Hello, This is your .............

There has been plenty activity happening in the last couple of weeks. Working nights has slow me down in a few areas. My blog is one item that has suffer some.

Lately, the outside world has created a few good blog ideas. What I was lacking was a good title to cover my blog story.

One thing that happen was one day I parked in a local shopping complex. I parked in the third spot because the person in the first spot decided that he/she needed two spots to park. Well, when I came out and found that a (excuse me for my sexist statement ) dingbat, blankly, blankly, blond hair woman decide that she wanted to park in the second spot. It would not have been real bad if she had a Mini-Cooper for a vehicle, she had one of the largest SUV squeeze into that spot. I manage to get into my car and was about ready to pull out when I felt a big bump as she open her door and hit my car. I thought I was hit by car because my whole car shook. I don't know why I didn't give her a large piece of my mind in a rage of four letter words inclucing a few sexist comments. I just pull ahead and check to see if my car didn't received a major dent.

Another thing is a comment a fellow co-worker said to me the other day. I'm working two jobs just to get hired full time to get some benefits. I made a comment earlier in the day about lifting a mop bucket filled with water and the weight of the combination. Hours later my co-worker who was not there, made a comment about my inability to do the job. Well talked about hitting a tender spot he hit it on the button. All of the sudden I thinking maybe I might not able to do the job and still do.


One more item my brother-in-law offered a weekend job. Some of the downside items of the job is it three and half hours away, I would be working a twelve hour shift for two days and I would be by myself during this time. The upside would be my gas would have been covered, the job was making sure that a plastic cover doesn't leek over a major telephone company electronic room (basically just sit there and do almost nothing) and oh yes, it paid $16.00 per hour. That's $384.00 for 24 hours of easy work. I just want to tell how hard it was to tell my brother-in-law I couldn't make it down to the jobsite in time.

And the beat goes.........(Continue)

I meet the newly hired competition yesterday, even though it's not a relative of the head of HR, he is just a year younger than my daughter. I didn't even get the chance for an interview. I'm a little bum about the idea of a younger worker was hired.

There might be a little bright side. I have to wait to see if the position is filled or not. If it is not filled it could become a long term sub for rest of the year. After the end of the year the rumor is the building will be closed. Back to the sub list I would go. At least I would be working everyday.

And the beat goes...........

I wish that the TV genius would developed a reality show that might emulate my current life. Yea, there are shows like "Jon & Kate Plus Eight" or "Little People, Big World".

There are times when I wonder if it is real or staged. When the primary family member is getting a surgery, swimming pool or trips to various conferences. Is it reality or a family that is willing to have cameras, microphones, crew surrounding them 90% of the time to receive lots of money and gifts.

Maybe "Old Man Trying To Survive" a unusual title but it does explain what has been happening. I would like the money but the rest of 24/7 coverage you can buried that in the back yard.

This is the reason for today's blog. I will be celebrating my fifty-ninth birthday soon. I heard of people that struggle with the "big 4-o or 5-o" birthday. I had a tough time at during my big 3-5. I'm now looking at 59 as going to be a real struggle.This time around it is starting to be difficult. I'm currently working as a school crossing guard and a substitute custodian just to keep food, heat, lights and a few credit cards companies happy.

In the last year my current employer has had 3 openings for the same custodian position. Already they have hired two younger people to the job and has already promoted both to better paying job. I can't prove discrimination because of age. One case the candidate has a brother-in-law working within the company and the other has a business related operating licence.

The third time around I have the feeling "I have meet the competition and the competition has won" . The current competition (also younger) is related to a HR official.

I feel that I have reach the point of who will hire a 59 year old guy when you can hire a 20+ to 30+ year old. I just want to work a steady job have a few benefits. I know that I can't run with the young guns but I would be at work everyday, give an employer 8 hours of work and when I have to work extra I will be available.


At this point there are time that I feel that I have given up. But something inside is driving me to get up in the morning and go. I know there are days that I'm living in a daze. Just to have the daze make sense.

Back to the reality show I'm just waiting for the director to cry out "action".

....... Goodness it's .........

This past week I think that I might have worked close to twenty hours and got paid for fourty hours. You can say that I'm lazy but that is far from the truth. Instead of $10 an hour I was being paid $20 an hour for the hours that I did worked

You can't believe my feeling of sitting and not working. I'm a firm on the idea that my employer is paying me to work, not sit up to five hours a day. My fingers are drumming, my legs are dancing and I can't sit still. I did sit some today but my mind is racing to be working.

For my fellow workers to sit doesn't bother them at all. I know that today being Friday there was about two times more sitting that working. Just think the first fourty-five this morning, then at break of fifty minutes and to end the day three hours and fourty minutes sitting. Five hours and fifteen minutes just sitting and staring into space.

The quote that has been used more than once in the past two and half months is " Find a stump that fits your rump." Just think today $250 of my employers money was used to sit and stare what a waste.

This activity has gone on for years and my employer know that it going on. At the end of our summer season there is nothing to do but wait until the fall opening. Maybe there should be a couple of days that the crew stay home and save lots of money. The crew on the other hand will be screaming of not being paid for sitting.

At this point I have no ideas that would work to really satisfy this problem.

The Show Must Go...........

To give you a little history for this posting. My daughter went to a private college in a small northwest Ohio town. She spend six years to secure her Doctorate of Pharmacy.

Today in the mail she received her very first catalog from the Performing Arts Center on campus.

Here is were the story becomes interesting.

She graduated in 2005, did two years in residency and had been working full-time for a year. One more thing to make it interesting. She worked three years at the same Performing Art Center and is just a few credits shy of having her theater degree.

Somebody has really goof. Be a little faster to get those catalog out to alumni a lot sooner.

In the category of..........

BEST:
1. Actor
2. Actress
3. Supporting Actor or Actress
4. Dad in the whole wide world

I always thought that I would be somewhere near the top of my kids list of Best Dad. Well today I found out that I'm a lot lower than number one, two or three. I was very lucky that I'm made the top ten. Just behind a goldendoodle at number eight, there I was at number nine.

All kidding aside as our kids grow older they make friends, lose friends, love friends, hate friends, love work, hate work, love parents and hate parents. So as the age of time marches on they become more independent.

You can't help it, you might start out at number one and slowly drop to nine.

On Your Mark, Get Set,.........................

I really enjoy play time. I need to play some more I'm still having problems with transition mode in MS Movie Maker. Another weekend and another venture collecting photos from around the area.

For the time being here is the latest adventure in making photo video.

He said????????

Quote of the day "Hurry up 2:30."

Now that would sound good at 2:15 but this quote was at 6:05 a full eight hours before 2:15. I work with a group of people who depending on their mood if they work or don't work.

Our work is physical, demanding and not a lot of intelligence. Some days we start at 6:00 and worked continously until the end of the day. Then other days I would say I spend most of the day counting dots on the floor tiles. Even on these days we work but not real hard.

I'm the kind of person that sitting really drive me nuts. Not because we are sitting but the cost of five people not working and collecting a paycheck.

Different kind of .......

When I was working in a previous life I would say that "Working with the computer is not work it's playtime". So, when I saw a Blog with a video, I had to play and figure out how to get it done.
Now it's time to see if I play hard enough.

Time for more playing!

Off and ......

One of the adventure in our area is driving with drivers from the state up north. Their idea of a speed limit is just a number and they will go as fast as they can. They also believe that the road is just for them and that there is nobody else driving.

My adventure was yesterday when traveling on a local expressway. On the right of me is a SUV passing, then as I approach a entrance ramp a van driver from up north was entering the expressway. At a point in time I was wondering which I wanted to keep intact my right quarter panel or have my left hand side completely dented. I lucked out the SUV just passed me and I tucked behind his bumper. The van driver had no idea that I was there he was too busy chatting with others in his van.

Then this morning while downtown the car next to me in a turn lane decided that he wanted to go straight. Well, after a few grumbles of words that won't be repeated. I found out that not only problems with drivers from the state up north. I have to watch out for drivers two states out west.

I have forgotten that when I am the driving I need to always be thinking about the other driver even the ones from up north, out west, and my own driving.

Starting Line

My original blog was going to be title "Working with Idiots" but I figure that changing their names to protect the innocent would have been completely an untruth. Working with a group of people who words and actions express their personnal believes. Then cross the boundries into a world bais and ridicule.

My challenge started yesterday. When during a conversation on the current availability of sweet corn and how to cook the corn with hot dogs. Well, one thing lead to another and before you know it three of the group members was laughing and ridiculing how the process of one person was strange and unnatural.

Now, I'm not talking about school age students. I'm talking about grown adults even one a minority senior citizen. We teach our children not to create bias to other people and not to ridicule a person's color, believes, religion, and etc.

So much for preaching to our young, when as adults cannot practice what we preach. The idea of treating each other as equals will not work, when we don't believe that it is okay to criticize even the smallest difference.