Changing of the Guards

Wow, guess I blew that New Year's resolution. I haven't posted here for quite some time.

Tomorrow is the changing of the guards in the union office. I won my election but the other guys on my ticket did not so that kinda sucks. I had coffee with the new Craft Director last week, he asked if I would meet with him for a chat. He came with hat in hand, very humble wanting me to help him out. He pretty much admitted that he has no clue on how to process grievances or what to do in his new position. He was really relieved when I informed him that I was certified to process cases at level 1 and 2 and also that I had taken the Labor courses at the U of M. I let him know that I plan to continue the work I've been doing for the past couple years and that I'm willing to help him out.

He explained that he was pissed off about an overtime issue and that's why he ran for office. Exactly what I thought.

I'm trying to stay open minded about the whole thing, my first obligation is to the people I represent. There are some in the office who are seriously pissed off and are refusing to help the new administration and several people have resigned their positions effective April 1st. I'm just not that kind of person. I figure if I train in the new guy then he'll do things my way, it's a win win situation for me.

It also allows me to keep an eye on what's going on, these are the people with the sweetheart deals. I think it's funny that I'm the one who busted up this guys overtime deal with management, and now he's coming to me asking for help.

It should prove to be an interesting day in the office.

Life and Death

What a turn of events I've experienced this weekend, high highs and low lows. Here I sit, the sun has gone down, I finished reading my book and I'm feeling rather melancholy. I've had a weekend of curling, Friday night I played with my regular mixed team at 5, we won and I played with the Strassman team at 7 and we won that game too. So Friday ended on a fairly high note.

Saturday I woke up with a fierce allergy attack, I think the weather played a large part in it. Now that things are starting to warm up, the plants are budding and there is a lot of mold in the air. Anyway, I felt pretty crappy when I woke up but fortunately I did not have to curl until noon so I was able to take an allergy pill and I was feeling pretty good by the time we threw our first stones.

I received a phone call as I was getting ready to leave Saturday morning but was unable to get to the phone. I listened to the message and it was my nephew Jason asking me to call him back. The first thing that entered my head was that something had happened to my brother Rick because Jason never calls me. Then I told myself to not think like that and just call him back. Jason informed me that he and his wife are going to have a baby! YAY, I was really surprised excited to hear that and it made me feel good that he called me to tell me. What a wonderful surprise, it put me in high spirits as I headed off to the curling club.

We had a great day of curling, we won both of our games, had a fun time at the banquet. The theme was "Rockstar," most people dressed as their idea of a "rockstar." It was a lot of fun. I came home early as directed by my skip. I have to say it was difficult, my car wanted to swing into the bar parking lot on my way home. I mean hell, I had my 'rockstar' clothes on, hate to see the leather go to waste. But I was a good girl and directed the vehicle home.

I was up bright and early this morning and had the coffee brewing by 0600. I love watching the sun rise in the morning. I drank coffee, played on the Internet and watched the sun rise. This was the day, my team is in the 1st event and we're playing against the Anderson rink. We could not have asked for a better opponent. I think it is funny how Amy was supposed to be on our team but there was a conflict with her broom ball team so she couldn't play with us. We found another player and two days later she finds out that her broom ball tournament is a different weekend so she plays with Loafy's team. And that's the team we are going against in the final event, go figure. We had a fun game, I little disappointing in the 7th end, they scored 6 points on us. We just could not get their rocks out of the house! It was a little weird I had said to Rebecca that I was hoping we would be tied in the eighth end so it would come down to final rocks. Well, that's not quite how it happened, we were down by two and had the hammer in the eighth end. We tied the game and had to go into an extra end. They won! I can't complain we had a fun game and if we have to lose I am happy it was to that team. After the game we hung out at the club for a while then I came home.

When I got home I could hear that my answering machine was beeping, I had two messages. I'm not usually too anxious to listen because it is usually solicitors calling. I hit the play button and received a message from dad that my cousin Doug had died last night. I knew he was not doing very well. When I was in Colorado mom had called and told me that they did not expect Doug to make it and that my aunt and uncle were heading to Seattle to see him. Doug had been battling cancer for quite some time, there just wasn't anything the doctors could do. Mom was pretty upset and I spent quite a bit of time on the phone with her so when I received the message from dad today I wasn't really surprised just bummed out.

Life and Death, I get a called Saturday morning saying we're getting a new member of the family and received a call on Sunday saying we've lost a member of the family. It's the story of my world and it always gets me to thinking.

I spent the rest of the afternoon outside because that's where I always run to when I need to think. I took Lash to the park then worked in the backyard. I guess I just needed to see a little more life. The trees are budding, the grass is turning green. I raked leaves off the flower bed looking to see if any bulbs were coming up. I knew there wouldn't be, it's too early and the ground is still frozen but I had to do something. It's how I think, keep moving, let the thoughts flow.

Whenever someone dies it makes me wonder, what happens when we die??? I have my ideas, I have my beliefs but we never truly know until we die. I'm not afraid to die, I think living is scarier, getting hurt is more frightening, watching someone else die really sucks, but dying itself doesn't really scare me. It's kinda morbid to think about; at least that's what people tell me. But I'm sure we've all thought about dying. What happens? Does it hurt? Where do we go? Do we just die? Is there an afterlife? Is there a God? All great questions.

I've had lots of great conversations about Life and Death and most everyone has a different idea. Personally I believe there is a separation between the physical and the spiritual self. We live in and create our three dimensional physical reality and that can die. Our spiritual self does not die. Our bodies are our vehicles with which we propel ourselves through this physical reality. Just like a car, when it gets old and worn out we replace it with a new one. When our car dies we don't necessarily mourn the loss of our car and I don't think we will mourn the loss of our bodies when we decide to leave it. When someone dies I mourn the loss of that person, the spiritual entity and the connection we shared.

It's interesting to me how we can connect so profoundly with someone in an instant and other people we can know our entire lives and never connect with them. I could go on and one about this, it's where my brain is at tonight but I think I would do myself better if I just meditate on it. I tend to find more answers when I shut up.

Friday Morning Weigh In

Ok, I've put this off long enough! I have not weighed myself since, I don't know when, I'd have to look back at past posts. Anyway, this morning was it, I had to step on the scale. I was seriously apprehensive, I've been eating and drinking way too much the past month. February was nothing but a festival of decadent behavior.

I avoided the scale until just before I jumped into the shower which was after about 4 cups of coffee, that way I could always use the excuse of "water weight" ;)

Todays weight: 140 lbs. whew, not as bad as I thought. Yes, it sets me back but not as far as I thought I would be. I'm right back to the beginning with 48 days left to reach my goal. This is going to be tough, I still have two bonspiels to get through.

The USWCA 5 and Under is this weekend and the clubs 5 and Under is at the end of the month. I better get my ass out on the bike, whether it be on the trainer or not!

An Unholy Alliance part 2 of 6

The Golden Triangle: Burma, Thailand, Laos
US Secret Army = Hmong
CIA = Opium, Heroin

March 10, 2009

1. Capricorn (12/22-1/19)

   It's a wise idea to team up today -- whatever you want to do will be more enjoyable and more rewarding if you do it with someone else. Combining forces is always a good way to get further faster -- and have loads of fun while you're at it. You have been going it alone for some time and doing a heck of a great job with it, but now it's time to mix it up and explore other ways of doing things. You need someone else's perspective to inform your actions.

More Great News About Free-Range Eggs

More vitamin A, more omega-3 fatty acids, and now it turns out that free-range eggs also have more vitamin D than supermarket eggs — three to six times as much!

The results are coming in from Mother Earth News’ latest round of pastured egg nutrient tests. Once again, pastured egg producers are kicking the commercial industry’s butt — yippee, go free range! Their previous tests found that eggs from hens raised on pasture — as compared to the official USDA data for factory-farm eggs— contain:

• 1/3 less cholesterol
• 1/4 less saturated fat
• 2/3 more vitamin A
• Two times more omega-3 fatty acids
• Three times more vitamin E
• Seven times more beta carotene

I've always said, eggs are the perfect meal. Go Free Range!

Check out Mother Earth News for all the details.

An Unholy Alliance part 1 of 6

This 1996 documentary examines the CIA's connection to the global drug trade, with a focus on opium and heroin. Posted on YouTube with the permission of Director Chris Hilton, who now makes his home at Essential Media and Entertainment:
http://www.essential-media.com/index.php

Laugh Out Loud

I have to say thank you to the guy who was driving the big ass white SUV down the avenue today. He made me laugh out loud. The snow has been melting all day and there are puddles everywhere. Well I'm driving down the avenue heading to the Interstate and this SUV in front of me swerves to the right hand lane. At first I thought "what the hell, is there something in the street?" But then I realize he swerved over there so that he could plow through a huge puddle of water in the street. The water went everywhere, a huge stream of it. He did it intentionally, made me laugh right out loud. The only thing better would have been if someone was walking down the sidewalk at that exact moment; they would have been soaked. Except of course if the person was me ;)

This ranked right up there with Lashley's adventure this morning, he was so happy when he discovered the big mud puddle in the backyard. The mucky sod; now he needs a bath but I think I'll wait until the yard dries out a bit. He will just keep getting muddy. I should put a little t-shirt on him, that's what I used to do with Ayla and Tasha. It doesn't keep them dry but it keeps the mud off.

Welcome to Spring in Minnesota!

Election

I threw my hat into the election ring again. I'm running for Maintenance Craft Trustee, it's the officer's position that I currently hold with my union. Not sure I'm going to win this time but I didn't think I was going to win the last time either. I have more experience and education than either of the two guys running against me but for most people it's a personality contest and not about who is best qualified to do the job. My main reason for running is not so much about the position as it is about who will be in office in the next two years. We have some major changes coming down the pipe and I want people in office who have contractual knowledge, not a bunch of guys from the "good ol' boys" club.

Most of the officer positions went uncontested but the ones that were are important positions. President of the local, Maintenance Craft Director and my position Maintenance Craft Trustee. Of the people running against the incumbents, not one of them has the qualifications to do the job. They each have some union experience but they are all known for their sweetheart deals with management. I know this because I've discovered and put an end to a number of their deals and it's pissed off a lot of people. I've always held the belief that if you start making "deals" with management then they have you, your credibility as a representative is shot. My platform has always been and always will be Contractual Compliance, as long as you are consistent in your application you earn the respect of the people you represent and management.

We have a lot of changes in our future, downsizing, new equipment, moving to the new building, contracting out our work, etc. this will affect everyone. This election is one of the most important ones that we've ever had, the people in office the next couple years will be the ones to see us through these changes. I can only hope the members vote for the people with the knowledge, skills and abilities to get the job done and lead us into the future. Our jobs are at stake, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

This could be some serious trouble for the Maintenance craft and the Local union as a whole if the "good ol boys" get into office. The ballots were mailed yesterday and will be counted March 21st, I guess we'll know then.

Seed Catalogs

I know Spring is just around the corner, I received my first seed catalog today! Now it's time to start planning. I can hardly wait to get out in the backyard and start digging. I have so many ideas for my gardens. I'm taking out the two raised beds on the West side of the house and rebuilding them along with a third bed. The compost bin is heading back behind the garage. I'm creating a memorial garden for my dogs, I have Mercedes', Ayla's and Tasha's ashes and plan to bury them. I have most of that garden planned already, so as soon as I can dig I'm putting in some River Birch and getting started on that one first. I also need to find some plants that bloom in June and July, the yard was pretty absent of color during those two months last year. I also hope to add some lighting to the yard.

I promised myself that I would stay home more this Summer, as much as I love to ride my bike I need to spend some time at home. So I have to figure out a way to do one without jeopardizing the other.

I think I could start another blog dedicated to gardening; now there's an idea...