Excerpts from an email forwarded at work:
COWS
Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that our government can track a cow born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall where she sleeps in the state of Washington, and they tracked her calves to their stalls. But they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering around our country. Maybe we should give them all a cow.TEN COMMANDMENTS
The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments in a Courthouse?
You cannot post "Thou Shalt Not Steal," "Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery" and "Thou Shall Not Lie" in a building full of lawyers, judges and politicians...It creates a hostile work environment.
So the Spam 'bots are back. 200+ comments linking to...enhancement products.
This provided the opportunity to figure out how to edit the database directly.
Ah, there's the browsable list. Sort by comment author, check them all, delete. About five minutes total.
Now the slightly shortened post:
With Tuesday the Summer Solstice, and a low full moon last night, Lissa threw a picnic in St. Charles. There were a dozen or fifteen or so in attendance. Perfect weather and a good time. A late night we wouldn't have minded being later. The moon didn't come up until we were home.
Work is odd this week. For starters there's the new 9-6 hours, which I don't like. Monday they need me 7-4. Crappy early morning, but at least bonus time with Amy and Jareth when I get home. [note to self: Don't make plans for Monday!]
I'm also spending much of this week working on the database at work. Maybe as many as 11% of the records in it are duplicate listings. There's one caller with six separate records. Each of those has 1-5 calls in it. Yeah, try to figure that out on the fly while he's on the phone and you're trying to make sense of what's been said so far...
There's also a couple projects I'm doing because I'm the only one who knows Access. I can create a hundred new customers in under an hour, instead of spending all day data-entering them.
So last night was very cool. Tonight we're doing dinner at Lindsay's new apartment, since Amy didn't get to see it during move-in. Saturday is the next Shadowrun session, which I'm looking forward to. Sunday we build the free swingset/slide we got free on Tuesday.
The custom coach company has a couple other prospects they're interviewing, and are waiting to see how those do before taking more.
So that's the update for now. I have a stack of articles and notes for things I'm planning on commenting on, including the Kane County Forest Preserve and universal access to broadband, among a couple others I don't remember off the top of my head.
Hey, regular updates for a while? ...Could happen. <shrug>
So yesterday the job hunting began in earnest. I've got an hour each morning with the new schedule.
Yesterday a recruiter saw my resume on careerbuilder.com. She called and got Amy at just past 5pm. Amy emailed me right away, and I called and got the lady's voicemail. I was talking to Amy when she called Amy again. So Amy and I hung up and I called again.
The position is half entry-level marketing, and half administration. I can do that.
It's in Schaumburg, so it'd be a shorter commute than I have now. Probably more like half an hour. I can do that.
I found myself thinking, if only it's a decent product I'm set. So I ask what kind of company it is.
"Oh, they make custom motorcoaches." Immediate mental reaction: I'm so there. I explain I lived in a motorhome for a year and a half. "Oh, really? Wow." (Yeah, that's the usual reaction.)
So this morning is the screening interview. This particular agency is diong the recruiting for it. Their finding the potentials to forward on. The company is looking to do the actual interviews before the end of the week.
And today is the first day of summer. Sometimes I just love how life works.
The fastest way to a man's heart is through his ribcage.It was originally offered up by Samanta (Witchy Wonderings) as the punchline to a redhead joke, but it's amusing in its own way even without context.
They've decided to change my hours at work. I wasn't really presented any alternative. Sue (my direct supervisor, whose decision it was not, and whom I generally like and respect) told me as soon as she was told. I think partly she wanted to be sure I had advanced warnign and partly to see if I was okay with it. I'm hoping I got my displeasure across appropriately.
Starting Monday, June 20th I'll be working 6-9 9-6 [Amy caught the typo...] instead of 8-5. It's expected to last 2-3 months and then go back to normal once call volume decreases some more. It means I'll get home a little before 7. Jareth will already have eaten dinner. I'll eat dinner (which Amy will now have to be cooking 100% of the time instead of me helping sometimes), and then there'll end up being about an hour before Jareth goes to bed. This is the last shift slot I would have chosen. But it was made clear it isn't a volunteer thing. (There goes any chances of night classes for a while...)
I've decided there is a small plus side to it. I've got an hour each morning for dedicated job hunting. Now instead of looking for permanent jobs to replace this one, I'll also be open to long-term temp that's equal or lesser distance and similar pay.
Just the other morning I turned down a customer service position (to also include occasional warehouse support) at 70% of what I'm getting paid now ("Plus they have great benefits," the gal at the agency assured me...) at a company that wouldn't wait for a two-week notice. The agency gal appreciated the work ethic. I didn't mention the other side to it, that a company acting like that says something about their sense of respect.
I'm more likely to say one week for notice now...
So another blog linked to
Weight Watchers recipe cards from 1974 with captions. There's a tour to go through them all.
It's one of those sick humor kinds of things where you laugh even if you're not quite sure why. Maybe it's the morbid side of me. Humor's hard to define that way.
Yep, meme time. Hey, I submitted the questions, I oughta answer 'em, eh?
Everything has a spirit, and to some degree they're all connected. Each human spirit (soul) is part of a group spirit that's basically the spirit of humanity. A cat has a spirit that's part of the greater Cat group soul/group consciousness. There was a group Ape consciousness, but humanity moved away from that and became something separate. The group spirit evolved, so the physical form adapted to follow.
Now, those group souls/group consciousness is part of a larger whole, which is basically the group consciousness of being. That's what I think of as "god".
Although I understand the idea of calling upon aspects of that group strength, and using names/"gods" to represent aspects of it, I've never felt the need to personify it. I don't see a divine divided into masculine and femine aspects. Masculine and feminine are qualities, not defining characteristics, and anyone/anything can show those qualities.
As the whole? Not in current memory. But in part? Yes.
While I was in Canada I felt and communed with the spirit of the river there (I was at a cabin on an island in a river). I very much felt as if we were both aware of each other, and there was a shared understanding that wasn't about communicating with words, almost more straight to the heart than that.
Sometimes I joke to people that I go to church every day, that everywhere outside is my church. Sometimes I'm not joking when I say it. When I've got a quiet moment outside I sit and listen. When I'm done, before I get up, I offer a silent thank you. I pray by appreciating it all, and not taking it for granted. I do it by remembering that I'm a part of it all, and it's all a part of me.
I'm reminded of a Native American saying I saw at the Elgin Public Museum yesterday (we were there for BubbleFest...):
We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors. We borrow it from our children.
Saw this linked on another blog. Go read it. The post is short, but it's the comments that make it.
http://www.sarahweinman.com/confessions/2005/05/now_i_know_how_.html
I just don't get mail or comments like that...