Kids have been back in school for less than a week. In some cases, it has been only one or two days. What the hell are you doing pushing candy on them to sell already? They don't even have homework assignments yet, and you're sending them home with boxes of candy?

And kids...what the hell? Giving it to your parents to take to work with them and making them do the work for you? Do what I did for all those years I was in marching band and honor society and international club and sell it to your buddies at school. If I can do it with a graduating class of 130, you can do it with your graduating classes of 400+! Try it. It works!

And parents! These drives aren't just in place to raise money for boosters/band/class trips. No! They help teach your kids responsibility. You're not doing your kids a favor by bringing the full boxes of candy to your workplace. Bring half a box, if you bring any at all. But really..the two full boxes of candy bars sitting next to the coffee pots just BREEDS laziness in your kid(s).

Now... y'all just chew on that while I enjoy my Reece's Peanut Butter cups.

Mmm...peanut butter cups....

Tags: bwah?, children, rant
Current Mood: annoyed

I updated 3 times last week. Whoa! Something must be wrong. Guess I'll keep it going, eh?

This morning I woke from sleeping to find myself on my stomach. D'oh! I mused to O that I thought I'd fallen asleep on my back, and she confirmed that I did. What do I need to STAY on my back? Shackles? Yeesh...

All told, I awoke with an achy back. :( Sadness.

In other news, i usually leave work at 4:30. I got an e-mail from someone at our corporate HQ...an admin assistant for some big cheese...requesting training at 4 PM. Um...no. I was able to reschedule for 3:30. Meh. Of course, the only reason I have this request is because she is too fucking lazy to RTFM like everyone else. Then again, this is what we call the "Ivory Tower." Real world rules don't apply there.

We have a training dept. Why don't they train? Because the guy who is the head has a personal dislike of the application. Big fucking deal. Stop your bellyaching and do your goddamn job and TRAIN ppl!

I hate this fucking company. Want new job now, plznthx!

Tags: health, injury, rant, work
Current Mood: frustrated

It is very disheartening to know that I have been working in my field for 10 years and have very little in the way of a skill set to show for it. For goodness sake...one would think I've had *some* experience with the "hot" languages that are used every-fucking-where... You know...Like...Java? .NET? But no...I'm stuck at some worthless, "old school" company where they refuse to encourage employees to learn new skills and keep them so overwhelmed with work and projects that there is neither the time nor energy to learn the stuff on your own.

God, I hate Frontier...and I've lost almost 6 years of my career here.

My resume looks woefully inadequate for a new job. I am screwed.

Tags: bwah?, rant, work
Current Mood: frustrated

OK... I hate Sallie Mae. I hate dealing with them whenever I have to call. At least this time, the call center people in India spoke clear enough English that I didn't have to put my filter on.

But god...they are still so fucking dense.

ME: "I understand you cannot do that for me. I'd like to speak to your supervisor."
THEM: "I'm sorry, I do not understand that."

What is so fucking difficult to understand??? Let me speak to someone who CAN help me. Bastards.

ME: I want to reapply my last payment.
THEM: If you do that, your other loans will be in arrears.

OK...They use a word like "arrears." Good. They can read the script. Except I deviate from the script every damned time because their script doesn't help me.

ME: No, they won't. My next due date is October 2008.
THEM: Let me just check that. One moment. *hold music* Oh yes, you are correct. You will not be arrears.

No fucking shit, Sherlock.

I finally get through to a supervisor, and decide I've had enough of this calling in and fighting with them over my money every damned month.

ME: Who would I need to speak to about changing my payment amount and have my payment schedule reset.
SUP: You should not do that.
ME: It makes financial sense for me to do what I've asked to be done. Otherwise, I will be paying off my loans for another 10 years.
SUP: With your current due date you won't be paying them off for 10 years. You will pay them off 6 months earlier because you are 6 months ahead.

OK...if the above response doesn't seem wrong to you, go back and read it again. If what logic world does that make sense? Whether the date is 9.5 years or 10 years out, they're still a long way off, especially considering I graduated in '98.

After much time on hold, I didn't get exactly what I wanted. My payment amount was changed from $120 to $250 per month, and my due date was reset to next month instead of 6 months out. BUT...

I get 15 months of payments of $250. Then, 15 months of payments at $199. Then, one final payment of $194.

No. I don't think so.

In a few more months, once I up my emergency savings a little more, I'm paying the whole damned thing off. It's about $6500 now...a far cry from the almost $25000 I borrowed for my two degrees (and a hell of a lot less than some other people had to borrow...) but still too much for me to pay off all at once and retain my financial cushion. $5500 or so will be much more doable, and enable me to keep packing some extra cash away for an emergency day.

I like finance. I really do. But I hate people that tell me I cannot do with MY money what I want to. No...that doesn't fly with me. So, Sallie Mae...you will lose the 7% interest (WTF???) you have been charging me for the privilege of hosting my loans. Hell...it'll be more $$ out of my pocket for a few months, but a lot more back IN my pocket in the long run and a lot less for you.

Just for the convenience, I'd have been okay making the smaller payments as long as they applied them the way I wanted them applied for the long term and paying the interest for that convenience. They fucked themselves on this one.

Tags: bwah?, money, rant, sallie mae
Current Mood: pissed off

Justice is served. Former Atlanta Falcons star QB Michael Vick is sentenced to 23 months in prison for bankrolling a dogfighting operation and killing 8 dogs that performed "poorly."

And still, people defend this piece of shit thug. Check the comments on that page.

This is not a race issue. This "man" willingly and knowingly broke the law. Is he black? Yes. Of course he is. But he also committed a felony and deserves to do the time. Hell...he could have been sentenced to 5 years instead of 2. If you ask me, he got off lucky.

And no, pit bulls, more correctly known as American Staffordshir Terriers, are not mean, vicious dogs by nature who should all be put to sleep. Any dog, even one as small as a chihuahua can seriously injure a human if they are not socialized from a young age. These dogs Vick was responsible for were not taken to obedience classes or the dog park. They were not petted and loved and fed and played with. These dogs were abused and starved and forced to fight from the moment they were born.

To those who said "Dogfighting is not a part of southern culture" um... according to these felons (Vick and all his cronies), they think it is. They have said they grew up going to dog fights and hearing about dog fights and participating in dog fights and betting on dog fights and... Maybe it's not a part of the WIDER southern culture, but it's there. Yet one more ugly stain on the southern states' souls.

And knowing that people think he was given a hard sentence and make light of the fact that those dogs weren't just killed...they were tortured to death...make my stomach turn. Electrocution, drowning, suffocation, and whatever other methods he used to kill those animals aren't "euthanasia." Those dogs were murdered by a cold-hearted killer.

I think he got what he deserved. Do I wish his sentence was harsher? I don't know. That's not for me to say. But these people who are screaming "Racism!" or saying "They were only dogs." are dead wrong. He committed multiple felonies. He was handed a judicial punishment befitting the crimes. There is no mention of appealing the conviction. Obviously he agrees with the sentence and is willing to do his time.

What the hell is wrong with these people?

Tags: bwah?, puppy, rant, sad, sports
Current Mood: aggravated

Dear Mother,

Please do not to be calling me before 6 AM. You see, I am still asleep at that time. As is O. As are the cats (usually) and the dog (definitely).

One caveat: If there is an emergency, you are welcome to call at any hour in the day. Asking what our plans are for Thanksgiving and Christmas when I've already told you (more than once) what our plans are does not constitute an emergency.

Thank you to be listening and understanding of this request.

Sincerely,
Your very tired daughter who is about to have her 3rd cup of coffee.

Tags: bwah?, family, rant
Current Mood: sleepy

You are interviewed by a media person when leaving beautiful Fenway Park after Game 2 and you say something very similar to the following:

Ain't nobody hitting Matsuzaka, and then they gotta face Wake or whoever is in game 4. They're winning in Colorado! YEAH!

*deskhead*

Argh. Drunken fratboy bandwagon fans, GO HOME! Stop soiling my team and beloved ballpark!

Anybody who has been following the Red Sox in the playoffs this year knows that Tim Wakefield has been suffering from back/shoulder problems since late August or so. He isn't even on the World Series roster. If you're not on the roster, you're not pitching in any game. Kyle Snyder was named Wake's replacement. (I think Julian Tavarez should have gotten the spot after all he gave this club this year...beginning the year as a starter due to injuries, then being relegated to the bullpen for the remainder of the year, making only one or two spot starts...being asked to do what the team wanted and sacrificing his personal wishes for the good of the team...but what do I know...I'm only a fan.)

Sox up 2-0. I still call Sox in 6. They will win it at Fenway in front of the Faithful. The Rox can easily win two games at Coors field...as long as they start hitting.

Tags: rant, red sox, sports

I hate general contractors.

*seethe*

OK. Not all of them. But the one who is supposed to be replacing our windows and patio door? Not escaping my wrath.

The contractor in question is Patriot Construction. The job? Replacing our windows and patio doors.

The problems?

( Backstory )

( What finally sent me over the edge )
OK...so let's recap. You have a displeased customer on the phone, and you hang up on them? The bloody hell, I say!

We have a lot of work we want to do on the house in the coming years. Kitchen remodel. Two bathroom remodels. An addition. Not small jobs. Guess who's NOT getting that work? Thaaaaaat's right, folks! Patriot.

I want them in the house, get the job done, take the rest of the money I owe them, and out. Gone. Not to be seen on my property again.

Tags: house, house work, rant, windows
Current Mood: irate

Do you have the time to listen to me whine about nothing and everything all at once?

-- Green Day

In short, this week started as nothing short of craptastic and has gotten progressively worse to the point where I decided to send an e-mail to HR and told them (in so many words) that I do not want this job and want to be transferred to a place where I will use my mad programming skillz and not waste away running reports like some low-level clerk.

But I was nicely phrased in my actual letter.

In short, this transfer to the QA group has set my career on a backward path. See...when college grads get into the working world, they will more than not find themselves in a position that involves QA or Help Desk. This allows them to learn the systems they will eventually be hired for to program.

I programmed for 10 years. I am now doing QA. Pray tell...what is wrong with this picture?

7 months, I've been wasting away. Oh...and the application they sent me to training for? Incompatible with what they want me to test. AND the application they TOLD me I'd be testing when I was transferred against my will 7 months ago? Still haven't had any involvement whatsoever. And when I mentioned this at our staff meeting today, eyebrows all around the table were raised because there is a lack of help in the testing effort.

It has become quite obvious nobody knows what to do with me here, and after our staff meeting, I sent an e-mail to our new team lead asking her if she would spare 15 minutes so that I could voice some concerns I have over my position on the team.

God, I hate this fucking job. I want to cry.

Tags: rant, sad, work
Current Mood: depressed

Last night at the Chateau Lesbo was...um...interesting.

( Backstory may be boring. Except for dog bite. Read at your own risk. )

( Then, things got interesting. )

( And that wasn't all! )

( And it continued this morning... )

So, I have a headache from the lack of sleep and feel like blah. It's still rainy/snowy outside with no luck of it going away by the rugby tourney this weekend. (Which I want to bring Sophie-bitey-pup to) I have laundry to finish tonight, as well as a grocery shopping trip with O. It's gonna be a busy night...probably zero chance of falling asleep within a reasonable time.

And if James Taylor wakes us up at midnight again, I'ma gonna be unhappy.

Tags: funny, house, puppy, rant, rugby
Current Mood: groggy