Pulled in 30 directions at once...

Good day. I'm not gonna apologize for my disgusting lack of communication over the last 2 weeks.

Work has sucked. We found out today that we are getting a new manager here in our department. He's from Oklahoma, and that he has a lot of AS400 experience. That's all we know.

I have hated these past 2 weeks; being strung along, and not being given any info on what is going on. I think the choice would have been obvious as to whom the position should have gone to, but the VPDCM(vice-pres distribution center manager) apparently thought differently.

I wish John had gotten the position. Life would be easier, and I would have been able to move up a bit in position. I also figure that John and I have been doing this for the last 3 weeks, and that making John manager would have been a no-brainer. We're already doing the job, so, 'what the crap?'

Is it just me, or is it asinine to have to train your own manager? So much for intelligent business decisions...

Is he gone?

Sorry for being out of touch. It's just that nothing really exceptional/noteworthy has happened the past 3 days.

Sorry...

I wish I had a 7 second delay...

...that way I could edit out the insensitive things I say.

I'm sorry, my goo. I didn't mean to hurt you.

Beginning of a new era...

Well, the funeral is over.... *sigh* Val and I sung 'The Test' by Janice Kapp Perry. Besides being vocally shaky due to the extreme emotion of the moment, everyone so far has said that we sounded great. We were the last song, and the last speaker talked after us, and then it was over.

At the viewing last night, Bernie looked quite different, being clean-shaven for one. I suppose that death makes everyone look different. But, it was still him.

It was nice to hear fun stories of him that fit exactly with my knowledge of him. It seems like he didn't change hardly at all in his life. Still a person who lived life to its fullest.

And, I will admit to him having some traits and characteristics that I wish I had in the abundance that he does/did.

So, now I am working tonight and tomorrow instead of him, so that Taunya can be with her daughter who is getting married, and also for the other daughter who is gonna have a baby soon. It will help to get someone else to replace Bernie, which is the plan. But until then, sacrifices need to be made, and I do them happily, knowing that if he were here, Bernie would be doing it himself. I miss him... :(

I hope he looks in on us occasionally, just to see if we are making him proud.

Have fun, Mr. Crabs/Your nastiness.

Here he is...

Here is the link for my friend Bernie, and the associated information for his funeral.

Funerals aren't ever any fun, and always sad. Happening this close to me, I am somewhat aghast that Val and I volunteered to sing at his funeral tomorrow.

I'm sure we'll do fine, but I am beginning to feel even more nervous than usual, due to the assured emotions Val and I are gonna be feeling. I plan to start praying right now to be able to get through it, in a fashion that Bernie would enjoy, before I totally break down.

I'll let you know how it goes...

Dazed and confused...

I'm not sure how I feel right now. Intellectually, I grasp that Bernie is dead, and his funeral is Wednesday. But, my stomach still thinks he's gonna walk through the door, turn on his light, sit down and go to work. But, he isn't. We had to turn off the light in his office this morning because it was starting to mess with us.

He's never coming back, is he...?

It is all so sudden, we didn't have any time to adjust or prepare. It feels kinda like having something stolen, and never being able to get it back.

What do we do...?




On a lighter note, he's back! If only temporarily...

Death is never happy, is it?

I found out, about 1 hour ago, that my friend and supervisor Bernie Ure had died. It happened this morning, and they still aren't sure what happened.

I'm still not sure how I feel. All mixed up I suppose. Part of me remembers the fun things that he and I did together, but the other part still feels sad, while another part thinks that he wouldn't want me to mope too much.

I've only dealt with one other death in my life that has been close and personal like this one is, and it's lots easier this time, because I have my Goo. The last one was Chad Cook.

I apologize publicly to my friend Ben, who called while Val and I were at Bernie's house. I just didn't think it was a good time to answer the phone. Sorry, friend Raty...

What?!?!?!?!

Check this out.

Honestly, I'm not sure what to think of this. The charitable part of me wants to believe that it is real, and that Judas did what he did just because he was told to do it. But then I think that, just like Lucifer did, he made his own choice.

I'm just not sure...

Not just sex...

Good day, netizens! It's a cold, blustery, rainy day here in SLC.

These 2 stories made me start to despair for humanity. Here is the first. Here is the 2nd.

It's obvious that the world is obsessed with sex, and has been almost since its creation. But, in these cases, and I'm sure in millions of other cases, it's deviant sex.

What is more disturbing to me is the fact that it seems to be more socially acceptable for a woman teacher to go after juvenile targets than it is for a dirty old man to go after juvenile targets. Most males will secretly wish that something like this had happened to them when they were young. Male pedophiles are almost universally villified and abhorred. Where is the equality? The teacher will surely be tried for her actions, and our noble government employee also. But what about the 13-year old male? Who's gonna be held responsible for his actions? Wasn't he a willing participant?

Most likely nothing will happen to him, and his name will fade away. But isn't his case symptomatic of a larger evil? This is a person who is sexually active at at least 13 years old, barely even starting puberty. What have his parents been teaching him? Have they kept track of him, of what he has been doing? I understand that after 8 years old a person starts being responsible for their own actions, but parents still have the responsibility to teach their children what is right and what isn't. Besides being morally reprehensible, sex while underage is illegal in all of the United States, as far as I know. So much for teaching peopleto be a responsible citizen.

I don't think that justice will be served at all in any of these situations. Sex is too casual, too uninhibited for anyone to be held really responsible. Until the 2nd Coming, we will continue to treat the symptoms rather than the cause.

I'll get off my soapbox, since I am neither a parent, nor perfect when it comes to sexual mistakes.

What a nice thing to say...................?

Well, my day has been a bit slow. I was feeling ambitious at about 12 this afternoon, and I went out to the warehouse to help them out. It was appreciated, and garnered a few disbelieving comments along the lines of "Computer room people actually working? I wanna see this." Disbelief notwithstanding, I have been feeling like being more helpful here at work, and I don't know why. Maybe it's my sub-conscious mind helping me to be more active so I shed some pounds...

Taunya, my co-worker, made a very interesting comment 5 minutes ago. She said that she was fortunate to work with 3 men, in this department, that are good-looking, mentally quick and amiable. Since there are only 4 of us, I knew she had to be incuding me. Before I go any further, I will state that Taunya is approaching 45, has 4 or 5 children, and is still married. I just thought it was an interesting comment, being unsolicited.

As my wife tells me, I am cute/handsome, but I expect her to say that. I'm sure she wouldn't have married me if she didn't think I was cute. I suppose that this is merely outside, independent confirmation that what Val says is true. It's still very difficult for me to believe.

Self-esteem issues, you know...

Marvelous Monday!

Or not! I was late this morning for work, since a semi spilled a few porta-potties across I-15, and thus closed the freeway. It was certainly enough to make it a bad Monday.

Conference was good. Pres. Monson was in rare form Saturday night. I can't remember laughing that much in a session, ever. It was good to see Pres. Hinckley looking better.

Those of you who know me know that I am glad I have repented of my addictions. It's so much easier to live without the burdens of sin, guilt and sadness. That's not to say that the addictions are gone, but how much easier is it to remain vigilant when you are unburdened? That's how I was feeling Saturday morning. I was also extremely grateful for my wife, my goo, who loves me. I don't know where I'd be without her.

Thank you so much, Valerie, for your love. :)

Site Tweaks

It's so nice to be able to go in and add whatever I want to link to other people. What fun it is to have a site!

Avatars galore, pt.2

P.S. The dachsund is for Val, since I couldn't find a cocker spaniel or a beagle...Cute doggies!

Avatars galore!

In case you were wondering, since I have Yahoo e-mail, I started using my avatar for this blog. And before you ask, that was the closest I could get to myself, short of getting a digital camera. So, now you have some sort of image to associate w/ my inane information.

Hmmmmmm...

Not much happening today. Sorry for it being an uninteresting day. Of course, I have no control over what happens during the day, but I am apologetic nonetheless.

I'm out...

I feel happy! I feel happy! I feel...Oof!

Well, bloggers, another birthday has come and gone, and I have attained the age of 28. I'm not quite sure what to make of it, especially this morning. I feel like an old person. My neck hurts, my back aches, and my leg muscles are tight and hurt. Boo hoo....OK, enough blubbering from me.

However, on the flip side, I got some cool things for presents. I got 2 shirts from my wife, and my mother-in-law bought dinner. One shirt is a white HomestarRunner shirt, which I am wearing right now, and the other is a Pink Floyd shirt, with the prism from Dark Side of the Moon on the front. Rock On! The only downside was that it was Saturday, and as such, all of the usual Saturday stuff had to be done. But, it was still lotsa fun. I enjoyed it.

On a side note, most of my -in-law's have birthdays in March. 1 brother, and a grandma have a birthday this week. 2 brothers had a birthday last week. So, a busy birthday time!

Have a great day! I'm out...

Blah Thursday...

A slow day today. Except for neck pain, it has been fairly uneventful.

Thanks to Leah for the cute card and pictures, and the $5 for a "quarter-pounder" on her. Thanks, Lemur!

Incommunicado...

Good day, citizens! Sorry for having been unable to post for a few days. Blogger.com was experiencing some technical difficulties the past few days.

So...........Val and I went to see a play on Saturday that was a spoof about Star Wars and George Lucas. It was so hilarious, I laughed until I got a headache. I think the title was something like "Star Wars Episode MCCLXXIVIIII: The sequel to the prequels that were the sequels" It was great. Unfortunately, it ends this Saturday. If you wanna catch it, it's playing at the Desert Star Theater in Sandy. Here is their website, I think. I can't get to it here at work, so it may be wrong.

Also, last night Val and I went to the Republican party caucus for Centerville. It was very educational. It changed my opinion of the political process. I had thought, along with most of America, that "normal" people didn't have much say in what happens in politics. However, last night changed that opinion. All you need is to be a registered voter and show up once every 2 years to participate. The voters elect their representatives, and it goes from there. People do have a say in what happens, and it puts a personal face on what is going on.

That's it for right now. I'm out...

P.S. The "finish the rainbow" thing from the earlier post was me completing the rainbow of colors on the post. My first paragraph was in red, the 2nd in orange, etc. I was just finishing the rainbow.

Sorry for the confusion. "I won't inflict myself upon you any further." :)

Snow tires?

Well, I was .5 hr late this morning, and Monday I was .5 hr late. What really bites about all of this is that it hasn't been my fault. This morning traffic was glacially slow due to the heavy snow that was falling. On Monday, they closed I-15 south and moved/merged 5 lanes of traffic into 2 on to I-215. I wonder how my employer is going to look at my recent tardies. I called my supervisor to let him know, both times, that I was going to be late, and the reason for my tardiness. I just think that I shouldn't be held responsible for situations that are out of my control.

I can hear the accusations now: "You should have left earlier." I left 20 minutes early this morning, and Monday I left 10 minutes early. "So-and-so is never late." Yeah, well he has no traffic to deal with. He's supposed to be here @ 5 AM.

I understand that a standard has to be set to be able to hold everyone accountable, but if it isn't your fault, should you be held responsible? What if the situation is out of your control? I throw the BS flag, 15 yard penalty, as my supervisor would say.

Monday War Questions...

On a very happy Monday topic, one of the questions I asked my co-worker John was if he thought we were gonna nuke Iran. He snorted, and didn't really answer. My mind wonders if we shouldn't have gone into Iran instead of Iraq. We knew that Iran had nuclear power-generation capabilities, but not weapons technology. I suppose we can't go into every country that has nuclear reactors, and bomb them because we think they might obtain weapons tech, but where do you draw the line? I think it would have been better if we had gone and pre-emptively hit Iran, but even then, it would have been wrong. They hadn't started producing nukes yet, so what else could we do?

I don't know anything about what neo-cons believe, but I do understand that Pres. Bush seems to have acted on unreliable intel that was given to him by others. But, wouldn't it have been better to deal with the threat that had the most probable chance of manifesting itself? Better to deal with a threat that is already manifesting itself than a shadowy hint. Iran already had the reactors, and just needed to go in, give the finger to the U.N. , start them up, and buy the technology that they needed from someone. Again, which is more dangerous?

Now, I'm not advocating that we start wars with suspected problem nations. But if someone already has half the capability to make nuclear weapons, and all that is keeping them from making nukes is some hardware and their honesty, shouldn't we be doing something about that?Instead of toppling an, admittedly, despotic ruler and having no viable solution for rectifying the problems inherent in Iraq, shouldn't we stop a country that has more aggressive capabilities?

Now we have 2 messes that need fixing. How many more lives will it take to fix them?

OK, I'll get off my soapbox. Thanks for listening.

Finish the rainbow!