Can you actively die? Interesting question? I had someone tell me their parent was “actively dying”. Is this even possible? I know people do give up and eventually die, but can they be considered to be actively dying? Do we have this kind of power in our mind?

My own mother may have basically done this. She lost her last living relative of her generation and decided she had lived long enough and over a 2 week period her health went downhill to her demise. The doctors did all sorts of tests and could not find anything physically wrong with her. So it seems in her mind, it was just time to die. But did she actively die? Her health was in a state of decline for a long time prior to this event. Was it just a coincidence that she died during the time that she gave up on living? Or did she will her end or actively die? On a side note, shortly after she passed, her dog went to the back door and started to whimper, an unusual action for them, like they were seeing something/one? Did mom pass through the house one more time? Maybe I should think about this more in my Cabin In The Woods, wait, I don’t have one, to my bath tub then.

Then there was my father. He lived with my sister and she had three small boys at the time so my Dad always saw them. They decided to go on vacation and some of my other siblings came to care for him (I have 8). After my sister’s family left, my Dad asked one of my siblings if the grandchildren were gone. He was told yes and he passed away shortly after that. He apparently didn’t want to die with them in the house, interesting, actively dying?

 

One of my employer’s clients has its call center outside the US. A customer of theirs (not ours) called them to change a reservation. Apparently that customer got frustrated with the CSR they were speaking with and demanded to speak to an American. Not having any Americans handy, they transferred them to me (a totally understandable action on that CSR part). Yes I’m an American; no I couldn’t assist them since I only handle the insurance. The customer was not very pleasant to me; and less so when they realized how the other CSR had screwed them over. I can only imagine how they were to the other CSR. You shouldn’t treat other people like sh*t, there are ways for them to get even. They demanded an American; that is just what they got, however…

A coworker took a call from a person who for some reason identified themselves as a parolee from California and also advised them they were convicted for domestic violence (TMI). Anyhow, they were upset that their parole officer had denied them permission to fly one way to Texas and doubly upset we wouldn’t refund their ticket. My coworker calmed them down and explained how the insurance works. They also pointed out to the claimant that booking a one way ticket to Texas; might be a cause of concern for their parole officer and they might interpret the trip as an escape attempt considering its neighbor. They hadn’t thought of that and even agreed maybe they should have.

 

I just asked you a 3 part question and your answer was “yep” and/or I asked you what “state” you live in; your answer was “United States” and/or “Staten Island” (not a state)? Great listening skills! But not the answers I was looking for. I also enjoy it when I ask a question and get nothing but silence in return, not because their thinking, but because again, they weren’t listening.

Had a client call a coworker, they put diesel into their gas powered rental car and were wondering if the “collision” coverage would handle that? Not unless you drove into the pumps with the car. Besides, how’d you get it into the tank? Diesel nozzles are purposely made bigger than gas nozzles so they don’t fit into the hole and so you don’t do this. Wasn’t there diesel spilling all over the place? They were lucky the rental company only charged them $500 to fix the problem. If the nozzle doesn’t fit, then don’t commit!

Post #100

Had a customer call, they wanted to speak to Mr Aon Affinity because he sent them a letter. Problem is there is no Mr Aon Affinity, since Aon Affinity is the name of my employer and not a person, despite what the Supreme Court says, and can’t take phone calls. Apparently I wasn’t speaking to a rocket scientist and Brad is the one who actually sent them the letter.

This happen again, their travel agent gave them our phone # and told them to call and speak to Aon, so they did and they asked to speak to Aon when I answered. I could hear the embarrassment in their voice when I advised that Aon is the company name, not a person.

I’m highly unquotable because I’m happy in my ambivalence.

Had a client call in requesting a refund on their plane ticket. When I asked why they were looking for a refund, they stated (not very politely) that Mexico wouldn’t let them into the country. They didn’t say why they were barred, so I’ve wondered what exactly did they do? It’s Mexico after all. Did the immigration official look into a data base, see this person’s name with picture and said “whoa, it’s you, you can’t come in gringo”. Even we have (very low) standards. Also, couldn’t they just bribe their way in? It’s not like their trying to go to Canada. Lots of crazy sh*t goes on down there. Unfortunately for them, the insurance doesn’t offer coverage if a country rejects you. Perhaps they should also take a long hard look at their life; after all, Mexico wants nothing to do with them and that’s just sad. Who’s going to reject them next, maybe the Pope?

Ever have a person call your place of work and start off the conversation with the phrase “You People”. Chances are I was not involved in the beginning of what ever situation you’re calling about, so I’m not part of “You People”. So it’s just rude to start off with a negative and it makes me less likely to go out of my way to help. I’m “A Person” and should not be lumped in with “You People” unless I’ve earned it!

 

I know you’re sincere in your beliefs and I’m just as sincere in not caring.

Gary Busey actually said this after getting voted off Dancing With The Stars; “The fact that I have been eliminated is false.” He’s not denying it, but it is false? To quote another actor; “What color is the sky in your world?”

When my youngest was 10 they asked for some money for the school’s book fair. You’d figure that a 10 year old would come back with some sort of story book. Mine came back with a book on the elements and they read it completely, numerous times. They studied the periodic table long before they were at the grade level for it. One day they asked me if I knew it, I told them that back in my day the periodic table only had 3 elements, air, water and farts; they couldn’t locate farts on the table, it must have been removed.

A couple of months ago a ghost started to appear occasionally in the cubicle next to me at work (part timer). They didn’t haunt us or say ghostly things, they just don’t initiate conversations. They’d just take calls from the customers and then stare at their smart phone all day. I have tried to communicate with this ghost, I’d say hi, good morning, ESP, crystal ball, etc.; they just smile and say nothing (unless the ghost needs something). Others have also tried to no avail. We know they talk, we can hear them, but just not to us living beings (co-workers). So I’ve decided they are a ghost that can only be reached through a phone. Anyone know a good Phone Medium? Other than that, they don’t communicate with the world around them. Their just a bit self-absorbed.

 

At 6:05pm the phone rang and I thought, after this call I’ll go to the bathroom. Twenty five minutes later I finally get the person off the phone and now have to apologize to my coworkers for the smell. My calls average three minutes, who knew.

 

Words have power; it’s a power you have to take seriously. So don’t say stupid things that you haven’t really thought through and then be surprised at other people’s reactions. Words can hurt and unintentionally lead to actions by others that hurt people. So think before you speak, pleaze!

If on the off chance you did think before you spoke your words and understood what you were trying to do, and it comes out as a negative, then go f*ck yourself, pleaze, just saying.

 

Once had a boss at a sales position tell me that I was their most productive producer, but I didn’t show enough initiative, way to motivate! If I was your best at sales and this is what you thought of me, what did he think of my co-workers? You just can’t satisfy greedy people. Cabin In The Woods pleaze.

 

I took a call from a client and I was having problems locating his claim in the system. Turns out my coworker had correctly spelled his unique Polish last name, but had misspelled his first name Jon. Boy did that make us look stupid! Never ass(u)me…

 

I was listening to music on my I Touch the other day and I got to wondering how many of the people I listen to are actually dead. I could only think of 3 people off the top of my head. So being morbid I decided to count:

• Amy Winehouse (7/23/11)
• Barry White (7/4/03)
• George Harrison (11/29/01)
• John Lennon (12/8/80)
• Maurice Gibbs (1/12/03)
• Robin Gibbs (5/20/12)
• Karen Carpenter (2/4/83)
• Cory Wells (10/20/15)
• Donna Summers (5/17/12)
• Elvis Presley (8/16/77)
• Frank Sinatra (5/14/98)
• Harry Chapin (7/16/81)
• Michael Hutchence (11/22/97)
• John Denver (10/12/97)
• Johnny Cash (9/12/03)
• Marvin Gaye (4/1/84)
• Mary Wells (7/26/92)
• Freddie Mercury (11/24/91)
• Laura Branigan (8/26/04)
• Robert Palmer (9/26/03)
• Keith Richards (??/??/??)
• Lisa Lopes (4/25/02)
• Whitney Houston (2/11/12)
• Natalie Cole (12/31/15)
• David Bowie (1/10/16)
• Glenn Frey (1/19/16)
• Maurice White (2/3/16)
• Prince (4/21/16)

This list is truly depressing me. Ok, I know Keith Richards is actually alive, but really, shouldn’t he be dead? At least the majority of my play list is still alive and kicking, but 27 singers/musicians, really!

Update: I’ve added 5 people to this list since I originally posted it, scary.

 

Your Ignorance Is Impressive, Please Impress Me Some More!

Back in the 1980’s I was volunteering my time working on ambulances. Our service got called out to a motorcycle accident and upon arrival it was obviously a fatality. So the crew called in to dispatch to inform them of this. The dispatcher came back and asked if they were certain the victim was deceased. Well back in the 80’s everything was done on open airways and anyone could be listening. The crew tried to tell dispatch as diplomatically as possible that they were certain the victim was deceased without giving out to much information over the airways. But the dispatcher kept insisting over and over again to be more specific as to how they had arrived at this decision. Frustrated with them the crew finally said, because their head is between their legs, is that clear enough for you? That shut them up. They were only trying to respect the deceased, the dispatcher was being an azzhole by second guessing them. When they can see what’s going on and the dispatcher can’t they shouldn’t ass(u)me and just accept what their being told.

I also remember an overnight shift back when ET was a popular movie. One of the sheriff deputies on duty had the initials ET and around 2am I heard on their frequency, ET phone home. An unusual way to get the message out.

 

In a past life, ok an old job; my employer would put big Christmas wreaths high up on the building. One day when we came into work there were tracks in the snow up to one of the wreaths and it was gone. I guess they really liked the wreath; it wasn’t easy to get at it. We didn’t bother to call the police, since they weren’t that expensive. A couple of days later it had snowed and when we arrived at work and again there were tracks up to the building and our wreath had been returned? Leaving us to wonder why? Did they feel guilty, someone yell at them for taking it, or did they need it for something and returned it once they were done, what was the reason? This is one of the great mysteries in my life; it ranks up there with Amelia Earhart’s disappearance or who stole my cookies!

Had a customer inquiring about a specific coverage in their insurance. They kept reading the same line in the policy to me over and over, ignoring the rest of the paragraph that line was contained in. When I tried to explain the rest of the paragraph and how it works, they read me that one line again. If they would just take the line in context with the rest of the paragraph, they could answer their own question, but they were just fixated on that one line and wanted to hear nothing else. (I wanted to tell them, it’s a 12 page policy; it is not summed up in one line. So stop repeating it, it makes you sound stupid.) When you take something out of context you can interpret it any way you desire. It reminds me of the time someone argued with me over the meaning of “Maybe” in one of our policies.

My employer has installed a treadmill desk(?) You can do your work and exercise on the treadmill all at the same time, but you do have to make a reservation to use it. They want to encourage healthy practices. Oh boy I’m so excited, just one problem though, I’m a sloth, I don’t like exercise, I don’t move that fast. Besides, I’d rather have a raise.

Update (1/27/16): Apparently the treadmill doesn’t go faster than 2 mph and I’ve been told that’s to slow to get a good workout.  But being a sloth, that’s fast enough for me, wouldn’t want to sweat.

I’m in a fog today, how do I know this, I can hear the horn!

 

 

 

 

 

Once when I was much younger I was going out on a group camping trip. It was a Friday night and when we got out to the area where we were going to camp, I noticed that the local bars we passed were packed with cars. It was a rural area and there weren’t that many bars, but they were certainly busy. Then when we left on Sunday morning I noticed that the churches we passed were also packed with cars like the bars had been on Friday night. Perhaps they were asking for forgiveness for what they had done on Friday night? Just an observation I had that struck me as funny.

I’m in the never ending process of raising 3 children and I noticed a pattern in their care when they were infants. When we had our first child, if we were to leave the house with them we took 2 diaper bags with various other supplies left in the car. We could be out of the house for days and not run out of supplies. When our second child arrived, we still left the house with at least 1 diaper bag and it was reasonably supplied and there “might be stuff” in the minivan. Then after the third child arrived, times would come when we would have the need to be out and about. When a need would arise for this child the search would commence throughout the minivan. All in the usually vain hope of finding at least one diaper or something to drink that may have been left in the minivan from the time of the first two children (my minivan is a mess). By this point we had only brought the child with us.

I remember once going to Kmart to buy them a new winter jacket after they had got car sick and had thrown up on the old one and I had nothing else to put on them and the old one was well “gross”. Also for some reason that day they had on 2 pairs of pants? Which worked out, I took off the dirty pants and they then had clean(ish) ones on. Our parent preparedness level dropped a lot over the span of three children.

 

I prefer to remember him this way, the reality is too painful to comprehend.

If you take your cue(s) from stupid people, I am truly sorry for you and if you don’t know what cue(s) means, that might explain it. (CUE: psychology: A stimulus, either consciously or unconsciously perceived, that elicits or signals a type of behavior.)

Is this statement controversial? “Organized religion is for people who need help and direction in their lives when it comes to their faith.” I believe there is nothing wrong with this, many people benefit from it. There have been times where I’ve needed help and direction; I just have never found it in organized religion. This kind of organized faith has never seemed to work for me. I believe in God, but going to church has always struck me as a waste of time and I like to sleep in on Sundays. I have faith; I just don’t have the need to share it with other people. To me faith is a private thing. I show my faith by just helping people through The Quiet Hand, I’m not looking for recognition of my actions, and it’s how I express my faith, just by helping.

By posting this, just how many people will I piss off? Lately people don’t like opinions about religion, especially if it doesn’t match their own. Not that anyone reads my blog; I’m just the Would Be Hermit after all. But I do have a comment section though.

A judge in a divorce case wrote in their opinion about a man who was getting a divorce and had the misguided habit of driving by the ex’s house and flipping the byrd. A finger is worth a thousand words,” the judge wrote, “and therefore is particularly useful should one have a vocabulary of less than a thousand words.” I don’t think the judge had a high opinion of this individual.

When I informed a client that a payment check for the canceled ticket would be made out to their brother instead of them, they yelled at me, “But I paid for the ticket on my credit card, for my brother!” That maybe the case, but we didn’t insure you so we have to pay him. Deal with it!

“Thank you for your no help.” Goodly English? I think not, but a customer did utter these words to me.

I was paying for my haircut the other day when the barber asked if I wanted the senior citizen discount? What! No I don’t want the discount, I’m not that old! I was insulted when AARP sent me recruitment material before I reached their membership age. I’ll decide when I’m a senior citizen ok!

Back in my early twenties I was living in a village called Fishkill. For this area it’s not an unusual name, there are a lot of towns in the area with kill in their names. One day PETA came to town and insisted the village name should be changed to Fishsave, since they believe the killing of fish is cruel. (I think dead fish are yummy!) Of course the people of the village just laughed at them and it’s still called Fishkill to this day.

However, if PETA had done a “little” homework they would have discovered their assumption of the name was ignorant and kill doesn’t always mean kill. The area was originally settled by the Dutch (who don’t speak English obviously) way back in the 1600’s and kill is their word for creek. Yes, there is a creek running through the village, that must have had fish in it at one point (when I lived there not so much), so hence the name Fishkill or fish creek. There is also a Wallkill, Peekskill and Plattekill in the area, apparently there are a lot of creeks around and the Dutch weren’t that imaginative in their selection of village names. Also let’s not forget the Catskill Mountains, that can’t make PETA happy either. Remember never ass(u)me.

There is also state prison nearby, which might actually have killers in it. People sometimes consider murders to be animals based on their actions. Maybe PETA should have gone there since it is also named Fishkill and that name is cruel to the animals aka murders. Plus the state doesn’t have a death penalty, so it’s taunting the prisoners with the word kill in the prison name. Maybe it reminds them that their now up the kill without a paddle?

Respect, “is not earned by the use of your fists.” It just makes people fear you, not respect you. My experience has also shown that screaming at people is not going to earn you respect either, it just makes you an azzhole.

I love these lines from the song, Angry Young Man:

I once believed in causes too
I had my pointless point of view   Billy Joel

My 16 year old knows they have to be out the door by 7:30am to go to school or they’re in trouble with me. The other night they fell asleep on the couch and my 12 year old put on their jacket and back pack like they would for school and woke them up a 7:30pm yelling they were going to be late for school and I would get mad. The 16 year old got up in a panic to get ready for school when they noticed, its dark out. Morale of this story, don’t torture your 12 year old sibling because revenge is sweet.

I’m not as Extreme as this Guy!

He Actually Grew The Beard In Jail, He Was Clean Shaven While He Lived In The Woods, Go Figure?

The Strange & Curious Tale of the Last Hermit

How a mythical “hermit” criminal hid in the woods for decades

Pictures of His Camp

His Outcome

***************************************************

“Stop making stupid people famous”, as Plastic Jesus, a street artist has stated and spray painted on walls around LA.

I paid $17 for this policy and it doesn’t cover me, why? Think about it, you’ve answered your own question. If you pay $17 for flight insurance policy, and you’re surprised to learn there are severe restrictions as to what it will cover and that it does not cover you for any reason. After all, you only paid $17, what ya expect? Especially if you didn’t read it before you bought it. Information is power, ignorance is bliss. A cancel for any reason policy cost well over $100 dollars and even it has restrictions.

I don’t want to talk or text anyone today. Ironic that I’m on the phone with customers all day long “isn’t it”. How does a “Would Be Hermit” deal with people when they don’t want to? It’s becoming very difficult to function in this job.

I just want a quiet place without human contact. But my reality doesn’t allow this to happen. I was trying for some alone time yesterday and every time I got settled, someone interrupted. When I’m in this kind of mood it amazes me that people even seek me out. I feel like I should yell at them to leave me alone. But I have responsibilities and people do depend on me. It is all very frustrating at times! Right now I plan on ignoring my life, this is not good decision. I especially don’t want to contact “friends” who never initiate contact with me and all our conversations require me to contact them. What’s the point? I just don’t care to try anymore. You want to contact me, you have my number, if not, so what. Maybe I should just pack up my van with my camping equipment and go find some deserted spot in the woods to stay? The urge to do this is certainly there.

A “dog” shot their owner in the foot the other day. The dog was able to do this only after the “human” left the gun on the ground while hunting. The safety was off and the dog stepped on the gun and bang! Of course the dog’s is named Trigger, I didn’t make this up. I also think this person will need a refresher in gun safety and where to point a loaded gun, as well as some new toes.

Someone called with the following question; if I don’t buy the insurance and damage the rental car, who is paying for the damage? Ah, you! Sad part, this was a serious question. Unfortunately there is no magical collision damage fairy that appears to fix the car, if there was, there’d be no need for insurance.

Update (11/23/15): I never thought someone would ask this question again, I guess I think to highly of humanity, cause I got the question again?

People have been trending stupid for a long time. Now it seems that stupid wants out of the cage.” I agree. For when you think that stupid couldn’t get any stupider then you have underestimated how stupid, stupid can really get. But that’s humanity for you, when it’s decided to do something stupid; we go all in to complete the task. Just ask the two Russians who took a selfie of themselves with a grenade, after they pulled the pin. At least the phone survived to provide us with proof of their stupidity.

Selfie Vs Sharks

A Yugo was my first car right out of college. It was 2 years old when I paid $400 for it at a repo auction; I was the only one stupid enough to bid. If you think about it, it ended up in the auction because someone couldn’t afford the payments on this car, which at the time was probably $80 a month, that’s kind of sad.

The car had a little over 30,000 on it when I got it and had never had an oil change; so more sludge than oil. I drove it for 2 years until the electrical system fried itself for no apparent reason. It was like driving a buck board; I don’t know why they even bothered with a suspension system. The only redeeming quality for me was that it got 45 miles per gallon and at the time I was driving 40 miles one way to work, even then its tank was only 7 1/2 gallons. Plus with its Italian/Yugoslavia engineering (world renown) it was always breaking down. One time I stopped to pay a toll and it just died. My mechanic said the engine somehow flooded itself out? Its paint job was so bad that I would have water collecting behind it in pockets on the car, very bizarre. I also once hit a pot hole and my crappy radio just died, which really sucked.

Me and my spouse use to joke we were going to write a book; “How To Have Sex In A Yugo”, since it was not an impossible task, you just needed to be very flexible to pull it off. It was also for a very long time the newest car I had ever owned, says something about my finances, it’s replacement was a 1978 Mercury Monarch, which I got from my landlord in exchange for him connecting aka legally into my cable. It was by far a more reliable car than the Yugo ever was. So I basically ended up junking a 4 year old car, need I say anymore?

Most Unique Hybrid In The Country!

Yugo Commercial 1986

 

Someone else won the $42 million I was planning on winning in the lottery. So my Cabin In The Woods has gone from a decent 2 bedroom log cabin (my needs are simple) with plumbing on a good piece of land.   To a shack with hopefully a fireplace, semi reliable electric, nearby drinking water and an outhouse over a hole that isn’t too full of crap so that it doesn’t need to be replaced anytime soon. How about a place I can pitch a tent occasionally? Bummer! What’s a Hermit to do when the budget disappears?

Why is there grass on my roof?

I’m hardly right and mostly wrong so don’t question my judgment!

 

Had a gentlemen (I use the term loosely) call. He needed to cancel his cruise with his “girlfriend”. The reason being his “wife” got into an accident of some sort and he needed to take care of her. Well that’s nice of him, thou how’d he go about explaining it to the girlfriend? Did she take it well or cut his dick off?

He didn’t say if either woman was aware of the other. If they’re not aware, I wonder what will happen if they become aware? Also how do you explain going on a cruise without your wife, to your wife? What kind of cover story do you give to her in order to leave with your girlfriend and at what level of liar do you need to be at to convince her it’s a good idea? I’ve never had a wife and girlfriend at the same time, one woman at a time is enough for me, so I’m naïve about such matters.

I learned something very important today, don’t keep your eye drops with your super glue! As well as your hemorrhoid cream!

When you have a child, you want to watch them evolve into an individual. Watch how they handle their lives. Enjoy their successes and comfort them in their pain, until such time as you leave the world. You don’t, under any circumstance, want to lose them to an untimely death. As is said, a parent should never bury their child. However children do die, whether it is suddenly or by a long drawn out illness. This is a parent’s worst nightmare.

I have three children and as a parent I want to protect them always. But in reality you can’t, no matter how hard you might try. Eventually you have to set them free to experience the world, let them make their own decisions and keep in mind that life has many pitfalls and dangers.

I couldn’t imagine losing any of them to death. I don’t know how or if I even could handle it. How would this lose affect the rest of the family? Could the family even survive? Everything certainly will have changed forever. Boy would I want my Cabin in the Woods, but I don’t think that would even help.

I remember once when I was still selling insurance I had a parent sitting in front of me looking for a quote on auto insurance for their 17 year old who was going to take their road test. That night the 17 year old got in a car with their unlicensed and inexperienced friend behind the wheel. While traveling down a highway, a tire blew out and the car rolled over, ejecting and killing them. So one day the parent is looking into the cost of getting car insurance and the next day their planning a funeral. How on earth does a parent handle this? One bad decision by the child and their life ends and the surviving family’s life becomes unbearable. Why should this happen? I’m sure that parent wanted only the best for their child, but allowed, as any good parent should, the child to grow up and make their own decisions. Unfortunately children will make bad decisions and this one didn’t get to learn from theirs and thus paid the ultimate price.

A client called looking for the check we sent to their PO Box. I looked at the notes in the system and it had been returned to us by the post office as non-deliverable, no such person. That’s when they got real upset and stated that is impossible because, “my brother delivers the mail to those boxes, he would never send one of my letters back and I had told him to keep an eye out for my check.” Plus they stated “everyone knows me there”. Well if this is the case, either their brother is an idiot or someone there doesn’t like you. For the post office did return it.

Nothing has crossed my path lately that I can write about in any length. That’s a bummer! I like writing on any subject that gets my attention, even if no one else cares, I enjoy it. Just saying.

I could just write about Nothing for three paragraphs. That’s an option. I also Googled essays on Nothing, there was much to do about Nothing there. Wikipedia also has a page on Nothing. But who cares, it has Nothing to do with anything. Though I have discovered it’s a writing exercise to write about Nothing, that is at least interesting.

Post #50

10/14/15

I’m serious, but not, all at the same time.
Or
I can seriously consider something and ignore it, all at the same time.

Which way says it better? Or are they both moronic?

10/12/15

If I make an ass(u)mption that I’m right, you must prove me wrong. Because to ass(u)me makes an Azz out of U and Me.

10/9/15

Do you have a “cause” to support? I don’t have a “cause” I believe in perhaps be”cause” I don’t care too. Perhaps that’s my “cause”. It’s a lot of work not to care.

10/7/15

Went to my usual deli the other day to order french toast. (This deli is a one person operation) There were a couple of people ahead of me whose orders we already being worked on. I placed my order and waited. After me, three other people came in and also placed their orders. The people in front of me received their orders and left and I figured I’d be getting my next. However, the person who came after got their order before me? I was like; ok whatever, no big deal. Then the next person got their order, humm? Followed by the third. Now I’m pissed, did they forget about me? It didn’t seem so. Finally they come out with my french toast and advise me I might need to heat it up. Heat it up, that means my order was done, sitting by the grill while they proceeded to complete the orders for the people who came after me! I didn’t order cold french toast, so why was I being served it? Now I’m not one to complain, yell or make a scene; I express my displeasure with my feet. I left, leaving them with their cold french toast, never to darken their doorway again. I’m just a bit puzzled as to why this occurred? If you have completed the order why are you waiting until its cold to give to the customer? You’re running a business, pissing off repeat customers or any customers, is not a good strategy to remain in business.

10/5/15

People use political labels to identify a person like, conservative, liberal, libertarianism, dicks, etc. I don’t really comprehend any of it, I’m just me.

10/4/15

Who gets to decide who has the moral authority to decide what is right? Does the government have the right? Do religions have the right? Does the crazy person on the corner talking to their sock have the right? I certainly don’t, I just tell my kids that I do. If you have ever read the comments posted on a controversial story, apparently, it’s everyone with an opinion who has this right.

10/1/15

You see people working out and eating healthy all the time with the hope that if they take care of themselves they’ll live longer. What if that’s not the case? What if we all have a predetermined life span? I’ve heard of plenty of people who took great care of themselves and they still died young. While others abused themselves to no end and are still alive, look at the Keith Richards (he really should be dead). So I guess what I’m saying is, when your time is up, it’s up, no matter how hard you work to extend it. That’s why I don’t try, I’ll live how I want to and am just happy with who I am. My actions aren’t going to change anything more than my inactions are, right?

9/29/15

Went to a funeral the other day and all I got to say is; when I die, I hope they don’t embellish the” truth” that much in my eulogy. Just say, they lived, they died, now let’s plant them!

9/28/15

Word of advice; if you are going to book an expensive cruise in order to impress your “girlfriend”. Then decide to buy insurance to cover it just in case. Have her pay for half of the cruise. Because; if you piss her off, and/or she decides she just wasn’t that into you after all. Then the relationship will come to a hopefully not to messy of an end. However the insurance is going to issue a credit in her name for half of the cruise cost, and the other half to you, since she is one of the named insured’s. No matter how loud you scream at the insurance company and he was screaming at me! Even though you paid for the entire cruise, half of your money will be in her name in the form of credit, just like a divorce. So you end up with no girlfriend and depending on how bad the breakup went, you may be out the credit too! I’m just saying, trying to impress a girl can be expensive in more ways than one.

9/24/15

I know just enough to give you my uninformed opinion. And I will of course believe that I’m right in stating it!

9/22/15

Is your reality based on one of the following philosophies;

*I feel it, therefore it must be true?
*Critical thinking that requires grounding one’s beliefs in evidence rather than in emotion or desire?
* You spontaneously generate arguments for conclusions you want to support.
*Is there a forth one I should consider?

Which philosophy do you think would be most likely to fly off the handle and jump to conclusions without hearing about what’s really going on? I’d like to think I operate in the critical thinking realm, but I can see how I could slip into the other ones as well.

9/21/15

Welcome to my “First Annual Brain Fart Day!” To start it off, I’m on the phone and in the middle of a conversation when my index finger for no apparent reason pushes the mouse button and hangs up on the call; yes it’s the fingers fault. (The cursor was hovering over the release button) Bad enough I did that once, but later in the day, I did it again? My index finger apparently didn’t want to talk to anyone. Brain Fart! Second, I turned the key to the on position in my car to start the electric so I could roll the windows up and then for some unknown reason proceeded to get out of the car and lock it and walk away, with the power still on. Later as the sun set a co-worker came up to me and said your car lights are on, it has sensors to turn the lights on when it gets dark. Brain Fart! At least on a more lucent day I had put an extra key in my wallet. Finally, on the way home, I’m sitting at a red light and the green turn arrow comes on and I go. Problem is, I wasn’t in the turn lane and my light was still red. Luckily no one else was in the intersection. Brain Fart! I’m not normally so stupid; so hopefully this will be a one day only event!

 

9/18/15

The main question I have here is; should a person be allowed to continue with or have a “normal” life after they directly ended someone else’s in a situation that was not an accident? If you kill someone through your actions, should you get life in prison without parole or with the possibility of parole? Or maybe, perhaps a lesser sentence or no sentence at all? Or even be put to death? After all you have deprived someone of their life, should you be allowed to continue with yours?

We should also consider how the killing occurred? Did it occur during commission of a crime, in the heat of passion, because of impairment of some sort on the part of the killer (drugs/mental illness etc.), or was it deliberate and planned?

What about the impact of this death on the people who knew the deceased. They are now denied this individual in their lives. What is the price to be paid for this? What if the deceased had children, etc.? What if the deceased was homeless or had no family? What if the deceased was an important member of society? So many what if’s…?

People are generally important to someone; some might even say life is priceless. So is there a way to gauge this importance in order to determine a punishment? After all, a life was taken, what might that person have accomplished if their life hadn’t ended suddenly? Basically how do you judge the value of an individual life and the proper criminal punishment for the death? In ancient times, it was an eye for an eye, today, if you kill, does society have the right to remove you from it, even on a permanent basis?

I recently read an article about someone who was convicted of killing a taxi driver forty years ago during a robbery. Instead of taking the money and leaving, they choose to kill. Now their family is lobbying for their release saying the person has changed and is not the same person. This may be true, but they did kill. The victim was just living their life when the killer came into it and took it from them. No one is denying this fact. Why shouldn’t society take the killers life away also in one form or another? But now their family is trying to free them saying they have served enough time. Should this person be allowed their freedom after forty years (or any amount of time served)? Have they been punished enough? What about the family of the person they killed, do they still grieve the loss? What lasting devastation did this person inflict on this family? Would they even agree to let the killer out? What about the life the victim did not get to live? When you deprive someone else of their life, does your punishment ever end? Do you deserve to walk as a free person amongst the rest of humanity, ever? Should the killer be allowed to get a second chance at life after they ended someone else’s? The victim can’t get that second chance. You can’t replace a life like you can replace a car, once it’s gone; it’s gone, never to be duplicated. In this particular reality, there is no straight forward answer.

9/15/15

I got an email from my spouse the other day. In the subject line was just one word “idiot”. Not a good word, especially in the subject line of an email. Of course I know this word isn’t used between us on a “regular basis”. But yet here it was, “idiot”. What did I do or not do to illicit use of this word? My mind was racing. Plus did I really want an answer to the question? Did I want to open this email? Or did I just want to ignore it and hope it would go away? But if they had taken the time to write this email, instead of just talking to me about their concerns, how much trouble could I really be in. So I took the plunge and read it. Turns out they just wanted me to check out the car since one of the “idiot” lights had turned on. So much stress over nothing, I feel like such an “idiot”.

This light came on recently in my mini van and it cost me $6200 for a new engine!

9/13/15

Repeating the same phrase over again and again in an argument doesn’t make you right, it just makes you annoying.

9/11/15

I was in the process of explaining insurance coverage to someone, which they had already heard from a prior co-worker when they told me to “change the story”. What? I guess they didn’t want to hear their reality, again. After all reality is when you stop guessing or ass(u)ming and just listen!

9/10/15

I’ve noticed that at times I’m up on current events and know what is going on in the world. Then at other times, the hermit in me comes out and I just don’t want to know or much care. After all humanity is scary and we do a lot of crazy things. These are the times I want my Cabin In The Woods. I want to put my head in the sand and to be just left alone in my ignorant bliss. But then I come alive again and want to know everything. Is this a split personality? Right now I don’t think I want to know. However tomorrows a new day!

9/4/15

There is a bottomless well of stupidity and way too many people partake in drinking from it.

8/31/15

*If you have a risk
*You find an insurance company to insure it
*You pay them a premium to cover that risk
*If the risk you are insuring comes to pass
*You file a claim with the insurance company
*If they agree that your loss matches the risk they insured against
*They then pay you

*However, if you have a risk
*Then fail to find or pay an insurance company a premium to cover it
*Then you suffer a loss due do the risk you didn’t insure
*You then can’t expect any insurance company to pay for your loss, simple as that.

Definition of Insurance: An arrangement or agreement that protects someone from incurring future losses, as from damage, theft, illness, or death, especially a contract that transfers the risk of a specified loss to another party in exchange for the payment of a premium.

Well recently a group of 4 individuals called to my employer to insure a risk. Two were offered coverage since they meet the underwriting guidelines and paid their premium. Two were declined since they didn’t meet the guidelines, so they in turn paid no premium. Then the risk that was insured came to pass. The two who paid the premium, submitted claims, they were reviewed. It was agreed that this was the risk we were covering and was paid. However they also submitted claims for the two who did not qualify for the insurance also looking for payment, that payment was of course declined. They then implied that during the phone conversation with our company we told them that they would also be covered. Even though we had clearly declined to do so and they had not paid us for the coverage to make a binding contact, all of which they were well aware of. Since this was not our first time on the merry go round, the phone call was of course recorded. Upon doing our due diligence we listened to the call, it was clear that this was never said and we advised them of that fact. Despite the actual proof that these two individuals were never offered coverage they still demanded we pay and actually stated, “since it is not a lot of money, we should pay it regardless”. When they were advised this was never going to happen, they got real upset and threaten to start a blog to trash us. Usually people threaten us with a lawyer, but they knew they had no case. We asked them if they do create a blog, to please inform us when it is up so we could place comments on it.

Even when faced with the reality and facts, these people still believed they were entitled to something they had never paid for. It’s like trying to add collision coverage to your car after the accident has happen. Why would the insurance company pay for your damage when you never paid them to cover the risk? People are just that greedy! We declined coverage and they still believe we owed them. As one of my co-workers, who is from another country, pointed out, you Americans believe you’re entitled, so true.

8/28/15

Some people are just uninhibited in their stupidity. I agree. They do their moronic acts before thinking about them. Of course there is usually some mind altering substance involved in their lack of proper decision making. If they happen to be rational people, the next day they deeply regret their actions. But by then it’s too late, the cats out of the bag. But some people are perfectly sober and still, out comes the stupid, they are the ones truly uninhibited in their stupidity. They may even be considered intelligent, they can explain in length complex theories (that I usually don’t get) and then wonder why people get offended when they make inappropriate comments. Despite all their smarts, they don’t comprehend the consequences of their actions. So something that would seem like common sense just passes them by. They can’t grasp it any more than Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory can, but they live in our reality. Maybe their stupidity falls under poor social adjustment skills or maybe not. Their minds are just wired different which leads to poor choices or actions. However, sometimes they are so convinced that their decisions are correct, that these have very dire consequences for the rest of us, so we suffer for this because of their stupidity, despite their brilliance! As I mentioned before, can’t help stupid! Even smart ones.

8/26/15

Blah, I’m just sitting here, looking at my computer screen and doing nothing. I just an’t motivated at the moment. It’s like I know I should be working, but I just don’t want too. I’m not happy or sad, just blah, with a general sense of why should I even bother? Nothing interests me at the moment, I’m just vegetating. I can think of things that I should be doing, but what’s the point, blah. Even if my spouse came up to me and offered to have sex, I’m ehh, so what, blah, sounds like too much effort. I just want to sit here and be blah. Something needs to happen to get me out of this state of blah, oh wait, I have an oatmeal raisin cookie, cool!

8/24/15

As Forrest Gump said, “stupid is as stupid does”, and my friend said; you can’t help stupid.

8/22/15

You can never obtain happiness by making the world bend to your desires, the world will resist.

8/20/15

Just because you can’t comprehend a subject, doesn’t make your opinion of it is right, even when you can locate false proof. You can search the internet and find a web site that backs up your ignorant stance, but you’d still be wrong. There are a lot of websites out there that are just full of bullsh*t and are not based on any real facts. But rather some ones wishful and/or delusional thinking. Reality is something very different from fantasy, but a lot of people want that fantasy and just reject the facts because it doesn’t suit their needs. On the web you can build yourself quite a make believe world and get other people to buy into it. Then it becomes accepted as a reality, but when that reality is proven to be false, that’s when the real reality of your society comes a knocking and all the illusions are shatter!

Let’s look at the great state of Texas for an example of delusion created on the web in regards to Jade Helm. In what fantasy world can 1200 Special Forces take over the entire state of Texas? Even their Governor fell for it, you would think they’d be more rational, but I guess not. The conspiracy theorists had no real facts, nor did they want to believe the ones the military was offering; instead they had misguided beliefs based on emotions and rumors that the military was going to invade and declare martial law because a map of the exercise showed Texas as hostile territory. It’s a war simulation people; someplace has to be the hostile territory.

Then there were the “volunteers” that were going to observe these military maneuvers, so they could warn the rest of us of what the military was really up too. First problem; the volunteers knew which bases to watch, but didn’t know when the military was actually carrying out the exercise or what was just routine military activity. Second problem; they were chasing after Special Forces who specialize in sneaking around, how do you locate a group that is trying not to be located? So these volunteers just ended up driving all over Texas chasing after ghosts and seeing nothing. Give the military some credit, if it was planning on invading any state, why would they announce it ahead of time? That would be very poor military strategy.

Then there was the part that involved the closed Walmart’s. Walmart only wanted to break the unionizing efforts in these stores; that’s why they closed them. Not because the military needed staging areas. Its Texas after all, if the military was looking for staging areas, there is plenty of wide open spaces in Texas to choose from, maybe even, the actual military bases that already exist there!

But in musing about this topic, maybe this is my form of fantasy vs reality on the web and if it comes crashing done, where will I find myself? Hopefully in my Cabin In The Woods.

Post #25

8/17/15

Just got back from a cruise, no, “no Cabin In The Woods”, just a big ship, with too many self-absorbed people on it. While observing the ocean and how calm it made me feel (I probably would not be so calm in high seas), an idea of buying an old cruise ship (if I had the means) occurred to me and using it as my “cabin in the seas”. I’d just sail around the world all the time and go from port to port when I choose to. I could have minimal contact with the outside world, other than the crew and just disappear into the oceans. After all they do cover 70% of the world’s surface. I’d be the “The Old Hermit Of The Seven Seas”! But it has to be a cruise ship; I get sea sick in yachts. It’s a concept, thou being a land lover; I’d probably miss the bears.

8/16/15

I had a call today where a lady wanted to cancel the tickets that she had purchased for her granddaughter. Her granddaughter had passed away unexpectedly and the pain in this ladies voice brought me to tears. She was trying to hold it together to give me the information and I was trying to hold it together to take it. The sense of loss this lady was feeling came through the phone loud and clear, I just wanted to reach through the phone lines and hug her.

8/4/15

I had someone tell me that “just because you’re right, don’t mean I’m wrong.” What, I’m confused; didn’t you just say I was right? Then I realized they choose to believe in their emotional outlook on life, rather than the reality that they were wrong, thus rejecting the truth. Going through life just blindly believing in their emotional point of view and rejecting reality, because it doesn’t fit into their world view is a tough way to live. They’re in denial of the reality of society as a whole and will never be happy with life, since it is ever changing and will never be what they want. Reality may suck, but it is what it is. Emotions are a necessary part of life, but they cloud judgments and can bring you crashing into reality in a disastrous way. You might even say the person is delusional; they desire something that just isn’t in the realm of possibilities, but they still long for it. After all, I want to be a hermit, but this most likely won’t happen because it is not my current reality, such is life.

7/31/15

“The Quiet Hand” is the concept of helping people who don’t expect to be helped, but are in need of some help. The person giving the help should give it freely and without any expectations of getting something back. It’s enough just to help, no need for recognition of the act. Then maybe the person who received the unexpected help might do the same for someone else in the future. So is the reasoning behind “The Quiet Hand”.

7/28/15

Once upon a time I gave a sh*t, but not anymore! I want my Cabin In The Woods! Now!!

7/24/15

Depression? Am I depressed today, no. Have I ever been depressed, yes. Do I feel I’ve been discriminated against when I was depressed, very much so. My own spouse has told me to “snap out of it”, you’d think they’d understand depression after being with me as long as they have, but they don’t. If one could just “snap out of it”, no one would ever be depressed. It’s a strange and terrible place to be when you’re depressed. It can get to the point where nothing matters; you just don’t care about anything in your life. It’s a deep dark black hole and the pain can be very intense and all consuming. Killing myself has crossed my mind more than once. I’ve never followed through, but then…

When I was newly married, you would assume I would have been joyously happy, but in fact I wasn’t, instead I was extremely depressed, to the point I ended up in a hospital. Yes I had my new spouse, but other parts of my life were in the crapper and I couldn’t cope, I didn’t have the skills too and I didn’t truly understand what depression was. The act of my spouse putting me in the hospital made me realize that there are people out there that are worse off than me; I think it actually helped in a strange way. I got serious about my depression after that point and have never gotten that bad again. I realized from that experience that I’ve always had problems with depression, but I never put two and two together until that episode. I’ve learned how to cope and win.

One of many instances where I was discriminated against because of my depression was when the job I had become very stressful, I just couldn’t handle it. It was overwhelming me. The employer paid lip service to helping me, but in the end, they only wanted me gone. They didn’t want to deal with a depressed/stressed out employee whose job performance was declining. Rather they were all legal in offering me FMLA and concern until they could build a good case in getting rid of me, thus avoiding a law suit, which is what they were afraid of (in my opinion). I had been there 6 years and always got good annual reviews, but once my depression got bad it was only a matter of time and I was out the door.

I had another job that was beginning to bring me down, while the stress built up. (OK, I need to handle stress better) But I was able to turn it around into a positive, at least for me. At the start, the job was fine; I was well suited for it and did a good job. But over time things started to change. About two years in, no matter what I did, I was making supposed mistakes, even when I knew I was doing it right and confirmed it with fellow employees. I started to get depressed and I was doubting my abilities to do the job. Of course the one who was pointing out all these errors, was ”my boss”. Then one day a light bulb went off in my head and that changed everything. My boss, main source of my stress, was truly crazy, no joke, just plan fruit loops. It wasn’t me that was the issue, I was doing my job, it was my bat sh*t looney boss. Once I realized they needed help, I decided I was ok and stop being concerned over their pointing out my “mistakes”. It was all them, not me, ok maybe a little me, since I started doing things just to piss them off (a little dickish of me). This realization made my life so much easier while I worked there, the stress was gone and it made it possible for me to stay until I found a new job. Once I started at my new job it became very clear just how crazy my former boss was. At my new job, I was treated like an adult and was allowed to do the job I was hired for without the constant second guessing of every decision I made that was occurring at my old job. I knew I was good at what I do for a living! I was at my old job for a long time and if I had chosen to believe what my old boss said about my job performance, I should have been fired. But they never did, though they threaten to countless times. Once I did leave they even asked a follow employee why I left? Well, duh. They just didn’t get it. My epitome was in realizing their craziness and not buying into the negativity they were putting out. This was a great liberating moment in my fight against depression! I would be called to their office for some supposed transgression and they would rant on about whatever stupid thing was on their deluded mind and I would just feel sorry for them (or think, “what an Azzhole”). I knew it wasn’t me, my customers were happy with what I was doing, they certainly didn’t want to deal with my boss, they also knew crazy when they heard it. This person would even go so far as to correct the grammar on form letters, which they wrote? Then go into lectures on how my grammar was bad, when all I was doing was changing names and dates? Also I wasn’t alone in my opinion of their craziness either, there were six of us employed at this business and we had many discussions on our boss’s irrational behavior.

Once I stopped blaming myself for my depression and stopped caring what other people thought or said about me, it became easier to control it. I’m a good person, good spouse, good parent and the only person I have to make happy is me. I can overcome depression and not let it rule my life. I’m better than depression, period!

7/22/15

I Live In The State Of Misery, not really, life is good right now!

7/20/15

Continuing on the topic of handling terrible loss, how would you handle this unfortunately sad but true situation? Recently in my hometown a family of four was heading home in their car. Unknown to them, there were 2 drunks coming up from behind and they were racing. One of the drunks rear ended the families car with such force that the car exploded into flames. The mother was able to get out of the car but her 4 & 8 year olds were trapped along with their father in the burning car. The mother tried desperately to save them but couldn’t. She had to listen to their screams for help and most likely screams for mommy, as they were burnt alive in front of her eyes, followed by the silence of death. How does one even begin to deal with this kind of loss? Especially when you just watched your whole family die and were helpless to save them? No one in the world is going to be able to comfort this mother and it’ll be a long time before she’ll even be in a place that anyone can even help her. She was quoted as saying, “All I want is my family back!” I know I’d not be able to handle this, since living without my family doesn’t appear to be a life I could endure!

On a side note, the drunks all loaded up into the second car and took off, they never even tried to help, and they had to have heard the screams of the people they were killing!

Outcome Of Trail

7/20/15

It was cold night back in November when my phone rang. My child was out with one of the cars and it broke down, so they called me for help. When I arrived we parked my car in front of a dance studio on the main street while waiting for the tow truck and to keep ourselves warm. There was a lot of foot traffic on this street, even with the cold temperature. I kind of noticed a young girl come out of the studio and start up a car that was parked behind me. Twenty minutes later we were still sitting in the car talking when the dance studio closed and the girl came out to her car. A minute after that she knocked on my window. When I rolled it down to see what was up she said, “I know you stole my purse, I don’t care about the money, I just want my purse back”. Apparently someone had come along and broke out the passenger side window of her car and took her purse that she had left on the seat. Not a very smart move on her part. So she ass(u)med, wrongly I might add, that I would be stupid enough to not only steal her purse but then sit in my idling car in front of the crime scene? I told her that I didn’t steal her purse and asked if she needed any help, I can be a nice person after all. She just keeps insisting that I took her purse or my child had and that the video cameras in the area would prove it. I laughed and told her that all the cameras would show is me sitting in my car keeping warm, while someone else stealing from her, so I rolled up my window and ignored her. She wasn’t requesting my help anyhow, just accusing me, so the conversation was over.

Later the tow truck finally showed up and while I was out of the car talking to the driver the girl’s mother arrived on the scene. The next thing I know she is grilling my child and accusing them of stealing the purse. I told her we had nothing to do with the theft, I also gave her my business card with my info on it, (an act of a guilty person) to back that up, then got in my car and followed the tow truck to the repair shop. The police hadn’t arrived yet and since I hadn’t done anything, I left. Wasn’t thrilled with their attitude anyway. After we dropped the car off, we went home. Not to my surprise, a short time later the doorbell rang and a police officer was standing there. They asked to see my child; they wanted to question them about the theft. Apparently the girl and her mother only told the officer about my child being in our car and accused them of taking the purse. So it came as a great surprise to the officer when I told them I was there also. These people were so intent on getting my child in trouble they had lied to the officer and left out the fact I was even there when they filed their, now false, police report. I explained to the officer that, yes we were there, but were not paying attention to what was going on behind us and didn’t see anything. If we had seen something, we could have told the victim or assisted. They accepted this and left and we never heard another thing about it. The way it should be, we hadn’t done anything after all.

It amazes me how this ignorant girl just jumped to the conclusion that we not only took her purse, but we were stupid enough to just sit there and wait for her to come out of work so we could be caught. Some criminals can be that dumb, but we didn’t take any thing and the real criminal wasn’t dumb enough to hang around to get caught either. I had given them my info, they could have chosen to contact me at any time. They could have even apologized for ass(u)ming me or my child were the thief. But I never heard from them, most likely because, just in my opinion, their Azz Holes. They just wanted to blame someone and without a shred of proof, they pointed their fingers at my child because they looked guilty to them. It’s people like this that make me desperately want my Cabin In The Woods!

7/16/15

I live in the United States, but do I also live “In the State Of Confusion”? Interesting question, perhaps? Is my reality so screwed up that I just can’t tell? Am I so out of step with the world that I can’t see it? Are my musing on this page the work of a crazy and delusional person or just someone dealing with what they perceive to be the real world? If someone were to actually read what I’ve written, what conclusions might they arrive at about me? Would their opinion of me even matter? Everyone has their own version of reality; I wonder just how crazy mine is?

7/13/15

People like to say that the world today is all F**ked up, I agree completely, but then I also believe the world has always been F**ked up! We just can’t help ourselves, there have been too many personalities in history that think highly of themselves and through their actions, they just end up F**king things up! Also as humans we are just good at creating new and innovative ways of F**king up the world.

Just look at what has happen in the past and what is happening now. Ethnic/religious groups are still killing other ethnic/religious groups over their conflicting beliefs. Nations are still fighting other nations for national pride or other stupid reasons. We have only become better at doing it, but the conflicts are still the same. Groups dig up old philosophies/rivalries to justify themselves in committing atrocities in the past and today. Those who don’t learn from history, or care, tend to repeat it, over and over again!

As an example of how good we have become at mass destruction; during WWII, it took 500 bombers to hit one target with any accuracy, today it takes one bomber with one bomb to do the same thing. Yes, it kills less people, but it makes it so much more efficient. Where once it took thousands of soldiers to destroy a city, we can now do it in a blink of an eye. One soldier today can kill with same efficiency as it used to take fifty. Following this logic, one person can F**k up a large group of people with relative ease and do it for whatever reason they might believe justifies it.

By writing this, do I think I can change this, no, I can only change my part of reality. But if everyone changed their own part of reality, together, maybe, we can stop F**king up the world? Perhaps that’s wishful thinking on my part, but someone’s got to be the first.

7/10/15

Ever have a co-worker who has convinced themselves that they are the indispensable backbone of a company and if they were to leave the place would just fall apart. However that’s not actually the case, if anything, it’s the exact opposite of that is true. If they were to leave, things would probably run better. This person will argue endlessly with you as to how valuable they are to the company. But in reality, the co-workers that they believe are, “holding the company back and slacking off”, are actually doing more than they are. This person is so intent on proving their superior work habits (mostly to their boss, who usually knows better) that they can’t see the fact that they are not the most important worker there. In their “reality”, no one works harder than them, and gives more of themselves. But then they will complain that no one really appreciates how hard they work! That they don’t get their due rewards, or someone less qualified gets promoted over them and they can’t understand why? To most of their co-workers they know this person is full of sh*t, and if you were to disagree with them, well, that’s a whole other argument. The only people they are really fooling are themselves. This illusion of superiority is what they work very hard at! This is their “reality”.

7/6/15

I’ve always liked this story: An old man, a boy and a donkey were going to town. The boy rode on the donkey and the old man walked. As they went along they passed some people who remarked it was a shame the old man was walking and the boy was riding. The man and boy thought maybe the critics were right, so they changed positions. Later, they passed some people that remarked, What a shame, he makes that little boy walk. They then decided they both would walk. Soon they passed some more people who thought they were stupid to walk when they had a decent donkey to ride. So, they both rode the donkey. Now they passed some people that shamed them by saying how awful to put such a load on a poor donkey. The boy and man said they were probably right, so they decided to carry the donkey. As they crossed the bridge, they lost their grip on the animal and he fell into the river and drowned. The moral of the story? If you try to pleaze everyone, you might as well kiss your azz good-bye.

7/4/15

Don’t start off a conversation by telling me what I’m going to do and that you don’t care what the policy actually covers, because we are going to pay the claim regardless of that or they’re going to report us to the proper authorities and get us in trouble for not doing what they say. All I got to say to that is “Bite Me”. I don’t like bullies and don’t tell me I’m getting smart with you when all I’m doing is explaining the reality that you don’t want to hear in the first place. By the way, you know you have no claim, so you figure screaming at me is going to get it paid, not so much. Where’s my Cabin In The Woods?

7/2/15

A customer called me a “f**king piece of sh*t” today and they are probably still confused as to why I hung up on them. Don’t expect assistance from me, or anyone else for that matter if you think this is the way to treat another person. With me, it’s just not going to motivate me to help in any way, shape or form! If they can’t or won’t do what is required of them to get what they want, then being an azzhole to the other person is not going to get them it either, not in my world at any rate. I have zero tolerance for that kind of behavior. Give me what’s required of you and I can get what you want. Don’t give me what is needed and you don’t get what you want. Simple as that.

 

6/30/15

Ever try to say hello to someone who is so righteous in their misery, that they get mad at you? The simple gesture of saying hello just pisses them off. Their attitude is: why are “you” even speaking to me! They are so miserable with their lives that they feel you need their permission just to look at them, much less speak to them. I have a person like this at my current employer. It’s obvious they are in pain and not happy with their life. I’d love to help them out, I’ve been there myself, but this person’s misery seems very important to them? It’s like their whole identity is wrapped up in feeling this way and they seem to have no concept on how to feel any way else. Myself, I talk to them just because it pisses them off and I hope to start a conversation with them. Perhaps that makes me a nice person, or just a dick, but I gotta give it a try.

6/25/15

Answer me this; is the following an example of good parenting? I had a call the other day from a mother that was planning on taking her daughter on a trip to a certain country in Central American. When her ex-husband (who is battling for custody) found out, he convinced his daughter that ISIS had taken over the country her mother was taking her too. She was so frightened by this prospect that she refused to go. Should the father have terrorized this child with this lie just to get back at his ex? I personally don’t think so, but some people get so consumed with vengeance that they don’t see the damage their actions cause. One day this girl is going to realize that daddy lied to her, then how is that going to affect their relationship? All this to get back at the ex.

6/23/15

Am I an Introvert? Let’s take a look at this question;

*I desire sometimes to be a hermit and live alone in the woods

* I don’t like dealing with people who think their above everyone else

*I like doing things alone

*I don’t mind most people, but I’m not into large group activities,

*I prefer one on one and really only have a handful of people I would consider friends

* I can spend hours in the tub just listening to music and thinking about life or engage in other solitary behavior.

* I usually don’t speak out in groups, unless I’m passionate about the subject or I am asked a question. But then I don’t always feel my opinion matters

So am I Introverted? After all, I’m hiding out on the Internet (Facebook). One of the most social places on the Earth. I’m making no attempt to friend anyone or like anything, I’m just hiding. I can’t even say if anyone will ever locate my page and read it. It’s an interesting decision on my part to even create this page. Or, I could just be a social outcast? But then that’s a whole other question!

6/18/15

The word “Maybe”, means Maybe, it’s not yes, it’s not no, it’s Maybe, it can’t provide you with a clear answer, it’s just plain old Maybe. The definition of Maybe is: possibly but not certainly, not yes or no. One of the policies I work with uses the word Maybe in regards to getting reimbursement; I had someone who wanted me to say yes or no when the policy clearly states “Maybe”, just stop arguing the point, and wasting my time, the word is Maybe!. The word by itself is no guarantee.

 

6/17/15

If I were to lose my significant other today, would I have the support in my life to handle it? Could I deal with the grief and loss by myself? Who would I turn too? I’m not the most social person in the world and people don’t tend to seek me out. Then again I don’t tend to seek them out either. Could I even survive such a devastating blow? I’m still grieving a loss from 15 years ago and from time to time, I still break down and cry over that loss. Is there someone or someplace out there that I could find to help me survive? Or would I succumb to my grief?

You’ll get sympathy and kind words from family and friends after a loss, but how much of that will actually turn into action to support you? Or are you left to fend for yourself? For in your darkest night, that significant other is gone! You can’t talk to them, hold them, or be with them! Where can one go? Is there a life worth having after they are gone? Are the things you shared enough to sustain your existence? People say to be strong, life will go on, but why should it? I once saw a person in such pain and sorrow over the loss of their significant other that they made an experienced funeral director cry! How does one get over such pain? How is it possible to go on living?

We have all suffered losses in our lives and there are people who have suffered far beyond what they should have too. How do they do it? How do they find the strength to go on? There are lots of questions; do I really want those answers?