It's amazing how much our attitude can affect our lives, isn't it?
At the end of last September, the manager at my job decided to hire a third employee, a decision that made me and my co-worker Jason look at each other dubiously. We both felt there wasn't enough customer traffic to support three of us, especially since the company also expected the manager to sell as well (even though it did nothing to increase his commission). The manager told us he expected our store would soon be doing over 30k in monthly sales and wanted to be ready for that. To this date we haven't come close to that number, but I remember him looking me in the eye and promising me that I would make my numbers.
Well long story short, I didn't.
After having two great sales months and big commission checks, my sales were cut more than half, and I didn't make my minimum sales amount ($5,000 in sales per month) to get a quarterly raise either. And to make it even worse, the new guy he hired turned out to be a cocky 23 year old kid that boasted that he was going to be the top sales guy from now on and did anything to make a sale, including unethical selling, taking "ups" (turns with customers) out of order, and trying to steal sales from Jason and me.
I started October with the self fulfilling prophecy that I wouldn't make my numbers and by the end of the month it came true. I missed my sales quota by $500 that month and again in November by $50, while the manager did several thousand in sales himself. I considered quitting many times; I was so miserable and fed up.
And while I blamed it all on the new guy, I realize now it wasn't all him, but myself using him and his actions as an excuse. I wasn't standing up for myself, but just letting my expectations win out, and then saying "see, just what I thought would happen, is happening". Jason kept telling me I needed to snap out of it, as did Terry, but I continued to wallow. I tried going in each day with a positive attitude, but deep down I still didn't believe it, and as soon as something went wrong, my "see I told you, screwed again" came right back.
I was increasingly tired of coming home every day with a black cloud over me, complaining to Terry how shitty my day had been. Finally one day about halfway through December something in me snapped. The manager was complaining (again) about how he wasn't making enough sales and that he was going to start selling more, and I just blurted out “maybe you should make sure we’re making our numbers before you start selling”. And he finally got it, in fact now when the district manager comes by; he says his job is to make sure his employees are making their numbers.
I also started riding the new guy’s ass, calling him on all his questionable sales techniques, and holding him accountable for his actions. I went back into my old manager mode (I was in drug store management for 11 ½ years) and treated him like an employee. After pointing out some of his sales techniques, he was called on the carpet by the store manager and district manager. When he would take one of my ups, I’d make him pay it back, with a sale if necessary. When I saw him trying to take one of Jason’s sales, I stopped him cold, which also earned him another reprimand from the manager.
And starting this month, I went in with the new attitude that this cocky punk ass kid wasn’t any better at sales than I was, in fact I was the better salesman. And my goal this month was single fold: every day we worked together I would outsell him. He needed to be taken down a notch (actually Jason and I both made this our goal). And guess what? It worked, in fact he ended up third in sales for January.
What I found amusing was how the kid changed his tune as the month progressed.
The first week or so in he said:
Hey, you’re having a great month so far, keeping up with me even, but you’re not going to beat me.
Oh, how come? I said.
He replied: Because I have a competitive nature that won’t let me come in second, and so you won’t get ahead of me.
I didn’t say anything in response to that, except Hmmm, but in my head I called bullshit.
By the third week, he was telling everyone he just wants to make his $5000 and anything else is gravy.
Jason and I just smile when we hear that...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: I want people to know he’s not that bad a kid, just young,full of himself, and needs a shot of integrity. In fact since he’s been put in his place, he’s become easier to live with. We don't have anything in common (he’s into hunting and a huge sports fan), but we find common ground where we can. I try to get along with everyone, but I will admit when he leaves later this year (he’s finishing up a degree in drafting and looking for jobs already); I’ll gladly hold the door for him as he heads out. But it might close just a little too quick and hit him in the ass…
Edit: I wrote this a week ago, but waited to post it till now to give the results of the month.
But another example of his attitude came out in a couple comments he made this last week. He told me he might not stay on till August if he can't make enough money to justify working here, and that making only $10 an hour isn't worth it to him (we actually make around $15 an hour or more, depending on commissions). And he added that he can't wait to start his drafting career where he'll make some real money, instead of wasting his time at our company.
Speaks volumes, doesn't it?
Monday, February 01, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
the burn (changes, part 2)
Some of you may or may not know that after my wife died 3 years ago one of the changes I made to my life was joining a gym to lose weight. I lost 60 pounds in about 5-7 months total and the difference was amazing for me, health wise and looking in the mirror. I have since gained back about 25 pounds of that weight, due in part to moving away from the gym I belonged to and because of Terry's great cooking.
So last week I joined a local gym that is only two blocks from my house, and signed up with a personal trainer who is kicking my ass big time. Last Friday I had my first session and by Sunday I felt like a Mack truck had hit me...
Yesterday, my second session left me feeling somewhat the same, but to a lessor degree. I will be working out three days a week until I get this weight off, then I figure two days each week to maintain. This trainer believes in using your own body weight to create muscle mass that will in turn burn calories, very different from my past trainers who set me up on resistance equipment. So we'll see how this new approach works out, I can tell you that he's got me exercising a whole different set of muscles that haven't been worked in a very long time.
I've missed going to the gym, feeling the burn as they say. Once I get through the first month of reconditioning, it's going to be gravy, and I'll be enjoying watching those pounds come back off.
And the name of the place always makes me laugh: Oz Fitness. They have little kangaroo signs everywhere...
So last week I joined a local gym that is only two blocks from my house, and signed up with a personal trainer who is kicking my ass big time. Last Friday I had my first session and by Sunday I felt like a Mack truck had hit me...
Yesterday, my second session left me feeling somewhat the same, but to a lessor degree. I will be working out three days a week until I get this weight off, then I figure two days each week to maintain. This trainer believes in using your own body weight to create muscle mass that will in turn burn calories, very different from my past trainers who set me up on resistance equipment. So we'll see how this new approach works out, I can tell you that he's got me exercising a whole different set of muscles that haven't been worked in a very long time.
I've missed going to the gym, feeling the burn as they say. Once I get through the first month of reconditioning, it's going to be gravy, and I'll be enjoying watching those pounds come back off.
And the name of the place always makes me laugh: Oz Fitness. They have little kangaroo signs everywhere...
Sunday, January 24, 2010
the older son (changes, part 1)
Damn, I just looked back to reference a blog post and realised I wrote it almost a month ago. Where does the time go these days?
I wrote that we had some changes coming to our little house, and sure enough twenty days ago Terry's oldest son moved in with us to give him a chance to get back on his feet. He has worked in the restaurant business all his adult life (he's 26), but with the recent economic downturn and the high rents of southern California, he found himself unemployed and out of savings. Thankfully we had a spare room/office to put an inflatable bed in, and extra room in the storage unit for his stuff.
The Boy is enjoying having his older brother here now, and of course Terry is as well. And even though I get along fine with him, I have felt hesitant a few times, but I understand my feelings stem from the bad experience with my daughter and her boyfriend (who I had to throw out of my house because they weren't going to leave after 15 months). Older Son has been applying for jobs left and right (we live within a few miles of around three dozen restaurants), and has been very accommodating to us when The Boy has sleepovers, taking off to a local bar to give us "alone time" for a few hours. He also is a artist who works with pencil, watercolors, paint, and since I installed Photoshop in his laptop, has produced some truly incredible artwork with it as well. Terry is hoping he will be able to get back on his own in a few months, although I think it may take a little longer than that.
I wrote that we had some changes coming to our little house, and sure enough twenty days ago Terry's oldest son moved in with us to give him a chance to get back on his feet. He has worked in the restaurant business all his adult life (he's 26), but with the recent economic downturn and the high rents of southern California, he found himself unemployed and out of savings. Thankfully we had a spare room/office to put an inflatable bed in, and extra room in the storage unit for his stuff.
The Boy is enjoying having his older brother here now, and of course Terry is as well. And even though I get along fine with him, I have felt hesitant a few times, but I understand my feelings stem from the bad experience with my daughter and her boyfriend (who I had to throw out of my house because they weren't going to leave after 15 months). Older Son has been applying for jobs left and right (we live within a few miles of around three dozen restaurants), and has been very accommodating to us when The Boy has sleepovers, taking off to a local bar to give us "alone time" for a few hours. He also is a artist who works with pencil, watercolors, paint, and since I installed Photoshop in his laptop, has produced some truly incredible artwork with it as well. Terry is hoping he will be able to get back on his own in a few months, although I think it may take a little longer than that.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
heartbreaking
Elderly and abandoned, 84 Haitians await death.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP)– The old lady crawls in the dirt, wailing for her pills. The elderly man lies motionless as rats pick at his overflowing diaper.
There is no food, water or medicine for the 84 surviving residents of the Port-au-Prince Municipal Nursing Home, barely a mile (1 1/2 kilometers) from the airport where a massive international aid effort is taking shape.
"Help us, help us," 69-year-old Mari-Ange Levee begged Sunday, lying on the ground with a broken leg and ribs. A cluster of flies swarmed the open fracture in her skull.
One man had already died, and administrator Jean Emmanuel said more would follow soon unless water and food arrive immediately.
"I appeal to anybody to bring us anything, or others won't live until tonight," he said in the morning, motioning toward five men and women who were having trouble breathing, a sign that the end was near. Hours later, an elderly woman succumbed.
The dead man was Joseph Julien, a 70-year-old diabetic who was pulled from the partially collapsed building and passed away Thursday for lack of food.
His rotting body lies on a mattress, nearly indistinguishable from the living around him, so skinny and tired they seemed to be simply waiting for death.
With six residents killed in the quake, the institution now has 25 men and 60 women camped outside their former home. Some have a mattress in the dirt to lie on. Others don't.
Madeleine Dautriche, 75, said some of the residents had pooled their money to buy three packets of pasta, which the dozens of pensioners shared on Thursday, their last meal. Since there was no drinking water, some didn't touch the noodles because they were cooked in gutter water.
Dautriche noted that many residents wore diapers that hadn't been changed since the quake.
"The problem is, rats are coming to it," she said.
Though very little food aid had reached Haitians anywhere by Sunday, Emmanuel said the problem was made worse at the nursing home because it is located near Place de la Paix, an impoverished downtown neighborhood.
The hospice, known as "Hospice Municipal," is in the Delmas-2 neighborhood, near a rundown soccer stadium, stuck between the port and Bel-Air, traditionally one of Haiti's most violent and dangerous slums.
Thousands of homeless slum dwellers have pitched their makeshift tents on the nursing home's ground, in effect shielding the elderly patients from the outside world with a tense maze of angry people, themselves hungry and thirsty.
"I'm pleading for everyone to understand that there's a truce right now, the streets are free, so you can come through to help us," said Emmanuel, 27, one of the rare officials not to have fled the squalor and mayhem. He insisted that foreign aid workers wouldn't be in danger if they tried to cross through the crowd to reach the elderly group.
Violent scuffles erupted Saturday in the adjacent soccer stadium when U.S. helicopters dropped boxes of military rations and Gatorade. But none of this trickle of help had reached the nursing home residents, who said some refugees have robbed them of what little they had.
Dautriche, who was sitting on the ground because of her broken back, held out an empty blue plastic basin. "My underwear and my money were in there," she said, sobbing. "Children stole it right in front of me and I couldn't move."
The area was an eery corner of silence within the clamor of crying babies and toddlers running naked in the mud. Guarding the little space was Phileas Julien, 78, a blind man in a wheelchair who shouted at anybody approaching to turn back.
During moments of lucidity, Julien said he was better off than other pensioners because the medicine he was taking provided sustenance. A moment later, he threw his arms out to hug a passer-by he mistook for his grandson.
Also trying to guard the center was Jacqueline Thermiti, 71, who couldn't stand because of pain but who brandished her walking stick when children approached.
"Of all the wars and revolutions and hurricanes, this quake is the worst thing God has ever sent us," Thermiti said.
Initially, Thermiti and others believed their relatives would come to feed them, because many live in the slums nearby. "But I don't even know if my children are alive," she said.
Thermiti was surprisingly feisty for someone who hadn't eaten since Tuesday. She attributed that to experience with hunger during earlier hardships.
"But I was younger, and now there's no water either," she said.
She predicted that unlike other pensioners, she could still hold out for at least another day.
"Then if the foreigners don't come (with aid)," she said, "it will be up to baby Jesus."
One of the struggling residents had died by nightfall Sunday, when Associated Press journalists returned to the nursing home. Tsida-Edith Andre, about 90, had been too old and too weak to hold out through the afternoon heat, said Nixon Plantain, a hospice cleaner who was planning to spent the night there.
Next to him, Michele Lina, 22, was spoon-feeding boiled rice to her paralyzed grandfather in a wheelchair. Plantain said she was the first relative to have come with food. He helped Lina give out tiny mouthfuls to others.
That food, along with a carton of water bottles brought by an AP reporter, was the only aid the residents received Sunday, Plantain said.
The cleaner-turned-caretaker tried to pour a trickle of water into the mouth of Mesalia Joseph, one of a small group he said probably wouldn't make it through the night.
"Don't give me any," Joseph mumbled, saying she was too hungry to drink.
Curled in a fetal position, she seemed to have already given up.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
I read this today and it really effected me. The magnitude of what these people are going through is horrible. There are many ways to donate, Oxfam America is one, please help if you can.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP)– The old lady crawls in the dirt, wailing for her pills. The elderly man lies motionless as rats pick at his overflowing diaper.
There is no food, water or medicine for the 84 surviving residents of the Port-au-Prince Municipal Nursing Home, barely a mile (1 1/2 kilometers) from the airport where a massive international aid effort is taking shape.
"Help us, help us," 69-year-old Mari-Ange Levee begged Sunday, lying on the ground with a broken leg and ribs. A cluster of flies swarmed the open fracture in her skull.
One man had already died, and administrator Jean Emmanuel said more would follow soon unless water and food arrive immediately.
"I appeal to anybody to bring us anything, or others won't live until tonight," he said in the morning, motioning toward five men and women who were having trouble breathing, a sign that the end was near. Hours later, an elderly woman succumbed.
The dead man was Joseph Julien, a 70-year-old diabetic who was pulled from the partially collapsed building and passed away Thursday for lack of food.
His rotting body lies on a mattress, nearly indistinguishable from the living around him, so skinny and tired they seemed to be simply waiting for death.
With six residents killed in the quake, the institution now has 25 men and 60 women camped outside their former home. Some have a mattress in the dirt to lie on. Others don't.
Madeleine Dautriche, 75, said some of the residents had pooled their money to buy three packets of pasta, which the dozens of pensioners shared on Thursday, their last meal. Since there was no drinking water, some didn't touch the noodles because they were cooked in gutter water.
Dautriche noted that many residents wore diapers that hadn't been changed since the quake.
"The problem is, rats are coming to it," she said.
Though very little food aid had reached Haitians anywhere by Sunday, Emmanuel said the problem was made worse at the nursing home because it is located near Place de la Paix, an impoverished downtown neighborhood.
The hospice, known as "Hospice Municipal," is in the Delmas-2 neighborhood, near a rundown soccer stadium, stuck between the port and Bel-Air, traditionally one of Haiti's most violent and dangerous slums.
Thousands of homeless slum dwellers have pitched their makeshift tents on the nursing home's ground, in effect shielding the elderly patients from the outside world with a tense maze of angry people, themselves hungry and thirsty.
"I'm pleading for everyone to understand that there's a truce right now, the streets are free, so you can come through to help us," said Emmanuel, 27, one of the rare officials not to have fled the squalor and mayhem. He insisted that foreign aid workers wouldn't be in danger if they tried to cross through the crowd to reach the elderly group.
Violent scuffles erupted Saturday in the adjacent soccer stadium when U.S. helicopters dropped boxes of military rations and Gatorade. But none of this trickle of help had reached the nursing home residents, who said some refugees have robbed them of what little they had.
Dautriche, who was sitting on the ground because of her broken back, held out an empty blue plastic basin. "My underwear and my money were in there," she said, sobbing. "Children stole it right in front of me and I couldn't move."
The area was an eery corner of silence within the clamor of crying babies and toddlers running naked in the mud. Guarding the little space was Phileas Julien, 78, a blind man in a wheelchair who shouted at anybody approaching to turn back.
During moments of lucidity, Julien said he was better off than other pensioners because the medicine he was taking provided sustenance. A moment later, he threw his arms out to hug a passer-by he mistook for his grandson.
Also trying to guard the center was Jacqueline Thermiti, 71, who couldn't stand because of pain but who brandished her walking stick when children approached.
"Of all the wars and revolutions and hurricanes, this quake is the worst thing God has ever sent us," Thermiti said.
Initially, Thermiti and others believed their relatives would come to feed them, because many live in the slums nearby. "But I don't even know if my children are alive," she said.
Thermiti was surprisingly feisty for someone who hadn't eaten since Tuesday. She attributed that to experience with hunger during earlier hardships.
"But I was younger, and now there's no water either," she said.
She predicted that unlike other pensioners, she could still hold out for at least another day.
"Then if the foreigners don't come (with aid)," she said, "it will be up to baby Jesus."
One of the struggling residents had died by nightfall Sunday, when Associated Press journalists returned to the nursing home. Tsida-Edith Andre, about 90, had been too old and too weak to hold out through the afternoon heat, said Nixon Plantain, a hospice cleaner who was planning to spent the night there.
Next to him, Michele Lina, 22, was spoon-feeding boiled rice to her paralyzed grandfather in a wheelchair. Plantain said she was the first relative to have come with food. He helped Lina give out tiny mouthfuls to others.
That food, along with a carton of water bottles brought by an AP reporter, was the only aid the residents received Sunday, Plantain said.
The cleaner-turned-caretaker tried to pour a trickle of water into the mouth of Mesalia Joseph, one of a small group he said probably wouldn't make it through the night.
"Don't give me any," Joseph mumbled, saying she was too hungry to drink.
Curled in a fetal position, she seemed to have already given up.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
I read this today and it really effected me. The magnitude of what these people are going through is horrible. There are many ways to donate, Oxfam America is one, please help if you can.
Friday, January 08, 2010
oh boy,,,or girl i suppose...
For a multitude of reasons I won't go into, I found myself getting up and venturing out into the great frozen north (18f) at 3:30 this morning to buy a pregnancy test.
False alarm, as we thought it most likely would be, but for a little while there, thoughts of diapers and baby bottles were swimming in our heads, as we looked at each other and said no fucking way, right?
That would have been interesting...
False alarm, as we thought it most likely would be, but for a little while there, thoughts of diapers and baby bottles were swimming in our heads, as we looked at each other and said no fucking way, right?
That would have been interesting...
Monday, January 04, 2010
end of the year meme
Stole this from Trueself, slightly modified. Terry was sick over New Years, and the boy got a better offer to sleep over at a friends, so I went to the symphony by myself. And you have to love Craigslist, the concert started at 7:30pm, I looked online to see if anyone wanted tickets to the sold out show at 5pm (when Terry decided she couldn't make it) , and sure enough, I was able to sell both of them to a couple who were very happy to get them for 70 bucks. Originally I had only paid $76 for all 3 tickets, so it was a win win for both them and myself.
[and I thought I'd scheduled this to post on the 2nd...oops!]
1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
My first thought was this, but since I can't elaborate on it, I'll go with re-tiling part of a bathroom wall. Oh, and rewiring the garage. And rebuilding part of a roof. And designing and building a railing for our backyard deck. And replacing a door. Are you noticing a theme here?
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I've never made resolutions, and never will.
3. Howwill you be spending did you spend New Year's Eve?
I went to the Spokane symphony and then spent the rest of the evening watching movies with Terry at home. First show we watched in the new year was Soundstage on PBS, they had Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks in concert. Awesome show. Then we figured out Tom will be 60 and Stevie 62 this year. WTF? *sigh*
4. Did anyone close to you die? No. I did lose another aunt on my mother's side and only found out about it when I talked to my uncle in December. Turns out she died exactly one year later to the day that my mom did. Weird...
5. What countries did you visit?
Las Vegas. What? It's so surreal it could be it's own country, right?
6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
Framing and matting equipment. I've decided to try my hand at it to save money, and if I'm any good, then doing it for profit. I can get the basic stuff I need to start for around $500, minus materials. We'll see what happens...
7. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
April 25th, the day Terry moved into her new home, and we decided I should as well.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
My relationship with Terry.
9. What was your biggest failure?
I've pondered this for a while now, with no answer coming to mind. Next...
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Not really, I did have the first kidney stone attack in almost two years, the last one having occurred while living in Melbourne, and like that one I thankfully didn't end up in the hospital.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
My Blackberry Storm.
12. Where did most of your money go?
Lowe's Home Improvement. I should own stock.
13. What song will always remind you of 2009?
I've Got A Feeling by The Black Eyed Peas.
14. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Taking pictures.
15. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Procrastinating.
16. What was your favorite TV program?
Hmmm, tough choice. Battlestar Galactica, which ended in the spring. But Survivor was so freakin fun to watch this fall, esp with that Russell mixing it up, then acting so wronged when he didn't win. Someone forgot to tell him it was a game...
And I have to put in a plug for Shatner's Raw Nerve on the Biography Channel. Who would have thought Captain Kirk/Denny Crane could be such an excellent interviewer?
17. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I don't do hating, but dislike? Yeah, I have a few new ones this year...
18. What was the best book you read?
Books? What are those? Oh yeah, something you do with your free time...
Sad really, because I love to read and have a half dozen books I waiting for me...
19. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I usually gauge my favorite artists by how many songs I like on one or more of their albums. Rarely do I find one where I like every single track (off the top of my head I can think of ABBA, Michelle Branch, and Sara Evans having had albums like that), but this year I found a new one. Lily Allen's The Fear.
20. What was your favorite film of this year?
Angels and Demons. Keeps you on the edge of your seat, at least for me it did.
21. What did you do on your birthday?
Went to The White House, our favorite Greek restaurant for dinner with friends.
22. What kept you sane?
Not what, Who. And I'm sure you know who.
23. Who did you miss?
My dad, every time I was using his tools around the two houses I was fixing up.
24. Who was the best new person you met?
My co-worker Jason.
25. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009:
That just because you father children, and raise them the best you could, it doesn't necessarily mean you're going to have good relationships with them as adults. I've come to realize that many brothers and sisters, parents and children do not. My sister and mom were estranged to the end, a blogger wrote about having not talked to a brother for 8 years, Terry is only close to a couple of her sisters. Such is life, and I've learned to no longer feel like a failure for not being able to hold my family together.
[and I thought I'd scheduled this to post on the 2nd...oops!]
1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
My first thought was this, but since I can't elaborate on it, I'll go with re-tiling part of a bathroom wall. Oh, and rewiring the garage. And rebuilding part of a roof. And designing and building a railing for our backyard deck. And replacing a door. Are you noticing a theme here?
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I've never made resolutions, and never will.
3. How
I went to the Spokane symphony and then spent the rest of the evening watching movies with Terry at home. First show we watched in the new year was Soundstage on PBS, they had Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks in concert. Awesome show. Then we figured out Tom will be 60 and Stevie 62 this year. WTF? *sigh*
4. Did anyone close to you die? No. I did lose another aunt on my mother's side and only found out about it when I talked to my uncle in December. Turns out she died exactly one year later to the day that my mom did. Weird...
5. What countries did you visit?
Las Vegas. What? It's so surreal it could be it's own country, right?
6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
Framing and matting equipment. I've decided to try my hand at it to save money, and if I'm any good, then doing it for profit. I can get the basic stuff I need to start for around $500, minus materials. We'll see what happens...
7. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
April 25th, the day Terry moved into her new home, and we decided I should as well.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
My relationship with Terry.
9. What was your biggest failure?
I've pondered this for a while now, with no answer coming to mind. Next...
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Not really, I did have the first kidney stone attack in almost two years, the last one having occurred while living in Melbourne, and like that one I thankfully didn't end up in the hospital.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
My Blackberry Storm.
12. Where did most of your money go?
Lowe's Home Improvement. I should own stock.
13. What song will always remind you of 2009?
I've Got A Feeling by The Black Eyed Peas.
14. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Taking pictures.
15. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Procrastinating.
16. What was your favorite TV program?
Hmmm, tough choice. Battlestar Galactica, which ended in the spring. But Survivor was so freakin fun to watch this fall, esp with that Russell mixing it up, then acting so wronged when he didn't win. Someone forgot to tell him it was a game...
And I have to put in a plug for Shatner's Raw Nerve on the Biography Channel. Who would have thought Captain Kirk/Denny Crane could be such an excellent interviewer?
17. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I don't do hating, but dislike? Yeah, I have a few new ones this year...
18. What was the best book you read?
Books? What are those? Oh yeah, something you do with your free time...
Sad really, because I love to read and have a half dozen books I waiting for me...
19. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I usually gauge my favorite artists by how many songs I like on one or more of their albums. Rarely do I find one where I like every single track (off the top of my head I can think of ABBA, Michelle Branch, and Sara Evans having had albums like that), but this year I found a new one. Lily Allen's The Fear.
20. What was your favorite film of this year?
Angels and Demons. Keeps you on the edge of your seat, at least for me it did.
21. What did you do on your birthday?
Went to The White House, our favorite Greek restaurant for dinner with friends.
22. What kept you sane?
Not what, Who. And I'm sure you know who.
23. Who did you miss?
My dad, every time I was using his tools around the two houses I was fixing up.
24. Who was the best new person you met?
My co-worker Jason.
25. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009:
That just because you father children, and raise them the best you could, it doesn't necessarily mean you're going to have good relationships with them as adults. I've come to realize that many brothers and sisters, parents and children do not. My sister and mom were estranged to the end, a blogger wrote about having not talked to a brother for 8 years, Terry is only close to a couple of her sisters. Such is life, and I've learned to no longer feel like a failure for not being able to hold my family together.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
sex, bean dip, and beethoven's 9th
Yesterday was one of those days. We both came home saying how much we had wanted to quit our jobs. At one point during my shift my only thought was I want to go home, have a drink, and fuck Terry senseless. Sounding abit crass there? Maybe, but it has been a while for us, too long we both said, mostly because of the holidays and the boy being home on school break and staying up late. We have a lock on the door, but we both agree the sex is better when we don't have to worry about the noise, or the possibility of a knock on the bedroom door. She likes to scream when she cums, and I get a little loud myself at times (one night last summer we forgot and left the window open, the one that fronts on our busy street, where people are walking by at times, and we heard comments from outside...). So last night when he FINALLY was invited to a sleep over, the look of relief on both our faces was huge... and that same look was there again later that night as well...
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One of Terry's family traditions on Christmas is to make snacks in the middle of the day, instead of having lunch. This year we had little smokies (plain and as pigs in a blanket made by Terry's older son), shrimp, veggies and dip, sweet pickles and olives, and Terry asked me to make my family's famous bean dip.
This bean dip recipe was given to my wife Kathy a few years before we were married (from Linda, a nurse she worked with) and has been made many times over the years. One of my favorite stories about the bean dip was the year she made it for my family's Thanksgiving Day dinner. The dinner was always held at my parents or uncles home (which ironically was within view of Kathy's home), and this year we were at my uncle's. The bean dip was so popular (even with my cousins) that nobody was hungry by the time the turkey was done, and my aunt was visibly upset about it and she never really warmed up to my future wife after that...
Through the years there were many times we'd have friends show up at our place when they heard the bean dip was being made, and it became my wife's signature dish (well that and the apple crisp she would make for me on special occasions).
This was only the fourth time I'd made it since Kathy died, but it turned out the best yet!
So as a belated Christmas gift to my friends that read here, I present the recipe. Enjoy!
Bean Dip
1 large can of refried beans
1 8 ounce package of cream cheese
8 ounces of sour cream
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 package of taco seasoning
Tabasco sauce to taste (1-2 capfuls)
Mix all ingredients with a large spoon until fully blended.
Top with 1 pound of grated jack and cheddar cheese (1/2 pound of each)
Cover with foil in a 8 1/2 by 11 inch glass dish for 30 minutes at 350 degrees or until cheese is fully melted.
Serve with lots of tortilla chips.
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For New Years Eve, we'll be attending a symphony performance of Beethoven's 9th at the Martin Woldson Theater in Spokane. Terry loves the symphony and the boy and I have never gone, so it should be a treat.
I wrote a few posts back about the pending end of this blog, originally I'd planned to end it on the 3rd anniversary of this blog, then thought the end of the year, but it seems I still have some posts left in me. There are some changes coming to our little house soon and I'll write about that next year...
But for now, I'll leave you with wishes for a very happy and prosperous New Year. Cheers!
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One of Terry's family traditions on Christmas is to make snacks in the middle of the day, instead of having lunch. This year we had little smokies (plain and as pigs in a blanket made by Terry's older son), shrimp, veggies and dip, sweet pickles and olives, and Terry asked me to make my family's famous bean dip.
This bean dip recipe was given to my wife Kathy a few years before we were married (from Linda, a nurse she worked with) and has been made many times over the years. One of my favorite stories about the bean dip was the year she made it for my family's Thanksgiving Day dinner. The dinner was always held at my parents or uncles home (which ironically was within view of Kathy's home), and this year we were at my uncle's. The bean dip was so popular (even with my cousins) that nobody was hungry by the time the turkey was done, and my aunt was visibly upset about it and she never really warmed up to my future wife after that...
Through the years there were many times we'd have friends show up at our place when they heard the bean dip was being made, and it became my wife's signature dish (well that and the apple crisp she would make for me on special occasions).
This was only the fourth time I'd made it since Kathy died, but it turned out the best yet!
So as a belated Christmas gift to my friends that read here, I present the recipe. Enjoy!
Bean Dip
1 large can of refried beans
1 8 ounce package of cream cheese
8 ounces of sour cream
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 package of taco seasoning
Tabasco sauce to taste (1-2 capfuls)
Mix all ingredients with a large spoon until fully blended.
Top with 1 pound of grated jack and cheddar cheese (1/2 pound of each)
Cover with foil in a 8 1/2 by 11 inch glass dish for 30 minutes at 350 degrees or until cheese is fully melted.
Serve with lots of tortilla chips.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For New Years Eve, we'll be attending a symphony performance of Beethoven's 9th at the Martin Woldson Theater in Spokane. Terry loves the symphony and the boy and I have never gone, so it should be a treat.
I wrote a few posts back about the pending end of this blog, originally I'd planned to end it on the 3rd anniversary of this blog, then thought the end of the year, but it seems I still have some posts left in me. There are some changes coming to our little house soon and I'll write about that next year...
But for now, I'll leave you with wishes for a very happy and prosperous New Year. Cheers!
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