Chewing on Racism

I'm pretty much fed up with all this reverse-racism, misled religious hatred, and general douchery occurring in the United States right now. I'm proud of my heritage... and because I was born into a Conservative Caucasian background, I'm automatically flagged as a racist thanks to the current government administration.

My great-grandparents on my dad's side of the family immigrated to the US through Ellis Island from Ireland. Due to the anti-Irish movement at the time, they listed their heritage as Scotch-Irish... and it was a wise move. My family was able to get a loan for a farm where they raised cattle for 3 generations.

My great-grandparents on my mom's side all immigrated from Norway as merchants and ministers. My grandmother told me stories of her grandmother not ever being able to speak English, so everyone had to know Dutch until she passed away... then everyone forgot how to speak it.

I'm proud that my family came to the US, became citizens via the process at the time, and made their way through their own struggles by their own hands.

So here's one for you, Obama. I don't like you because you're making rash decisions too quickly. I don't appreciate that you want to make things happen while your party can filibuster, instead of coming up plans that BOTH parties can mostly agree on and everyone can vote through BECAUSE they agree. If things were done well, they wouldn't need to be rushed, either.

The way you treat world leaders is cheesy and embarassing. If I were ever given the opportunity to meet the Queen of England - I would gift her something precious to me and representative of the US like precious stones set into gold from our own soil - not an iPod made in China. If I were ever given the opportunity to meet the British Prime Minister - I would give him a collection of rare photographs depicting American history and spirit - not some DVDs that he could rent on his own if he had time to watch them.

I appreciate your optimism... and I really hoped you would be everything that everyone wanted.

Right now, all I see is a man who is desperately seeking public approval without listening to public concerns. The solution isn't printing more money to bailout failing industries. The solution is to let failing industries fail so innovation can pick up the pieces.

You've got an uphill battle... and my advice is to slow down. While 1 year has gone by already, you only need to feel rushed if you believe you will fail at the Presidency. If you do it right and pace yourself in the first 4 years, everyone will want you back for another 4 so you can finish what you started.

Neglected Blogs

I'm trying to keep this from becoming one... so I'm posting some new material.

Today's lesson is: Why you should never take some "tests" on Facebook/Twitter/MySpace or any other site that offers communication between you and all your friends/co-workers/family.

A friend of mine who is kind of a lost soul that is desperate for attention posted a test last night. To give you an idea of his personality - his defining quote on his profile is "Workin toward 1000 friends... common you know you wanna be my friend.... ;-)". He also has posted updates like, "I want to see my name in everyone's status updates today." I do actually consider him to be a friend - I just can't seem to do anything about his need for attention from the planet to verify his existence. He's a nice guy, kind of shallow, but has a great sense of humor and generally has his heart in the right place.

So back to our main topic for today... this friend apparently felt it necessary to find out "How good are you in bed?" with a result of "Incredible Lover". When he posted his result, he added the comment, "I guess it's time for comments from the peanut gallery."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but how accurate of a test can this be if you have to take it from a computer? Did you at least take the machine out to dinner first? By doing the quiz... was there already an expectation of what result you'd get on the screen? Then considering all of your friends and family on your Facebook/Twitter/MySpace account, did it really seem like a good idea to let them know that an online test can guage how good you are in bed?

Any quiz like this should immediately be ignored. You want to know how good you are in bed? Go out, get into a meaningful relationship, and when your relationship makes the move into the bedroom - you'll find out on your own how good you are. Life experience and practice are the only things that will ever give you an accurate result on a test like that.

Oh, and as for the peanut gallery... of all of his 800+ friends, the only one to post a reply was his mom.

Obama Visits Montana

Below is an e-mail I got from a friend of mine back home. She wrote it to share information with her friends on what happened when Barak Obama visited Montana a week ago and the goings-on of our idiocracy:

"Hello All,

By now you have probably heard that President Obama came to Montana last Friday. However, there are many things that the major news has not covered. I feel that since Bill and I live here and we were at the airport on Friday I should share some facts with you. Whatever you decide to do with the information is up to you. If you chose to share this email with others I do ask that you DELETE my email address before you forward this on.

On Wednesday, August 5th it was announced locally that the President would be coming here. There are many groups here that are against his healthcare and huge spending so those groups began talking and deciding on what they were going to do. The White House would not release ANY details other than the date.

On about Tuesday Bill found out that they would be holding the "Town Hall" at the airport. (This is only because Bill knows EVERYONE at the airport) Our airport is actually located outside of Belgrade (tiny town) in a very remote location. Nothing is around there. They chose to use a hangar that is the most remotely located hangar. You could not pick a more remote location, and you can not get to it easily. It is totally secluded from the public.
FYI: We have many areas in Belgrade and Bozeman which could have held a large amount of folks with sufficient parking. (gymnasiums/auditoriums). All of which have chairs and tables, and would not have to be SHIPPED IN!! $$$$$
During the week, cargo by the TONS was being shipped in constantly. Airport employees could not believe how it just kept coming. Though it was our President coming several expressed how excessive it was, especially during a recession. $$$$$

Late Tuesday/early Wednesday the 12th, they said that tickets would be handed out on Thursday 9am at two locations and the president would be arriving around 12:30 Friday.

Thursday morning about 600 tickets were passed out. However, 1500 were printed at a Local printing shop per White House request. Hmmmm......900 tickets just DISAPPEARED.
This same morning someone called into the radio from the local UPS branch and said that THOUSANDS of Dollars of Lobster were shipped in for Obama. Montana has some of the best beef in the nation!!! And it would have been really wonderful to help out the local economy. Anyone heard of the Recession?? Just think...with all of the traveling the White House is doing. $$$$$ One can only imagine what else we are paying for.

On Friday Bill and I got out to the airport about 10:45am. The groups that wanted to protest Obama's spending and healthcare had gotten a permit to protest and that area was roped off. But that was not to be. A large bus carrying SEIU (Service Employees International Union) members drove up onto the area (illegal)and unloaded right there. It was quite a commotion and there were specifically 2 SEIU men trying to make trouble and start a fight. Police did get involved and arrested the one man but they said they did not have the manpower to remove the SEIU crowd.
The SEIU crowd was very organized and young. About 99% were under the age of 30 and they were not locals! They had bullhorns and PROFESSIONALLY made signs. Some even wore preprinted T-shirts. Oh, and Planned Parenthood folks were with them.....professing abortion rights with their T-shirts and preprinted signs. (BTW, all these folks did have a permit to protest in ANOTHER area)

Those against healthcare/spending moved away from the SEIU crowd to avoid confrontation. They were orderly and respectful. Even though SEIU kept coming over and walking through, continuing to be very intimidating and aggressive at the direction of the one SEIU man.

So we had Montana folks from ALL OVER the state with their homemade signs and their DOGS with homemade signs. We had cowboys, nurses, doctors you name it. There was even a guy from Texas who had been driving through. He found out about the occasion, went to the store, made a sign, and came to protest.

If you are wondering about the press.....Well, all of the major networks were over by that remote hangar I mentioned. They were conveniently parked on the other side of the buildings FAR away. None of these crowds were even visible to them. I have my doubts that they knew anything about the crowds.
We did have some local news media around us from this state and Idaho. Speaking of the local media...they were invited. However, all questions were to be turned into the White House in advance of the event. Wouldn't want anyone to have to think off the top of their head.

It was very obvious that it was meant to be totally controlled by the White House. Everything was orchestrated down to the last detail to make it appear that Montana is just crazy for Obama and government healthcare. Even those people that talked about their insurance woes........the White House called our local HRDC (Human Resource and Development Committee) and asked for names. Then the White House asked those folks to come. Smoke and mirrors...EVERYTHING was staged!!!!!!!!!!!

I am very dismayed about what I learned about our current White House. The amount of control and manipulation was unbelievable. I felt I was not living in the United States of America, more like the USSR!! I was physically nauseous. Bill and I have been around when Presidents or Heads of State visit. It has NEVER been like this. I am truly very frightened for our country. America needs your prayers and your voices. If you care about our country please get involved. Know the issues. And let Congress hear your voices again and again!! If they are willing to put forth so much effort to BULLY a small town one can only imagine what is going on in Washington DC. Scary!!"

Kathy
Bozeman, Montana

Upper Echelon

It seems that if you do enough good business with the right people, more good business will come your way.

I LOVE my clients! In the past 3 weeks I've gotten 4 new referrals... all of which turned into sales and custom repairs.

One is a new jewelry shop owner who has been open for about 3 months doing repairs and custom design. His wife called me one day, said she had gotten my name from a Master Goldsmith in Manitou Springs... and that they were in need of someone with gemstone knowledge and expertise. Jeremy and I drove to their shop, I went in to just talk about what I do, and it turned into my biggest single sale of the year. They have been buying pieces from me every time I visit ever since... and the stones are SELLING like crazy!

Two of the jewelers I got as a referral from a client in Boulder. Their gem cutter retired in June, and they didn't know where or how to find a new contact. One guy sucked up his pride and went across the street to his competition, who was happy to share my business card.

The most recent is the kind of client I've been waiting for. He is a jewelry designer. His business is drawing designs to-scale, taking the pictures to private individuals, and selling the drawing then creating a piece from that. His first order was for a monster Topaz... something that would be a centerpiece to a huge pendant. I found a piece of rough, and cut it custom for his needs. It ended up being right at 60 carats... He said to me yesterday, "You have done everything you said you would, when you promised, and exceeded my expectations. From here on, you're my gal." My gemstones are being worn by the upper echelon of Colorado (and a Broadway actress). I'm pretty giddy!

Juggling

So I'm keeping my sanity for the moment.

The home business isn't slowing down. Chores keep piling up with the laundry. The front yard is nearly finished. The new bedroom only needs baseboards. My family needs help with my niece up in Denver. I'm tired.

Somehow I'm making it through with minimal collateral damage. There are days it takes all I have to not break down and cry over the long list of things that need to get done but just can't... and I'm seriously considering writing my congressman to add about 4 hours to a day to give me some extra time to get shit done.

At least there's August to look forward to. Hubby and I are taking a well-earned vacation... our 4th cruise. This time we're going to Alaska! We started looking back and this will be our first vacation with just the two of us in over 2 years. We've done lots of traveling with friends & family... but I guess since we're together 24/7 we haven't really thought about getting away with just us.

Just a few short weeks and we'll be off and away from work and cell phones!!!

Shady Businesses

So I was doing some pick-ups and drop-offs downtown yesterday and decided to stop in to a couple of jewelry stores I hadn't heard from in awhile. Sometimes they just forget to call me and their workbenches are piled up with repairs.

I would say that 90% of my clients are independent jewelers - who genuinely look forward to seeing me stop into their shops to chat for a little while and handle their business. The other 10% are jewelry chain stores. Usually they are glad to see me, and many of the employees recognize my face and come up to see what kind of goodies I'm carrying in my satchel.

One of the places I stopped in to touch base was an independently owned jewelry store that puts emphasis on "high-end fine jewelry" and they charge a mint for things you can really buy anywhere. The standard markup here in the Springs is about 300% - but this particular store averages about 500%. Hey - they have a reputation, and they can get away with charging those prices, so more power to them.

The store manager was busy with a client, so 3 of the employees came over to talk with me and see my stones. Then a young man walked in and started talking with the assistant manager as she came out of the back room. The manger was wrapped up with her client and walked to the front of the store, then asked, "Alright, who was here first?" The assistant manager said, "Oh - This guy was." One of the employees said, "Actually Jennifer has been waiting for about 15 minutes." The manager looked very confused - so she started helping the guy.

What kills me is the guy knew he wasn't there before me, and still took it as though he had been waiting as long as I had. What the fuck? He looked like he was in his mid-20's... and was dressed like the kind of kid who is riding on daddy's money.

Meh - the assistant manager came over and said, "We don't have the authorization to buy any loose stones with the Black Market being so hot right now. We can only work with our company in California. Also, business is down so we are working mostly from inventory." Without missing a beat, I said, "Not a problem! I have a had a full Federal background check, but don't have those credentials with me today. More than anything I wanted to touch base in case you have any stone repair needs... I don't have a full inventory of stones to offer anyway because my sales have been so good."

Do you think I'll ever send "high-end" business their way? Not a chance in hell.

Gossip Time!

The rumor mill is still up and running and keeping me in the loop!

The Agency I was working for is officially down to 1/2 the staff they had when I was employed there. The automotive industry has had such a breakdown with bailouts and the unstable auto economy that there just isn't much money left for small-time advertising companies. The Agency has been trying to diversify, but it is far too little, too late. If they wanted to expand and get their foot in the door of another market type, they needed to start trying 3 years ago when auto began on a slow decline.

In other news - it sounds like things may be shaking up for The Boss in her work life / home life balance. As she has been desperately trying to maintain her stranglehold on the Media Department, she has made a stranger of her husband. While I gag at the idea... she has confided that she and her husband no longer are sharing a bed. So much of her energy has been tied up in the advertising business that she has nothing left to give to her personal life.

I'm still thinking The Agency will have to close their doors in less than a year (I guess May 15th, 2010). Anyone else care to take a stab at their closing date?

Priorities vs. Keeping Busy

For whatever reason, 2009 has been a pretty rough year thus far. My husband and I are doing fine, but it seems like everything around us is crumbling. My niece has cancer, my mother-in-law has cancer, one of our good friends was murdered, my sister-in-law had her baby 2 months pre-mature, our best friends had to dip into their saving & vacation account to pay their 2008 taxes ($12,000 EXTRA even after their regular with holdings), and all of news hit in February & March... and we've just been dealing with the aftermath.

Emotionally I was a wreck for about a month, then I started feeling really neutral. The whole world seemed to be a blur and I was just doing enough to keep breathing and not smell too bad.

At the beginning of May, I planned to stay in Denver to help take care of my niece. All of her cancer treatments are at the Denver Children's Hospital, and since her mother is legally blind they needed a driver... and I was more than happy to help and have time with family. I had been working part-time at Curves just to get out of the house (maybe 12 hours a week). I had turned in my time off request a few weeks earlier, and handed in my notice to quit at the end of April (work through the end of May). My home business gets crazy in June/July, and I'm not willing to sacrafice my real job for something I do to get out of the house.

The Curves manager (her mother is the owner), doesn't like anything being done on someone else's terms. When I had turned in my notice in December, she was going to let me go until 3 other women quit at the same time. She asked me to stay and help for a couple of months until she could get a few replacements hired. She tried increasing my hours to 20 a week, which I couldn't fit in with my home schedule, then she moved me from working late afternoons to mid-days (which totally fucked up my home stuff), then she let everyone know we had to work longer schedules because she wasn't willing to hire more people, then she informed us that no one was getting pay increases from minimum wage but that we would have more responsibility. After all of that I really had no inscentive to stay anyway.

The straw that broke the camel's back was that I laid into one of my co-workers about her inability to get to work on time. I took serious issue with someone being incapable of showing up to work because she wanted to take care of her checkbook and bills before coming to work because she would be too tired afterwards... and so she would call in and be late by 30 minutes to an hour every time we had a shift change. I couldn't schedule business appointments reliaby because I couldn't leave Curves unmanned, and I couldn't count on Candy getting her ass in on time. She came in almost an hour late that day, and I had to cancel a new client appointment because of it, and I was fit-to-be-tied!

The manager found out due to "anonymous" letter written by Candy, and called the 3 women who were on staff in for a meeting, sat us down and said, "I know I would get 3 different stories if I asked... and I don't have the energy to care... so all of you can consider your employment terminated as of today." I started laughing, and then I said, "This is awesome!" The manager looked at me like I had lost my mind. I followed up with, "Do you really think putting up with the drama that goes on here is worth it to anyone for minimum wage? I've already given you my notice, and I reject your termination because I quit!" I got up, walked out, and went on with the appointments I had scheduled that day.

The next day when I would have been scheduled to work I made rounds to my clients I never had a chance to see on Fridays... and I made 2 HUGE sales. Since then my home business has had a boom like never before, things are looking up for family, and I'm beginning to feel again. I'm thankful, I'm staying busy, and I'm happy!

Destiny...

Everything happens for a reason. For me, recent changes in my part-time endeavors have lead to expansion in my home business. I'll elaborate more in the future... but right now things are definitely taking a turn for the better!

Work Drama

Why can't people just go with the flow? I tend to be pretty laid back and calm. If you say something I don't agree with... I keep my opinions to myself unless I'm asked.

I don't like to stir the pot.
I don't like to get people bent out-of-shape.
I don't want there to be any trouble.

I just prefer that people agree to disagree (the beauty of being an American is that we're entitled to our own opinions).

So can anyone tell my why people like to provoke and instigate awkward situations? Why are there so many idiots who insist on arguing? Why are stoopid people breeding more stoopid people who ask more stoopid questions and get into stoopid people fights?

In the past I would be quiet and maybe cry out of frustration for not fighting back for myself... but last night I was provoked... and I didn't back down. For the first time in my adult life I truly stood up for myself against a stoopid woman who has been a thorn in my side since January. She tried to confront me about something I wasn't even involved in... and I let loose with everything that has been festering.

It felt so damn good to set the record straight!!!