Monday, February 20, 2012

a whole lot to clean up

alright y'all, there's a lot to go over and not a lot of time before I have to head off to bed.

After battling a cold/flu/something nasty for a couple of weeks, I feel better, but know that I need to get more than 5 hours of sleep in a night. Worry about what you can control, and let everything else fall by the wayside. This is going in 5 sections: political crap, jobs, family, and work. As always, you don't have to agree with my opinion, as these things are just put out there as a point of view to make you think. Oh, and if you scream 'tolerance' at every turn and then call me an idiot, you're a hypocrite....just sayin'

Political Crap
The backlash to the Susan G. Komen stuff still bugs me. I still don't get it. So, if a charity doesn't want to donate any $ to a cause (Planned Parenthood) that was founded on the basis of wiping out a race, why do some care so much? The shrills were a bit much. I just love the jump. So you don't want to support an organization that is under federal investigation, and that equals you hate women? Wait, what?? That's quite the jump, but maybe it's me.

Well, I guess that's better than the cause that keeps telling us that girls are like boys. Hint: no, they're not. Instead of forcing genders to be alike, which they aren't, why not celebrate the differences? While we're at it, after reading this, I want to patent a little boys kitchen set.

I heard this the other night, and I think it's correct-if gas goes above $5/gallon, it won't matter who promises what. We are not Europe, hell, we're not even Canada. If the average price of gas goes above $5/gallon, there will be a new person in DC next January. I have a friend who is a 'died-in-the-wool' Democrat, and while he tried to egg me on 1 day a few years ago, he said something extremely intelligent and true, "People vote with their wallet." Yup, that's how most of us do vote. I would love to do the pie in the sky analysis, but bottom line, things cost money. And we, all of us, get tired of hearing people blame others. I called this the 'Year of Accountability', and I for one am very exhausted listening to certain folks blame the past. We get it, it sucked, now can you pack that shit up and fix it like you promised? How about not fucking it up even worse? Nope to both? Then you gots to go.

Well, it's Black History Month, and while it's great to see Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' speech, there is so much more to celebrate. One of the things I love to celebrate is Bill Cosby telling folks to grow up. And then, over in the corner, you have some old white bigot who just patronizes a whole race of people. See, don't ever believe that everyone wants the black man off the plantation. I like it even more when you can see someone tie some of the bullshit a whole race of people are led to believe is complete bunk. Better than that? When the same man, Mychal Massie, points out the haters and why they hate. "Haters make the world go 'round. If you don't have anyone hating on you, then you're not doing it right"-Katt Williams

Jobs
a quick update on me-I turned down an offer, as it wasn't the right fit nor the right money for me. I can't afford to take a paycut on some ideal that I can wallop a commission number. That's not how I work anymore. Sorry, but I'm 36. And I currently have a job, where per my annual review last week, they love me. Great, add this to the list of roles I'm good at but wish I weren't. Whodathunk I'd be good at collections? At least this gig comes with benefits. I also didn't get another role I interviewed for, they went with a competitor who was known, but they were impressed with my interview and don't believe I'll be hurting anytime soon. When will then be now? Soon, I hope. I had an interview with a 3rd company, but it took about 10 minutes for us both to realize that I wasn't the candidate for the role-I'm not senior management/director level, at least not yet. I hope one day the potential is there. But not right now. I still have some things to work on before I get there. The journey is what I'm teaching myself to enjoy.

Now, I've strived to press upon you, dear reader, not to believe the government when they come out with their unemployment numbers-they are complete garbage. There are quite a few people out there whom have exhausted their benefits, and there is little hope for them. If I knew them, I'd help. Considering what my friends and network did for me, it's the only right thing to do. When the CEO of Starbucks tells people to simmer down regarding that bogus 8.3%, we should listen. We are dangerously close to having Stockholm Syndrome when it comes to unemployment. Worse, there are those who are filing for disability once those unemployment benefits expire or even before (yes, this takes them off the books for the unemployed roster), but the bigger issue is that nothing is really being done. First, this takes away from those that really are disabled. Second, there are folks out there that are so despondent that they think not having a job is a disability (that's an illness in and of itself).

I look back, I am blessed to have the friends I have, checking up on me and looking out for me. I can't thank y'all enough. I can't imagine feeling lower than I felt, but I now know that without the support group I have, it would have probably gotten worse.

Family
I worry, a lot, about Ma Dukes. I worry that she's so lonely she's going to do something stupid. I worry she might mix her meds up. I worry that she has doctors who are just whacking an insurance pinata. Her and I talk about her moving out here, and I think it would be great for her. The sad part is that it would help get her away from my baby brother. That kid is just selfish (and I'm not even mad). Eventually, you need to learn to accept that some folks are just who they are, they don't desire to be better, to do the right thing. They live to drag you down. I avoid those people. I wish Ma would. I'm sure it's difficult, admitting you raised one good kid and one asshole. I can be an asshole, but that's not my nature around her. Especially the way my brother is. He's not working, again, and has his hand out. Dude is 30. When does that shit stop? I'm 36, and I haven't asked for a dime since about October of 1997, right after I moved out here. It's been on me. My issue is that I don't currently earn enough to help Ma out.

And in all honesty, if I were to go out there and do standup comedy, do I really want to put the pressure on myself that this is the only way I can provide, quite well, for my family? No, it's not. It's like playing from behind, and the failure would crush me.

Work
As I mentioned earlier, my annual review was last week, and they love me. I'm a stud. I work hard. It's nice to be noticed, to be counted on. I have a great boss, fantastic support. Honestly, if they paid what I was worth in this role, I wouldn't be looking, I could even look past the ridiculous processes and mismanagement of resources.

And now for 'The New Hat Trick story'--slight back story, in the last two weeks a lot of desk moving has happened amongst my group. Not me. I had the guy who was cool and calm that sat across from me move and be replaced by a woman whom I thought was a good worker. I thought my boss had an ax to grind, telling me behind the scenes and over beers (we started at the same time, as peers, just an fyi. I don't want his job, never will) that she's full of crap and a shitstarter. Again, I thought he had an ax to grind. Uh, after a week, notsomuch. She doesn't work, doesn't pay attention and doesn't listen. For real, her favorite word might be 'huh?'
Now the story. This past Friday I came into work as I normally do. I went to take my lunch out of my bag, and she asked me what I brought. 'Salad, like always.' I then mentioned that I needed to come up with something to give up for Lent. Yes, I am Catholic and still believe in that part of it. It's helped in the past. I've given up fast food and soda in the past, dropped 25 lbs. Gave up nail-biting a couple years ago, and don't do that anymore. So I look at it like correcting bad behavior. I'd like to give up swearing and cussing, but we all know that won't happen. No need to set myself up for failure. This woman said to me, "why not give up salad, not like it's working". Yeah, read that again.
"I'm not talking to you for today" was my only response.
About 8 hours go by and she decided she'd ask me a question. I told her she needed to apologize before we go any further. And that's when the 2nd part happened...
"What do you think you heard?" Boys and girls, this is straight out of the passive-aggressive handbook, and I was trained in the Art of War of Linguistics by the best. Any of folks reading this that remember Pops know of which I speak. That dude could double-talk anyone. Again, my old man was a car salesman, I know bullshit when I see it, well before I smell it.
I told her what I know I heard, and she told me, "no, I said why don't you give up sex, it's not like you're getting any".
HOW THE HELL IS THAT ANY BETTER???
And now, the capper. After the agreeing to disagree, and having 2 other women I work with start blazing up my Instant Messenger with jabs about digging a bigger hole and asking her to be more rude, this knucklehead decided to send me and IM, "And I thought I was the one that needed to get their hearing checked".
So, for those keeping score at home, I'm:
Fat
Sexless
and Deaf
(great name for a punk band, just sayin')
HAT TRICK! Thanks for the confidence boost, right?

Best part? Her car was in the shop and she had the nerve to ask me if I would drop her off (and the IMs flying from the 2 other ladies I work with being dumbfounded and offended for me). I know, I'm a wuss about many things, but in this case, I shot her a look and told her I had to finish up some work. Now, her and I are no longer FB friends (by her, not by me), and today she was let go. No, not because of this, I said nothing to HR or my superiors. Because she didn't work.

Off to bed, I'm tired.

----------------
Now playing: The Procussions - Wegotta
via FoxyTunes

Sunday, February 5, 2012

well, that sucked

Congrats to the NY Giants and their fans. Wes Welker dropped a ball when it counted, Mario Manningham caught a ball when it counted. There's the difference in the game.

I probably won't watch TV until Wednesday when Syracuse hosts Georgetown, as this loss kinda sucks as a sports fan, because I knew what was going to happen. No need to break down the woulda/coulda/shoulda, better team won, and now football season is over.

In a rather large bittersweet twist, I believe I won some playoff pool, as I had the Giants. Go figure, I couldn't win for trying this season.

I will say a couple of things, though. James Harrison, stop tweeting, and go read a book. You are the definition of 'sore loser'. The only people or team that's allowed to talk shit to New England is Giants, fans or players. That's it. Everybody else? Shhhh!

Oh, and wherever Bernard Pollard is, someone tell him I said to 'eat a bag of dicks', that guy ruins everything in New England he touches.

Well, on to prep for an interview....wish me luck!

Saturday, February 4, 2012

so damn neighborly...

If you've known me long enough, you've heard me utter the phrase "I hate white people", and you may think I'm nuts. It's a two-piece homage. One, it's to 2nd favorite NBA player of all-time, Charles Barkley. He said it to reporters who kept asking dumb questions. The other part of the homage is to all the comics who make fun of white people. I understand, and you'll probably agree, that every race and pretty much every person out there is selfish. I've had my moments. I'm certain you have, too.
I bring this up because of the snowstorm that just hit Denver. I chose not to go into work yesterday because we had already received 5-6 inches, depending on which newscast you watched. I could go off (and I still may) about how employers suck for just not using their heads. I waited for the snowstorm to stop, at about noon today, before I wanted to try to find my car, which you can see here:


Now, here's what creases me to no end-notice the dummy to the right of the picture, he parked about 14 inches next to my car. Nothing on the other side of their car, but didn't want to step into the deepest of the snow...so box your neighbor in. Yes, I slammed my door into the side of that damn car pretty hard. Why? Because white people suck. I know my apartment complex. This thing either belongs to a hipster or their dipshit girlfriend.
Then the real fun happened. After wiping off most of my car, everything except the front-which I couldn't get to-I got to borrow a shovel from one of the maintenance guys. Huge thanks to him, extremely neighborly. I shoveled out my tires as best I could, and then backed my car almost all the way out of my spot. Problem? I couldn't really see out the front of my car due to the foot plus of snow. Look at the picture. So I turned the car off to get out and get to all the snow on the front of my car. I notice 40 yards or so near the front entrance of my building a car stopped and put on its hazards. I figured I had a couple of minutes and this person was waiting for someone. What would you think? But, of course not. This nitwit decides they need to leave. Mind you, plenty of room to turn around. Nope, had to come right up to my car as I'm cleaning it and motioning me to move it. Again, wicked fuckin' neighborly. I just looked at the woman behind the wheel with the biggest 'Really??' look I could muster. Moved my car to another spot (may have been two spots, probably was) and then walked to the front of the building. Guess who's sitting there, again, with her hazards on? Yup, you guessed. I hate white people.

The bonus of staying home
Other than catching up on some DVR shows? I got another job lead and had a company come back like herpes. My boy Zippy hooked me up, again. Gotta love that kid. I talked to a guy who is looking for a rep for a very small IT solutions company based in Denver. I meet with him on Monday.
Now, the herpes comment? I'll explain. The company I interviewed with this previous Wednesday, the 3-lady firing squad? They're after me like a dog in heat. They made a half-assed offer on Tuesday, no numbers but wanted to see if I could start on Monday. Uh, what? Then they push the new sales manager on me. I asked what the offer was, and they told me (again, for review, straight commission-so, uh, no). I came back and told them I am in no position to take a commission only role, and in the meantime some bells & whistles are going off in my gut and my head. Why the sudden urge to get me in on Monday?-we'll come back to that. I left the door open, however, telling this brand new sales mgr that everything is open to negotiation. Face it, it's a bullshit sales move to bullshit people. I thought this little endeavor was over. Nope. Thursday night I got another call from this sales mgr telling me she understood my dilemma (what dilemma? Who's taking a job without real money? Sorry, I'm not young anymore, I got bills) and could guarantee me the base. Whoopie, I make more than that already, and that ain't sayin' much. I asked for it to be put in writing, along with the compensation plan.
And then I got the letter yesterday, after I confirmed the interview I mentioned above. Timing is everything in life. Well, it's one of the 'everythings' in life. I received the 9 page document at 12:10 yesterday, and the sales mgr called me at 12:16. Read that last sentence again. 6 minutes? Who the hell am I, Doug E. Fresh? (please tell me you get that reference, or I'll be saddened) Go figure, the sales mgr just emailed me again at 1:25 today. I'm not kidding. Now, the voicemail wanted to a) make sure I received the email and what I thought (seriously, 6 minutes??) and b) they'd really like me to take half a day on Monday for this 'once in a lifetime training opportunity'. Ok, I hate being hassled. I loathe being hustled. And one sales mantra everyone can agree with is the following:
"Nobody wants to be sold, but everyone wants to buy".
If you can't comprehend that sentence, quit reading this segment and jump lower. Now, all sorts of bells and whistles are going off, along with a big red blinking light in the back of my head with 'DANGER, DANGER, DANGER' being repeated over and over again. Sometimes I'm slow on the uptake, I get it. But this is starting to scream 'one step above a ponzi scheme or an insurance company' deal. Again, I thought this deal was dead, I had walked away from it.
I talked this over with my boy Zippy and my friend and ol' roomie Veronica-something ain't right, and I will be turning this 'opportunity' down.
So, why all the fuss and me writing about all of this? Two reasons, really-one, that I'm not used to being wanted, at all. And two, that adage about it being easier to find a job when you have one? I'm starting to comprehend. If I were in the spot I was over a year ago hunting desperately for a job, who knows how grave of an error I would make in possibly accepting something that, quite frankly, is beneath my skillset. That is not a cocky statement. If we all took a serious assessment of ourselves, without the grind of money beckoning at us, I think we'd all be surprised at what our real self-evaluations would turn out to be. I'm not taking the chance to make less than I am making now, when I have two potential roles sitting out there that could stretch my current skillset and improve my life in ways that I want. I'm over living by the scramble. I've been doing that since 2008, and I'm tired. I want to earn, dang it. I want a real vacation. I'm talking about things like another baseball trip, or Mexico, or going to Toronto to see my buddy KP, and his family. Going back to New Hampshire in August to hang out at my buddy G-Money's cottage.

Here's the beauty of everything-while some may think I'm bitter, jaded and a curmudgeon-my positive outlook has rubbed off on one person. Ma Dukes finally listened, and she got a new job, starts on Monday. And she got her Christmas present yesterday (hey, she got it, don't even try to tell me I suck for not getting it there by December. That's how we operate at times, especially when money is tight).

News
Good, screw this guy. He ought to get the chair, just for that weak-ass defense.

See, by reading the headline, I would have no issue at all with someone helping a friend get a job, especially since they'd worked together in the past. And then I see where they worked together. And what they're doing-or, not doing. What I don't like is the wealth-envy angle of this. Why does the dollar amount matter? My eyes look more toward the lack of solving a problem here. Cronyism happens everywhere. Of course you'd try and help a friend and former colleague get a job. If you liked them and worked well with them in the past, seems pretty simple, doesn't it?
And then, the governor came out with this gem, and now I call 'Bull'. The governor of the state of Colorado has no idea how about the frustration of people out of work, waiting for an unemployment check to clear, trying to figure out which bills to pay. Please, I ask all politicians, quit trying to tell me and everyone else you feel the pain. You haven't felt pain in years. Not hunger pains, not no insurance pains, not can't afford new shoes for an interview pain. Just stop.

Sports
I don't like Jim Calhoun. Never have. However, I do wish him a speedy recovery, if possible. It's better to have him on the sidelines to beat than at home.

Josh Hamilton had a relapse into his alcohol addiction. My heart goes out to him. No one knows really about addiction until they've had it or lived with it. Some addictions are acceptable. An addiction to shopping? No problem. To working out? Nope, 'they look great'. But once booze, opiates or pills come into the equation, everyone's antennae are up-and some folks are just plain dumb when it comes down to it. Josh Hamilton has addressed it, and I wish him luck. Everyday will be a struggle, but when he's beating his demons, the guy is a special baseball player.

8 Points? Wow, that is badass, congrats to Sam Gagner. What's really badass? He got all 3 stars of the game. Can't remember if I've ever heard of that one.

If you remember Tecmo Bowl, you might want to support these guys.
Link
Big Game Prediction
NY Giants @ New England (-3 ½): With the hook, I'm on board. I don't like it, don't like the matchups, my gut is screaming at me that Giants QB Eli Manning will be able to pick apart that awful back 7 of New England's D. I wanna puke, but......NY Giants.