Using My Time for Good Instead of Sulking.....

One upside to the craziness of my "new" schedule is I have been able to do things like install a new closet system at home. I only have one small clothes closet and it was in desperate need of a face lift. Nothing fancy, just a Rubbermaid one from Lowes.  I actually used the closet planning guide from Martha Stewart's web site and then got the Rubbermaid components for about 1/3 the price. I bought the components before the craziness of work happened. The components have been sitting on my bedroom floor for almost a month and I kept tripping over them. I think I was more tired of stubbing my toes than really motivated to organize the closet, but I'm happy I did do it.

Despite me having these manic mood swings about work, I decided to use some of my peppier energy to do things like re-organize and de-clutter my closet.  I  also trolled through my tee shirt collection, finally tossing out those old stained t-shirts that really don't fit.  I did keep a couple to use as house rags, but the rest, trash can city.  Did I really need that Oktoberfest 1984 T shirt that I never liked to begin with?  I got a bag together of clothes to go to Goodwill.  Right now I just don't see me losing those 25 pounds I gained during the BK to fit back into those pants.  Let someone else use them, they were just taking up space in my house.

I also went through my dresser and purged socks, undies, and etc.  Everything that was left was refolded and put back neatly.  At least when I open my sock drawer, I will see neatly organized socks!  In an odd way, it was very satisfying to tidy up my things.  I still have to make some headway through my desk (which has become a disaster area), and the bathroom vanity.

No matter what happens, at least I feel a bit more organized!

I Joined the 1990's

And got cable. Yup, not just cable, but internet and phone as well.  What drove me to this, well, it was a $42 basic home phone bill (I use a calling card at 2c per minute for Long Distance) and a one year offer for a triple package for $55, no install fee, and unlimited local and long distance phone.

I ported over my phone number, I like the one I have and I have had cable TV for just over a week.  And I'm really wondering if it's worth it.  I've gotten so used to NOT watching a lot of TV. I read, watch DVDs, etc.  Before the switch to all digital TV I got about 10 stations (some digital, some not) after the switch only 2, I even lost some of the digitial stations I had. My house is located in a bit of a dead zone, I can't even get mobile phone reception  where I am, I have to go about 1/4 mile away to get any bars.  I guess I should consider myself lucky that I even had two TV stations.

Even though this is not my TV watching season, I thought I'd try it out.  Except that I spent a lot of time channel surfing 70 some odd channels going Crud, nothing on TV.  I did watch about 30 minutes of an Undateable  Marathon and wondered why I did (BECAUSE IT WAS ON).

Oh well, I've already made a note for my 2011 things to do list to review the cable package and maybe get rid of it or reduce it when it comes up for renewal. 

The End of The Local Market

I've posted before about the local market in the small town where I work. It was the store that charged $7.99 for a jar of mayo you could buy for $3.00 at the larger grocery store. It was the type of place that did a booming lunch business at the deli counter and stocked the items that you would would need to fill some gaps and save yourself a trip to "town" for things like a jar of mayo or TP.   The sad part of the story was the slow demise of the store.  The owners of the store used to stock name brand items and over the past few months they moved to generic brands.  The deli counter slowly dropped it's choices of sides, salads, etc.  The shelves got emptier and emptier and finally, they had a going out of business sign posted and closed their doors last week.

It now gives the small town I work in one less place to get lunch, we now have 3 instead of 4, and for the locals who would need that gallon of milk, jar of $7.99 mayo, it means a 14 mile round trip to the nearest grocery store.  Try as I might to support a local market, it was hard for me to even buy the breakroom snacks at the local market.  We pretty much only keep coffee and tea supplies and some snacks for the office, but at the end the market was not even stocking drinkable tea bags.  It was cheaper for me to stop by the grocery store and get a bag of breakroom supplies and snacks for the same price as a can of one step above generic coffee. A sign of the times I guess...

Do You Buffet?

I have somehow been sucked into a weekly lunch "date" with friends at the local Chinese Restaurant all you can eat buffet.  We somehow went from diner food/pizza/ sandwiches to going to this buffet almost every week.  The cost per person with a drink for lunch is $5.80, a bit more if you have a beer or glass of wine. 

The buffet is incredible mundane, lots of drab chicken dishes, lots of typical "American" dishes-mac and cheese, pizza, onion rings, potatoes, a small sushi bar, one to two vegetable dishes (usually cabbage or green beans), fried rice in an interesting neon color, vegetable lo mein that has almost no veg in it, a large dessert bar with tons of canned and fresh fruit and jello.  If you are lucky, there is a beef dish or two, sometimes none, occasionally something like a meatloaf.  The soups are egg drop, wonton and hot and sour.  When we first started to go, the variety of foods offered was better, more Chinese, less American.  I guess more people were eating the macaroni and cheese rather than the dan dan noodles.  When we first started to go, the resteraunt was fairly empty, now even at 1:30 PM, it's half to 3/4 full of patrons ranging from high school kids to retirees.

Why do I keep going back? Well, for what ever reasons, my two friends like the place and for me, it's not about the food, it's about the company. Plus it's a "cheap date" so to speak. You can't get a extra value meal from Micky D's for that price.  We do live in an area that has limited ethnic food choices and both these gals are not adventurous eaters either. They think chicken with cashews is exotic.  I pretty much have the same food each week, soup, a salad, steamed dumplings, an egg roll, some veg and I'll rotate my choice of chicken dishes. I never see a tofu dish or anything spicy (my preferences).  You can see into the kitchen and it looks like the restaurant makes it's own dumplings, egg rolls, spring rolls and wontons. I wonder if there is a Chinese food supplier that supplies the items that are deep fried and or soup stocks and sells it to these places...

A Mini Rant for Monday

I was going to have today's post be about me needing to get a spine and a new job, but instead it's about a mini rant on my weekend job. In my last post, I stated that my schedule was going to change in a few weeks. I was fine with that, we had the new schedule to go into effect the weekend that starts on April 30th. Imagine my surprise when I walked into the "staff room" on Friday after turning out a few horses,only to find my co-worker there. Unexpectedly there at work according to my weekend boss.

I gave him a WTF look and he gave me the same look back. Later in the AM, we had a little chat. According to my weekend boss, my co-worker came back early. My response was "you had a conversation with me, did you not make it clear to her when you had your conversation with her that expected the new schedule to start in two weeks?" I honestly don't know if he just forgot and told her to come in this weekend or WHATEVER. He claims she just decided to "show up". It does wildly annoy me since I will be losing two days of pay that I was planning on having. I made sure I told him that the early change to my schedule did not make me very happy. I was polite about it, but made sure I got my point across. Yeah it's whiny, I know, but the MO of my co-worker has been to pretty much do what she wants in terms of her schedule-leave and come back when it suits her and walk all over my weekend boss and dammed the other staff who are covering her hours. GRRR

My co-worker stayed on Friday and was mildly annoying. She's been gone for almost 5 months and we have had some changes in the facility. Had I known she was going to be coming back, I would have followed up with my weekend boss to make sure he spent some time with her to go over the new changes. None of these changes are earth shattering, but they are changes that she needs to know about. I know she would need to be brought up to speed on them. She spent most of the day going, oh this is new about every fifteen minutes. We also have a feed chart on the wall, it's missing a few animals since horses come in and horses come out or feed needs change. For almost an hour she followed me around the facility harping on the feed chart. I told her I'd make sure a new and current one would be posted by Monday (when she was going to work again). I finally gave in to the annoying chatter, sat down and started re-writing the chart just to SHUT HER UP.

That and the fact it was a damp chilly weekend did not make Betty a happy camper. I am so glad it's Monday!

Cleaned Up The Blog Roll

I added a few blogs, deleted a few blogs and updated my fiscal progress. That's the best I can do on a miserable rainy day!

It's The Same Song Again

People who have been reading my blog know that my lovely neighbors are going through a very hard time with their kids and their money.  It's not getting any better.

Eldest Daughter works a seasonal job and took her winter vacation to out to California to see her boyfriend.  Eldest Daughter also spent all her "fun money" and most of the money she had put aside for her new apartment.  Eldest Daughter is now living back at home since the Youngest Daughter has moved to the other side of the state, still not employed, still not in school. Eldest daughter will be starting her seasonal job later this month and is looking at yet another college to go to, which would make #3 in 4 years.  Her parents keep taking out loans for Eldest Daughter who has still not decided what she wants to major in or do with her life. That's a lot of money spent on classes/credits that are not transferrable-this is when a student loan is a waste of money.

Youngest Daughter has moved to be with her boyfriend, and eventually will enroll is some sort of school.  The last conversation I had with my neighbor about Youngest Daughter was that she was trying to find some sort of a job, but could not meet certain job requirements (like a drug test). Youngest daughter barely fulfilled her court ordered community service before she moved to the other side of the state, does come home once or twice a week and yup, is living off her parents.

My neighbors are very nice people.  They are struggling, but seem to be unable to put spending boundaries on their kids. They are supporting both these girls who don't seem to really give a darn about the fact that their parents are paying mortgages late, have maxed out credit cards and payment plans with the electric company. 

I can understand that my neighbor wants to help her kids, but when is enough enough?  My neighbor is really struggling, complaining about life in general, yet is unable to stick to her resolution to make her kids learn how to support themselves or take some responsibility for their actions. 

I can be sympathetic to a point.  I am less sympathetic when I hear the same story over and over.  No is such a simple easy word NO.  No, I won't pay the deposit on your apartment, No I won't pay for your gas to come and see me and then have you spend all day at your friends house, no I won't buy all that organic food that you always say you want, then never eat.  No I won't take out another tuition loan until you are settled in school....

I just see a crash coming really soon