It’s been a busy few weeks for me but now things are finally going to calm down for a while.  The Christmas madness is finally over and people really blew their wad this year.  This was my best year ever for sales but that means of course that I have to now work twice as hard this coming year to beat it.  People who work in sales never get a break.  If you do well one year, you are expected to do better the next year.  I’m sure that I will but it is added stress to think about.  Coming up at work now are weeks of re-sets, re-models, and immediate preparation for the coming spring.  In my business there are only 2 seasons.  Christmas and Spring (yes I know Christmas is not a season but it might as well be).  Everything I do right now at work leads up to the spring season when everyone under the sun decides it’s finally warm enough to do something other than sit in front of the TV and get high on whatever it they smoke up here.

So every year now that I’ve kept this blog, I’ve managed to come up with a few resolutions for myself in the new year and this year is no different.  I don’t tend to do very well keeping these New Year Resolutions but it’s interesting anyhow to come up with them and go back and read them later on.  This new year I resolve to:

1 – Put a stop to my almost daily burger habit.  3 days into the new year and I’ve managed to stick to that one by having a salad each day as my main meal.  While I’m at it I should really put a stop to my sugar habit too but that one is a little harder to kick.  I need sweets to survive my job!

2 – I am bound and determined to lose up to 20lbs this year somehow.  I don’t know yet how I’m going to accomplish that other than by just starving myself (which I would really have a hard time doing).  I might try to figure out an exercise routine, or maybe just get a little more into playing the Wii.  This one is in development right now so we’ll see how it turns out in a few months.

3 – With the purchase of my new house comes mountains of new responsibilities and irritations.  I am resolving this year to spend a little money actually doing things around the house that need to be done.  First and foremost will be the installation of a privacy fence in my backyard.  This year I will be spending my work bonus on things that matter rather than spending gobs of money on toys and other random things that I don’t need.

4 – Now that I am within walking distance of Interlochen Arts Academy, I am resolving this year to make an effort to go to some concerts.  Granted, in the summer, I should be able to sit on my deck and listen to a few but since I moved up here I have wanted to enjoy the fact that the talent coming out of the Academy is truly world-class and I need to take advantage of what is right in my back yard.

Thats about all I can think of right now but I’m sure as time goes on I’ll come up with a few more.  It’s hard to get motivated in the winters up here but I’ve got a lot going for me right now and even though I work 50 hours a week at a minimum, I do actually have a fair amount of time in which to accomplish things…so long as I don’t get lazy.

As we get closer now to the new year, it’s time for a little reflection on this past year.  It’s been quite a year for me.  Back in January of 2010, I had no idea that by the end of the year I’d be living in my own house, that I actually would qualify and get a mortgage after so many years of financial damage had been done to my credit report.  I had no idea that it would take me the better part of 6 months to fight with the credit reporting agencies about their own failure to report and document things correctly or that, by the end of it, it would only take me 30 days to close.  So now I own a house with a mortgage, in the little town of Interlochen with a dog, a yard, and new neighbors.  And I’ve done all this largely on my own except for the bits and pieces of financial help and MASSIVE amounts of encouragement I’ve received from my folks.  I think they are as impressed as I am that I was able to get this done without having to borrow lots of money from them.  It makes me feel good that I didn’t have to, after all, I SHOULD be doing these things on my own at this point in my life.  I have a good job, a good income, and finally, I will now have a tangible asset and of course a LOT more responsibility.

This has also been quite a good year for me at work.  My income only continues to grow but more than that I’ve finally reached a point now at work where I can be considered an experienced manager at least by my companies definition.  In April of this next year, I’ll be entering my 7th year with my company and my 5th year as part of the management staff.  I think that without question, that gives me a degree of credibility and earns me some respect from my peers and employees.  People listen to me as a leader, not necessarily because I’ve got the experience under my belt but more because I have and can keep a level head in a VERY unleveled working environment.  I have been able to stick it out and make my job work for me as my career and I’ve been able to promote (or rather convince) other employees that retail employment can really work for you if you let it.  NEVER in my life did I envision myself becoming a retail manager, I think this job is not one that most people dream of having.  I never did.  But, it has worked out very well for me despite having to put up with random idiots, freaks, and fools, I do enjoy my job quite a bit and I enjoy the fact that it keeps me entertained.  I could never go back to a desk job at this point.  How boring, how tedious, how monotonous.  Every day is new adventure for me and I hope that I’m never forced to change that.  It takes a toll on my body but that is of my own doing.  Part of my new routine now going into the new year is to start taking a little better care of my aging body in hopes that it will last me a while.

My photography has also taken off quite well this year.  I purchased a professional level camera in February which has allowed me to capture quite a number of truly amazing photos.  While photography is still just a hobby for me, my work has been featured on Leelanau.com 4 times in the past year, I’ve had multiple requests from people to buy my pictures, I’ve even had to sign an affidavit at Meijer because they could not believe the pictures I was developing with them were my own.  That puts me in an exclusive little club at this Meijer up here.  Their little file isn’t very thick which I suspect says more about their inability to develop quality images using quality materials than it does about me since there are so many great photographers in this region who rightly choose to develop their photos through professional photo labs.  I am looking forward to moving ahead with my photography this next year and perhaps doing another book in addition to the others I’ve already published.

On the family side of my life, I am looking forward to the addition of a niece named Lucy.  This will make child #2 for Sarah and Brian and I could not be a prouder (is that word) Uncle!  I am always saddened that I don’t get to see them very often however that is not uncommon for people in our age group.  Families simply don’t all live in the same city or state any more and I accept that fact I think more than my folks do.  I know they would like to be closer to their grandkids and to Sarah and Brian but it’s not a reality that is possible at this time.  At least it gives all of us a reason to get out of the state every now and then and visit other places.  I’m sure if we did not have family in Iowa, we never would have made it out to Colorado this past fall.  Exploring our environment means having to take risks and having to take trips.  I can’t wait to make a trip out to see little Lucy and her brother Christopher this next year.  I look forward to learning the nickname for Lucy to counter Wally.

I’ll wrap this post up for now and leave by saying that I hope you readers do stick around.  There are lots of things going on in politics right now that I want to write about and share when I can find the time to do it.  At the very least, you will all find some amusement or pleasure in reading what I have to say.  Today then I’m off to clean out my garage in hopes that I’ll soon be able to park my car inside it.  Cheers!

So, what next?  Now I have to figure out how to get out of this condo.  My garage is packed at this point with boxes and all kinds of random shit.  A good deal of it I’ll be able to move rather quickly using my car but it will be time now to recruit my folks and their trailer to see what we can get moved as soon as possible.  My next decision is whether or not I want to hire some people to move my big stuff.  I’ve called a couple of places and it would appear that I could hire this move for less than $500 which is a fair amount of money but considering my first mortgage payment won’t be due until January, I will have a little extra cash that I can spend getting this done.  I’ve got about 10 big things that will be impossible for me to move myself.  The rest is (or will be soon) packed up in boxes.  I will need to make a few more phone calls to see what I can come up with.  Once I get that figured out, then I have to get the carpet cleaned in the condo.  I agreed to do this when I moved in as a replacement for the cleaning deposit which I did not pay.  Going to cost me about $150 or less if I can find a coupon.  Ideally I’d like to be moved out as much as possible by Thanksgiving.  That will give me a few days to get this place cleaned up so as to ensure that I get my deposit back.  That’s really pushing it though because I am being consumed at work right now preparing for BLACK FRIDAY.  We’ll see what happens.

So, thats my big news right now.  I wanted to post the video below because today marks the 35 anniversary of the sinking of the Edmond Fitzgerald.  Enjoy the video.  This is a classic song, one of my favorites.

It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted an update on this blog.  Life is crazy for me right now.  Work, Work, Work, sleep, sleep, sleep.  It’s a redundant cycle that won’t end until late August it seems.  All things considered, this is turning out to be a pretty decent summer.  The weather has been SO much better than last year, temperatures have remained fairly consistent in the upper 70′s to 80′s.  Right where it should be.  The boat is in the water at the cottage and the folks are keeping very busy building fences, making cookies, and keeping up with the neighbors (as much as they can stand it anyhow).  Looks like sister Sarah and nephew Christopher are going to be making a trip up to the northwoods as soon as this next week.  Sounds like Sarah might need a break even before their road trip in August.  Looking forward to seeing them, especially Christopher.  I’ve only seen pictures since last Christmas, I’m sure he’s growing fast and will eventually be in shock to discover a new sibling draining some of the attention away from him.  First born’s tend to get the best and the worst of things.  They are of course always FIRST, but the loss of devoted attention when a new family member arrives is a big step for any child to deal with.  Most do just fine and I’m sure Christopher will too.  He’s got great parents.

Things have been fairly busy on the national news front lately.  Of course the BP oil spill is the consuming story.  It has been interesting to follow things as they have developed.  It sickens me that our government as well as BP seem to think that an escrow account with 20 billion dollars in it is going to help solve this massive environmental disaster.  It doesn’t even matter any more when they eventually cap the flow of oil out of the hole in the ocean floor.  The damage has already been done.  Millions of gallons of oil and thousands of tons of methane now displacing what once was crystal clear waters in the Gulf will be killing us slowly for decades.  News came out today that oil and gas is now seeping up through the ocean floor near the well which is presenting another issue.  Could it be creating a sink hole due to pressure?  Nobody knows but if that is occurring, the worst of this disaster is not even close to being over yet.  We’ll see what happens.

In other news, the Prop 8 trial held closing arguments this past Wednesday.  Once again, proponents of the ban on gay marriage in California sputtered and shouted but in the end produced absolutely NO evidence to support their position.  This is a hugely significant case that will eventually make it to the supreme court.  A decision is expected in a few weeks and then it’s off to the appeals process.  I don’t have the energy to recap the whole thing, if you want to know about it more than visit the Prop 8 Trial Tracker web site for a full re-cap of all the arguments.  It really has been a pleasure watching one of the most successful lawyers in this country defend my right to exist and it amazes me that in a courtroom, where politics is NOT the key element, all those who are so intent on upholding discrimination against the GLBT community simply fall flat on their faces.  It’s been amazing to watch.

I have been able to keep up a little bit on my photography.  I’ve uploaded a few new galleries to leelanauphotography.com since my last entry.  Please be sure to check them out.  I’m looking forward to eventually having some time off this summer to really do some exploring with my camera, perhaps in places I’ve not been.  So, until my next entry which might be tomorrow, or several weeks from now, enjoy this picture of early summer in Leelanau.

On that note, with this pursuit of home ownership, I have in many ways now officially committed myself to living in this area for at least the next 5 years or more.  This of course makes the parents happy but at the same time they are not necessarily the reason I’ve chosen to stay up here.  Regardless of all the bitching I do about the people around here, I do actually like this part of Michigan.  It has done amazing things for my photography skills and I like the fact that pretty much my entire extended family lives up here even though I don’t get to see them all that often.  I’m not the type of person that just randomly goes out and makes friends with people and knowing that, it’s important to me to have family near me so that I don’t cocoon myself which I would be very prone to doing if I lived in a city where I did not know anyone.  That’s not saying I don’t have friends, but it is saying that I place more emphasis on my immediate and extended family than I do many of the other random people that I know.  I deal with the public 50 hours a week which is more than many people have to deal with people in a month.  It’s nice to be able to go to my folks house and not be forced to make small talk about stupid shit.  I can have quality conversations when I feel like it.  So, even though my boss at work has started pushing me again to promote with Menards and move into store level management, at least for the next 5 years I’ll be working on my management skills here in Traverse City.  I refuse to buy a house and not live in at least long enough to make a little money when I sell it. Lord knows, I’ll need a profit if or when I decide to take that next step at work which I think can happen any time I want it to.  It’s a nice feeling knowing that you have a steady job with very little chance of loosing it unless I fuck up in a big way and I’m just not the type of person to do that anymore.  I’ve become old and careful before my time and it’s paying off.

So tonight is Saturday night and I’m home enjoying a couple of cold beers and a little internet time before I head off again to work tomorrow.  It’s going to be in the upper 80′s for most of this week which means it’s going to be CRAZY busy at work.  Tuesday is my day off and it promises to be the hottest day of the week.  It’s of course the day I am acquiring new furniture from the relatives but oh well, free shit is worth a little sweat.

Anyhow, just a short update, you know in the summer it’s very hard to find time to write or post things.  Most of you reading this follow me on Facebook anyhow and thats about all I have time for right now.  I’ll leave you tonight with a recent picture taken this past week.

To top off my day today, I came home and received a summons for Jury Duty.  This is just the qualification questionnaire at this point so I’ve not actually been selected but shit, this could not be a worse time to have to do that.  I am buried up to my eyes at work right now and my team is a mess mainly because of their inability to live up to my standards.  I’m pissed off at most of them right now for various reasons and they know it which makes working with them rather tense at times.  All I want them to do is do their fucking jobs.  I want them to work the hours I schedule them, sell things to people when there are people there to sell to, and put stock away when there are no customers.  The job could not be simpler.  I can’t leave them for a single day without walking back into a disaster.  Thank GOD it’s just an internal one and they are so far not pissing off customers.  The sad thing is, most of them are so comfortable in their positions that they don’t understand they can be replaced at the drop of a hat….for that matter so can I.  300 applications a week STILL coming in from people looking for a job.  It’s unbelievable how big the prospective employee pool is at this point but yet, those who are applying?  Out of 300, maybe 5 are potential candidates AT BEST.  When you aren’t even qualified to work as a stocker in a big box store there is a problem not only with the economy but with the entire job pool.  I digress.  So lets all hope I don’t get called to sit on a jury right now.  I really just don’t have the time or the patience to put my life on hold in order to determine someone else’s fate.

I have been able to do a little photography lately.  So click on over to leelanauphotography.com and take a look at the gallery.  I’ve been adding to it recently.

So, tomorrow is the day of reckoning for Jesus Christ and the Easter Bunny.  I’ll be headed out to the lake to have dinner with the folks and hopefully Gavin the wonder Dog will have a chance to run for a while.  It has been raining all day today so he’s been stuck inside…not that he would not go out in the rain but because the smell of wet dog is heinous.  It looks like the family is finally set up on Skype and everyone finally has it installed and working.  If you are not a user, you should try it.  You’ll need a web cam and some basic knowledge of how to install software.  That’s about it.  One of these days I’ll get to have a conversation with nephew Christopher although I suspect he has little interest right now.

So, aside from work and warmer weather lately, I’ve not nothing much else to say!  I’ve put a few new galleries on my web site, you can check them out by clicking HERE.  This was taken using my new camera.

In some areas of the country, well I won’t even continue.  Just read the article.

I’d rather make myself rich working for myself but for now at least I’m content making a living working for someone else.  It happens to be a big box, but in all, I am currently making more money than I would be had I actually finished school and received that education degree.  I have a LOT less stress and do a LOT less work too (that is of course a matter of opinion to some).  I’m happy having made a decision to work for a company that has provided me with advancement opportunities that do not depend on education but rather on performance.  Many people won’t ever be as lucky as me and sadly, because of the job market that exists, many people are having to lower their expectations of what they can accomplish at least in the short term.  It saddens me that Walmart is trying to capitalize on a huge problem however if those without work are able to put their ego aside and accept a job with an income (any income), Walmart (and many other Big Box stores) can offer a steady income and the potential for growth.  Never in my life did I ever think I would be a person to promote a career in sales, especially retail sales, but just as an example, when I moved up to TC  with Jirar 5 years ago, I had quit my job, I had no savings, and no prospect of a job.   Jirar had a job but it was no way, no how, going to support both of us for any length of time.  My economy sucked in much the same way everyone else’s did with a poor job market and slim opportunities.  It’s a matter of motivation and perspective.  Within a month of moving up here I had a part time job for minimum wage, within another 3 weeks I found a second job.  Within 2 months I was part time at Menards, within 6 months I was full time.  Within 1 year I was an assistant manager, within 1 1/2 years I was the department manager.  I went from an income of less than $100 a week  to a $45K+ a year carer because I was willing to put my ego aside and take a job I didn’t think I would like because I needed an income, ANY income.  I’d do it again too if I had to, and yes, I would work at McDonald’s flipping burgers if that was the difference between having a job and sitting around doing nothing but feeling sorry for myself all day.  Yes, the job market is bad right now but it would not be so bad if people would give up the “i’ll never do that” attitude and actually took a step to better themselves.  ANY income is better than none at all.

On a sad related note, we currently have a “begger’ loitering in our parking lot.  He sits out by the curb all day, every day with a sign asking for money to help pay for a surgery for his daughter.  A sad story indeed but worse, he’s been asked why he’s not yet come into the store and asked for a job application (he’s been out there nearly 2 months now).  We are in fact hiring people.  He needs the money and clearly he can commit himself to something since he’s been sitting on a bucket with a sign now for 2 months.  His response?  He won’t work retail because he’s got an education (spoken with a snotty condescending tone of voice).  Clearly that education is doing him a world of good sitting out there on the corner, in the snow, in the cold.  His problem?  He has too much of an ego, he’s too good to work for a company that takes in billions of dollars a year in profits and is the #1 Home Improvement center choice by consumers in the Midwest.  He won’t “lower” himself by doing work he think’s is beneath him.  Sadly, he’d be making more money with a job than he’ll ever get begging in our parking lot.  A good entrepreneur knows 1 thing.  Location, Location, Location.  Sorry buddy, our parking lot is never going to do it do you.  He ought to know better than to beg from the locals.  It’s the fudgies who have the money up here and they are all vacationing in sunny warm places right now.

So now, after that rather depressing post, I’ve got the weekend off from work and I think I may take a drive up to Northport this weekend with the dog and take some pictures.  I’ll have to see how the weather is.  Hope you are all doing well, sorry I’ve not written much.  I’ve been just too busy and too tired and it’s only going to get more crazy as we head towards spring.

Today I packed up the dog and headed out to the lake.  The sun has been out for the past few days, something exceedingly rare this time of year and I figured I would take advantage of it today by bringing my camera along.  I ended up going down to a beach I had not been to in quite some time.  It was further south than I usually go but still on Good Harbor Bay, just down the road further.  It was quite nice.  There were a few people out today but because of the Super Bowl and my complete lack of interest in sports, it was pretty quiet overall.  Gavin was able to run around off the leash for a while and I spent some time trying to capture a few good pictures.  I’ve uploaded a new gallery at leelanauphotography.com, just click the picture below to check it out.

The folks are off to Iowa for about 6 weeks tomorrow morning.  They’ve decided to spend some time away from here this winter since it’s easy to get really stir crazy this time of year.  We still have a good 3 months of shitty weather before spring starts to hit, I really hate this time of year up here.  Luckily, my job keeps me quite busy so it’s hard for me to care much.  Mom and Dad will be staying with Sarah, Brian and Christopher and I’ll be interested to hear how that all works out.  I love my folks to death but given the choice, I would not choose to have them live with me for any extended amount of time.  I’m pretty sure my folks would say the same about me. Our family dynamics are a bit much to tolerate day in and day out.  And, at my age, and their age, that’s the way it should be.  Christopher will be spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa for 6 weeks, and, that’s the way THAT should be too!  He’s a lucky kid, even if the only words he can say are “doggie” and “LOOK”.  We’ll see if Grandpa can teach him a few words during his stay.

I have made a new purchase since my last entry in this blog.  Last week, I broke down and bought a Wii so that I too could join the ranks of 30 something’s who are sick of being out of shape but who don’t want to join a gym.  I have always enjoyed video games even though I suck at them and I like the concept of being more involved in them rather than just sitting on a couch with a controller.  The Wii promises to at least get me off my ass for a little bit each day.  Eventually I’ll buy the Wii balance board and Wii Fit Plus game so that I can actually start getting in shape.  Sadly, they are sold out nearly all over the country and it’s going to be several weeks before they get back in stock.  Oh well, I’ll be busy enough at work.

Bonus time at work is fast approaching.  Profit Sharing checks are handed out Feb. 16th and my Managers bonus is due in mid March.  Crazy thing about my job is that I make more in the first 3 months of the year than I do the next 8 months of regular work just because of bonuses.  It’s nice to get big fat checks but it’s also dangerous because it’s easy to just go out and spend it.  If I had this job at any other time in my life, I’d be broke all the time but fortunately I’ve learned how to manage my money in much healthier ways so I’ll be able to save what is necessary but I’ll also be able to go out and get a few toys to play with.  This year I am buying a keyboard and I’ll write more about that when the time comes.  So for now, enjoy the new gallery.

Keep in mind the rank is on a scale of 1 -100.  1 being the worst, 100 being the best.

In 2008 (the most recent year published) Menards Ranked 43 – From my perspective this is pretty accurate.  Menards is a pretty quiet company when it comes to politics.  Their primary objective is to make money, end of discussion.  That said, they do have anti-discrimination policies and anti-harassment policies that well exceed other companies I’ve worked for in my lifetime.  It is nearly impossible to have a successful retail business and not be somewhat tolerant and supportive of diversity.  Menards does not go out of it’s way but they do not actively contribute to a hostile climate for it’s GLBT employees.

Below is a list of the bottom of the barrel.  You’ll notice that Meijer (a company that I worked for several years ago and the company that Jirar worked for) received only a score of 20.  2 of the worst 10 companies in the country are Michigan based.  Michigan isn’t all bad, in the top 20 where companies such as the big automakers (GM, Ford), and Dow Chemical ranked with in impressive 100 score.  You can say what you like about HRC (they are a politically movtied and very active group) however their rankings do have significant importance, particularly to those companies that value the contributions of their GLBT employees.  Most of the Fortune 500 companies in this country far exceed private companies when it comes to fairness, all Fortune 500 companies exceed our Federal government when it comes to fairness and equality.

Start with the fact that I got about 4 hours of sleep last night for no apparent reason, about 7:30 this morning, while putting up a new price sign at work, I managed to put all my weight back down on one foot and my body said FUCK YOU and fell out from under me! One big problem that I have at work is that I am on my feet all day long (10-12 hours at a time) and on hard concrete floors. Over the past week or so I’ve been having some mild discomfort in my lower legs which is something that is not terribly unusual for me considering what I do and that I tend to work about 50 hours a week. Well, today my leg just decided to give up on me and I pulled the hell out of my lower calf muscle. The timing could not have been worse.

Right about that time and after limping around the store trying to get my job done whilst being the laughing stock of my peers for being gimpy, it was announced that the head office was on the way to the store and we were going to get a surprise inventory audit. My day just got a LOT longer. Because I’m the manager, I have to be there, but because of my leg, I’m in a LOT of pain. Well, be a man dumbass….so I was (like a dumbass) and stuck it out for the next 4 hours waiting for my turn to be audited. Luckily I passed and the bonus I get from this audit will pay for the bullshit that happened next in my day.

As soon as my audit was over, I left work. I was given multiple recommendations for what to do about my leg (heat it, ice it, use Epsom salts…), I decided that a doctor might be better equipped to diagnose the problem and recommend appropriate treatment. So, it was off to Urgent Care. After waiting only 45 minutes (must have been a record for an Urgent Care facility), I was able to see a doctor. She was friendly, took my history, felt me up (my leg that is) and recommended that I go get an ultra-sound to make sure it was not a blood clot. Because this injury did not happen all at once in one fell swoop but sort of crept up and then exploded, she was worried that perhaps there was a bigger issue at play here. So off I went then over to the hospital to see the Radiologists. I’m not a big fan of radiologists, not because they are not nice people but because my experience with them in the past has resulted in having to drink nasty fluids. Not so much for an ultra-sound. I was in and out in 20 minutes and (because of my obvious limp and pain) I got to ride around the hospital in wheelchair so I didn’t have to walk. Well, no blood clots. My veins are just fine. I just have a really badly pulled muscle. So after that it was back to Urgent Care and the doctor went over some exercises that I could do. She offered me drugs, I declined and informed her that I could get by on Ibuprofen (also acceptable in her book). I’ve got this thing about taking pain drugs. Certainly there are times when they are needed but there are many undesirable things that can come out of taking them, one of them being dependence and I really don’t want to even go there.  I have a pretty high tolerance for pain and the less medication I have to take the better. So all this consumed about 4 hours of my afternoon.

I was going to write a bit about the Prop 8 trial but at this point I’m tired, still in a bit of pain, and really just looking forward to going to bed and sleeping. I don’t have to do anything tomorrow and I really don’t think I’m going to.

SO, those of you reading this who like to think you are younger than you actually are, DON’T BELIEVE WHAT YOUR HEAD TELLS YOU. Your body is quite a bit meaner than your head and will have no problems seeking revenge on your ass.

Lots of interesting things going on in politics although I don’t have the energy to report on much of it.  Eventually I’ll get around to writing another prophetic post blasting the religious right and the drag your heals left.  It’s exhausting.  I’ll leave you with a couple pictures below.  Hopefully I’ll find more time to write soon.

Santa Times 2

I finally have a day off today, the sun is actually out (although not for long) and I’m trying hard to come up with a plan for the day.  My house is a mess, Gavin the wonder dog is drooling to get outside and play, but my little home is in desperate need of some TLC and a deep clean.  I don’t know if it’s the change in weather or not but I’ve got a fly problem at the moment.  Something hatched somewhere and I’ve had to kill off a whole swarm of these creatures.  I need to find out where they are coming from today because they are driving me NUTS!  So, I think today I might try and go for a hike and take some pictures of the fall colors (which I’ve largely missed this year due to my work schedule) and then spend the rest of the day cleaning.

Good news is on the horizon though for me in regards to my finances.  I’ve decided to go CABLE FREE and I’m in the process of getting myself set up to return my cable box and cancel my over priced subscription services to cable TV.  I have successfully hooked up a computer to my big screen TV and I am now able to watch all of the shows that I would normally watch on TV for free via multiple web sites that stream television shows for free.  One such site is Hulu.com and it is fast becoming a worthy alternative to paid TV service.  Granted, nothing there can be seen live (all the shows I watch are available one day later than the day they air on TV networks) but I’m OK with that since 99% of the time, I am not around to watch live TV anyhow.  The only aspect of going Cable Free that I am going to miss is the High-Def aspect.  Everything on the Internet is in good quality but it’s not truly a High-Definition experience.  That’s OK though, I’ll just save that for my movies where it actually matters.  The most exciting thing about doing this is that it will save me over $100 a month which is a tremendous savings considering that at best, the value I got out of my cable subscription was worth at best about $20.

I’ve been pretty impressed with myself in regards to my finances.  I’ve been able to find ways to cut costs this year by being creative and as a result, I’ve been able to spend my extra money on things that actually have meaning to me, like electronics and other fun toys.  I’ll be the first to admit that my expenses have not gone down at all but I have managed to re-prioritize my spending habits to better suit my lifestyle.  The next goal for me is to re-evaluate my credit reports and finally start to repair the damage I did to it years ago when I was young and stupid with my money.  Fortunately, I’ve had several years now of positive impact on my credit score, nearly every dumb thing I did in my early 20′s has dropped off my report, and I’ve been able to stay on track with debts and bills for several years now.  All of this is in an effort to eventually purchase a home at a good rate.  I’m most proud of the fact that I’ve not had a credit card now in several years and I have no intentions of trying to get one in the near future.  Credit cards are simply bad for me.  They work for some people but they don’t for me and I’m OK with that.  If I don’t have cash, I don’t spend money and right now, that is an appropriate rule for me.

Hopefully I’ll write a bit more in the coming days and weeks.  Just about a month now until Black Friday and things are going to be crazy at work leading up to that.  I have 2 more vacation days that I have to take before December 5 (or I lose them) and I’m thinking I might take a couple of day trips around the area to take pictures in places I’ve not been before.  We’ll see, most of that will depend on the weather which has not been very good lately.  Well, off now to motivate myself to take a hike.

It’s been a BUSY week for me.  Work has been a zoo but not exactly in the same way it has been most of the summer.  By zoo I mean that someone literally left the gate open at the zoo and untamed wild beasts have been shopping at the store this week!  One customer brought my assistant to tears this week, yelling at her for a problem he created, and yelling because when he discovered it he could not deal with that revelation.  I had another customer holler at me for having to come back and get more driveway sealer because what he got was too good and too thick and not like what he bought before even though what he got before was purchased at some other store in some other part of the state.  I had several other people in this week complaining that we are out of stock on SEASONAL items (stains, sealers etc.) and that I should have anticipated a shitty summer for doing outside projects and that 75% of the state has waited until the absolute last minute to do anything around their homes.  FUCK YOU, buy shit IN SEASON, you snooze you lose.  On top of the general jerks, it’s been beautiful outside now for the past 10 days and I’ve been stuck inside working my ass off.  Oh well, at least I can pay my bills…with the Michigan jobless rate above 12%, I can at least say I’m lucky to have an income.

Not too much else going on lately.  I am planning a trip to the Upper Peninsula with the folks in early October which will hopefully result in some good photography opportunities.  Right now, I don’t live any further from Lake Superior than I do from Grand Rapids (for the most part) and I’m sad that I’ve not bothered to just do a day trip up there.  If you like being out in the middle of fucking nowhere, the UP is certainly the place to do it.  I’ve been a little lax this year taking pictures.  Plenty of family pictures were taken and tons more pictures of Gavin, but I’ve not spent very much time in the woods this year like I’ve done in the past.  Most of that has to do with the fact that I live much further from nature now than I have in the past.  There are places to hike here in town but there are also lots of people, I can’t let Gavin off his lead, and I just don’t like being able to hear car horns and screaming children when I’m out hiking in the woods!  Oh well, at least I’m not sitting on my ass in front of the TV.  Anyhow, toodle for now.  Time to make dinner.

Part two goes like this.  I work at a store that is remarkably similar to big box Walmart.  I see the same clientele that you expect to see in a rural big box.  The diversity at my store is tremendous compared to the other home improvement stores because (and only because) of our massive product mix.  We sell stuff for everyone, not just nails and screws.  As I mentioned before, I read all kinds of blogs on the Internet.  Today I was sent a link to one that just cracked me up.  Not only is it funny because it pokes fun at some of the random people who shop at Walmart, it’s funny because they are the same people I see at my store EVERY day of the week.  So, I’d like you to visit this blog and look at the pictures.  THESE are the folks I am taking about when I go off on rants about idiot people, smelly people, funny people, drugged out people etc that I encounter during the course of my day.  When you work in retail, especially in big box retail with high volumes of traffic, you can see and experience the entire scope of humanity all within the course of about an hour.  This is par for the course in my life and it’s actually, despite my rants, one of the reasons I’ve grown to love retail and sales so much.  It cracks me up, makes me feel just a little bit better about myself and helps me to realize that we are all just a bunch of freaks trying to get through life…some of us doing a much better job than others.  Take a look.  The People Of Walmart.

Alright, that’s the most annoying question I get asked 500 times a day.  My rant tonight really has to do with the level of intelligence I see on a daily basis up here in the northwoods. Granted, I’m not highly educated but I do consider the 3rd grade lessons of speaking in complete sentences something that is important in every day life.  I do consider my adolescent years training of knowing how to read, understand, and communicate effectively through appropriate body language something that EVERY person should be able to do.

Alright, thats about all I want to say on that for tonight.  I don’t like to rant too much about work because I do like my job.  It’s just the people I can’t stand.

Most of you know I read a LOT of blogs on line that pretty much span the spectrum of intelligent political discussion to crude humour.  I ran across a quote that I thought was interesting on one of the more obscure blogs that I read.

“The so-called Christian nations are the most enlightened and progressive…but in spite of their religion, not because of it. The Church has opposed every innovation and discovery from the day of Galileo down to our own time, when the use of anesthetic in childbirth was regarded as a sin because it avoided the biblical curse pronounced against Eve. And every step in astronomy and geology ever taken has been opposed by bigotry and superstition. The Greeks surpassed us in artistic culture and in architecture five hundred years before Christian religion was born.”
- Mark Twain

Someone said on NPR the other day that Religion today is more important in the lives of people than at any other point in recent history.  I always have a lot to say about religion, especially science and religion.  It’s nice to know that one of the greatest writers in our history also knew of the asshattery of organized religion.

So now it’s off to bed.  Off on Tuesday, hopefully the weather will get better up here.  This pic cracks me up.

Jirar was up here for a couple days this week and despite our continuing friendship, it’s somewhat difficult to see him leave each time he comes to visit.  I’m reminded that I’ve not done much to improve my social life in any substantial way, sure I’ve got friends I can hang out with but it’s not the same as having a spouse there to push you in the right directions.  I have to remind myself that I don’t have to be in a hurry to find someone else, that I can indeed be perfectly content by myself for a while.  I’ve got plenty of good things going for me not the least of which is a hugely supportive family both immediate and extended who have my back when I need it.

I did find out this past week that I am not going to be in a position to buy my condo that I am renting.  I’d need to come up with about 40K as a down payment to make it possible and I just don’t see that happening.  On a brighter note, my landlord did agree to extend my lease for another 12 months but after that I will have to find another place to live next summer.  This condo has been a great place for me.  The size is great, the location is perfect, and the cost of living here is right within a good range.  There are really very few good places to rent up here.  The houses for rent in town are really nothing but trash, obviously rentals that have been worn down by negligent landlords who don’t give a shit about the property.  The apartment complexes are nice but most don’t allow pets and to buy a home up here I have to either cut back on the toys that I enjoy and that keep me entertained, or I have to settle for a property that would end up needing a lot of work.  I’m really just over the money pit stage.  I don’t have time for it.  I have a list of criteria that I require for housing and I’ve found that it’s hard to find things that fit up here in the northwoods, even though the things I want should be common….around here they just aren’t.

Anyhow, now it’s time for bed.  Tomorrow I work in the morning and then hopefully, as long as the store is slow, I can get out of there by noon and get out to the cottage with Gavin to spend some time on the lake.

So I may or may not write again here until I return in a week.  Hope you all enjoy your work week, I’ll be PARTYING (don’t worry, I’m an adult, I can party without being a dumb ass).  SO, see you in  week!!

By the way, Mom, I’m getting you one of these shirts!!!  Wow!  LOL!

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I am nearly done now with what has been an exceedingly long week at work.  This week I clocked 72 hours at work which, generally speaking is about twice what any normal person would work at any other type of job.  It bugs me that I can spend all this time an energy training a well rounded and otherwise exceptional team of employees but my company thinks that things will utterly fall apart if at least one manager is not right there all day long.  Talk about putting absolutely no faith in the ability of my employees.  I am quite comfortable leaving any one of them in charge and leaving.  What could possibly go so horribly wrong in the short amount of time I am gone?  Nothing, it’s retail for shits sake.  It is not a nucleur laboratory!  Anyhow, I have a 12 hour day on Sunday and a 6 hour day on Monday.  Assuming my assistant shows up again after her vacation, I should be out of work for a day off by Monday afternoon FINALLY.  Even more, now I get to do the same thing to her.  On Friday I leave work at 1 PM and I will not be returning for 10 days.  I get to take a vacation.

Speaking of vacation, this year I’ve decided to take a road trip.  Facebook has brought me back in touch with folks I’ve not seen or heard from in nearly a decade.  Last year, some of them came to visit me up here in the northwoods.  This year, I’m going to visit them.  I’m going to Grand Rapids for 2 days, then off to Chicago for 2 days, and then to Indianapolis for 3 days.  I’ll return on Saturday.  I’m looking forward to getting out of here for a little while and selfishly, I’m looking forward to ditching the dog for a short time.  I love Gavin dearly but every parent needs a break every now and then don’t ya think?  Aunt Nancy has graciously agreed to take Gavin for a few days at the start of my trip and then mom and dad will get him for the remainder.  Good lord, I hope he behaves himself.  I’m sure he will.  Well, this is a long enough post for today.  Hopefully I’ll get back in to writing here again as my schedule calms down….I’ve said that before.

On to the title of today’s blog post. The Problem with Sunday. I’ve always hated Sunday. In my mind it’s the worst day of the week. Growing up it was always the last day of the weekend before having to go back to school. For most of America it’s the last day of a weekend before having to go back to work. For many people it’s the one day of the week where they have to get up, get out of bed, dress up, and go to church to worship their God and then socialize with people they would probably rather not see anyway. That’s how church was for me. It was an obligation, not something I would have freely chosen to do on my own. Some choices in life we don’t get to make, they are made for us. In any case, we learn from them. Right now in my life, Sunday represents the one single day at work when the people who come in shopping are more likely to be jerks and assholes than any other day of the week. You get contractors and builders coming in to buy supplies for their jobs for the week who are flustered by their reality, you get families coming in after Church to shop, many who are just tired and cranky for having to wake up in the morning. You get the out-of-town people who have traveled 300 miles to come to the store who then willingly complain about how far they had to drive when they wanted to buy that thing on sale that we’ve run out of. Really folks, PAY ATTENTION: ON THE LAST DAY OF A SALE, FOR A KNOWN POPULAR ITEM, IT IS UNREASONABLE FOR YOU TO EXPECT IT TO BE IN STOCK especially in a very busy store. Really, we do everything we can to make sure we have what you want to buy but it’s not really our fault that you waited until the last day of the sale to show up to try and buy it without bothering to pick up the phone to call first to see if it was still available. TAKE SOME FUCKING RESPONSIBILITY PEOPLE.

I digress. I had a whole shit ton more that I had written for this post but I decided to delete it. Writing is my outlet for frustration and anger and I suppose it’s a good one. Certianly it’s better than taking it out on random people. The human condition worries me, our singular society of selfish consumption and greed worries me, our inability to see the person standing right in front of us as also human worries me. These conditions and afflictions are the cause of so much hatred and violence in this world that it’s easy to withdraw and just say forget it and not deal with it. When will WE start drawing on our strengths rather than focusing so heavily on our weaknesses? Think about the person standing in front of you the next time something you did goes the wrong way. Empathy, compassion, and understanding will go a LONG way towards finding resolutions to problems we all create.

Now it’s off to bed. Finally I’m back to a normal schedule at work starting this week. I’ve done 3 weeks now of 60 hour weeks, I’m exhausted and frustrated that I spend all my time working. I’ve got about 6 weeks to go before I get my vacation, hopefully it will be a good 6 weeks.