I came to the following conclusion though - when there are "A" listed stars in "B" movies, I think everyone else over-acts to try to match or make an impression for the fans of the actor in hopes they'll get their big break. If the movie only has "B" actors, then they seem to work harder at impressing the audience then anyone else. I like that about them.

I say, and I can't believe I'm alone in this, that actors/actresses are paid too much money for their "A" movies which drives up the cost of going to the theater for us regular folk. Might I suggest they get paid a modest sum and then get a percentage of the profits rather then millions up front? I think they should be a little held responsible if a movie really flops.

Say Will Smith gets paid $8 million up front for a movie (who couldn't live on 8 million a year?) and then gets 10% of the royalties - he probably would have come out ahead for his last movie "Hancock" which seemed to do really well. I love the guy and would go to almost anything he was in...but only as long as I can afford to go to a movie. Last time I went, it was $18.50 for entrance, a drink and a small nacho...I can remember when all that was $8.50 total. I can buy the DVD when it comes out for less then that and I have to say, in most cases I can be patient enough to wait.

Yes, I went to Hancock - my son took me - but say other movies I would like to see like...Hellboy, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Mama Mia, Wanted, Wall-E and even the much anticipated X-files...I will probably wait till they are on DVD. I know, you are thinking how great it is to see them on the big screen and yes, that is true...but not $18.50 true in most cases and I heard the rate was going up so probably $19.50 by the end of the summer.

Nope, there is something to be said for "B" movies who don't mind not spending a lot of money on special effects that might look good or "A" listed actors that drive up the price of the show. I just finished watching "Spiders 2" on the Sci-Fi channel...well, what I could watch of it here at work anyway...and it was just fine - better then Madsen's "Croc" any day.

The Bible tells us that during Joseph's time, the Hebrew people enjoyed peace and prosperity in the land of Egypt.  Then Joseph and the Pharoah die.  Over time, new kings take the throne, eventually forgetting the history leading to their times.  Archaeologist have uncovered ruins that show that historical events were being recorded, yet all that happened the previous 400 years faded into oblivion.  Why? Wasnt someone interested in learning from the past? Isnt that how we prevent like situations from repeating themselves, yet here all was buried and forgotten.

Prejudiced attitudes werent just things of our times.  These same attitudes existed from the beginning of time and the story here is a good example.  Though the Israelites experienced peace and prosperity during the times of Joseph's ambassadorship, the Egyptians still looked upon them with suspicion and caution.  Think about it - Egypt had reached a height of economic, educational, and religious advancement that surpassed none.  They looked upon themselves as superior to all others.  The Bible tells us that Joseph instructed his family not to disclose to Pharoah their occupation as shepherds because he knew how the felt about them.  How could the Egyptians allow such an inferior people to pollute an elite society?  Yet for Joseph's sake, the Pharoah gave them the best of the land.  Dont think this was of pure intent.  The Egyptians gave the good, but they also ensured their separation from them.

The Egyptian attitude didnt change over time.  It remained deeply rooted in their hearts.  Deeply rooted attitudes and forgotten history paved the way to insecurities and fears, hidden by brutality and oppression.  No amount of hardship seemed to affect God's peole.  The harder times became, the more they prospered.  Where would it all end, so the Pharoah thought???

In one short story of oppression, we learn more lessons than one can count.  In Exodus 1, we learn that hard times dont erase God's promises, that harsh times dont escape God's notice and that heavy tests dont eclipse God's concern.  God's promises in Genesis 15 to send a deliverer,  Though hundreds of years have passed before Moses popped up on the scene, God didnt forget His promise he made to Abraham earlier. 

Exodus 3 tells us that God saw the misery of His people, heard their cry, was concerned about them and as a result came down to rescue them.  Oppression and hardship didnt blind God from what was happening to His people no more than it does for us today.  Sometimes in our misery, we feel He is far from us, but that is the farthest from the turth.  God, I mean, the Holy God came down from heaven to rescue His people.  That says alot doesnt it?  No matter how great the pain, God cared.  No matter the severity of the hurt, He felt the pain and came down to us.  Never underestimate the power of God's love for us.

The Bible tells us that God is the same yesterday, today and forever more.  That means that even our tests today will summon God to us.  His ears are not deafened to our cries.  His eyes see our every agony.  His heart feels our every pain and just as in Exodus, He still rescues us from them all.

 Money is a powerful tool. You can help family members and others.

Family. Most of us need to heal old wounds and try to glue family life back together.

Adversity (hard times) can make you stronger, if you have a good, good attitude.

We are having  difficult times --in the U.S. but we cause many of our own problems.

Looking for love or sex?
There is a difference, you know!

Friends--Need a friend?. According to David Letterman, a friend is one who will take care of you when you have a severe virus and have lost control of your body. A friend is someone who you can call at 3 a.m. if you have an emergency. A friend is a telephone buddy who listens to your problems---and you ask about theirs.

Attitude. Many people play games at work and try to get you involved. Manipulation? Power struggle?

Religion. Good guidepost for children and adults. But, if you label yourself as a Christian, ask if you live that lifestyle daily (?) Of course, no one is perfect. Are you a caring person and help others?

Just a few notes today.....from an older man.    Charlie

26 Iul 2008 Tanar emo

Foto: grooveshark.com

Ne amintim de tinerii persecutati pentru simplul motiv ca purtau bluejeans pe vremuri?

Sursa: Cotidianul.ro

Autorităţile din Rusia pregătesc o nouă lege care să scoată în afara legii curentul emo, cenzurând site-urile de profil şi interzicând îmbrăcămintea emo şi goth în şcoli şi în instituţiile publice.

Cei care au iniţiat acest proiect se tem că "aceste tendinţe periculoase ale adolescenţilor" încurajează depresia şi sinuciderea.
În Krasnoiarsk, Siberia, unde legea a intrat deja în vigoare, protestatarii au organizat un marş, purtând pancarte cu inscripţia "Un stat totalitar încurajează stupiditatea". Realitatea TV

When I was a child I thought grownups knew everything, they just weren't telling. I also thought that when I grew up, I too would know everything. For that reason I looked forward to someday belonging to the Grownup Club. Then I would know what the grownups meant when they gave each other those strange looks that I judged to be a secret code, especially when I asked such important questions as: What are we all doing here (on Planet Earth)? Isn't there someplace else we could go? Are we stuck here?

My mother said we were here because God had made us and put us here, that He also made the Earth to be our home. When I asked why this place and not some other, where things might make more sense, she looked off into the distance and shook her head. Since I knew my mother was already a member of the Grownup Club and that I would someday become a member too--growing up being the only requirement for membership, I assumed--I realized she was thinking up a fairy tale to tell me, which is the only way kids were allowed to learn important things. Since I already knew I'd be let in on the secrets once I was old enough to become a member of the Club, I told her to forget it (in my mind that is, otherwise I might be punished for sassing) and pretended to lose interest. I could see she was relieved.

That was okay because by the time I was sixteen, I knew much more than my mother. As a young adult I found out the Grownup Club, or at least the one my mother belonged to, had not kept up with the times--or else my mother's membership had expired. The only way to learn anything now was to find the experts, so that's what I decided to do. However, since none of them lived in our old neighborhood, I was forced to turn to books. Although most of the books by experts were written by the Old Farts who lived long ago, thankfully their language had improved a bit since biblical times.

(Of course my mother had a book by the biblical experts, called the Bible, which she said was written by God, but she admitted that although all the words in it came from God, men had actually penned it. On trying to read it I couldn't help but wonder if they hadn't gotten God's words wrong. But since my mother said it was blasphemy to question the Bible, I realized this was yet another question I was not supposed to ask).

I found the experts hard going as they tended to answer questions I wasn't asking and didn't answer the questions I did ask. But my real problem came after I married and had my first child. I got a book by Dr. Spock on raising children as he was the known expert on the subject. Then I made a mistake of buying a book by another childcare expert (I don't remember his name). The second book disagreed with everything in the first book and I ended up throwing both of them out. If the experts couldn't agree, then how was I to know whom to believe?

What did other mothers do? I consulted some in the neighborhood but that also fell through when I learned there was an early potty-training trend going on. Mothers were potty-training their babies at the age of six months by running to put them on the potty when their little faces turned red. Then they gathered for coffee and bragged about their successes in potty-training their babies before they learned to walk (some were carrying them to the potty even earlier than six months old, implying their babies were geniuses).

This didn't make sense to me because I figured a child should at least be able to walk to the potty before s/he was trained. All these mothers were doing was hurrying to catch the do-do. Which, of course, did save on diapers.

But my disillusionment had truly begun. I finally realized I couldn't depend on other people to guide me and every time I found an expert about anything, another expert came along to disagree with the first one. It came to me that, as much trouble as it would turn out to be, I had no choice but to try to figure things out for myself. And hang the experts.

Now I know why my mother kept quiet. Who wants to admit to a kid there are things even the grownups don't know. And that even when so-called grownups gain a bit of knowledge they just fight with each other over who's right, and confuse people like me who are trying to understand.

At my age I know people expect me to act like a senior member of the Grownup Club, but by now I've entered my second childhood. I would not even join the Club if they asked me. In fact, when I see the long sad face of a Grownup, my first inclination is to whistle Dixie and thank God for my escape.

I've seen a lot of egos and attitudes grow and prosper during my seven quarters at PC.  I was just reading at article about Creative Circus and how nice everyone is there.  Though I wonder if that's really true or just good PR,  I really can't say I percieve the same thing at PC.  Yes, competition is healthy, but good sportsmanship is also needed.

And yes, I do know some really great people there with admirable minds and personalities...but you know there are always some thorns that give an unpleasant vibe.  Just a thought that's been building in my mind lately...

* Maintain eye contact with the speaker. It shows you are listening and foces you to focus.

* Ask, do not retell. If you do not get a response you want, do not just repeat your questions. Ask questions to find out if the other person understood you.

* Wait for answers. If you do not get an immediate response, gie the speaker a few extra seconds to form a response.

Adapted from: "Communication Briefings"

This whole story has continued to draw interest because there can be no closure until the little girl's body is found.  It also continues to haunt millions of us who look at that sweet child's face wondering how this mother could hurt such a beautiful child.  No matter what a person is going through, there are always options available and killing should never be one of them.

It brings tears to my eyes every time I hear or read an update.  I wish I could hold this little girl in my arms and protect her from the evil that befell her.  Again I find myself wishing that there was some tell tall signs of evilness so that we could identify them and keep the innocent safe.

"So, you're saying that fat people are fat because they're lazy sods who sit around eating all day?"

"Well.... need I say anything?"

She's referring to me, apparently since I am overweight I qualify, despite the fact there isn't a speck of food on my desk and my last meal was lunch three hours ago.  I choose to ignore the personal dig, I'm overweight because I've had three kids in ten years and have never made a concentrated effort to lose the baby weight, not because I sit around eating all day. (well, not every day.)

"So," I say, "What about all the skinny people who sit around eating crap all day...?"

"Well, that just proves it!" she says

"Well it proves that there are lots of skinny people who eat crap and don't exercise!"

"Well.....oh..."

the conversation ends.

I was blown away, first by the sheer ignorance and this attitude of "fat people are fat because they are lazy and eat to much!" and then further by my discovery of this company, which apparently teaches people that they are fat because they can't control themselves, and use eating as a coping mechanism.

There are many reasons for people being fat or skinny, and it amazes me that there is such a hurtful, ignorant attitude prevalent amongst "skinny" people.  We can all agree that being overweight is not a healthy thing. But to have such a venomous and condescending attitude towards overweight people is really sad.  I am the only overweight person in my office and I am constantly shocked at the way my skinny colleagues talk about "fat" people. It's just so cringeworthy, incredibly insulting, patronizing and condescending.

I'm not saying we should encourage people to be overweight, but we certainly shouldn't be bullying those who are overweight or making them feel like they are just really stupid, lazy people.

Tomorrow's Children is a 1934 drama that intends to make a bold statements about everything that is wrong with forced sterilization.

Thanks to the magic of YouTube and the passage of time this film is both available for viewing and in the public domain. I have included both a plot summary (lifted from imdb.com) and links to all six parts in this post.  Note that this version has has been broken down by the YouTube poster (likely for manageability) and each part now has a short piece of introductory text.  It is also the case that there are no subtitles.

If you're short on time you can catch the spirit of the film by reading the summary and then watching parts 1, 5, and 6.  Just note that by doing this you'll be missing out on what really is a great little film that manages to have everything (Mistaken identity, tension between church and state, young love, spoiled dreams, megalomaniacs, and the list goes on) while making a bold statement that ran counter to many prevailing ideas of the day (and today!).

Plot Summary:

A young woman wishes to marry her boyfriend and raise a family, but because her own family has been deemed "defective" by the state health authorities--her parents are lazy alcoholics who continue to have children, and several of her brothers and sisters have mental problems--she is ordered by a court to undergo sterilization so that her family's "defective genes" won't be passed on to any more children. Her boyfriend and a kindly priest desperately search for a way to stop the forced sterilization before it's too late.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Great! You made it to the end.  Nice little film wasn't it?  I thought so, but I couldn't help but feel that having the heroine saved by "mistaken identity/bureaucratic incompetence" really weakens the whole anti-sterilization argument that the film hoped to make.  There were stronger, although less tangible, arguments throughout, especially in part 4 (The appeal to the inhumanity of the procedure from the hospital bed), that could have been expanded and given more prominence.  Given how far the film had already gone in pushing its message of mistaken identity by part 5 I was wholly expecting part 6 to end on a very dark note.  I was happy that it didn't at the time (As much as I despise to admit it I am a child of the American film industry), but on reflection I wonder if an I-told-you-so-now-look-what-you've-done approach might have driven home the point better.  Oh well, I guess I should just be happy that anything like this was even made in the 30s.

As a final note, the film should also be applauded for not continuing with what might be considered another attempt to feminize disability/weakness as this piece of trivia makes clear:

The mentally challenged patient who is strapped to the table is not an actor in makeup but a genuine microcephalic who was a veteran of circus sideshows who appeared under the name of "Schlitze". Although he was a male, this film was one of the rare times he appeared as a male; he was normally dressed and exhibited as a female. [Source imdb.com]

Well?  What did you think?

"In a lawsuit filed yesterday, a Camden County woman accused her orthopedic surgeon of "rubbing a temporary tattoo of a red rose" on her belly while she was under anesthesia.

The patient discovered the tattoo below the panty line the next morning, when her husband was helping her get dressed to go home after the operation for a herniated disc, her attorney, Gregg A. Shivers, said in a phone interview yesterday."

Note that the placement of the tattoo, while of prurient interest, is made that much more curious by the fact that surgery for a herniated disc required the patient to lay on her stomach for the duration of the surgery, meaning that after the surgery, Doc turned his patient over and took the time to apply a temporary tattoo "below the panty line.""

This story has been followed-up by a revealing post on the same site from PhysioProf, who expresses depressingly little surprise at the incident; instead telling readers, especially female readers, what they probably always suspected was the case, but would rather believe is not: 

"I want to give you my take on this as a PhysioProf who works at a highly prestigious medical school and academic medical center:

As someone who spends a substantial portion of his professional time teaching medical students, I can tell you that this kind of attitude–that physicians are gods, not mere mortals, and wield power over other human beings that no one dare question–is inculcated in them from the very beginning of medical training. It is an ugly secret of our medical training system. And the more prestigious the institutions where physicians receive their training, the more overweening is this attitude...

From a legal standpoint, btw, it is clearly a battery, as these patients gave informed consent to a particular operation, and not to having temporary tattoos placed on their bodies while unconscious. It is battery in exactly the same way it would be battery if you put a temporary tattoo on the body of a stranger asleep at the beach."

Casey lied to her own parents about having a job, about the babysitter, and where she was staying.  Maybe part of the key to finding the daughter will be to figure out where they had been staying the past month prior to the report of the missing child.

Now, I have a big problem with the fact that her mother, Cindy, seems so willing to believe her.  Could this blind way of acting be one of the reason's Casey felt the need to lie to her parents to begin with?  Children who feel a lot of pressure to always be perfect and exceed often lie to parents rather then risk disappointing them or asking them for help.

I don't believe the child is alive.  I believe Casey killed her and buried her somewhere that makes sense to her - someplace accessible by her car and not far from a roadway.  Maybe she'd bury her in a favorite place of the child.  Maybe the mother fell on hard times and reached the end of her rope - killing the child rather then trying to continue to support her.  I've read stories of people who lock their children in cages, closets and basements because they can't afford to pay a babysitter when they go to work.  Maybe this is something like that which ended up getting out of control causing the child's death.  Maybe Casey didn't want to admit to her mother that she couldn't take care of the little girl - after all, she lied to her about having a job.

Unable to face her parents or the consequences of the death, Casey may have thought she could just get rid of the child's body and no one would be the wiser.  She might have gotten away with it if family hadn't started asking about her.

Maybe she drove around with the body in the car until the parents started pressuring her - that would account for the smell of decomp.  At this point, I think Casey really needs to come clean about what happened, tell the police where the body is, and deal with the consequences.  The longer it drags on, the guiltier she looks and the more sane because she is working so hard to cover it up...which would blow her chance at an insanity plea.

I don't think her mother is helping her any by declaring the girl's innocence.  She should be demanding her daughter tell the truth rather then making excuses for her to lie.  Quit telling her what a good mother she was - instead tell her that she needs to tell them what happened and that, whatever it is, as her mother she would forgive her.  That would give Casey the emotional and mental support she needed to tell the truth and get it all off her chest.

Of course, that is all my opinion which doesn't count for much in this day and age.

I spent some time with dear friends and enjoyed a delicious salad with grilled chicken.  My friends are fellow Realtors and we discussed (of course) the real estate market.  What sticks out in my memory the most is the brilliant Mary proclaiming that she simply waits for the proclamation that, "Its over".  Then, the world can get back on course.

Who shall give us this proclamation?  And, how will they know it is indeed over?

I spoke with a gentlemen last week who gloomed and doomed me, it took a day to shrug it off.  Funny, I know there to be some incredibly savvy individuals out in our midst right at this moment making some shrewd and diligent buying decisions--yet his negativity got to me--I blame the heat.  And, there are my first time buyers who got a signed deal last week...so happy, effervescent and enthusiastic...I am sticking with them.  Their joy is contagious.

Then there is the grilled chicken queen, Mary!  In a world where attitude is everything, hers is consistently upbeat, so when she says "Its Over!", I am on that bus.

Say it Mary!

Lately David and I have been talking extensively about the future. Whether he should stay and go to school here in Chicago, or live in California for a couple years and complete school there. Whether, if he does fly to Cali, we should stay together or not. 2 years is a long time to be alone, besides the infrequent trips around important times of the year to see one another. We are nowhere near finished talking about this subject, nor is it anywhere near decided.

But what is at least 40% decided is that he is going to move back in with his mother and step-dad. He moved out this past March because, well, he couldn't take it anymore. His mother was literally constantly telling him he wasn't good for anything, he wasn't responsible, he was wasting his time with school etc. An ego can only take so much abuse, and so he left with the hopes of starting a more optimistically-sponsored life. Well, this optimistic life has become extremely pessimistic due to the lack of his financial income. He pays $500 rent per month working a $7.75/hour job and frankly, he can't make ends meet anymore. Oh, and did I mention he gets splitting headaches from his smoking roommate?

Ever since he moved out his mother has been begging him to move back, and though he would love to take her up on the offer we are both skeptic. Has her attitude really changed? Has she finally seen what her son is capable of? He is earning his CNA certificate and living alone. Does she think he's responsible now?

There's not just her to worry about, either. It's the step-dad. I won't go into detail, but David's step-dad freaked out when he found out we were having sex. Although he has apologized to both of us for his past rash actions, we are wondering if anything has really changed. Only time will tell, I suppose.

Today I've got voice from 2:00-3:00, and I desperately need to wash clothes and clean my room.

* Pay extraordinary attention to what does and does not work. Winners learn quickly from successes and failures and adjust accordingly.

* Understand your own weaknesses. That's the fist step toward fixing them.

* Give your intellect more weight than your emotions. Winners know that emotions such as fear, insecurity and frustration are counterproductive in the quick and competitive world of sales.

* Be willing to work hard and long without quick rewards. Winners do not count on immediate reinforcement.

Adapted from: "The Winner's Mind"

I only meant to comment on the hidden liberal agenda of Dark Knight but I've been sidetracked.

The post which makes these allegations, found through the Dark Knight tag, is from a blog called That's Right Nate.

It's a blog by somebody who purports to be a conservative American, but the posts almost sound like a Colbertian caricature. It is very well written by a pretty even tempered person. At the same time, the author's attitudes toward things like race or personal character are... well, it's hard to describe. I suppose you could call them old.

Some quotes for illustrative purposes:

The best part of the trip was our tourguide–a young black boy who was friendly if not always well-informed.  We had a great discussion about how the Republican party was the better party for African-Americans and how Barack Obama would be the worse thing that could happen to his people.  I think he learned a lot that will help him make an informed choice in November.

[On John McCain's penchant for off-colour jokes] One of the reasons that John McCain is able to make comments like this and call Hillary Clinton a bitch or his wife a cunt is because John McCain is a sophisticated guy.  You can actually picture him showing up at a bar in his bomber jacket and picking out the girl he’s going to sleep with that night.

What America needs is a flexible candidate like John McCain who is steadfast and strident in his flexibility.  McCain didn’t hesitate to co-opt Obama’s policy on Afghanistan and make it his own, yet at the same time while Obama would bring troops from Iraq, McCain wouldn’t interfere with our success in Iraq and would get the 3 brigades needed to sure up Afghanistan from some as yet unspecified location.  To me that’s leadership.

Whatever happenned to walking injuries off?  Nowadays, you break a bone and right away you want an expensive cast and if you’re in pain–you need a $50 perscription for pain relievers.  A $12 bottle of Jack Daniels won’t do anymore.  Whine, whine, whine.  Where are my benefits?  If we really want to get health care costs under control then let’s get the winers under control

link, link, link, link

I wouldn't normally blog this, especially after my tirade about tirades and the general incivility of electronic discourse, but I'm afraid if I leave a comment on his blog it will be misinterpreted as hostile, especially since my question boils down to "Are you joking? Seriously?"

So what do you think? I ask this question with genuine curiosity, not as an excuse to attack another blogger. Is this an example of clever blogging by someone critical of the right, or the living embodiment of the conservative stereotype?

However, the point here is that the deforestation did decrease in May.  So what are the figures, you may ask?  In May, roughly 420 miles of the forest disappeared due to logging...for perspective, that is slightly smaller then the city of Los Angeles.  That is only slightly less then  in April which saw roughly 433 miles deforested.

I find this rate of deforestation extremely alarming.  The Amazon happens to be the world's most diverse biospere with 1 in 10 known species can be found in this tract.  That is 1 in 10 known species of plants, animals and reptiles.

Wikipedia reports that: The region is home to about 2.5 million insect species, tens of thousands of plants, and some 2000 birds and mammals. To date, at least 40,000 plant species, 3,000 fish, 1,294 birds, 427 mammals, 428 amphibians, and 378 reptiles have been scientifically classified in the region. Scientists have described between 96,660 and 128,843 invertebrate species in Brazil alone.

Between 1991 and 2000, the total area of forest lost in the Amazon rose from 415,000 to 587,000 km², an area more than six times the size of Portugal, with most of the lost forest becoming pasture for cattle. In February, 2008, the Brazilian government announced that the rate at which the Amazon rainforest is being cut down has increased significantly over the past few months. During the last five months of 2007, more than 3,200 sq. kilometers (an area equivalent to the size of the state of Rhode Island) was deforested during a time when deforestation would normally drop.

People, I could go on for quite awhile about how important the rainforest's around the world are and how, once again, we are hell bent on destroying our environment but if you are reading my blog it means you have access to the information for yourself.  It is just so disheartening to me how we abuse our environment and our Mother Earth.

Bush has long not been popular in California and is not expected for the new sewer facility's christening should it be voted in.  I think it is rather a befitting epilogue to a President who has flushed America down the proverbial toilet.  As far as I can tell, me being of small mind, Bush has failed to do anything constructive or helpful to this country the past 8 years.

I have always felt he has his own agenda when he ran for the presidency.  I knew he'd get is back into a war and I knew oil prices (as he has affiliation to oil companies) would skyrocket.  He has never proven himself trustworthy.

So I say "Good Show" to San Fransisco for it's ingenuity in finding a perfect memorial to this President's reign.

Of course, there are groups that say this is offensive to young black men who seem to be the biggest perpetrators of this fashion faux pas.  Personally, I just find it offensive no matter who is wearing them.  I can't tell you how many times youngsters have tried running across a busy street only to trip or almost trip when their pants drop to their ankles.  How safe is that???

Not to mention that often, when the pants drop, their private parts are a little exposed which equates to indecent exposure.  My own son wore this style in his teens (though his pants never went down below his buttocks) and I hated it back then.

Whatever happened to actual fashion???

Oh I see this happening in my mind. 

I felt like that for a while.  Work was hard and HUGE projects were being pushed on to me, with a ridiculous deadline, too!  They thought I knew how to do it all.  I had to poke around and figure out on my own.  what happened to TRAINING??  I was getting more upset as the days passed.  But I couldn't tell my boss how I was feeling!!  That is out of the question.  i mean what if she laughed at me or didn't believe me???  I couldn't be rejected.  So I kept my mouth shut and kept working. 

I thought I was the victum.  And in someways I was. But i was playing the part up instead of trying to solve it.  I was wallowing in my self pity.  I now had a reason to dislike work and complain about it.  but i was slapped in the face by my mother's words.  "You can't not tell them your feelings and expect them to know about it and fix it.  They can't read your mind."  AWWWWWWW.  I had a part to play.......... I couldn't blame it all on them.  That struck my self pity, and pride, right in the heart.

I never ended up saying anything.  But I did end the pity party; it was getting lonely.  And things got better because my attitude was better.  I couldn't let my heart rot because of the way I perceived a situation.  And in the process, they began to show and tell how much they appreciated me.  That also helped me in changing my attitude.  But it won't happen all the time.  You have to decide to make a change whether or not they change.  Taking that mindset is maturity playing out in your life.  People aren't going to be perfect and I haven't met one who can read minds. 

LESSON 1:  Communicate your feelings before they begin to fester in an open wound.

LESSON 2: Be mature and be the first to make a change.

The night shift guys are much more patient and more laid back - most of them are veterans though whereas the evening shift has newer people.  We just hired three new officers so don't know what shift they'll get going on.  One of the new officer's is one of our dispatchers so here we are short again.  That really is going to stink once students come back full time and football starts.

Hopefully the rain will keep it quieter then last night - the guards are pretty much finding buildings to wait out the rain so they shouldn't be calling in every five minutes.

I don't know yet whether the person was wearing a helmet or even whose fault the accident was. I sent my officer's out to help with traffic control as the City works the crash at a popular intersection. The mc driver was DOA - probably, hopefully, died instantly so felt no pain.

What is so scary to me, and so much a reminder of how fragile life is, is that he had no idea even a split second before hitting that intersection, that he had just used up his last moment on Earth. The bell tolled for him, his account for life canceled, the owl called his name, and the Grim Reaper was there to collect him.  That quickly a life can be extinguished - a person who had hopes, dreams and concerns about his life suddenly has no ties to life here at all.

Granted, we can't think constantly about how this could be our last moment here but maybe we should take time every day to realize a lot of people won't be alive by midnight tonight and that we never know when we might be included in that group. Appreciate the day, always. Appreciate our blessings and even our trials because having problems is a sign that we are still alive.