

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Things that make you go hhmm.... 71

Just listening to the weather and I really think the guy who provides the information is an absolute moron.

He seems to think a little too highly of his abilities...

I have actually been right more often than him and all I did was to go look out my front door....

We are actually supposed to get above freezing for a change and he says that it isn't going to last....

And just what indicator would you go with? We have had something most people would not call winter and we are headed into spring...

I really hate waking up with a sinus headache....

And I think I will finally be making that trip to HR with my team manager to get the damned review straightened out...

more hhmmm....

Thoughts

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Things that make you go hhmm.... 70

Looks like blogger is screwed..... I had a whole lotta stuff typed in this post and it saw fit to say, "too bad, we ain't postin' it!!!"

May be the indicator of my day...

Thoughts

Monday, March 06, 2006

Graffitti Monday... 22

Happy Grffitti Monday!!



Thoughts

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Apologies...

Seems that my weekend went completely away...

I didn't even think about a post til this very minute...

I'll try to make up for it this week but for now a few pics...

A couple random acts of vandalism...




And a really good use of a tree....



Thoughts

Saturday, March 04, 2006

OXYMORONS

50. Act naturally

49. Found missing

48. Resident alien

47. Advanced BASIC

46. Genuine imitation

45. Airline Food

44. Good grief

43. Same difference

42. Almost exactly

41. Government organization

40. Sanitary landfill

39. Alone together

38. Legally drunk

37. Silent scream

36. British fashion

35. Living dead

34. Small crowd

33. Business ethics

32. Soft rock

31. Butt Head

30. Military Intelligence

29. Software documentation

28. New York culture

27. New classic

26. Sweet sorrow

25. Childproof

24. "Now, then ..."

23. Synthetic natural gas

22. Christian Scientists

21. Passive aggression

20. Taped live

19. Clearly misunderstood

18. Peace force

17. Extinct Life

16. Temporary tax increase

15. Computer jock

14. Plastic glasses

13. Terribly pleased

12. Computer security

11. Political science

10. Tight slacks

9. Definite maybe

8. Pretty ugly

7. Twelve-ounce pound cake

6. Diet ice cream

5. Rap music

4. Working vacation

3. Exact estimate

2. Religious tolerance

And the Number one top OXYMORON:

1. Microsoft Works

hhmmm....

Thoughts

Friday, March 03, 2006

No Post!

Sorry if anyone gives a crap, I had to be at work for 7 frickin' am this morning and couldn't get a post in.

Not gonna have one for today, I'm afraid....juuhhh.... just a minute..... this is a posting isn't it?..... not much of one.... but a post all the same.....

Yea, it'll be a crap load better tomorrow...

hhmmm....

Thoughts

Thursday, March 02, 2006

A Little Humor....

Looks like this belongs to me....

A couple of toys my parents would like to have seen.... and maybe purchased....


I had more to add but this thing was just getting right goofy and I haven't the time to screw around with it..

Thoughts

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Happy Humpday!

Her we are with this weeks humpday and the first day of March..... Spring is such a short distance away....

I got this in an email yesterday, enjoy...

1. BLAMESTORMING : Sitting around in a group, discussing why a Deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.

2. SEAGULL MANAGER: A manager, who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves.

3. ASSMOSIS : The process by which some people seem to absorb success and advancement by kissing up to the boss rather than working hard.

4. SALMON DAY: The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only to get screwed and die in the end.

5. CUBE FARM: An office filled with cubicles

6. PRAIRIE DOGGING: When someone yells or drops something loudly in a cube farm, and people's heads pop up over the walls to see what's going on.

7. MOUSE POTATO: The on-line, wired generation's answer to the couch potato.

8. SITCOMs : Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage. What Yuppies turn into when they have children and one of them stops working to stay home with the kids.

9. STRESS PUPPY: A person who seems to thrive on being stressed out and whiny.

10. SWIPEOUT: An ATM or credit card that has been rendered useless because the magnetic strip is worn away from extensive use.

11. XEROX SUBSIDY: Euphemism for swiping free photocopies from one's workplace.

12. IRRITAINMENT : Entertainment and media spectacles that are annoying but you find yourself unable to stop watching them. The J-Lo and Ben wedding (or not) was a prime example- Michael Jackson, another.

13. PERCUSSIVE MAINTENANCE: The fine art of whacking the crap out of an electronic device to get it to work again.

14. ADMINISPHERE : The rarefied organizational layers beginning just above the rank and file. Decisions that fall from the adminisphere are often profoundly inappropriate or irrelevant to the problems they were designed to solve.

15. 404 : Someone who's clueless. From the World Wide Web error Message "404 Not Found," meaning that the requested site could not be located.

16. GENERICA : Features of the American landscape that are exactly the same no matter where one is, such as fast food joints, strip malls, and subdivisions.

17. OHNOSECOND : That minuscule fraction of time in which you realize that you've just made a BIG mistake. (Like after hitting send on an email by mistake)

18. WOOFS : Well-Off Older Folks.

19. CROP DUSTING: Surreptitiously passing gas while passing through a Cube Farm.

hhmmm....

Thoughts

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Things that make you go hhmm.... 69

Good Mornin' Tuesday!

Yea, I guess I just have to count the days that we continue this life as good ones even with hardship....

I got a ride home from someone I didn't even think would associate with anyone else in the rest of the building. They do have interaction with more of the people than I do but as the cafeteria operators..

We discussed my situation which really is not that big a problem for me, but if most of the other people at work had to deal with this adversity, they would be in a lot rougher shape.

I have been through similar problems before and I always manage to get through it...

When in Winnipeg, we had one son and were living my Ford Maverick because the walls in the basement of the house we were renting had collapsed the house was condemned. We did not have the funds to move or even store our things so we, essentially moved into the car.

Adversity does teach.....

hhmmm....

Thoughts

btw, my halogen desklamp bulb just went too...

Monday, February 27, 2006

Graffitti Monday... 21

HAPPY (COLD) GRAFFITTI MONDAY!!!





Thoughts

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Thanks...

I really appreciated the comment from you Hale, you don't know how much.

I turned 49 last week and I seem to be in a bit of a funk and a mood to say that I have had enough of the life of subsistence I have been living to this date.

Per the previous post, I could come up with the extra $50 bucks but the principal prevents me from making said arrangements. I will be writing to my Minister of Parliament and anyone else who will listen.

For now, I have a small space heater at my feet, I run the clothes dryer as needed(it is in the kitchen), open the stove while on and the ceiling fan on low to keep it circulating and my waterbed has a heater so I think we'll make it, just not as comfortable as it should have been.

I will also be touching on the same kind of bullshit when dealing with the electricity company.

I am in the process of writing an email to all of the important and not so important people in the company that I work for as well. This one has been brewing since my discipline for my blogging last year. Yes, I did write about the jokers I have to deal with there but at no time was there a name put to anyone in the building, no company name, no client names and just for the record, my name and personal information were also left out but because one of the little, self righteous, self-serving, assholes that knew it was my blog, shared with the management, they essentially wrote me up as being unprofessional. At this point the only people that are acting unprofessional are the two people that I despise most in the company. The discipline and degradation has continued for the full year and I will be taking them to task on it. Wish me luck but I may wind up unemployed...

One other letter that will be written will be to the corporation that my 19 year old daughter works for. One of their female employees in another city was raped and killed after she left work which was well after dark and hours that men should have been scheduled for.

They have told my daughter that they really want to keep her because of her work ethic and dependability. They have cut her to 20 hours a week or less and give the closing shifts. This is how you reward the people you value most?

Anyway, I really need to find a way to help these people and to stop others from their fat-headed, self-centered, selfserving, self-righteous ways....

If anyone has any ideas, please comment....

I am at a point were I truly believe my lent in life is to be screwed by as many people as possible, as many times as possible and for as long as possible and the one more for good measure...

Hope everyone else has had a good weekend....

Thoughts

Saturday, February 25, 2006

Bullshit!

We ran out of heating oil last night and yea, it is a little cool in the house this morning.

The pay I got yesterday was to go to paying my rent so I have really should not be using it for anything else.

I call the oil company I have been getting oil from and I'm told that a minimum order is $250 with a $50 delivery charge.

OK, I shouldn't but I will ask the landlord to wait til my next pay for the rent. The guy who is on call, calls me and tells me that she answering service was wrong and that the minimum is $300 and $50 for delivery.

I can push it for the $300 total but not the extra $50, too bad, so sad.....WTF!

I call another company, I will have to wait till business hours Monday..... WTF!

I call a third company, they will deliver about 10 gallon but it will cost $105 plus whatever the going rate for the oil is..... WTF!

I will be going to my MP and the media, this is so wrong....

Thoughts

Friday, February 24, 2006

Things that make you go hhmm.... 68

Well, as indicated yesterday, I started down a certain path...

Today, I should be receiving a copy of everything that is in my shadow file, this is a file that is kept out of HR where the team managers can access and keep record of everything you that is and is not HR related.

I will be requesting a copy of all of my HR files as well today.

I will then be visiting with a particular person in HR who attempted to brush me off Wednesday, with my manager...

All I can ask is wish me luck....

hhmmm.....

Thoughts

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Things that make you go hhmm.... 67

Today I start on my path to what will probably end up being my termination from the company for which I work.

We have come to a point where we have to bid for our shifts and I have been moved so far down the list, I am going to get a really crappy one.

If this results in my termination, I will be ranting on this blog and be putting a crap load more on a couple of others that I have been neglecting of late.

Stay tuned for updates.

That is it for today.

Thoughts

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Interesting Link...

http://www.j-marimba.com/ponies210.htm

I thought this was really quite entertaining.

The music may not be to your liking but if you have kids, you may find it a little interesting.

My son, who is soon to be seventeen, called me, I forget the exact wording but, something to the effect of geeky, for watching it.

At first I thought so too but then I thought about what these kids possibly went through to get to this point. Some of them may have been pretty much hounded or even abused into doing this and may even not have wanted to get into this but they are really good.

Anyway, enjoy the link...

Thoughts

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Things that make you go hhmm.... 66

Here we have gone through another year and the people in the company are getting their reviews and any possible raises based on performance.

I guess the company is doing so poorly, they have not got the resources to do anything but cap different positions.

I was well above the cap for my position before the cap was brought in.

This essentially tells the people being reviewed that "Damn fine job! Keep it up and by the way, we aren't giving you any more money."

I have been with this company for more than five and a half years and on my fifth anniversary I was rewarded with a t-shirt with the company logo on it. In essence, "Thanks for being so loyal and productive for the company and here is your shirt, go advertise for us!" WTF?

Anyway, that is a sore spot that will take more twists and turns as time goes on. I am a letter writer, so far as to get myself disciplined and possibly, this time, fired.

It might help my overall health and well being in one way.

The other item I want to visit this morning is the fucking bitch that hooked up with my oldest son.

Yea, yea, I know, a lot of people will look at this as just an old man losing his family, "empty nest syndrome" but they would be wrong.

I did not like the woman, and I use that term loosely, as she started giving it up for Jr. before she was actually separated from her husband. She is still married to him and to be messing around with anyone is wrong in my book. Old fashioned? I don't think so but....

She has claimed less than propriety when she got pregnant by another man so many years ago, not her husband or my son, which resulted in a son for her.

Now, when my son moved in with her, I wasn't happy about it but let both know that I accepted the situation as I raised my son to be a free thinker and believed her knew right from wrong.

She then proceeded to separate him from the rest of the world. She claimed an issue arose with the father of her son and had to get away.

With that, she decided to move to Nova Scotia and took Jr. with her. No biggy...

I found out later that Jr. was not even allowed the opportunity to tell his friends or to even say goodbye. None of them knew where or when he had left.

Next came the separation from his own family.

I spoke two less than complimentary words which she heard over the phone and made it known to Jr. that I had destroyed her whole life. I have been banned from their house,, she seems to be afraid that I would explode in front of her kid.

His mother and sister made it known that what he was doing to me was wrong and he hung up on them as well.

The last straw, as it were, was the fact that he has decided that he will no longer talk to anyone in the family for any reason including his Grandmother and uncle.

There was at one point, a claim that the two of them discussed Jr. entering the armed forces because of the income and security. I truly believe it was all a one sided decision by her.

I would really like to find a way and the funds to take a trip to their place and try to straighten Jr. out on just what the "fucking bitch " has done and is continuing to do.

I know I will never do that and would never make him decide between me and anyone else but, if I had been in their house the night I heard that she had banned me from their house, I would probably slapped her off her feet.

I can only hope that he wakes up somewhere along the way, come to his senses and clear out. I don't care if he finds someone else or comes back to this area or anything her wants to do but he is going to have to get away from that bitch.

Sorry for the rant but this has been boiling in me since December 29th. I want to write a letter but every time I do, I know what I am putting down will be misconstrued.

Anyway, this does help a little. I'm try to keep all up on the progress...

Have a great Tuesday....

hhmmm....

Thoughts

Monday, February 20, 2006

Things that make you go hhmm.... 65

HAPPY GRAFFITI MONDAY!


I find it harder than heck to go back to work after 4 days off in a row.

Seems like a lot longer than that, and I really do not want to go back...

I will have to check everything that I set for this week and see what new crap I may have lined up for me...

I wonder just how many of the damnable customers from far too long ago, are going to call in for me this week...

I also heard through the grapevine that we have a shiftbid this week as well...

I also am still waiting for my annual review, I don't think my team manager has the #$% to tell me without some sort of assistance to be sure I don't rip him apart.

I know that the remuneration for my position has been capped but that still doesn't make it any more palatable...

How many jobs do you know of where you have been a loyal and productive employee for over five years and get nothing but a pat on the back and told to keep up the good work but we are not paying you anymore?

Anyway, another week, more pain and suffering, more frustration and a crap load more "NO"'s from me...

Have a great week!

Thoughts

Sunday, February 19, 2006

Things that make you go hhmm.... 64

Well, here we are on a Sunday thinking about that Monday morning again.

The longer away, the harder to go back...

I'm wondering if my oil is going to last through the cold spell we find ourselves in the midst of now....

I'm wondering if my oldest son will ever talk to me or any of his family again...

I wonder if my poor old dog is going to make it to summer...

I have a bit of wondering to do, so, if you'll pardon me, I'm going to bed and hopefully the wondering will wait till tomorrow...

hhmmm....

Thoughts

Saturday, February 18, 2006

I don't believe it...

I am actually running out of stuff to post...

I wonder if this is something like writers block?

I spent pretty much my whole day yesterday cleaning around the damn house.

You really don't know what kind of a slob you live with til they are out of your way and you get to cleaning up...

My youngest son is an absolute pig....

Last summer, he accidently broke the glass in one of his bedroom windows and we just do not have the bread to get it replaced so, we duct taped a big piece of cardboard over it, then plastic and lastly, a blanket.

Yesterdays wind was so strong, it blew the cardboard right out of the window.

I had a piece of 1/4" plywood that I got for the bathroom floor and nailed it over it. It isn't too bad with a little more duct tape but I guess I gotta get something dome about it this year...

Anyway, lets see if we can get through this winter in one piece first

Thoughts

Friday, February 17, 2006

Thursday, February 16, 2006

YAY!

One more year before that dreaded "50".....

Looking at the number provides more dread than saying ever did....

I look back and think, "What the fuck have I accomplished?"

The only great thing I can think of are my three kids.

If I had it all to do over, I would seriously think about a lot of it being different and would hope it would start out a whole lot different than it did....

As I look ahead, I think about what I really wanted and it seems I have lowered my expectation quite a bit.

It feels like time is running out for some of the stuff I wanted to do and I can only hope that there will be some help from the offspring for completion of the tasks I need to do to have my life complete.

I want to buy a highway tractor, preferably Peterbilt, with a trailer that I have modified the way I want so that I can actually move in. It will have to have room for my pickup, boat and bike near the back.

I want a Harley, Indian or customer built bike.

I want a bass boat for fishing.

And I want to be able to stop working and travel from one body of water to the next, fishing each and every one from one end of this continent to the other.

It would be a great retirement...

I wonder how much of it will really be possible?


Thoughts

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Humpday for some...

This is the middle of the week for some but this week it is my Friday..... two whole days off of work... yay!

As of tomorrow, I a can claim to be one year older too.

Funny but my twin brother will be able to make that claim five minutes before me.

That is the one day of the year that you will never, ever find me at work.

There are no celebrations other than my kids and the ex-wife giving presents and then leaving me alone which suits me just fine.

I'm not sure just what I'll do but nothing that would be considered work except maybe a little cleanup around my house.

I booked off Friday too because what is the use in having Thursday off and going back for one day before the weekend. Makes for a good long weekend.

Anyway, gotta get in there and finish up that work week.

Have a great week peeps....

Thoughts

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Sweet!



HAPPY

VALENTINES

DAY!!




Get the message?

Thoughts

Monday, February 13, 2006

Graffitti Monday... 20

Happy Graffitti Monday!




Thoughts

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Things that make you go hhmm.... 62

First a few questions and then the related experience.

What effect would you think death would have on the life of you as a kid?

What would be your first reaction seeing a person die unexpectedly before your eyes?

This would not be a relative or friend just someone you met for the first time on the day they died?

What if the action that led to this persons death was directly related to the interaction between you and that person?

Would it turn you into a lazy person?

Would it make you a stupid person?

Would you be considered stupid if you showed no reaction at all?

Now, I will relate it for you...

I went to a one-room school house for the first two years that I was in school.

Each grade was separate grade.

I was in grade two at this school and about three quarters of the way through the year, our regular teacher found herself unable to come to school due to the flu.

The people who make the decisions, had to get a substitute teacher in place fairly quickly, which they did.

The substitute was about as far from being a pretty woman as I could imagine anyone getting.

The first thing that she wanted to do was to get everyone's names from them.

When it came to my turn, I was so dumbstruck, I did not answer.

Her reaction, which seemed a little in the realm of overkill, was to strap me right there in front of the rest of the class.

She then went to her chair at the front of the room and sat down where she turned some strange colors and fell over backwards with the chair.

I later learned that she was dead before she hit the floor.

My parents took us to the cottage that Thursday and I had just thought it had been a long weekend.

I really can't say when I learned that she had died but, pretty much from that point in time, my whole life went into the dumper.

This is a true story in my early life. Do not feel sorry for me, pity me or anything else. It is merely a little insight into me.

hhmmm....

Thoughts

Saturday, February 11, 2006

Things that make you go hhmm.... 61

Thank God for weekends...

If it wasn't for these little breaks, I would completely lose all sanity..

So am I really sane?

What defines sanity?

Are there different levels of sanity? Insanity?

Maybe I am the most insane person and everybody else is "normal"?

If that is the case, I really want to be insane....

Guess I'm going monitor shopping this weekend, even though I can't really afford it....

Guess I'm going for a short tonight, have great day peeps...

hhmmm....

Thoughts

Friday, February 10, 2006

Things that make you go hhmm.... 60

You would not believe this shit....

On Monday morning, my tub drain had gotten really, really slow. When finished having a shower, we have time to dry off and get completely dressed and ready for work before leaving the bathroom before it drains completely.

I figured that I would see if I could unblock the pipes in the basement. Turns out that I cannot get the plug out of the trap but , no problem, I disconnect the pipe from the trap which works out as the blockage is just past the trap anyway.

I don't have a drain snake so I straighten out a coathanger to push the clog out.

The problem with this experiment is that the 2" galvanized pipe is about 6' long and, well, you know how long the coat hanger is....

I managed to push the clog further down the pipe but it seems that it got tighter. Now we have to bail the damn tub out after a shower so that the other of us can take one too.

Yea, I know, there are products for this but being between pays did not afford me the funds to buy any of those. I'll have it fixed in the by Saturday.

Anyway, I came home last night to see my 19" Samsung monitor with a very bright line right across the middle and the rest is black. Damn, figgin monitor is screwed too....

I over heard the kid talking to his Mother yesterday and found that he needed money for some books and supplies at school too.

Will this bloody hell never end...

I am probably going to jinx myself here but "WHAT THE FUCK CAN HAPPEN NEXT?"

At least it is Friday......

hhmmm....

Thoughts

Thursday, February 09, 2006

Please leave

Please leave

Dear XXXXX,

If you do not like my country, please leave.
If you do not like the way our women dress, please leave.
If you do not like our separation of politics and religion, please leave.
If you support violent responses to criticism of religion, please leave.
If you support terrorism in any way, shape or form, please leave.
If you cannot accept satirical cartoons in our newspapers, please leave.
If you do not support democracy or the freedom of speech, please leave my country.


This was directed at a certain peoples but I think it is fitting for all...

Thoughts

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Things that make you go hhmm.... 59

Here is a site for a good cause in our area.

http://www.romeoandjuliet.ca/ladies_vote_for_your_top_10_men.htm

Take a really good look at number "4".

That is the picture of a convicted sex offender!

He likes to molest young teen-aged girls.

He has, as of this posting, been pulled from the contest but his picture will remain on the site for identification purposes.

This guy has an 18 year criminal history.

Being on the sex offender registry does not entitle anyone other than the police, access to the information that he is a sex offender.

What the hell good is the registry?

How does a "GOOF" like this get to roam free and enter these contests?

The contest management was devastated at the news first thing this morning.

Above all, go and look at this guy, see what he looks like, don't forget it and pass it on...

hhmmm....

Thoughts

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Things that make you go hhmm.... 58

What do think this is?




Pehaps a huge ass pillow?


Maybe a giant chicklet?


A big ol' boil?


A zit on the ass of the world?

All good answers but no, it's actually an inflatable building for raquet ball and tennis...

I wonder what kind of protection they have against someone tripping and tearing it from the inside?

Imagine someone actually putting a tear in the one end and it flying off like a balloon that slips when you are trying to blow it up...

hhmmm....

T
houghts

Monday, February 06, 2006

Graffitti Monday... 19

HAPPY GRAFFITTI MONDAY!!




Thoughts

Sunday, February 05, 2006

Things that make you go hhmm.... 57

Apparently I have been mistaken.

I thought I was doing something here with this blog but I guess I was really quite wrong.

I had an idea that I had joined an anonymous on-line world but it seems that, after over a year of blogging, I am the only one and maybe two or three others, that think what I have to say here is of any value.

There are several blogs that I have watched and I don't mean occasionally, I mean every single day.

I visit these blogs almost every single day. I actually post on this one every single day without fail.

I don't know, maybe I was expecting too much from this thing. I had a couple of other ones and in fact, I have been screwed at work because a person I thought of as a friend decided that he had to pass it along to certain other parties at work.

I have pretty much been, if you'll pardon the expression, "fucked" for my blog writing. Yea, it was almost a year ago that that particular incident happened but no one really gave a shit...

I grabbed a few of the me-me's from some of the blogs I visit on a regular basis but apparently that is only good for the ones that I borrowed from.

I thought I would join that great posting fest called "HNT" Guess what?, fucked again.

The lead guy on that one has his regular peeps and anyone new, you are on yer own. I did note that he had some concern this past week about some of the ones that quit the HNT but I guess once again, I am the odd man out.

Sure I am a loner, sure I hate people, but there is a little something even in me that needs some sort of connection.

I have been separated for almost five years. My oldest son hooked up with an ignorant fucking bitch that has not only separated him from all of his friends without notice but has now succeeded in breaking him completely away from his family.

My daughter lives with her mother and that is only because she can't get along with her younger brother who lives with me.

Now my youngest son is one of the biggest slobs in the fucking world. I used to try to keep the place in a semblance of a clean and tidy home but with no help from him and in fact, a hindrance, I have given up on that too.

I can't seem to keep up on the bills I have just to survive, never mind getting ahead.

I also look at my age and wonder if I will ever be able to do the last couple of things I want to before I die.

Maybe I am just in the dumper tonight but, man, I would just like to tell the whole world to go fuck itself and do what I want.

Jeez, I think I wore myself out on that one.

Just take the posting as a man who is getting tired.....

That is it for now....

hhmmm....

Thoughts

Saturday, February 04, 2006

Things that make you go hhmm.... 56

Gotta like the weekend...

Looks like we are in for winter storm, not what I would look forward to right now.

It really sucks not having the money to even get a coffee each day...

I have to cough up the green for the hydro bill, $350 this week coming and another $350 four weeks later...

Got a bill that I thought was mine. Named my oldest son the same as me except for the middle initial and I would really like to know where the hell my mind was when I did that....

And what is up with kids these days. My oldest son in 6' 4" tall and weighs in at about 225 lb. The "little guy", at almost 17 years old is 6' 5" tall and about 180. The middle one is all of 5' 4" and no more than 110 soaking wet. I can't figure out for the life of me what happened here. I am about 5' 10" and the ol' lady is about 5' 2". That could explain the middle one but what happened with the other two?

Could it be something in the food these days?

Anyway, another short one...

hhmmm....

Thoughts

Friday, February 03, 2006

TGIF!

Here we are, another week gone.

Looks like we are to have an end to "winter" soon. Haven't really had much that we could call winter but seems we will be have some white shit after a crap load of rain over the next couple of days.

Just which of the groundhogs are you supposed to believe?

All of the Canadian ones did not see their shadows but pretty much all of the US ones did. Can the winter end be split?

Going to be interesting to find out which one was right....

Have great day

Thoughts

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Happy HNT!!!!!!!

I'm going to continue to wish others a happy HNT but have decided that it is no longer for me.


HAPPY HNT!!!

HAPPY HNT!!!

HAPPY HNT!!!

HAPPY HNT!!!



Thoughts

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Another Humpday....

Here we are, almost half way through another week.

I am running out of steam and subjects for posting here, I don't want to start sounding like a broken record or a dirty DVD....

I had a plant that was given to me to keep at my desk at work back in the spring of 2001.

I just kept watering it and nothing else but it grew like a weed.

The last pot I had it in was a 12 inch clay one and it was actually getting root bound. Last spring, I decided to take it home, split it up and take a part of it back to work.

When I dumped it out of the pot, there wasn't a handful of dirt. It was as if it ate all of the dirt and nothing was left but roots.

I split it into 4 separate pots which worked out to about 2 to 3 actual plants per pot.

The three I kept at home, just gradually died off. The other one, I took to work and allowed someone else to have and keep on their desk.

It was doing great for a while but was returned to my desk about 2 weeks ago and looks in really bad shape.

I guess they did not know that when the leaves would droop, the thing just needed water. They added food spikes and God knows what...

This plant was so well known in the building that when I took it home, people I did not even know were asking where the plant went.

Now I'm getting crap from people who see the condition it is in and think I did it....

I keep just pouring water through it everyday as I did in the beginning and am hoping for the best but I have a feeling it isn't going to survive.

If this last piece dies, I have a feeling that it will be indicative of my life with the company. It may be getting close to the end of my "career with them and it may be a good thing.

As a side note, I had an Aloe plant at home that had "leaves" that were more than 18 inches long. When I brought the plant home from work and set it beside the Aloe, the Aloe just up and died in about three days. If I had just poured gas on it, it could not have been faster.

Can plants get jealous?

BTW, it was a "Peace Lily", a fitting plant for the type of work we do.

I think I will go looking for another one and maybe keep the job, although I don't know why.....

Anyway, have a great day!

Thoughts.