Monday, December 29, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
Oh, just things...
=)
Oh yeah....right about now...I have to say...I feel like I really am digging my job. A lot. The girls are so nice and have really made me feel comfortable, I'm respected and looked at as someone who actually knows what she's doing (as opposed to being challenged with every decision I make or propose), and the satisfaction when I do a good job is definitely there. Yes, I realize it is not saving the world or helping impoverished kids like I really wish it could be, but some of these students do have children and if I can help them find employment, I really am helping their kids out by improving their financial status. So like I said, it's still there. I am still helping someone out, or at least trying.
Aside from the job placement aspect of my job, I love that I am getting to completely remix both the corporation website and the school's website. Having a work laptop with all my software is great, and my business cards are the coolest cards in history!! And when we sat in the meeting to discuss the needs of the new website, the IT director actually listened to me. Every decision was essentially up to me! They trust my decisions and have faith in me that I will do the job well. How cool is that? Who gets to join a new company and actually gets respected off the bat? Yes, the travelling still sucks, but everything else makes it worth it. I am very happy with my job. Wow, I never thought I could feel so fulfilled in that area of my life!
Anyway, Gio and Gus are coming home tonight. Not everything fit in his car, though, which means that next weekend we are driving back to pick up odds and ends like lamps, the tent, etc.
I need a manicure. Bad.
Anyway. Hopefully Sean gives us the keys this weekend so that we can get in there and really start tearing the place up. Eeeks! So excited! I love home remodeling!!!!
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Fleet and other things
That felt spectacular. I like knowing that I am doing a good job. Unfortunately, the students at the East Lansing campus only have me temporarily until their person comes back from maternity leave. I am only for RO and AA. So I am getting to know these EL students and don't even get to keep them under my wings...aww...:(
J is on his drive home right now...well not drive home, but drive to IL. Roads are bad and I hate worrying.
my head hurts and so does my stomach. i must have an ulcer.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
4 Christmases
My stomach is hit. Don't know what the hell is the matter with me. Patricia asked me today when I was due. Very funny. But I cannot eat anything because every time I do, I puke. It fricken sucks. We went to Maggie Moo's today also and I threw up all that delicious ice cream.
It has been nice having J here. I am sad that he has to leave Tuesday night...
Man, I need to just stop shopping. We went shopping this weekend and spent way too much money. It is ridiculous how much we can spend in one day. We bought my parents a new camcorder since I broke their old one...oops. But luckily, Circuit City had great deals since they are going out of business here.
Tonight J and I are going to the oh-so-fabulous Jackson 10 (brings back first date memories) and watching Four Christmases. I like Reese Witherspoon.
Wish I could eat popcorn tho. But, then I'd puke.
He is driving me to work tomorrow and hanging out next door at Barnes & Noble. Then at noon I am leaving and he is driving me to Bloomington. Stupid Tang.
Shawn MAY be out of our house this coming Saturday. fingers crossed.
Ok time to go.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
quick update
This has been a LONG weekend.
:-/
This is going to be a sucky week. Alone.
I am soo stressed. My forehead is breaking out from all the stress. My haircut=HATE IT. I dont know why I talk hair when drunk...or mildly drunk. And even worse, I dont know why I allow people who are drunk to do my hair. I hate it. It looks thin and choppy and I think I will end up cutting it short soon because the layers are too short and make it look thin.
ahhhh i'm stressing. we are definitely hiring movers to move all our boxes + furniture from the garage into the house in January. I hope that J moves back this Friday...that is what he said he was going to try and do. But it doesnt help that much. I gotta be in my house. I am going to go crazy from absolutely no privacy and being under constant scrutiny.
bought a new dining room table and chair set...absolutely gorgeous...best we've ever owned. picked out lots of other furniture but they wouldnt give us any kind of deal so we just left with only the dining room table. if we dont find furniture we like from any other store, we will order the furniture off their website or something just so that the tools can't get the commission...geez i can be a bitch huh? oh well, they were cocks....looking at us like paupers because J had a hoodie on. i felt like punching the dude and being like, hey bitch, look at his pay stubs and then remind yourself that you are selling US furniture. man that is horrible of me to say. but people shouldnt stereotype others the way they do to us. they look at us like young people who can't afford anything and it makes me want to punch them. ok i know i dont make that much money at my job but they have no idea what J makes. they are stupid. stupid people. we used to get that a lot here. i remember that now.
anyway...lots of stuff going on right now. no internet at J's mom's house, so I will never be online. Just hanging out at mom and dad's today. Tomorrow I have to cut my grandma's hair, then the kids and I are going to put my Christmas tree up.
Watched CNN Heroes last night and it inspired me to adopt. I told J that I want to begin paperwork to adopt a baby in 1 year from now. I'm excited and nervous about how long it will take. SF will pay for $10,000 of it, plus there are lots of grants you can apply for...AND, the trips out there won't be a big deal because we want to travel anyway. i think i will finally feel like i am doing my part when i can adopt a baby in need.
anyway, gonna chat with the fam. peace.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Tired
If my friend Jessica were reading this she'd say It's called a fist full of ambien!
I'm so tired. Just woke up from a 2-hour nap that put a hault to my production. I'm also in the process of writing a very long poetry analysis paper and finishing some other last minute assignments. Man I'm such a last-minute loser.
...Wondering how much it is going to cost to rewire the house
...Wondering if hardwood in the entire main level is a good idea
...Wondering if I should replace the bathtub and toilet upstairs
...And the downstairs shower
...Wondering how much it will cost to encapsulate the crawl space
...Wondering why I care so much about these things now and didn't when I lived there 3 years ago
I am being a picky bitch. Yuck. But it is just that I want everything to look and feel perfect. I'm older now and know more of what I want whereas when we bought it I was newly 20 and was just so excited to be in a house and not a campustown apartment!
Well enough perpetual time-wasting. Time to finish that paper and go to the tanner.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Saving Detroit
By COREY WILLIAMS, Associated Press Writer Corey Williams, Associated Press Writer – Sat Nov 22
DETROIT – While U.S. automakers wait for federal action on loans they say are key to their survival, former restaurant worker Richard Thomas is waiting on his own bailout — odd jobs that barely pay the bills.
"Every single thing that goes on in my household, depends on what I make," Thomas says as he helps a friend fix the water pump on a rusting Dodge van. "If something doesn't happen for me for two or three weeks, then I'm in a hole."
It's not just a hole facing General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC. It's a gaping chasm that threatens not only their own futures, but the livelihoods of thousands of Detroit families who depend on the struggling auto industry.
That made it personal when this past week's congressional hearings on whether to grant the automakers' request for $25 billion in loans turned into a confrontation, partly because some of the auto leaders took private jets to the Washington hearings.
"Everybody's got their own personal agenda," said Raj Dhanasri, a 30-year-old marketing contractor for GM. "We'd expect you to be smart enough to understand the pains of not just your town or city."
The country's leaders need to look past mistakes by GM, Ford and Chrysler and focus on what's best for people, said restaurant owner Anton Nikollbibaj.
The Detroit automakers employ nearly a quarter-million workers, and more than 730,000 other workers produce materials and parts that go into cars. About 1 million more people work in dealerships nationwide.
"I could understand the average Joe not understanding what Detroit is about, but the Congress should know what Detroit means to the country," Nikollbibaj said. "How are you going to tell a guy who has five or six kids at home and whose been working for Chrysler all his life that you are not going to help?"
Local newspaper editorials and some columnists called Congress misinformed or callous for seemingly ignoring the impact a collapse of one or more of the car companies would mean to Detroit, a city that already is among the nation's leaders in unemployment and home foreclosures.
From the gleaming towers of General Motors' world headquarters rising above the downtown riverfront to factories that dot the city and its suburbs, the auto industry has been the lifeblood of the "Motor City."
Despite decades of blight, disinterest and national scorn, optimism had been high, especially after Detroit won praise for hosting Major League Baseball's All-Star game in 2005 and the Super Bowl in 2006.
Luxury homes and condominiums have been built and others still are planned for downtown. And the last of the city's three casinos is expected to open its luxury hotel early next year.
But 2008 has been rocky for Detroit, beginning with the sex scandal that cost Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick his job and freedom. He was sentenced Oct. 28 to four months in jail as part of a plea in two criminal cases.
The mismanaged and often-criticized public schools are in line to lose millions of dollars in state aid because enrollment dropped below 100,000. And Detroit's chief financial officer has said the city faces a $125 million budget deficit that could force layoffs and cut services for residents.
"The mood in the city now is not good," 76-year-old retired carpenter Glen White said. "A lot of people are losing their homes. A lot of people are losing their jobs.
"I'm making it all right, but it's tight."
Misfortunes and missteps by the auto industry add to the woes, and Thomas said this past week's last-minute plea from the auto chief executives is typical of how things are done in Detroit.
"We wait for something bad to happen before we do something," he said.
"Everybody is scared," said Nikollbibaj, concerned about keeping his restaurant afloat following shift and job cuts at two east side Chrysler plants.
His eatery, Joseph's Coney Island, and others like it sprang up near car factories around the city, most staying open 24 hours.
"Business is less than half of what it used to be since the late '90s," Nikollbibaj said. "We did really good until 2002. It's been getting worse since. I don't know where the bottom is going to be. I hope when the bottom hits I'm still going to be here."
But auto executives also need to shoulder some of the blame for their failures, Bill Fink said.
"I think they shouldn't get paid more than the highest paid worker on the line," said Fink, 51, a former food deliverer who has been unemployed for months and spends two days each week shopping his resumes online.
"It's frustrating. I don't want to go back to what I was doing before," Fink said. Still, he said, "My wife works, so I'm not going to lose my house or anything."
The auto industry's trouble and deteriorating local economy have been a reality check for a lot of people, Fink said.
"For way too long people were thinking as long as they have a job they don't have to worry about the guy down the street until it affects them," he said.
Finally, an article that says what I--and I'm sure thousands of other Michiganders--have been saying. I read interviews with people from across the country and not only do they not give a fuck about bailing out Ford, GM, and Chrysler, but they also are driving a Jaguar or a Lexus. This goes beyond punishing selfish car executives--this is punishing an entire state. Everyone in Michigan knows or has a family member who works in the auto industry. Some are good workers, some are openly awful. My dad works hard and honestly every day, moving to different auto plants for the last 2 years as a paint contractor through PPG, sometimes working over 12 hours if they need him to. On the other hand, John's uncle, a janitor for Ford, brags about being able to work for an hour and take naps the rest of his shift. He has quite a nice house. I know that people get paid who shouldn't get paid, but I also know that there are a lot more honest workers than there are dishonest. And making those workers, their families, and the entire state suffer the actions of a few dishonest people is just plain wrong. The banks got their bailouts, and that was the result of many, many people who bought houses more than they could afford and mismanaged their money. What part did everyday citizens have in failing the auto industry? Absolutely nothing. And that is precisely why I say the bailout absolutely must happen. It will hurt every working class family a hell of a lot more than it will hurt Bill Ford and his contemporaries.
And to the people who talk about Detroit being a nothing city? Detroit is not Chicago. That's a given. But it is not the same as it once was. A lot of pride was poured into the city for the Superbowl, and people showed up to clean and decorate who didn't have to do so. Is anyone remembering Greek Town? Detroit's Greek Town is amazing...and the Renaissance Center is probably the coolest hotel I will ever visit in my lifetime. Detroit is more than failure, foreclosure, and crime. You will find more heart in any working class city than you can in a white collar town.
