chaosmom

06:22 pm: Presidental Order of Succession
With the recent potential threat to our president aborted, I got curious of the current line up. I knew the top 2 after Obama, but who came next? Here it is if anyone else is curious! Yes, they do have it planned out this far!

1 Vice President and President of the Senate Joe Biden
2 Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi
3 President pro tempore of the Senate Robert Byrd
4 Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
5 Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner
6 Secretary of Defense Robert Gates
7 Attorney General Eric Holder
8 Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar
9 Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack
10 Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke
11 Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis
Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius (confirmation pending)
12 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan
13 Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood
14 Secretary of Energy Steven Chu
15 Secretary of Education Arne Duncan
16 Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki
17 Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano

09:06 am: It ain't the 30's
But it ain't happy either:

Georgia Unemployment Rate: 9.3%
National Unemployment Rate: 8.1%

Yeah, let us remember that the 1930's was unemployment rates in the 30's.... That's a happier thought, right? Well, maybe ...

10:15 pm: Well, there's three...
I did not get fired. Or laid off. Instead, I got asked to take a two week hiatus and then cut my hours back. By nearly half.

On the positive, we don't have to worry about daycare until summer. On the negative, two weeks missing salary is a BIG DEAL. They do NOT want to lose me, they like what I do.

Doesn't mean I'm not polishing my resume again and starting to think ahead. I mean, this will NOT pay summer care for the kids. My new paycheck will be less than summer care by a good bit.

*sigh* I can say at least I still have a job. Heh, and one lady at the office was NOT happy to hear I'll be gone for two weeks. She's really enjoyed having me help her.

07:16 am: One, Two...
Am I missing three? You know, bad luck comes in threes?

Well, first our bed broke. The box spring just collapsed on us Monday. Last night, we finally moved to the couch. The sofa bed is not as uncomfortable as I thought! Better than a bed that creaks and groans and collapses on you a little bit more every time you sit on it. The set IS ten years old; my parents got it for us for Christmas the year David was born. Rob wanted to JUST replace the box spring, but I pointed out that the mattress is showing a good bit of wear AND the age and he agreed to get a new set. We're going to try to go tonight and see if we can get one delivered tomorrow or Saturday. IF we get Bobby's car finished.

Which leads to number two! Last week, at our Den meeting, Rob saw just how light Bobby's car was. He asked me to take it up to my mom's over the weekend (since he was camping with David) and have her carve out the back so they could melt metal and pour it in to make it heavier. I was totally distracted with keeping the boys busy and told him I really didn't think I could do that. I had a weekend alone with an almost 7-year old getting ready for said child's birthday! I had a whole house to clean, groceries to buy, etc. So, one of the dads offered to take it home. Unbeknownst to me, the dad said he'd bring the car back before the weekend and put it in the lower mail box (yes, known as a paper box to some, but we don't get a paper!) I wasn't paying a bit of attention when Rob told me he had Bobby's car on Friday. He put it somewhere in the garage. And did not go look for it until last night. AFTER I had put the trash out yesterday morning and they picked it up. We're pretty sure he put it someplace that I ended up taking it out with the trash *sigh* So, I ran up to Hobby Lobby with Bobby last night and we picked out a pre-cut car. He also picked out a cool Batman design kit. So, I've got to get as much of this done today as possible. Drop off is tomorrow! Derby is Saturday. Hahahahah....

Oh, yeah, I know what I'll count as number one! My knee collapsing under me! It's made dressing for work very interesting. My Merrells have been worn no matter if they match. Wearing a dress today so I'm at least going to try the dress Merrells instead of the regular ones. We've got a staff meeting today that will include my official introduction to everyone, so I wanted to look nice. Now to see if I can survive the day in heels. At least they are well padded heels instead of the usual ladies spikes! And no hose as the knee brace gets in the way. At least 1) the dress is long enough knee-highs would have been fine and 2) my legs are decent enough that I should be fine.

And now it's time for the bus. It has been such an interesting week!

06:02 am: Just what you always wanted for Valentine's Day!
http://www.bikiniduck.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=70

Of course, knowing most of the people on my friends list, this WOULD be considered a totally awesome gift.

Now where were these when we needed them for that "toys coming to life" plotline? LOL!

08:31 am: Now there's a stimulus idea...
http://gohmert.house.gov/Article.aspx?NewsID=1355

A Texas Congressman is suggesting that instead of the government sending us checks, they just freeze taxes for two months. A two month holiday with no income tax, no payroll tax.

Well we here in GA know how much shopping gets done on our "Tax Free Holiday" Weekends. Can you imagine TWO MONTHS of that where you're getting a full paycheck instead of just no sales tax?

Hopefully we'll have our Congressman by this time tomorrow and we can start writing him to support this idea.

If you haven't yet: GO VOTE!!! Turn out is important in this run off! I dragged the kids out early (they only got confused when we pulled into the church down the street and not when we drove past the bus stop) so I could get my vote in before the bus got there. Thing 1 timed it to 11 minutes; Thing 2 got confused that it wasn't the presidential election. I had to explain to him all over again that that is over.

09:17 am: Random thought for the day
When a woman finally wins the presidency... what will we call her husband? "First Husband" like we say "First Wife"... maybe that's why men just won't support a woman president... they just can't stand the thought of being "second best"! ;)

Oh, and that brings up another random thought... heard this on the Boortz show last month and haven't looked for the answer yet. The presidental candidate is elected Nov. 4 (this year...) and inauguration is Jan. 20. So... what if something happens to the president-elect in that time? Does the job then go to the vice-president elect? Or does the loser get the job now? The question was presented as a McCain win question 'cause of his age/health issues. At any rate, I need to look into this one unless someone here knows the answer.

One more! Historical fact for ya. Technically we do NOT elect our president, remember. That will be done in December by the Electoral College. Well, back in the early days, they had to make an ammendment to the rules on the Electoral College to say that IF a caniadate died... the electors for that caniadate were NOT required to vote for that candidate. It happend twice as I recall, that a candidate died. One of them died and still got like 8 electoral votes! Go figure!

Okay, work to do now ...

07:11 am: It's a run off
Crap crap crappity crap! I thought we had it locked up! Now we've got three more weeks of @&#$(*#@& Jim Martin and Saxby Chamblis ads to put up with!!

ARGH!!!!!

Curses on the Democrats, CURSES! If they hadn't started their anti-Fair Tax ads *grumble* And, yes, the ads were totally sponsored by the Democrat Party; NOT Jim Martin.

11:30 am: Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights?
http://www.meridianmagazine.com/ideas/081017light.html

Good read... very interesting... Not going to copy/paste it here for copyright reasons...

07:19 am: Interesting
I was talking to a co-worker the other day and she told me about this civil services class she took in college. The professor told them that any economic changes take about 6-8 YEARS before we really see the effects. So, presidents get the blame or praise who don't even deserve it! Not the first time I've heard this. I need to go looking for some other articles on it.

Interesting, though... Makes me want to go tracing back through history again....

Speaking of interesting facts, did you know that our first Depression took place with our 8th (yes, eighth!) president in 1837?

http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/mb8.html

" Basically the trouble was the 19th-century cyclical economy of "boom and bust," which was following its regular pattern, but Jackson's financial measures contributed to the crash. His destruction of the Second Bank of the United States had removed restrictions upon the inflationary practices of some state banks; wild speculation in lands, based on easy bank credit, had swept the West. To end this speculation, Jackson in 1836 had issued a Specie Circular requiring that lands be purchased with hard money--gold or silver.

In 1837 the panic began. Hundreds of banks and businesses failed. Thousands lost their lands. For about five years the United States was wracked by the worst depression thus far in its history.

Programs applied decades later to alleviate economic crisis eluded both Van Buren and his opponents. Van Buren's remedy--continuing Jackson's deflationary policies--only deepened and prolonged the depression.

Declaring that the panic was due to recklessness in business and overexpansion of credit, Van Buren devoted himself to maintaining the solvency of the national Government. He opposed not only the creation of a new Bank of the United States but also the placing of Government funds in state banks. He fought for the establishment of an independent treasury system to handle Government transactions. As for Federal aid to internal improvements, he cut off expenditures so completely that the Government even sold the tools it had used on public works. "

Really interesting stuff sometimes...

07:16 am: Ranting...
Okay, if you know me, you know I don't usually get into the whole political scene. But this time I have. I even registered to vote! I've done my research in great detail and made my decisions. Even found a cool site that's a "mythbusters" for the political scene. Pretty cool.

But this recent ad "approved by the Democratic party" is boiling my blood.

It's a half truth, as almost all campaign ads are, but this one had me screaming at the TV and explaining to my 9-yr old WHY it's a lie.

"Saxby Chamblis wants to raise the price of everything you buy 23%!"

Um, NO!

He's a supporter of the Fair Tax Plan. Yes, that's a 23% INCLUSIVE tax on goods (meaning instead of tacking on 23% at the register like our current sales tax, it would already be padded into the price of the good; NOTHING added extra at the register). AFTER we remove the 22% tax already embedded into our goods AND repeal the Income Tax. Ever looked at the difference between your take home pay and your REAL salary? Mine is about $90 a week. Paying pennies more on goods while bringing home an extra $90/week AND getting a "necessities" check every month from the government (for our family of four, the last calculation I read is $520) would be pretty fair.

At least IMO.

But apparently Democrats do not believe this.

I hate party lines. They're like grown up clicks.

Still watching the mail for my voter registration card.

Okay, kids are ready to go. Just had to vent that out...

07:06 am: Fun at Work
About a month ago, our PDC manager dragged us receiving clerks into the warehouse with our supervisor to point out parts with problems. After the first time, I started warehouse walking, as I called it, looking for problems. See, the guys in the warehouse, they go to put away stuff and it doesn't have a ticket, they just write "NO TICKETS" on the box and shove it to the side. That's it. Our guy who does UPS receiving is awesome, though, and has this nice system with everything organized. Our Bulk guys on the other side are becoming just as nicely organized. The other lanes, though, could use the others' books to the back of the head a few times.

So I started walking the warehouse once a week looking for these problems; upped it to twice a week when the problems got thick, then cut it back to once a week when things got better. Carrying a little folder of blank problem forms, a clipboard, pen, and tape to put the pink copy on the parts. I doubled my problem ticket load last month with this. Normally 30-40 problem tickets; last month it was 88. So last week, our receiving lady who's been there forever commented that this really isn't my job. It's the team leader jobs to be finding and writing up problems. I emailed our supervisor and questioned this. She called me into her office and explained how true that was and while no one was complaining now, it wouldn't be long.

She was right. Monday morning (while my supervisor was on vacation; she'll be back today) I got the word from the 1st shift receiving supervisor that the union doesn't want me back there writing up problems. I sent my supervisor, the receiving supervisor, the PDC manager, and the other two receiving clerks, an email lining this out and how MY supervisor has already spoken to me about this and that this IS the responsibility of the team leads. Basically a CYA for when it comes back down on us that problems aren't getting solved. The other receiving clerk was most upset; HOW, she asked, will problems get to us now? She was even depending on me going back there and looking stuff up for her!

Okay, no big deal. This is what they want, this is what they'll get. Amusingly, I got in yesterday to an inbox stuffed with problem tickets that the team leads had started writing up. Out of the 9 I got, I had 8 solved by end of day. Rather surprised the second shift team lead when she came to pick up tickets and found the Problem Answers bin stuffed full *grin* Now we'll see how long this lasts.

Oh, and one of the Bulk area guys had to come up to tell me that not everyone thinks I shouldn't be back there. I thanked him for letting me know that. Now if they'd only tell their union rep that...

03:36 pm: Olympics 1996
My mom started me thinking about it, so I wrote it all down....

----------------------------------------------------------------------

The year was 1996. Gas was just 69 cents a gallon. Bill Clinton was president. And the Summer Olympics came to Atlanta, GA.

I was in college then; Gainesville College in Oakwood, GA. The Hall County School System did its’ part for the Olympics by using school buses to bus people from the college to the rowing events at Lake Lanier. The club I was part of accepted an offer of the Gainesville Times to sell newspapers everyday. The Gainesville Times and USA Today sold together for a bargain price. I don’t remember the price now, no matter the hours I shouted it. I took the morning shift; arriving before the sun was even up to put on their orange vest with one of the newspapers tucked into a front pocket to show off the daily headline. Carrying stacks of papers and selling them.

An old family friend from Girl Scouts, who had been my chemistry teacher in high school as well, was one of the bus loaders. She and I would have so much fun coming up with different uses for newspapers to get people to buy them. They made a quick umbrella in case of rain, they were a nice seat cushion, and, of course, you could read them! I know we had a list of newspaper uses. I remember how she would sing “Last Bus to Clarksville” and people would think she meant it! Clarksville was actually where the races were taking place.

People would give me spare tickets and I would give them away. I guess it might seem strange to some. Looking back, I’m not sure why I was given tickets in the first place. One family stands out in my mind on that. They’d bought the tickets the previous year and then found out they were expecting an addition! The fact that they found one more ticket like that just really made their day. They got a free ticket for the new addition when tickets were, by then, so rare. The little one probably slept through the whole thing, but I’m sure mom and sibs have told him the story of going to the Olympics over the last twelve years.

One day it was time for me to go to work and I had one ticket left over. No one needed it! I considered calling into work and using it myself but I didn’t. Yes, I might have been bored, but to be able to say I went to the Olympics when they were in town! I actually still have that ticket on my bookshelf. I should get a frame for it and add it to our collections shelf in the basement.

I didn’t understand at the time, but some Canadians came by one day and gave me “funny money” as they called it. Canadian money that was rather useless here but looked so much like our money! I do still have those coins as well.

Then the day of the bombing. I sold the most newspapers that day. After a few hours, people would start correcting me when I would shout the headlines. I told them that had been the news as of press time, about 5am. The papers still sold, though, despite not being quite as up to the minute. I guess people wanted to read more on it.

In some ways, it’s hard to believe it’s been twelve years. So much of it I can recall crystal clear like it was just last week. Other things are a bit faded in my memory. So much has changed since then. At least I do have those memories of the summer the Olympics came to Georgia. Hopefully this year more memories are being made.

05:14 pm: Carpet Pics
http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=222549211/a=117295437_117295437/t_=117295437

Server is temporarily down so I'll just use Snapfish for now....

Both boys are feeling better and the new receptionist is doing GREAT! We had tons of data entry to plow through and so she got lots of practice at it. I think I scared her with the Accounts Payable end of the deal. I'm staring at it thinking, "Okay, HOW did I learn all this eight months ago?" I do not remember. I just remember DOING it and then writing it all up in as informative a method as possible.

Kiddo has a report due Friday that he is sulking over me making him do on a Saturday afternoon. *shrug* He's got to get it done sometime and now is as good as any! I need to run get posterboard on my lunch break one day this week. He needs to make a poster as part of the report. I'm also making a sign for PawFest that says "Siberian Petting Zoo" I had thought to add a bit about "Beware of Dog Fur!" but we're still talking it through.

Now to convince him that reports are fun learning ....

06:19 pm: It's Official
I heard rumors last week, but this morning Cheryl called me into her office.

See, a month ago, we got word that the lady who handles our credit department was getting a (well deserved) promotion to another PDC. Corporate wouldn't let us immediately replace her. Enter Cross-Training. One of the other temps started training to handle credits while the other temp trained me in receiving. Rumors began to whisper that this was to push us to those positions and hire a new receptionist.

Well, it's official. The temp who's being trained in credits is officially being hired to do credits, while I move up to her position and my replacement starts Thursday. Coolies!! Oh, and that does include a raise for me. Happy!

Beth, of course, is over the moon. Hopefully her insurance benefits as an official employee kick in very soon as I know she has some dental work that desperately needs to be done.

Now to hope Corporate sees the error of their ways in keeping us all as temps ;)

07:09 am: Almost there
We have carpet in the office and on the stairs now!

Happy.

Stinky. Very very stinky.

Rob has moved his desk back in and spent last night setting things back up in a logical manner. This is good. Hopefully this weekend we can move my desk down. This is not something I look forward to as my desk has become this fixture in the kitchen. I am spoiled getting comics and email check while eating breakfast.

Okay, and it has turned into a mess. An ORGANIZED mess, but a mess which I do not wish to delve through.

The boys computer will stay upstairs. We're looking at putting it in the living room.

Now to finish the workshop so the dogs can have their space back....

08:34 pm: WOW!
What a project... what started out as "Let's get the ceramic tile down so the dogs can stay in the kennel while I'm at work" back in August has totally exploded. That led to "While we have the kennel out, let's put up drywall!" "While we're buying drywall, let's get enough for the office!" "Oh, let's go ahead and finish the office so I can move my desk down there!"

So, Home Depot tells us it'll be 3-4 weeks from the time we order 'til they're ready to install. We have up half the drywall in the office/hall area, we figure plenty of time to finish it. We ordered Saturday.

Tuesday, they call.

Yesterday, Rob called back. The carpet is there and ready to be installed.

What? They said 3-4 weeks, not DAYS! "Um, April Fool's?" the lady managed to retort. Fortunately, they can wait until WE are ready. GOOD!

Rob has today and next week (spring break!) off. He got started on the taping of the drywall (finished hanging it last Friday on his day off, which totally shocked both of us) which took all of 15 minutes. Neat! Now the mudding. The first coat took the rest of the afternoon.

Soooo... we should be able to be done mudding by the end of the weekend. Prime Sunday or Monday, paint two coats Monday, and carpet installed Thursday or Friday. Then spend next weekend taking my desk downstairs.

WOW!!!! This is so coming together SO smoothly! I'm excited!! Not necessarily about having my computer downstairs instead of in the kitchen, but about having another room of the basement finished.

Now we're just waiting to hear our new dining room table is only taking one week instead of 4-6 ;)

06:18 am: I blame Michael
Michael has this habit of baking at least two cake for a birthday. Usually at the last minute. Saturday morning we did a family breakfast thing for all the March birthdays. I asked Michael cake advise since Bobby wanted me to bake him a cake ("NO!" said my father, "Just go to Publix!") I searched http://www.allrecepies.com and then moved over to http://www.verybestbaking.com since the kiddo wants a "double chocolate cake with chocolate icing!" Found a good looking one and, after a little house cleaning, got started late Saturday afternoon. It was 18 minutes left of a 35 minute baking when I realized I'd forgotten three ingredients. Salt I never put in, but the vinegar (do not ask me why, it called for vinegar!) and vanilla extract might be important. I had also used only 1 1/2 cups of the called for two cups of sugar and Rob really noticed when I let him try it. We ran out to grab dinner (El Sombrero take out, YUM! Silly children who will not eat it...) and more sugar (I cut it since I was almost out) and I preceded to make a new cake with ALL the ingredients, including salt. Rob said it would bring out the sweet. Taste tests yesterday morning were "Better than yesterday by FAR!" and the real test came at the party. Oh, yes, I also took Michael's advice and made a ganache icing, which started to overflow the pan a bit but actually turned out cool in the end. I placed some of Bobby's pirate figurines on top and candles and ta-da, a cake with which he was happy! The real test, of course, came at the (very crowded) party. Not much cake left and Rob had seconds. Woot!

Between the cakes and the real Spring Cleaning we gave the house in preparation, I was exhausted. Being nervous about my doctor's appointment today, though, meant I didn't sleep that well last night. *sigh*

Of course, when I told the story at the party, my dad had to add "Told you to go to Publix!"

05:39 pm: Silly little injuries...
Rob and I are finishing the basement ourselves. Couple weeks ago we were running out of walls in the workshop so he said the office was next so I started cleaning his office. Let me tell you, NOT a small task. OH, my, NO! At least three trash bags...

So, I've been working and I go to pick up a box and something goes SNAP in my left wrist, just above that little bony bit on the left side. Ow. I put on the brace the next day and wore it for the next week before it started really hurting on the right side, just under my thumb. Next week it was the wrap, which still helped and didn't hurt the thumb. And there's little spasms across the bottom of the wrist (yes, yes, carpal tunnel DID cross my mind)

Two weeks and it still hurts. Actually, it hurts MORE now. Finally called yesterday and they got me in this afternoon. After a long wait, the doctor did all sorts of exercises with me, looked very confused, and sent me off to x-ray. After which he looked even more confused and is send me to an orthopedic surgeon. Apparently there is some sort of irregularity on my wrist and it could be arthritis, it could be something else. So, I should know my next appointment by Friday.

Lovely.

Okay, this has effected my work a bit. Data entry is a large part and it ain't easy with (wait, Foxfire thinks ain't is a word?!?!? My mother will be scandalized...) the wrap and the pain. So, now Rob and I are both a bit panicked that I could lose my job over this. Easily. Yes, I'm still a temp and, with this company, will probably always be a temp. That means I am easily let go with no worries on their part. Grack! Now to figure out how to word the email to my boss and the staffing company to update them on the situation in a way that makes it sound like everything is really fine.

Ah, yes, and I still have to clean up the whole house and bake a cake for Bobby's party on Sunday. Life is lovely.

07:49 pm: Bobby is six...
Yeah, where did the time go?

Friday he lost his first tooth. So, for his sixth birthday (yesterday) he had the Tooth Fairy visit AND the Easter Bunny AND it was his birthday! Exciting times.

Rob and I renewed our vows at this big vow renewal ceremony back at Valentine's Day. Every couple there got a $100 gift card to Broyhill Furniture. Woots! We got around to looking a few weeks back and found a dining room table set we fell in love with. It's TALL (like us) and has comfortable chairs. Coolies! So, we're splurging a bit with our tax refund to get a (much needed) new dining room set. Also splurged a bit with getting the Nikken air purifier. They've got a special this month that if you order the big one, you get the little travel one free. So, two for the price of one! They arrive Thursday and I am VERY excited!

Oh, the kitchen looks great. LOVING all this new space!! Just hard to remember where stuff is still LOL!

Ah, well, back to work in the basement, I suppose!