Just some mindless jabber...

While other things might not be going so well around here I at least have a few things to look forward to.
1- My wife and family, they are always there for me.
2- My trusty laptop and recliner.
3- The upcoming season of The Shield! I have not missed an episode since it first came on the air in 2002 and is now on it's 5th season starting January 10th.

I know, some people hate it, call it lame but it actually has some very good sub plots that keep you wanting to watch to see what happens next. Very few shows have the ability to keep it up season after season and the only thing that really sucks about this show is that sooner or later it will have to end unlike ER which seems to just keep snowballing into oblivion. Hard to believe my wife and I used to watch that show almost ten years ago. Where has the time gone???

I hate that my wife has to work so hard for all of us. I wish I could figure out some way to get back to school and finish those last 30 or so hours to change my major to information systems. Get a bit more background in programming and perhaps start doing something small from home. While working in an office setting will probably never work for me as I don't know many employers who will let you sit/stand/laydown as need be every 30 minutes or so for the pain, I could perhaps start a small business writing code for local companies. While we are a small town we have some of areas largest employers as well as a ton of mom and pop businesses. Many of them need the applications for running their companies but they can't afford to hire a full time programmer and an off the shelf package does not suit their needs.

Anyway, seeing her have to work as much as she does bothers me. I know I have talked about this before, but until things change I will keep talking about it. I also need to be better about letting her know how I feel. I do tell her that I am sorry she has to work like she does and that I feel it is my fault but apparently I am not very good about giving her compliments. Then again I have never been very good about that or even expressing my feelings in general. Perhaps that was one of the real reasons behind starting this blog. With a certain degree of anonymity we tend to reveal a bit more about ourselves then normally.

Things here are going well but they could always be better. By better I mean we have our health and possibly a much better job for my wife. We both come from a restaurant background and she has been working a part time job at one a few night a week. Well the other night the area manager approached her about perhaps joining their management team. She has been a manager for a large national chain and has the background for this type of work as well she very much enjoys being in that business. While it is not a guaranteed thing just yet should she get the position the pay would be almost 25% more then she was making in her last management position.

She loved that company but the store she worked at was so short handed for so long that she was working 15 hour days 6 days a week as well they were keeping her on the closing shift for months on end even though all the other managers were rotating shifts. When she asked about why that was she was told that she was the only one who lived in the same town as the restaurant. Everyone else had to drive 30-45 minutes to work and driving that at the wee hours of the morning is dangerous.

Now we do not disagree with that point at all but everyone knew that when they took the job, it goes with the business. When she was working at a store 45 minutes from out house she was not given special treatment and she should not/would not expect it. She liked the job and the company but when dealing with crap like that it is hard to not want to leave. Top off the hours situation with the fact that a bonus schedule was part of the compensation package but not once in the close to 2 years she was in that position did they receive one. They were always given some excuse about why or how they "just missed it" but they never received a single dime in a bonus.

Since they are offering her a chance to move into management she is now working solely at the restaurant. The job for the state was a good one in terms of hours worked and time off but the pay was less then she could make waiting tables for the same time period. Since we are so short money right now we have to go where it is at and that is the restaurant. While it means she is back to working nights again that is where the best money is made. We would prefer a 9-5 job you really just won't find one in the restaurant business.

Of course there is another bright spot in the days and weeks ahead. My aunt, who I have not seen in a few years and before that it was a good 10 years, will be in town for the next week. She is flying back from Long Island with my sister after they spent this past few days at some convention they got for reading some book. Knowing both of them it was some self healing, new age kind of thing. Not my cup of tea but they seem to like it.

Anyway, while she is in town she will be coming to our house this Wednesday to spend the day and tour our fair Burg. She has been to town before but that was for my sisters wedding so there was a lot of hustle and bustle and very little time to do much site seeing. I thought perhaps we would do a little bit of site seeing, maybe go down to the river where they have been spotting the Bald Eagles in the past few weeks, and then back to the house for dinner. Not sure what I might make yet as my Aunt is either a strict vegetarian or a vegan so I need to find out before we start cooking.

Well it is 10pm and my youngest is still wide awake and raring to go so I think I am going to give him some chocolate milk and have him sit down with me for awhile. That usually works to help calm him down and get him to bed.

Thanks to all of you, especially Mare, Bridget and Saija for being here for me. There are many more of you who I can thank and I will do so over the net few days. The emails and phone calls have helped my sanity far more then you might know.