Video of the Day

Today's thought

A positive attitude doesn't always guarantee a positive outcome, but it makes the journey so much sweeter. Why choose to think negatively, or worry that things won't pan out the way you want them to? You have no way of knowing, so it makes a lot more sense to just go ahead and assume that the outcome will be a good one. It will help you stay smiling. Plus, it will make you a lot more fun to be around.

The Weather

Icky, Yuck, it Sucks, need I say more? Yesterday it was rainy and drizzly which fucked up all the nice white fluffy snow we've gotten over the last couple weeks. I was so excited for the snow and now look what happens, nasty. Today it's a really cold 23 degrees so everything that melted yesterday has frozen over and I have ice everywhere. 

The gutters on the back of my house have issues so I had water running over and through them yesterday only to have it all freeze today. I climbed up there this morning to try to figure out what the issue is but they are frozen over with ice. I'm hoping it doesn't cause any damage to my roof or the gutters themselves.

Ooh, do I sound crabby. I'm really not it's just these were my issues for this morning. On the up side; I've finished my outfit for the Cold Hard Cash bonspiel which is coming up next weekend. I'm really looking forward to it. My team met yesterday morning at the club so that we could practice as a team. It also gave me a chance to meet Marcia; Mary Jane recruited her for our team. This years team consists of Nancee at skip, I'll play third (new adventure for me) Mary Jane is playing second and Marcia will lead us off. Our game plan is pretty simple, play well and have fun. We don't expect to win the bonspiel but hopefully we'll win a couple games. I know that we'll have lots of laughs. 

Christmas came and went without any craziness. Mom was a bit disappointed that I had to work late and Mike had to pull a double shift on Christmas Eve. That's the family tradition, every year we get together for dinner on Christmas Eve. I worked 12 hours and did not make it to my folks house until nearly 7 PM, long after everyone had finished eating. That was fine with me, I had dinner while they played card games. I was home shortly after 10 PM. I worked Christmas Day; Val, Tara and Raleigh came over in the evening and we relaxed with some wine and nice conversation. I would just as soon skip Christmas in it's entirety; the only reason I do anything for it is because it's important to Mom.

New Years Eve is coming up and I haven't decided what I'll do for it. This is the first time in years that I don't have to work New Years Day so I might go out. I've had a few invites, a party in NE Mpls, music at Grumpy's and dinner and a movie with a friend. Not sure what I'll do. I'll probably just stay home; being out on NYE just does not sound too appealing. Val and Tara were trying to get me to have a gathering at my house and I would but I still have not bought any new furniture for the living room. It's not high on my list. My furniture is in the basement. I have my cozy chair in the livingroom for Lash and I to relax and read, that's all I need. I tried to get them to have a party at their house but they're having one this weekend. Hmm maybe I should bring the couch up and have a small gathering, then I don't have to drive at all. I'll have to think about it. I'd have to find someone to help me carry the couch up. 

Ok, better get my ass off the computer and get some more chores done. I have two parties to go to tonight.

Favorite Quote of the Week

On President Bush's pardon reversal for Isaac Toussie

"It's, at best, embarrassing. At worst, it's an extraordinary example of this White House's ability to bollix up one bit of presidential authority that he clearly has." 

Doug Berman, a law professor at Ohio State University and a close follower of presidential clemency decisions.

For Today

Live simply...

     Love generously...

          Care deeply...

               Speak kindly...

More lesbians = less smokers

I'm out shoveling behind the garage this morning and one of my neighbors pulls into the parking lot of the apartment building. He gets out of his car, he says hi, I say good morning and we chat a bit about the weather and driving conditions. He has a cigarette in his hand and takes a drag, I catch a whiff of the smoke and I'm tellin' ya I wanted a cigarette so badly! Whew, it doesn't matter how long it has been since I quite smoking I still get cravings. It's crazy! If a person has never smoked they have no idea what it's like! That first drag of a cigarette! Ahh it goes straight to your head. 

I was about 11 when I started smoking and continued until I was around 25 so it's been at least 20 years since I quit and I still get cravings. By the time I was 15 I was smoking in front of my parents, not that they wanted me to smoke it's just that they did not want me sneakin' cigarettes and burning down the house or something. I was up to about 3 packs a day when I quit. I'm tellin ya there is nothing like the addiction of nicotine, it will grab you and hang on forever.

That nicotine rush is better than sex, well at least it seemed that way until I discovered sex with women. Maybe that's it, lesbians started the smoking after sex thing. The rush of the nicotine was better than sex with men so we immediately grabbed a smoke afterwards. Funny, I was in my 20's when I started dating women and I quit smoking shortly there after, hmmm I see a connection here. More lesbians would equal less smokers. Most of my lesbian friends are non-smokers where as most of my non-lesbian friends are smokers. I think I'm onto something here.

The next time a woman talks to me about wanting to quit smoking I'm going to suggest she start having sex with women and see if that helps, it certainly can't hurt. 

How to find missing stuff

First step: start looking for something else.

Example: the other day Mike sends me an email about the Rollerdome asking do I want to go? Hell yeah, sounds fun. I forward the email to people I think may be interested. Then I start thinking...hmmm when was the last time I had a pair of skates on my feet? Where did I last see my skates? The answer to question number 1, a long time ago. Answer to question number 2, I have no idea. After spending some time checking off possible places I realize they have to be in the attic so I go up there and start looking. I start pulling out boxes and rubbermaid containers, ah ha, that's where my winter clothes have been hiding. Oh and there's that book I was looking for. After pulling out nearly every container in the attic, I found my rollerblades. TaDa! Now let's hope they fit and I remember how to use them.

Now I know I need to get back in the attic and find out what else I have stored up there. At least the things in the attic are mine, unlike my garage which is filled with other peoples stuff. And my basement which still has some of Michaels and Rhory's things.

One more thing to add to my "to do" list.

smoking

I try hard not to judge and being an ex-smoker myself I don't usually feel compelled to say much about it. However, there oughtta be a law that if you are working in a profession where you will have close contact with other people you should not be allowed to smoke on the job. Example, if you are a server at a restaurant, a dental hygienist, a hair care professional, a massage therapist, a doctor, any job where you get up close and personal with your clients DON'T SMOKE ON THE JOB! There is nothing worse than the smell of nasty stale cigarettes. Well, maybe one thing; the smell of nasty cigarettes and coffee breath, that's gotta be the worst! Ok, that's my complaint for the week. 

Other than the smoke contact the rest of my week has been pretty good. Work is really busy, you mail it we move it, happy holidays! I was hoping for just a little overtime this month to pay for my car repairs. Last month was a costly month, a $519 car repair and a $1200 dentist bill! Whew, that makes for some serious dipping into the savings account. This month should be a pretty quiet month, I don't really do Christmas. I'll get together with my family on Christmas Eve for dinner as tradition or better yet my mom dictates but I always work on Christmas day, let the christians have the day off. Oh, that reminds me of an incident I had at work the other day. There was a sign posted for the office "Christmas" party. I stated that I thought that it was inappropriate to have a "Christmas" party that I think a "holiday" party would be better, more inclusive and not exclusive. Well, did that open a huge can of worms. Next thing I know I have a co-worker shouting "if you want to have a satan party then go ahead!" I guess if you're not a Christian then you worship the devil in her book. Anyway, that got my dander up and I had to give her a little history lesson about Christmas and point out all the "other" holidays celebrated in the month of December. One thing led to another and management had to get involved. We are now having a maintenance party and I have to listen to all the christians cry. I've had more people wish me a Merry Christmas and sing Christmas songs when I walk by than I have in my entire life.  I'm starting to feel a little like Rudolph and we know how that story ends so they can just kiss my ---; I get to lead Santa's sleigh. 

A Little Gun History

In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a total of 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.

China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300.000 Christians, unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.

Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one million educated people unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.

Defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century because of gun control: 56 million.

I'm a believer of the 2nd Amendment!

PROTECT MARRIAGE

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

The Seed of Stories

"Over the millennia the seed of stories planted in the fertile soil of bits and scraps of facts was watered by wishes and began to take root and grow. Eventually, a bountiful fruit of rumors burst forth, to be spread on the wind of whispers that said we hid a fabled hoard of gold. Nothing could convince the believers that it was not true. The truth does not glitter for these people like gold does. Their dream of reaping unearned wealth was so strong for them that they would rather sacrifice everything truly precious to them than accept the truth that it was an empty belief."

- Tam

Makin out on the shuttle

This weekend was the Fireball 500 bonspiel and I was lucky enough to be a part of it. Margeaux asked me to play lead on her team. This was a great opportunity for me to play with a competitive team. Our first game was Friday night at 5 pm against team Rheaume. We scored one in the first end, they scored two in the second and we were able to score 5 in the third end which sealed our victory, we shook hands after the 6th end. 

Friday night we were treated to a steak fry (a portabella mushroom was supplied for non-meat eaters) along with salad, potatoes and green beans. A very good meal. Free beer, soda and shots of Fireball. If you haven't tried Fireball I highly recommend it. There was a live band Friday night. I did not stay out too late, I think I was home by about 11:30. 

Saturday I got to the club around 8:30 for "eye-openers" and breakfast. We were on the ice at 9 for game two against team Robinson. I don't remember the final score but we shook hands again after 6 ends, I think they only scored one or two points. Our next game was not until 3 pm so after having some lunch at the club I headed back home for a while. 

Game three was against team Faltesek and unfortunately we did not win which ended our playing. Team Faltesek played a flawless game, I don't think they missed a shot and well we missed a couple. In any case it was a fun game. After having the required shots of Fireball and cold beers I went home to shower and change for the pub crawl. Everyone met at the Kelly Inn for drinks, appetizers and the raffle drawings, from there we hopped on shuttles to the Eagle Street bar and grille in downtown St. Paul. More food and free drinks! We spent quite a long time there, then back on the shuttles and off to Plums. Plums was packed! Lots of people, more drinks, more shots but no food at this stop. 

Ok, so here's the makin' out on the shuttle part. Mark and I sat next to each other on the shuttle bus ride from Plums to the Wild Onion. Sitting in front of us was a man and a woman, I don't know either one of them but they were going at it. I could not help myself, I had to make a comment. Mark joined in and apparently we pissed them off quite a bit. I don't remember if it was Mark or myself that turned on the overhead light to shine down on top of them but they did not like that one bit. Hee, hee, hee, if you're going to make out on a shuttle bus full of curlers with someone that is NOT your husband and NOT your wife and you're married then too damn bad, don't get pissed at me when you get caught! Get a room!

Wild Onion was also a very busy bar, after several drinks I received a text message from my friend Loafy, asking if I wanted to go to Rumours to shake our butts. I explained where I was and what I was doing so she came over the the Wild Onion to rescue me. We stayed at the Wild Onion for a couple more drinks then headed back downtown to Rumours night club. We did some dancing, the bar was not very crowded and we pretty much had the dance floor to ourselves. After about an hour we decided to head to the Town House and check it out. I ran into my future ex-wife at the Town House. She is always fun to look at and have a chat with. Loafy and I danced until they closed the bar and kicked us out. What a fun night. I did not hit the sheets until after 3 AM, whew!

Sunday I was awake by 8:30 got the laundry started and tried to recovered from all of the free drinks. I went back to the club at noon to watch the final four events. Fun, fun, fun. 

I think I'll spend the next couple days recovering from this weekend. 

Finally, the little guy gets some recognition

I had to make a run to the grocery store today and was in a hurry, stopped by the new "green" Cub foods in the neighborhood. I usually grab the first parking spot available and cruise in but because I was in a hurry I drove up close to the store. I was pleasantly surprised by the prime parking spot I found and the posted sign:

"Low Emitting Fuel Efficient 30 mpg Parking Only"

Rock on compact 34 mpg Ford Focus! Love it!

Thanksgiving

Most people evaluate the past year around New Years Day. I find that Thanksgiving is the best time for me to look back at the past year. By the time I get to New Years Day I've already negotiated Christmas and New Years Eve celebrating and I'm in no condition to think about the past year. Thanksgiving works perfect; I'm already thinking about what I'm thankful for. 

This has been a bit of an odd year for me, I had goals that I accomplished and goals that I abandoned. A couple of the big goals for me were to work less and sleep more. I can say that I've completed both of those. I worked 40 hours or less each week and I'm up to about an average of 6 hours of sleep a night a far cry from 50 - 60 hours of work a week and 4 hours of sleep a night. I'm confident I can maintain my 40 hours or less a week, my paycheck does not like it but I do. I do not believe I can sleep more than 6 hours a night, even on my days off with no alarm clock I don't go past that; even the 6 hours is not a solid 6. 

I learned that if I'm going to spend my summer riding 100 to 150 miles a week on my bike I need to spend the winter doing house chores. It's November and I did not get all of my yard work done, nor did I finish some house projects and it can be directly contributed to spending my days on my bike. But hey, who can pass up a sunny day? Now I'm committed to finishing my indoor house projects before Spring. 

I have spent a lot of time taking a personal inventory and have worked hard on changing some of the things I don't like about myself. I still have some work to do but I'm heading in the right direction. I'm happy I remained single this year and did not get caught up in some affair I was not ready for. I've resolved my issues with my ex-girlfriend, the anger is gone, the tears have dried and I'm ready to move on. This was a hard one, I don't think I have ever been that angry with anyone in my entire life. I've never allowed anyone to get that close to me and I'm not sure I will let it happen again. I am grateful however for the experience and the lessons learned. 

I've resolved the problems I had with my mom, that too was difficult. I understand her position a little better and I know why I was so defensive. I've forgiven her for not standing up to my dad when he was a drunk. I've forgiven her for allowing me to take all the blame and getting my ass kicked on a regular basis. I've taken responsibility for my part in all of it. I've realized that it was not her fault, it was mine. I could have walked away, I could have hidden in my room like my brothers did, I could have backed down, I could have cried but I chose not to. Instead I chose to take the blame for whatever happened in the house because it was easier to take the hit than to watch the hit.  I think it's funny how I resolved the issues with my dad years ago and it took me this long to resolve them with my mom. Hell my dad was the asshole, he was the drunk, not my mom. She did everything to try to keep the peace. The biggest struggle I've had this year is dealing with the memories. 

When I walked out of my parent's house I took nothing with me and buried all of my memories. There were times when I did not have a place to sleep, when I did not have food, eating lettuce and yellow mustard. I remember the nasty one bedroom apartment I shared with two other people; because I was too proud to go home. I went to visit them just to see my brother Lawrence and when he died I learned to cry. I was 21. 

This past year the memories of my childhood have flooded into my consciousness. The anger, the frustration, the helplessness, I understand now why certain things bother me, why I have issues with trust, why I can get so anal about stuff. I understand why I was so damn angry with my mom. Having Mike living with me has helped a lot, he remembers so much more than I do. He has reminded me of things that happened. In some ways it's a relief, now I know why I am the way I am and now I can change it. I can take responsibility for it and do what needs to be done. 

Another goal I accomplished was to increase my circle of friends, find people that are healthier for me. I have a number of friends whom I've known forever that have some serious drug and alcohol issues. It's easy for me to fall into that trap. I will never turn my back on them but I no longer spend time with them. I've found some really super people and very much enjoy spending time with them. 

I'm still battling the 5 pounds I wanted to lose this year. I did get down to 135 around July but did not build up the muscle to replace it the way I wanted to. I'm back up to 140 again. Now that Mike is gone I can get my stuff set up in the basement and work out over the winter. I have a membership at a gym but can never seem to get myself to go. It's much easier to pop a movie in the DVD player and ride my bike on the trainer for an hour or so. I also have some weights and other equipment so I can get a pretty good workout without leaving home. I may even contact the personal trainer I had when I was lifting and see if she can help me set up a program. I don't want to go crazy with it but now that I'm on the downside of 40 and have a desk job I'm losing muscle rapidly. I'm putting this goal back on the top of the list for 2009, lose 5 pounds of fat and replace it with 5 pounds of muscle.  

I cut my caffeine intake in half, I haven't had a soda since February and cut my coffee down to only my morning cup (24 oz) then water the rest of the day. I need that morning caffeine to focus, when I try to go without it I cannot seem to keep myself from bouncing off the walls. I know it's weird but caffeine helps me to focus and calms me down. I think I'll leave this alone, I really don't believe coffee is bad for you. Everything in moderation. 

Financially I'm going into the New Year debt free, excluding the mortgage but I don't know if you can count that as debt. The asset of owning a home outweighs the debt in my book. I'm still saving for a new roof, every time I get close something seems to happen, the car breaks down, the dentist comes knocking, the dog gets sick, whatever. I'm one of the few people who does not buy into all the financial woes of our country. Hell Americans spent 6 billion dollars on Halloween and you're trying to convince me that we have a financial crisis, nope I'm not buying it. I have at least 20 years before I'll start pulling from my investments, they should be fine by then. And if not, I'll deal with it in 20 years. If I wake up tomorrow without a job I may change my mind about all of this. 

All in all I had a good year, my family is doing well, both of my parents are still here and I really did not think my dad would make it. I still have Sir Lashley, my faithful companion. I have lots of new friends and have maintained my old friendships. I'm heading into the New Year feeling good. 

My goals for the New Year are simple:

finish my inside house projects

try one new winter activity and one new summer activity

re-do the vegetable garden, move the compost bin

insulate the small garage

ride my bike to work more often

get rid of that 5 pounds of fat and add 5 pounds of muscle

paint the exterior of the house

spend more time with my family and friends

win the lottery

LAW OF LOGICAL ARGUMENT

Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about. 

LAW OF BIOMECHANICS

The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.

Taking work home with me

I don't usually take my work or issues that happen at work home with me but the past couple weeks have been taxing to say the least. I really like my job the trouble is I have more than one. Half my day is spent doing my maintenance control job and the other half is spent representing the maintenance craft as a union steward. I enjoy doing both, one feeds my need to be anal and organized the other feeds my love to research and debate (argue). The maintenance control job is cake, the easiest job I've had in my 24 years of service, as my co-worker Dave always says "and they pay us for this." After spending 21 years as a dock worker on the mail processing side, having someone watching you at all times and never getting the satisfaction of completing the job (the mail never stops), the work I do now is like a walk in the park on a Sunday afternoon. With that aside, my union work has been crazy. The Postal Service is in just as much financial troubles as every other company out there, quite possibly more. Therefore they are doing everything in their power to reduce the number of employees. Discipline has gone through the roof. 

Right now I'm representing a woman who was removed from service because of her disability! Can management do this? NO, but they did it and I've been tasked with getting her her job back. The woman has been off work since July and to top it off she is in the middle of a custody battle with her ex-husband. I'm sure the judge will look kindly on her as she has no job to support her kids. I put together a kick ass case,  I'm not going to go into all the details of the grievance process but last week I discussed the case with the PO representative. I laid the entire case out, and he had absolutely no argument, he could not counter one thing I said. Management has no case. We spent a good 45 minutes talking, discussing, arguing, and at the end of it he says "I'll consider it and get back to you on Monday." Fine!

Monday arrives........waiting......waiting...waiting...

finally at 1:30 in the afternoon he calls me and says "I'm denying the case." We talk a little longer, he says he will mail the denial letter along with management's argument. This is one of the most frustrating parts of being a union representative. I spend hours, days, weeks preparing a case and all management has to do is say "denied." Now the case will be docketed for arbitration, which will take months. In the mean time the woman is still out of work, no money, the holidays are coming up, the economy sucks so her chances of finding other work are slim to none. The thing that chaps my hide the most is that I know management does not have a case and they know they do not have a case but they would rather waste the time and money of going to arbitration. 

I guess my point in all of this is that last night I met some friends out for a beer and a couple games of pool. I am not a pool player, don't really like the game but they were playing when I arrived and I was put on a team. Fortunately I was on Val's team, Val is a very good pool player; we played against Tara and Marlayna. We lost three games in a row, Val was having an off night and I sucked. Tara and Marlayna were very happy which was good because they take the game much more serious than Val or myself. After we finished playing pool the four of us were drinking our beers and chatting. I'm not sure exactly what Tara said, I just remember how I reacted, very much out of character for me. I know I went on for a good 5 minutes before I caught myself and shut up. I know that it put a damper on the rest of the evening and we left shortly afterwards. This morning I sent off an apology to Tara and explained how my day had sucked. Tara was very understanding, no hard feelings. 

I hate when that happens, I'm frustrated and angry about one thing and it comes out on the people I care about. I guess it's natural and other people do it as well but I still don't like it. I'm usually really good about leaving my work at work and my home at home. I think I need a vacation.

LAW OF CLOSE ENCOUNTERS

The probability of meeting someone you know increases dramatically when you are with someone you don't want to be seen with. 

LAW OF THE BATH

When the body is fully immersed in water, the telephone rings.

VARIATION LAW

If you change traffic lanes, the one you were in will always move faster than the one you are in now (works every time).

LAW OF THE ALIBI

If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the very next morning you will have a flat tire. 

LAW OF RANDOM NUMBERS

If you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy signal and someone always answers. 

LAW OF PROBABILITY

The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of your act.

LAW OF GRAVITY

Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.

LAW OF MECHANICAL REPAIR

After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch and you'll have to pee.

Sexuality 101

OMG I may have opened Pandora's box! This is crazy. The conversations about sexuality have not ended, and after the last hour I believe it will be the topic of conversation for a while longer. OK, so the other day I receive an email from a friend asking about "pansexual" had I ever heard of it? Nope, never have. So this leads me straight to google, Lord knows I google everything. I have read a lot about this word and I'm still not sure about the definition. Here are a couple:

Pansexual:

The term pansexual generally is used for a person who does not classify their sexuality with a person's sex, but their gender. They believe there is a set difference between sex and gender - gender being the socially constructed condition of being male or female, and sex being the biological condition of male or female. HUH?

People who are pansexual may be attracted to various different forms of romance, and may be aroused by various different acts of sex on a carnal level. Some suggest that pansexuality is more accurately described by its adepts: human- or person- oriented. Despite a person who is pansexual's fluid sexuality, some may have a preference. A person who is pansexual may be attracted to all genders and sexes, but have a preference, (for example) for pre-operative transsexual people, other people who are pansexuals, masculine lesbians, intersexed people, etc. 

This definition is much more to the point: Opposite of asexual, asexual means you are not sexually attracted to anyone, whereas pansexual means you are sexually attracted to everyone. 

This search has lead me to so many other sexual orientations that I am truly overwhelmed. Who would have known? I've always thought I was pretty well versed in the sexuality subject but today is a day of eye opening experiences.  My new favorite site is the Urban dictionary, love it! Nearly all of the following definitions have come from the Urban dictionary so once you get on it you can just go from there. 

Here is a short list of sexual identifications I found, have fun! 

Intersexual, Paraphilias, montisexual, nitrosexual, metrosexual, ubersexual, logosexual, pomosexual, omnisexual, retrosexual, and trisexual. There are hundreds of ways a person could identify themselves. I'm going with pomosexual, I think I like that best. 

Oh there was one other thing I needed to look up...I'll have to do it later

Write a Check, Pay it Off Later

I've receive this type of mailing on a weekly basis and usually just toss them into my recycle pile. I don't bitch about it as it is revenue for the PO, we call it our bread 'n butter mail. It's really where the PO makes money. Anyway, as I was saying I receive them on a weekly basis but don't pay much attention. Today however the "Write a check now. Pay it off later" caught my attention. This is what has gotten our country into the bind it is in. The idea that I can get anything I want right now and worry about paying for it some other time. 

The mailing I received was from a credit card company I have an account with. It gives you the option of choosing how you want to postpone your payments. Use check numbers 6703 and 6704 to get a low promotional 0.99% fixed annual percentage rate (APR) until your 05/2009 statement opening date. Or use check 6705 and 6706 to get a low promotional 6.99% fixed APR until the balance is paid off!

It goes on to give you all the blah, blah, blah about what happens if you do not pay it off in time. This is where they really get you and if people do not read the fine print they will find themselves in some deep doodoo. One of the things that really stuck out for me was that if you don't charge at least $1500 on card within the next 24 billing cycles they may terminate your promotional APR and you are then stuck paying a higher APR. 

They make is sound so easy, just choose your option, write a check and off you go! For me this mailing will end up in the fire recycle bin. I have two paper recycle bins one goes out to the curb and the other bin I use to start fires. Anything that has account information goes to the fire bin. I guess for me this mailing serves two purposes, it helps secure my job and it helps to warm my house. 

Read the fine print, if something seems too good to be true it probably is, if it's that easy there's a catch to it. I was brought up to want what you have, work hard for what you need and if you want something work even harder and save for it. There is no greater sense of accomplishment or respect for something than when you work hard for it. 

Sexuality

I have had several conversations about sexuality this past week. Maybe it's the weather, it gets cold outside and people start thinking of ways to stay warm and one of the best ways is having someone to cuddle up next to, a little friction under the sheet. Maybe it's that in most of the places I hang, I'm the token lesbian and people find it easier to talk about sex with us gays. Who knows? It could be the recent elections and the outcome of some State amendments. One thing I do know is we all have our opinions about it. 

I have my views on the topic but thought I would "google it" and see what others think. The Ancient Egyptians had the right idea, if it feels good do, no guilt. There is a book on google; Sexuality by Joseph Bristow, if you have the time give it a read. There is a sexuality blog on about.com and I may actually add this to my list of blogs to read. I also found the National Sexuality Resource Center (NSRC). It seems to me that the common thread in all of these is sex, how we do it, who we do it with and how to stay healthy while doing it. 

I've always thought of sexuality as something more than my sex life, it's like a way of life. I realized my sexuality at a fairly young age at least for people my age. Nowadays people are "coming out" at much younger ages. Maybe if I had been exposed to gay people or if it was even talked about I would have come out earlier. I know it sure could have saved me a lot of headaches if I had known what I was going through and that it was OK. In any case I was in my early twenties when I discovered I like girls better than boys. I wonder sometimes if I had never met a lesbian, would I be gay? If I had never had sex with a woman would I be gay? I believe the answer would be yes. I knew at a very young age that I was different, that I like girls better than boys but I didn't know what it was all about. And therein lies my theory of sexuality, that it is a part of who you are, an identification, not who you are having sex with or how you're doing it. 

I'm a gay homosexual lesbian, I prefer sex with women, I prefer relationships with women, I prefer women over men, except at work or when I have to lift heavy things then I prefer men folk. That is not to say I could not enjoy sex with a dude, sex is sex, what difference would having sex with a man be than picking some woman up in a bar and having anonymous sex? It really does not matter who the person is, it's about the sex. Which brings me to the bi-sexuals, frankly I do not believe anyone is bi-sexual, I believe people have a preference. In my experience, most women who say they are bi-sexual are really straight and like to dabble with girl on girl sex. Most men on the other hand who say they are bi-sexual are really gay. And then you have the guys "on the down low" as long as they are packin' the pooper it's not gay sex. 

I guess I'll do a little more reading on the subject, being AGA-sexual (Ain't Gettin' Any) at the moment, I have plenty of time on my hands. 

Crabby blog

I am working diligently to get out of the slump I've been in. I somehow injured my back about a month ago and every time I think it's getting better it gets fucked up again. I know when it happened; October 12, the day Kathy came into town from California. I don't know how it happened.  I know it happened sometime in the afternoon because by the time Kathy got to my house, around 4 PM I could hardly walk. I even took some prescription muscle relaxants that Kathy had along with two glasses of wine and no relief. If I knew how it happened I could make damn sure it does not happen again. 

On Thursday of that week I talked with my yoga instructor and he gave me some poses I could do to help. I started feeling better. I tried to ride my bike, hell to the no, that was not going to happen. Within about 10 miles I could not stand it and had to come home. 

I spent the about two weeks taking it easy, resting not doing a lot but hell I do have a life to live. It's depressing. I can handle pain, I've lived with chronic pain for the last 17 years but this sucks! I guess a person gets used to certain things, like my headache, I've had it so long that I don't think anything of it until it gets really bad. But this back thing has put me over the top. It affects everything I do. 

I know it's making me crabby, it's affecting my job and my social life. The only thing I've been doing consistently is curling and even that takes it's toll. By the end of the game I'm hurtin' for certain. Fuck this sucks! See there I go getting crabby. Sitting hurts, standing hurts, laying down hurts, I'm not sleeping which really sucks because I don't sleep a lot to begin with. I guess this is not helping me get out of my slump but I just got home from curling and my back hurts. We had a great game, lots of fun. We won so I should be happy. 

Maybe I need to call the chiropractor, get myself an adjustment. I wonder if there are crabby pills. Too bad I can't smoke pot that's always been a good pain reliever. 

OK, I'm going to shut up now and post my crabby blog. When I feel better I'll post a feel better blog.

WHEW

Just finished watching McCain give his concession speech so I guess I can go to bed now. It's for real, Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States of America! 

History is in the making...

Election Day

It has been years since I was this interested in an election. For me this election will dictate my future. If we do not get more labor friendly representatives I will be out of a job within 10 years. 

I have been watching the projections and as of now it looks like Obama is ahead 207 to 135 but there are still a lot of states that need to be counted.  I am cautiously optimistic. 

This is the first time in my voting career that I voted along one party line, the democrats. I am not a card carrying member of any party but as I said I need labor friendly representatives in office. 

The one thing I really hate about this election or any election for that matter is when I cast a vote against someone rather than for someone. In the Coleman/Franken/Barkley race that is exactly what I did. I don't believe there is any way Barkley could win therefore I had no choice but to vote against Coleman. I cannot stand him but I don't think Franken is a good choice either. 

The hot topics such as the Economy, Iraq, Energy and so on seem to pale when your job is on the line. On December 8th I will have worked for the United States Postal Service for 24 years; over half my life. The Bush administration along with his Republican cronies have contracted out more work in the 8 years they have been in office than has happened in my entire career. If they remain in office they will privatize the Postal Service thereby putting over 700,000 employees out of work. The Post Office used to employee more civilian workers than any other company, now WalMart does. What is this telling us? 

It's now nearly 10 PM and it looks like McCain has gained in the polls

Obama 207

McCain 141

I plan to stay up until a decision is made and I will either be raising a toast in celebration or drowning my sorrows. But one thing is for certain, I voted therefore I can Bitch!

Chester Creek, Duluth MN 2008

The last several months I've just been out of sorts, anxious, unsettled but I have not been able to put my finger on the problem. Well yesterday I realized what the problem is, I have not been in the woods; I haven't gone camping, hiking, canoeing, anything and my soul has been missing the outdoors. I've ridden my bike in the woods and I've taken a few strolls here and there but nothing like what I need. 

Yesterday Kathy and I took a road trip to Duluth to visit her niece who is going to school up there. The drive was beautiful and as always Kathy and I had a fun time traveling together. We arrived in Duluth around 10:30 AM, picked up Christine and Rob, Christine's fiance and off to breakfast we went. After breakfast Christine and Rob showed Kathy and I where they plan to get married; it's a beautiful spot in Chester Creek park.  The four of us then hiked along Chester Creek; the smell of the leaves, the birds, the water running over rocks it was like music to my soul and that is when I realized how much I miss being in the woods. 

I used to go camping at least once a month and sometimes more often. Kathy, Marly and I would even rent cabins along the North Shore in the winter. I had it down to a science, I would have everything packed and ready to go Friday night. On Saturday morning I would get up and go to work, come home and back the truck up to the trailer (ok, call me a wimp, I had a pop-up camper), toss the dogs into the truck and within two hours we would be at the campgrounds with everything set up. The dogs and I would spend the weekend just chilling in the woods, it was great. Kathy and Marly had a camper as well and we would plan weekends together, get sites near each other and have so much fun exploring the outdoors. Marly was so funny, they had to have a TV in their camper, Marly did not go anywhere without her TV. 

I'll never forget the time there was a group of us camping together and everyone had gone to bed except Kathy, me and a bottle of Jagermeister. Kathy and I sat around the firepit, taking nips off the Jager, laughing and talking about the good ol' days and at one point we must have gotten a little too loud because the next thing we hear is Marly "KATHY!" and Kathy says "what?" Marly: "you know those campers you hate?" Kathy "yeah" Marly "WELL YOU'RE ONE OF THEM!!!" of course Kathy and I giggle and head off into the campgrounds so that we don't disturb Marly. We still laugh about it. God I miss those days.

The camper has since found a new owner, my dogs have met their maker, Kathy lives in California and we just unveiled the headstone on Marly's grave this morning. As I sit here writing this post, I'm flooded with memories and I ask myself how did I get to where I'm at today? It seems like such a short time ago and now my life is a speeding by so quickly that I can't keep up with it. We've all grown a little older and hopefully wiser, the only thing that has remained the same is my address and phone number everything else in my life has changed. I can't complain about the world I've created for myself but sometimes, especially on days like today I miss the past, I miss the people, my little dogs, it just seemed so much simpler back then. I know I've became a little cynical over the years and I'm trying to change that, I know I'm pretty set in my ways which has made it difficult for me to maintain a relationship and quite frankly I knew long ago that I would probably spend my life alone, I can't say that it's what I want but I haven't found a person yet that can allow me to be me and until that happens I'll just remain on my own. 

One thing I know for sure is that next year the canoe is coming off the wall in the garage, I'm finding my tent and I'm going camping. I don't care if I have to go alone but I am taking my ass to the woods. I have always wanted to pack my gear, well not the canoe, on my bike and take off for a long weekend. Winter is just around the corner so I have plenty of time to plan it and who knows maybe I can even talk a few people into joining me. I can incorporate two of my favorite things, riding my bike and playing in the woods.  

Miss Marly, I hear your laughter, I see your smile and I miss you every day, until we meet again my friend...

Energy Bill

A while back I made a comment/joke about how my electricity bill will be cut in half after my little brother moves out; today I received my first Xcel Energy bill since he moved. Guess what? My electric bill is less than half of what it was last year for the same billing period! This lead me to examine my bill a little closer and I realized that I have no idea what I am being charged for. Yes I can figure out the electricity usage and the gas usage but what the hell is all of that extra stuff? 

I started going through my bill, now this is not a fun thing to do and quite frankly if I was not just hanging out waiting for a friend I probably would not have done this, well, maybe I would but it is not something I normally do. Ok, so as I was saying; I start going through my bill line by line and the first thing I see? "current energy charges" and under that "current other charges," well current charges was easy enough that's the total I have to pay this month.  After searching a little more I figured out current other charges was my  HomeSmart charge; HomeSmart is a program Xcel Energy has for your home appliances. 

Now onto the more intricate parts of the bill:

Basic Service Charge

Energy Charge Summer

Energy Charge Winter

Environment Improvement Rider

Fuel Cost Charge

Resource Adjustment 

City fees

Transit Improvement Tax

City Tax

State Tax

whew I'm exhausted and this is only the Electric  charges, now you can add gas charges:

Basic Service charge

Cost of Gas

Gas Affordability

Distribution Adjustment

City fees

Transit Improvement Tax

City Tax

State Tax

It's crazy, so off I go to the Xcel Energy website to try to figure out what all of this means. First stop "understanding my bill" and from there "Billing Glossary," now we're getting somewhere. I perused through the glossary checking off what was on my bill with each definition, for the most part I found each of the charges but there were a couple I could not find so now it's on to the telephone. Xcel has a 1-800 number you can call to speak to a representative, it took a few seconds to press the appropriate numbers in order to be put on hold waiting, tick tock, tick tock, please hold, muzak, tick tock, advertisement for Energy Star furnace, more muzak, tick tock, apology, please hold, tick tock... advertisement for furnace filter.. Hello this is Ryan how may I help you? Surprise less than 3 minutes and I had a service representative, an actual live person on the line, yippee!  

Hi Ryan, I have two questions for you about the charges on my bill, first question, "what is the Transit Improvement Tax?" Ryan: hmmm did you check the back of your statement "understanding your bill?" Me: quickly turning my statement over " I checked the Internet site and um no there's nothing on the back of the statement either" Ryan: "let me check...Ok here it is effective July 01, 2008, five counties, Dakota, Ramsey, Anoka, Hennipen and Washington tax to be used to fund improvements to light rail, commuter rail and bus transportation."  Whew, it's something new on the bill, no wonder I don't know anything about it. Now question number two: "What is the Environment Improvement Rider?" Ryan: "that's an increase that allows Xcel to recoup some of the cost for the new King Plant in Oak Park Heights, and the cost to convert the High Bridge plant in St. Paul and the Riverside plant in Minneapolis from coal to natural gas." Ryan: "most of the charges on your bill are to pay for the cost of getting power to your house." OK Ryan, thanks for your help. You're welcome is there anything else I can help you with? No, thanks enjoy your day. Thank you for calling Xcel, bye. Bye.

Hmpf I should have asked him why there is a Winter and Summer energy charge, I guess that can wait for the next statement. One thing I noticed is that both your City taxes and State taxes are applied to your City fees in addition to everything else. It's a little deceiving how they are listed because you get a subtotal which makes you believe that that is what you're being taxed on but your City fees are added to the subtotal before your taxes are assessed. And another thing; you pay City fees, City taxes, Transit Improvement taxes and State taxes on both your electric charges and gas charges separately, this just does not seem right. The money is all going to the same place why charge them separately? Oh yeah, more money for the City and State. 

I also noticed that I used exactly the same amount of Gas/therms per day for the same billing period last year as I did this year, 0.6 but the cost is $.08 higher this year. I am happy that my electrical bill is half of what it was a year ago because from what I hear our gas prices are going to double this winter. I can't say as I recommend picking apart your energy bill but it is nice to know what it all means so if you have a free afternoon, maybe you're stuck waiting for a service person or a friend who is running late then you too can check out your energy bill.  

Have fun :)