SATURDAY - JULY 1, 2006

1:34a – I am off to bed. I am stuffed. Supper was EXCELLENT!

7:16p – Skip and I just got home from a lengthy excursion. We went first to Grand Avenue and stopped at a Del Taco. I have already had a bowl of home made chicken noodle soup this morning, made from left over rotisserie chicken from last night, so I was not real hungry, but I got a burrito. I remember I used to love Del Taco back in Florida, but apparently their food quality has deteriorated to the standard "crap level" of other "Mexican" fast-food places.

Then we went to Jay International where I needed to pick up a few things. All I got was a bottle of Sriracha hot sauce and some chicken bullion. They had no garlic power nor dried shallots.

We left there and found ourselves in a nightmare of traffic. I could not get on I-64 from Grand because of the construction, but I knew a way to wend through downtown and get back on via Chestnut street. However, I completely forgot about Fair St. Louis! Streets were blocked, traffics was jammed, and it was ridiculous! We finally made our way over the MLK bridge into Illinois, and circled around to the far side of Cahokia.

Then I remembered that our main reason for this excursion was because Skip wanted to check out the fireworks stand on Route 3. So I passed my usual Cahokia exit #13 and went to Dupo exit #10 and directly to the fireworks stand. They only had simple boring stuff for jacked-up prices, so Skip bought a couple of token items our of respect.

So then we headed BACK to Missouri and ended up way out in Fenton (I think). I had to stop for gas. We finally found the fireworks stand and Skip spent another small fortune on fireworks. I don't think I have ever seen so many fireworks in my home at one time! (And they are mostly GOOD ones too). All I got was 5 boxes of "throw & pops" for 1 dollar.

The drive home was fairly easy. We made one error and ended up on an exit of of 270 and had to find our way back on to it, but then we went smoothly back to Cahokia. Before going home, we stopped at the dollar store. I checked to see if they had any garlic powder, but the only kind they had was the actual power kind, not the granulated kind that I prefer. (The powdered stuff has lots of starch filler I think). After a quick stop at Q-Mart, we finally got home. Skip had to set off several of his fireworks, but it is still daylight out and they were not very impressive. I am sure he will be back out in an hour or two when the sun goes does.

7:48p – All in all, it was a pretty good day. I am still a bit sick, but it's not too bad (yet). Hopefully it was just a quick and mild bug. I managed to catch RD online before she went to bed and she too had an eventful day. Apparently B had her last concert in the Youth Orchestra tonight, which was a very emotional event for them all.

8:48p – Mi nune aýskultas al la Radio Polonia. Mi ne aýskultis al øin øis longa tempo kaj øuas aýskulti øin denove. Hodiaý, kiam ni ekskursis tra niaj du þtatoj, mi havis mian surbendigilo preparis por registrari novan televida programo "Blade: The Series."  Baldaýe, mi portos la videobendon al la alia æambro por rigardi øin.

10:00p – I am so upset with myself. I went through all the trouble to record "Blade" to day, but I forgot to put MY TV on the right station. It recorded channel 138 instead of channel 168. I am so stupid!!

SUNDAY - JULY 2, 2006

12:55a – I am still cooking supper. I am not ready for bed, yet so ready for sleep.

12:39p – My sinuses and lungs are still causing me problems today.

3:32p – Marty and JR are here. I am getting files from his camera to save to CD and they all went out to the back yard to do yard work.

5:53p – Marty & JR have left and I have been to the store. They got a lot of work done on the back yard. Cut down a lot of the brush and burned it along with most if not all of the old fence.

10:21p – I was able to catch another presentation of "Blade: the series" on TV within the hour. I missed the beginning and what I saw did not make a lot of sense. So... we will see...

I did not really get it...

11:45p – I just finished cooking some rice and fried pork strips. It is a strange mixture, but I think it will be tasty!

I made a pan of fried and breaded pork pieces. Another pan of fried turnip and onions.

11:48p – Dominoes just showed up on the door step with Skip's supper. (He says it is the "creepy fat guy." Okay...

MONDAY - JULY 3, 2006

I got up a little after noon again. I did not feel too good. Later I fixed a bite to eat, then took a nap. I was supposed to go over to JR's for a cookout, and to pick up the dolly so we can use it to move the old stove which is still sitting in the middle of the kitchen and is quite an obstruction. My nap lasted longer than intended and I was running behind scheduled. I was supposed to be over at JR's at about 5:00p, but I did not leave the house until 5:00p. Just as I was leaving, Skip called and asked me if I could pick him up from the train station since apparently the busses were running on the holiday schedule. I called Marty and let him know what was going on and headed to 5th&Mo. Skip was not even there yet. (I thought he was waiting). I had to sit in the hot car and wait for him for about 10 more minutes. Then he needed to stop by the store (more delay). To add insult to injury, I then had to wait for a train once I finally headed out for real. It was nearly 6:00p by the time I got to JR's. I really didn't have a very good time. The dogs were hanging out begging for food and then one of them pooped right in the area we were eating. (I am the only one who seemed to notice). Mosquitoes were biting me and my legs were on fire. I was hot and sweaty and irritable and I guess the bug is still lingering with me.

When I got home, Skip was sitting on the front porch in a cloud of smoke, launching bottle rockets. He seemed to be having a good time. I had a few beers and as it got dark outside, we set a couple of chairs in the driveway and spent some time setting of various rockets and fountains and one "wailing wheel" ... which was way cool!

 

TUESDAY - JULY 4th, 2006

2:27p – I have only been up for a couple of hours. I am famished. Just made a pot of chicken noodle soup from scratch, using a leg quarter off that rotisserie chicken from several days ago (it's still feeding me!). I am going to go eat now and then I may take a nap.

2:29p – Skip just found his camera, which had been missing for weeks. I am glad he found it. That is a $130 camera.

6:47p – Calisa called last night and a couple of times today. They are trying to get her computer reloaded. 8:13p – While I have been sitting here at the computer for the last couple of hours, it began to rain. It has been a quiet rain with little in the way of lightning or thunder. Just rain. And lots of it. The intersection in front of the house looks like a lake. I don't think I've ever seen it get like that before. The grass can sure use it. I've been meaning to get the sprinkler out. The lawn is getting some dry patches and the heat has been up in the 90's.

Skip set off his fireworks tonight. Tiffany, who used to live next door, and her friend, whose name I forget, joined us and made it more fun.

WEDNESDAY - JULY 5, 2006

2:31p – I am off to work again. I am trying not to be too depressed about it. I am happy to have a job.

Work was pretty boring. Our classes are being conducted as well as possible by Jeremy and Jim, but they just don't have the resources to teach it for real. Our "test" servers are slow and do not operate the way the real system would. Only the web based tools actually work in the class room and the other tools are very slow. I have a general idea how things are supposed to work, but that's about it. At least we will all be in the same boat.

I also found out that we were supposed to be training on 7-hour days, not 8. Therefore, they have cut out Monday and Tuesday class out. I go back on the phones again on Saturday..

I got home and email took over my life and more fall out and flack from "Old Man Thunder-Eagle" continues. I was up until after 4:00a responding to it.

THURSDAY - JULY 6, 2006

I was about 30 minutes late getting to work today. As I was about to leave the house, I found Kira sitting in the kitchen in a puddle of urine. She had fallen and her back legs were all tangle up. I think that in her effort and straining to get up she lost it and wet her self. I lifted her behind up and she was okay, but I had to spend some time cleaning up. Then traffic was horrible. I think I clocked in at 3:57p instead of 3:30p. Not that it makes a big difference, since we are still in our Adelphia Training classes, which are a complete joke. I spent the entire night hoping for more personal email to keep me amused. Our instructors, Jeremy and Jim were called away for something else and we were left to "study" on our own using software the doesn't really work. There is only so much bad simulation one can go through before turning to a zombie!

FRIDAY - JULY 7, 2006

1:35p – I slept late today. I really needed it. Tomorrow is going to be rough. Back on the Comcast phones for 10 hours, starting at 11:30a. I am going to be exhausted on Sunday I bet.

Jeez... it was boring! I really worry about what we are going to do when we have to go-live with Adelphia support. I hear some people will begin taking Adelphia calls on Tuesday. I know I am not ready. Our training was completely inadequate. I think I need to be looking for another job while I still have some COBRA coverage on my insurance. This job is good in some ways, but it is too chaotic and does not pay enough.

SATURDAY - JULY 8, 2006

3:16a – I am making some pork steaks for "tonight" and lunch tomorrow. I opened a bag of Doritos and ground them up and used this to coat the steaks. I am also making some pasta with broccoli and cream of mushroom soup.

I had a long time member of the Tsalagi group get disgusted with the group over the "oldmanthundereagle" fiasco, and asked to be removed from group. That old man has left a scar on our group and I am disgusted with him for this. But what really irritates me is how many people seem to be laying the blame at MY feet. I would ask them to look at my history. This has NOT been the normal way of things since I have been in charge. This all started with oldmanthundereagle. He is the one who made the insults and got mean. And he left the group. I am still getting flack over it and people seem to be upset at me for banning him... even though he had already left the group and was not a member when I did this. They don't seem to care that I was the one being insulted, that I remained respectful. Somehow they think I am to blame. I am so torn between telling them all to f*** off and get the mess out of my life... or sticking with it and getting matters under control. I am sticking with it... so far...

4:01a – I wanted to get to bed around 3:00a, but I did not make it. I hope I am not too exhausted tomorrow.

11:25p – This has been a very strange, depressing and upsetting day. I got out of here fairly well on time this morning, dropping Skip off at Wal-Mart on my way out. I was supposed to be at work at 11:30a. First, I hit another frelling train (headed West) at Camp Jackson on the way out, SO I detoured and headed East to get around behind it. I got to Mildred Street, and... "no train." But, before I could get to the train crossing, the signals started dinging and here comes ANOTHER train! I could have made better time had I simply waited for the FIRST train... but, who knew?! Then I got to the PSB bridge...

MoDOT to Remove and Replace the Existing Surface on the Poplar Street Bridge ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), June 1, 2006 The Illinois and Missouri Department's of Transportation will begin a $12 million project on the Poplar Street Bridge. Crews will close one lane permanently in both directions on the bridge beginning at 9 a.m. on Monday, June 5, to remove and replace the existing surface. Also, as a part of this project, crews will also overlay the west end ramps leading into downtown St. Louis. The entire project is expected to be complete by Labor Day 2006. Construction Schedule: Bridge: During construction, MoDOT will have a permanent lane closure during construction, reducing the lanes from four to three in each direction. Construction will consist of removing the existing surface, cleaning and preparing the surface for asphalt overlay. During non-peak hours (10 a.m. to 6 a.m. westbound and 7 p.m. to 3 p.m. eastbound) crews will close an additional lane. This will reduce the bridge to two lanes.

Ramps closures: Westbound I-64 from the PSB to westbound I-70 will be closed at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, June 10 and reopen by 5 a.m. Monday, June 12. Westbound I-64 from the PSB to southbound I-55 will be closed at 7 p.m. Friday, July 7 and reopen by 5 a.m. Monday, July 10. Work on the ramps will be done only on weekends. No work will be done on holidays or during major events. Motorists are advised to use the MLK, EADS and Chain of Rocks as alternate routes. Motorists will experience major delays especially during peak periods and major events and are encouraged to use alternate routes or allow extra time when driving through the work zone.

11:54p – My constant fear that they would block off the exit to West-70 came true. I followed the detour signs and ended up in Soulard (right next to Soulard Market), in completely the opposite direction from where I should be going. However, I followed the detour signs and seemed to be doing okay. I knew I would be late to work, but there was no getting around that. Then I found myself back on the ramp to cross the PSB bridge again! In the OPPOSITE direction! After about an hour of driving I ended up BACK in Illinois and had no idea HOW to get to work! This was not only upsetting, but embarrassing, depressing and distressing. My attendance is very good, but I will STILL lose another day of pay. I cannot afford that!

I came back home and spent several hours in bed sleeping. I was just very upset and depressed over this entire day. I have also been looking at other job possibilities on-line. I am too underpaid and under-utilized in my current job. And I don't like it. We are treated like chattel here.

My ink cartridges arrived from Inkgrabbers today, so I have color ink in the printer again.

11:59p – We are grilling tonight. Skip and I bought about $20 worth of pork ribs (@ 1.99¢ per lb) and put them on the grill. I par-boiled mine. I also threw on a tomato from my "garden" as I was cooking. Now I have a couple of chicken leg quarters out there smoking on the grill too.

SUNDAY - JULY 9, 2006

1:56a – OMG! ... Supper was SO GOOD! I am stuffed... and I have BBQ'd meat to last a couple of days. So... off to bed now.

1:07p – I am just getting up. I slept late and so did Kira. I think she had a slight mishap, however. She should have gotten up sooner. She has become so old in the past few months. I hate it.

1:11p – I had what seemed like hundred of mini-dreams all morning. They were all uncomfortable and had a negative tone. In one dream, Kenneth and Néhna were there. Ken decided to Keep his loose change in my change sorter. He said that since I was keeping my change in the bottom half, he was going to use the top half. I tried to explain to him that it was a sorting machine, but he wouldn't listen to me. Then I found some of my Sacagawea dollars mixed in with his coins and knew that he did not have any, so he was stealing my money. The situation went on and we ended up with coins all over the floor and I was very upset and distressed.

9:38p – Skip and I went to Wal-Mart and Schnuck's this afternoon. We are going to have something Mexican for supper. (Despite having all the grilled food already made). I got Kira a chewy strip while we were out, but she has lost teeth and is having trouble with it. She chewed on it for a while and it was getting blood on it, so I took it away. I let her have it again later, but she gave up on it and passed out. Poor old dear... she is just getting too old. It's breaking my heart to watch her age like this.

11:59p – I just finished sending out four resumes. I am serious about finding a new job. This one is not doing it for me. I have so much more to offer and so many more skills to be utilized!

MONDAY - JULY 10, 2006

1:03a – Time for bed. Kira did not seem to want to eat her supper tonight until I sprinkled some enticements on top of it. I think her mouth hurts from trying to eat her chewy strip. She normally finishes it off in a half hour. She did not even eat half of it tonight. I worry about her so much. Anyway, off to bed. I ate my Mexican topping over Fritos Lay chips for supper with salsa and sour cream. It was tasty but I will probably have heart burn tonight. Oh ... and work tomorrow. I hope my resumes pan out. I will be sending more out soon.

11:30a –II am up and showered and trying to get motivated for work. I can't believe how much of a dislike I am developing for this job all of a sudden. I've got to find a job that I take some pride in (and which pays decent). Meanwhile, I need to bite the bullet and focus on this job since it IS paying the bills.

I got up to let Kira out around 7:00a and as soon as I walked into the living room, the cat odor hit me. Barnabas had pissed on the sofa and the remaining decorative pillow. I am getting tired of his destructive behaviour. He has destroyed the furniture by ripping one of the pieces to shreds. He "marks" Kira's bed if he gets in my room, so I have to keep the door shut. He marks her pillow by the door, so she had to lay on the bare tile only. I wash the pillow and put it down and he will pee on it within 24 hours. He will pee in laundry baskets of clean clothes, and he has ruin my two rugs that I've had in the kitchen. I like to have a rug in the kitchen, I can't have that anymore because he pees on the them.

TUESDAY - JULY 11, 2006

Work was extreme today. I volunteered for an extra hour of overtime, so that was 11 hours straight.

11:51a – Just got up and have to leave at 12:30, so gotta rush. Such strange dreams I was having. The strangest one had me in the company of Osama bin Laden, and his people. I was their "golden child" or something. At one point I was leaving to go somewhere with them and had to stop and use a black marker to fill in some design on a table drawn on large sheets of paper. It may have been words in Arabic. Then I rode with ObL and another guy in a little MG style car. We were carrying "eggs" to some place. I don't know where it was, but they had guards with big white dogs. What a very strange dream.

12:03p – I over slept and have to leave in a half hour, so... off to the shower. I would rather go to bed.

12:24p – Showered, shaved, dressed, lunch prepared, mail checked... but not really "ready" to go. But I guess I have to.

I ended up getting stuck in the wrong lane and unable to take my exit onto West 70 on my way to work. I had to take that detour again. This time I got it right. I was delayed getting to work by a few minutes, but nothing serious.

Adelphia went live today, but I am still on the Comcast phones. I am happy to stay there quite frankly. I did not have anything to eat today, so I got a roast beef sandwich from the vending machine to tide me over. I am so tired of trying to keep handle time down, I just did not care today. I just took calls and tried to provide the expected and desired service and assistance... and let the chips fall where they may. My AHT was over 800s tonight, but... so be it.

WEDNESDAY - JULY 12, 2006

1:56a – I am watching Matrix. A great movie.

11:11a – I am so tired. Just got up. Kira is still trying to get to her feet... there she goes... I have to go let her out now.

11:13a – Time to get ready for work again. I have the next two days off and I am so glad. This job is too demeaning and demanding. If it paid decent, that would be a different story.

Another stressful 10 hour shift tonight. I had one call that was exceptionally long and upsetting. It started out fairly normal and and unexceptional. I had to have registration pushed down to the subscriber's modem. It went a bit slow, but it got done. However, she could not connect to the internet still, so I attempted to assist. I asked her to disable any antivirus programs, but she did not know if she had any running. She told me she had a "Symantec" icon in her systray, so I had her disable it. Unfortunately, as she has a slight accent, I did not realize that she was saying "Synaptec" (not "Symantec") and this turned out to be the program that controlled her mouse pointing device. I was already working well out of scope, but seriously trying to help. That is my bane with this job. She was very mad and wanted names, etc. She wanted a supervisor, and Rich took the call. He told her she needed to get a USB mouse, and she was not happy about that either. He turned the call back over to me and while she was looking for a mouse the call dropped. I don't know if she just hung up, or if something went wrong (and she thinks that *I* hung up ... which of course, I never would do). Anyway, that was the worst of about 43 calls I took tonight.

THURSDAY - JULY 13, 2006

3:29a – I got home just before 1:00a. I sat down to watch my recording of Blade (the series) and had only had about 2 beers when Ricky came knocking at the door. He has a new job selling cars and had a new car parked in the driveway. He wanted to use the phone, t'be iiw' iimds' uut' enj' aapye ny' iith' edb'oombre. Iiw' aad' ey' utg' aimte. Y'aatg' AIM' aaksr' aafy' izth' aimte! Aalyose, Y'ukt' ey' ikpeurch' aavy' iz' ikde yenge. Y'aatg' ey' aatl' aavy' umk' aany' aim' ezve! So then he wanted to take me for a ride in his "new" car (which is not his, of course). We drove down the street to his sister's house and parked. From there, we were supposed to go get some gas (loaned him $5 for gas). Unfortunately, that's where the car decided to run OUT of gas. It would not start again. I ended up walking back to the house and getting the gas can, which I had just filled with gas a couple of days ago. We pour most of this into his tank and still could not get it to start. I think it was flooded or something. By this time, I was really over the entire scene. Especially after just getting off of my third day of 10 hour shifts and looking forward to my free time. Of course, Ricky always eksme ch' utg' orf' iime nwe iih' umske (...aanj' umske!). He walked back to the house with me, had a beer (okay, he stuffed about 3 of my beers in his pocket), and went back. I don't know what his status is at the moment. I feel a bit bad about not caring more, but... I am just tired. He was not supposed to be driving that car out of the Granite City area anyway (by his own admission), so he has brought the bad times upon himself.

3:49a – Anyway, I just came back home and sat down with a few beers and finished watching my recording of Blade. So far, it is not all that great of a series. Maybe I will get into it... I hope so... it has potential.

3:51a – I suppose I should comment on current affairs in the world today. Such as Israel getting down on Lebanon for kidnapping 2 of their soldiers; the terrorist bombing of the trains in India (in "Mubai"? or however it is spelled); all the issues with North Korea and their missile testing and Nuclear threats; a new oil line through what used to be the USSR (but NOT going through Russia); and is Condie Rice going to run for President? (I hope not). Lots of issues going on in the world today. Al Gore is making himself heard in a "green" way... and I would vote for him as President in a heart beat! Anyway, I do pay *some* attention to what is going on in the world and thought I should make mention of some of it in my journal. If anyone ever reads this ... long years after my passing, they might want to know that I was aware of world issues. I have a car now, so I AM at least aware of the oil issues! The last time I bought gas it was about $3.15 per gallon! That is beyond reason in America today.

4:35a – I just started some food (leftovers) cooking for .... "supper" (or whatever this meal might be for me).

7:26p – I slept until nearly 2:00p today. Ahhh... such luxury! I heated up some more of the BBQ ribs with bean thread and onion for lunch, and that's about all I have accomplished.

I spent a good spell of time tonight copying the "The Beginning The Told" video, which is the "Genesis Story" told in the Cherokee language of Tsalagi. Here is the picture I created of the introduction of the animated movie using clips taken FROM the movie...

 

FRIDAY - JULY 14, 2006

1:33a – I am now cooking some chicken leg quarters and have cleaned up a lot of dirty dishes in the kitchen.

2:26a – I am VERY ready to go to bed and *crash* for the evening, but duties are keeping me up and awake. I am still cooking, I have a couple of leg quarters and a chunk of yucca cooking. They are done now actually, so I have them cooling and food cooking in the rice cooker now.

3:17a – Supper was excellent and I am off to bed now. Watching some stupid sci-fi movie about Raptors in some small town killing people... <sigh> ...

3:43p – Jeez... I slept until nearly 2:00p. Skip and I were going to try to go watch the new "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie today, but he can't get off early, so we may try again next week.

SATURDAY - JULY 15, 2006

I was awakened by Skip about 10:00a. I needed to leave at 10:30a. I got showered and ready in minutes and got to work more or less on time. However, they are now do a "no pre-shift" routine, which is ridiculous. That means we have to spend our own time logging in and setting up our tools, or be out of adherence. I am not working for free. I already work for peanuts. I just logged out (after being notified) and logged in at my own pace. If they want to fire me, I can use the unemployment!

Anyway, I had a record day today, and logged 58 calls. My previous high was (I think) 48 calls.

SUNDAY - JULY 16, 2006

2:08a – I watched "Phil the Alien" on DVD tonight. This was one of the STRANGEST yet surprisingly entertaining and amusing movies I have watched in a long time. I suspect it is one of those movies that require you to be "in the mood" to watch.

Skip got the lawn mowed today, and cut some overgrowth down from along side the house. To bad he did not work on the fence any more, or clean up the living room. The fence is going on a year and a half now. The livingroom is a disaster and it is mostly his doing.

Meanwhile, I got two loads of laundry done and one load (which was souring in the washer) dried and put away. This was more stuff that Skip and/or myself had washed due to Barnabas pissing on it.

2:12a – Anyway, I have supper nearly done. I made some bratwurst meat with potatoes. I mixed in some onion, bell pepper, and mushrooms. I poured a can of mushroom soup on top, and added some seasonings, including fried scallions.  Time to go eat now I suppose. (I've had too much beer considering how early I have to get up).

2:50a – I am off to bed now... thinking very strongly of finally leaving the Tsalagi group on Yahoo. I am tired of trying to make people adhere to a rule or standard. I think I will just turn the group over to Dortha and Ron and bow out. I am just tired of dealing with it.

Work was about as usual. I took about 25 or so calls today and had to go into pre-shift and move to another desk due to the "ghetto gang" around me making so much noise around me that I could not do my job. Yelling and using profanity... I don't see how they are allowed to keep their jobs. Unfortunately, I really do know. I see it. There are all members of the black community and management is afraid to say anything because of fear of the the "racial card" being played. I have literally heard this being said. Meanwhile, *I* have to mess up my scores and move to another desk, just to keep the noise and profanity from being heard by my customers. It is not right. Just NOT.

MONDAY - JULY 17, 2006

1:20a – I am watching one of the videos I got the other day...."Ultra Violet." So far.... no too bad.

11:28a – I want to stay in bed so badly, but I have to go to work. I need to try to leave early so I can run by the store and get Kira some food. She is out.

Work was very frustrating this afternoon. The place was a madhouse. My TTS program would not work and was causing me to be in aux-work (unable to take calls) for extended periods while I waited for the program to unfreeze. Meanwhile, the Mod Desk would beep my phone every 30 seconds (meaning "get back to work"). My Team Lead is still in training and I have not spoken with him in weeks. I tried to find someone to find out what was going on, but everyone was too busy. Chuck came by and indicated he would be needing my desk later for a training class, so I told him I would move immediately in the hope that another machine would run better. It did not help and the problem continued. This was making me so angry, I nearly logged out and went home! It got better slowly. I just started bypassing the TTS program and made it to the end of the day. I still managed to get over 40 calls (about 48, I think), and kept my AHT under 700s.

TUESDAY - JULY 18, 2006

1:54p – I am a bad boy today. I am just so damn tired, I had to call in 2 hours tardy today. I need more sleep! I hate to do that because it comes out of my pay.

The temperature is at 92° at the moment and we are under a heat advisory. This utility bill is going to be outrageous! And I am still trying to pay the last electric bill, which I am paying in installments. I think I will have to get help from Bethany place on the next one.

Work was more chaos today. I guess I will just be thankful that I have not been pulled over to Adelphia yet. At least I am still working with Comcast and have some clue what I am doing. I hear the Adelphia tools keep locking up and that it is total chaos them. I apparently go "terminated" in TKS today. I could not log in. I better get paid for the time! I only took about 28 calls today due to all the problems I had. I could not find a seat, could not log in to TKS, then had to track down (ie, "steal") a chair. By the time I got logged in and ready to go, it was time for my first break! What a mess.

WEDNESDAY - JULY 19, 2006 1:49a – I set the VCR to record the new series "Eureka" today. I was very diligent. Even set the TV to channel 168 (Spike). Unfortunately, the program must of aired on 122 (Sci-Fi). I saw it advertised on Spike, but sometimes they advertise shows from other stations. That is confusing and messed me up. I got home after work and found that I had recorded 2 hours of Caddy Shack! So, there went my "entertainment" plans for the ... "evening." Kira is still working on her chewing that I got her a few days ago. Her teeth are getting so bad she has trouble with it. In "the old days" she would have literally eaten it in about 30 minutes!

4:47a – The temperature is down to 73°f. II am just getting around to fixing food for... 'supper' ... ? (Skip just got up and zipped into the bathroom....)

All the news lately is about the war that has broken out between Israel and Lebanon. I can understand some of the arguments and positions of both sides, but overall, I think I have to side with Israel. I don't want to do this because I am an American and that is the American position, but that is the position I find myself in. Maybe WE are too inundated by propaganda. I don't know.

5:19a – I suppose I should be off to bed now, but.... I am still cooking "supper." \

5:37a – Eek! I just look outside. It is daylight out there! And I am just getting my food ready to eat.

5:46a – I am about ready to crash, but I need to eat first. My "meal" is very interesting, consisting of coconut milk, peanuts, pork, and much more. Very tasty so far!

7:12p – We just had a storm hit us very unexpectedly. I was chatting with RD and the light flickered. Skip yelled out a complaint about it. I looked out the window and saw the tree in the front yard thrashing about wildly.

THURSDAY - JULY 20, 2006

Day #2 of my 3-day weekend and I am still stuck at home with no power and horribly hot weather. The gas tank is on empty and the stations are closed around here, so I will have to drive somewhere and find fuel. We drove to Telegraph Road in MO, but the power was out over there too! We drove on to the Westfield Mall area and finally found power and functions gas stations. However, the lines were terrible and it took us a while to get the tank filled. The price was down to $2.99, which was down from the previous price of $3.06

FRIDAY - JULY 21, 2006

We had ANOTHER major storm this morning. The total number of people off the power grid is now at about 500,000! At least the storm brought the temperature down. I was able to sleep tonight for the first time in 2 days.

The heat was terrible. The first two days were the worst. I was grateful for the second storm which brought the termperature down so I could sleep on Friday night. Wednesday and Thursday nights I just flopped around like a sweaty fish in a pan. I was so miserable and so was my 13 year old dog. At one point, around 3:00am, I took her out to the car to sit in the A/C for a while just to cool down. That was a fiasco too, since she has arthritis very bad. First she wander out into the front yard to find her chewy-bone which she remembered leaving out there. The she fell down and could not get up. At that point, the police drove by and stopped to shine the spotlight on us. I had to go help her up, in nothing but a pair of shorts with a spotlight on me in my front yard. The police drove on (probably having a good laugh), and I got Kira to the car. Of course, she is a fairly large dog and not light, so it was a struggle for me to get her into the passenger's seat without hurting her. All of this just worked up more sweat, so when I got the car started and the A/C running, I did not want to get out again!. Then I heard a tapping noise and looked out the fogged up window. At first I saw nothing, the a face suddenly loomed up in front of me like a scene from a horror movie! After nearly jumping out my sunroof, I realized it was my brother who heard the car running and came out to investigate. After we had cooled down, I got Kira back out of the car (which was even more awkward than getting her IN the car), and we went back to sweating and panting for the rest of the night.

SATURDAY - JULY 22, 2006

Skip got me up early this morning and we went to Wal-Mart. They were open, but apparently running on a generator. They had not perishable product and no A/C.

I went back to work today, but 2 hours late. The day went by quick, but I had to log out 2 or 3 times to run to the bath room.

After work, I went by JR's place and picked up Marty's generator. It took me an hour and a half to get there since I had to drive through downtown in Saturday night traffic (and some of the signals are still out in St. Louis too).

SUNDAY - JULY 23, 2006

The power came back on this morning!

I called in tardy this morning, then called again and changed my status to ABSENT. This is going to cost me money, but I just could not help it today. Life is too much of a hassle (but much better than the alternative!).

MONDAY - JULY 24, 2006

11:38a – I am up and getting ready to go to work. My schedule suggested that I will have more Adelphia training today, or maybe be taking actual phone calls. I am not looking forward to this..

5:28p – I got to work about on time today at 1:30p, but today is my first day to take Adelphia calls. I have no clue what I am doing. It took me nearly an hour to gather all the correct logins and passwords and then to successfully bring my tools up. I have taken one call so far, and it took nearly 2 hours! I was never really able to help the person despite assistance from Floor Support since none of the needed tools would work. I finally transferred the called to a local office. At least I hope I did! Then I had to move to a new location as the seat I was in was slated for a training class. Of course, by the time I go off my call, all the seats were taken and I was logged out for break. My break shows as 28 minutes as a result. I had not eaten all day and was getting light headed, so I got some peaches and a candy bar during break.

6:02p – I just completed my second Adelphia call. It was a bit less demoralizing.

6:24p – I just finished my 3rd call as Adelphia. Each call has been a fiasco. I knew this would be, but jeez... this is wearing my one last nerve down to a frazzle.

6:49p – I have been eating lunch in the break room and watching the news. The war between Israel and Lebanon (or rather Hizbu'Llah) is still going strong. Lebanon is getting smashed, and Israel is showing little mercy.

6:57 – Time to start getting logged back in as "Comcast" again. It will be a relief to know what I am doing after the first of taking AdHELLphia calls!

8:57p – I've only taken 6 calls in Comcast so far, but that's twice as many as I took in Adelphia in less than half the time. Just refilled my ice water and got a cup of coffee. I still have 3 more hours to work tonight, then I have another 3 days off. Maybe I can get something DONE on these days off. Last time the power went out and the house became a disaster. I am going to try to get the kitchen cleaned, the floor bleached, the living room put back to normal, dusting done, and maybe get the house back to something I am not embarrassed by!

9:39p – Great... now ACSR has crashed.

TUESDAY - JULY 25, 2006

12:00a – Finally! Time to go home!!

I came home and fed the "kids" and then I cleaned out the cat box and also cleaned up my old planter that had fallen and broken to pieces (in front of the cat box).

5:36a – I have not even had "supper" yet. The sun is coming up! I better get moving. I have some more grilled meat boiling with potatoes & celery

JR's Uncle Joey is in the Hospital today.

6:14p – I just learned from Marty that JR's Uncle, Joey, is in the hospital. 8:22p – I got up around 11:00a. Did not get much accomplished, but I tried to get the living room cleaned up some. I just go all my email caught up a few minutes ago. Now I am in the process of bleaching the Hell out of the bathroom to get the moldy mildew smell out that "blossomed" during our power outage. WEDNESDAY - JULY 26, 2006 5:55p – I intended to get up early today and get some housework done. Instead, I did not get up until after 1:00p.

I checked email and then Skip called and asked for a ride from the train station. We went by the store and picked up some food, came home and I am fixing some Mexican soup with pork. The day is basically wasted.

7:42p – Meanwhile, over in England, RD and her crew spent the day being very industrious. They dug up her driveway and after 3 trips of carting cement slabs to the house in the back of her car, the succeeded in lay a very nice looking driveway. I am duly impressed!

(These pictures were all taken with my old HP camera which RD now has in her possession).

THURSDAY - JULY 27, 2006

I got up earlier today, but still have been beset by such lethargy. I don't know if I am just being plain lazy, or if I have something physically wrong with, or if its depression, or what. I got basically nothing accomplished today, except for washing some bed clothes. For the third day in a row, I picked Skip up from the train terminal.

FRIDAY - JULY 28, 2006

11:41a – I slightly overslept this morning. I was tired though. Kira's belovéd floor fan died in the middle of the night and I woke up to her panting. It took me a moment to realize the fan was not working. I tried several settings and fiddle around with it while Kira looked on with concern in her eyes. I don't think I realized how much the fan meant to her until she leaned over and gave it a couple of "kisses" while I was trying to get it to work. Astonishing!

11:45a – Anyway, I have only 45 minutes to shower, shave, dress, etc., for work. Jeez... I detest this job. But, it pays the bills. Barely.

12:05p – Done with the shower. While living back in Deltona, I set my bathroom up with a black decor (in keeping with my "Klingon" theme at the time). One item I had was a black scrubby ... one of the nylon "poof ball" things for scrubbing down in the shower. I have had that thing all these years now and it was just hanging in the shower. Being black, I probably could not see the mildew/mold growing on it, but I did not use it. It has been yet another of my sentimental keepsakes. I am very bad about such things. Anyway, I decided to toss it out a few minutes ago. It's just a damn moldy scrubby, after all.

4:54p – I got to work a bit late due to terrible traffic issues. It took me nearly a half hour to get onto and across the Poplar Street bridge.

6:12p – Almost lunch time. I am not completely hating work tonight for a change. That's good.

7:00p – Back from lunch... and back to the grind.

7:38p – Have to move to another seat. These people are making a lot of noise about stuff that has nothing to do with work. grrr!

8:55p – It took me a good 20+ minutes to get all my work copied to my USB key (my TTS feedback data), find a new seat, and get logged in and working again. This will all detract from MY scores & quality while the one's who were behaving unprofessionally and making it necessary for me to move to another seat will go on with no mark against them. This is just wrong. Someone should be supervising these people and making them shut up and behave properly, go home with pink slip in hand!

9:54p – I am hold for a moment. So many things do not work here. I am having to call for help from sales and have the customer on line. I am having to listen to ComCast commercials.

10:15p – A lull in calls. A brief respite. I wish had more of them, every night!

10:42p  – Wow... lots of time between calls all of a sudden. I relish such lulls!

11:58p – I slipped into 3 minutes of preshift and am closing down in a couple of minutes.

SATURDAY - JULY 29, 2006

1:35a – Home again. I noticed Kira is having a much harder time trying to lay down. She makes several tries and seems to be halted by pain. She just laid down by me and basically collapsed. I fear I shall have to make a decision about her soon. I have never ever had to deal with the traumatic decision to have a one I love "put down," but I may not be spared that decision this time. I don't know how I can do it. Kira is m heart-light. This is almost too painful and upsetting to think about, much less put in words in my journal, but I think about this every day. She is not going to get younger and healthier. She is 13 years old and that is about as old as she could have expected to live. But I love her... I don't want to be without her... <sigh> ... I know the time is near if I make the decision or if nature takes mercy on me and steps in. I guess I will play it by ear and hope I make the best decision when the time comes.

3:49a – Off to bed. I hope I can get up in time to go to work at 11:30a tomorrow.

3:31a – My previous entry was not saved and my computer rebooted, so I will try to remember what I said...

I logged 53 phone calls today, which (I think) is a record for me. I managed not to hate work (totally) today. Kira pee'd in the hallway before I got home (that sucks). Skip and I discussed getting a carpet cleaner from his offices. I am making leftovers with the "tortilla soup" from the power outage for supper. I have worked on my sister's website much of tonight and... I THINK I made it better, but she may not agree.

SUNDAY - JULY 30, 2006

Robert Charles Vegiard, 69, of Fulton died Sunday, July 30, 2006, at his home. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 2, at Debo Funeral Home in Fulton with the Rev. Bill Nigus officiating. Burial will follow at Callaway Memorial Gardens. Family will received friends from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home. He was born Jan. 10, 1937, in Kansas City, the son of the late Elsworth N. and Alice L. Ernst Vegiard. On March 21, 1959, he married Juanita Jesse in Kansas City. She survives of the home. He received his master of divinity degree from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City. For 11 years, he served in pastorates in Ohio. For the next 25 years, he ministered as chaplain for Fulton State Hospital, retiring in March 2000 while also serving as interim pastor around the Fulton area. For the next six years, he served as pastor for Dripping Spring Christian Church near Hinton. He was a member of the Lions Club and had served as vice president. He was a member, also, of the ESPERANTO Association of St. Louis and a member of the Callaway Amateur Radio League. Robert was an Eagle Scout. He was a member of Central Christian Church in Fulton. He is also survived by two sons, Brett Vegiard and wife Diane of Fulton and Benjamin Vegiard and wife Tara of Jefferson City; two daughters, Beth Vegiard and husband Mike Josue of Liberty and Bonnie Vegiard and husband Daniel O’Connell of Kirkwood; and nine grandchildren, Adrien, Jay and Nate Vegiard, Jessica and Kaylie O’Connell, Nora, Ryan, Kayla, and Sean Vegiard. He was also preceded in death by two sisters and his stepmother. In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to Central Christian Church, Dripping Spring Christian Church or American Cancer Society c/o Debo Funeral Home, 833 Court St., P.O. Box 818, Fulton, Mo., 65251.

Work tonight was not as productive as last night with only 30 calls logged. Callers were mostly bitchy... maybe it's the heat? I was also two hours late to work again. I sent an email to my TL asking to NOT be scheduled for 11:30a on weekends. I have trouble making it.

Got home tonight and Skip was cooking... smelled good. Very garlicky!

MONDAY - JULY 31, 2006

12:35a – I just got through watching most of "Patch Adams" with Skip. Good movie. All medical students should be required to watch it! 1:54a – Off to bed! No work tomorrow... boy do I need the rest!! 12:15p – I slept until nearly noon today. I sure did need it!

 

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