Where are the buyers?

These purported buyers for stuff off of CL have all bailed. The desktop is still mostly busted, inasmuch as it won't connect to the internet. The model trains from eight years ago have all been repatriated, the Phaeton shrine is all in a box and waiting to be sold back out on eBay.

It's only 1800, and Guy and J1 are heading over for a while. I have cornbread in the oven, and chicken breasts go into the oven right after. John II and his friend Mike have just returned from the gym, and are fooling around in the living room.

The sheets are in the dryer, and are going on the bed in a moment. Chuck's headed home from B'ham.

a tad later

Guy and J1 have just departed. J1 fixed the desktop-ish. I need to go out there and get it going.

Big day in church tomorrow; I need to get my mind in the right place for it. John II is starting to attend church with me in the morning.

Whatever happened to Joel?

Receive/Departure Code RA Receive Date Nov 3 2006
Inmate Type JC Unit LYCHNER
FBI No. XXXXXX State ID No. XXX Texas Dept. of Corrections No.XXXX


Offense(s)

Min. Date Mar 19 2007 Max. DateJan 1 0001
Sentence Begin Date Jul 23 2006
Offense County HARRIS
Offense Cause XXXXX Max. Term (ccyymmddd)00000800
Offense POSS CS COC <1G
Offense Date Nov 16 2005
Penal Code 481115
Offense Sentence Date Oct 31 2006

Rainy Thursday

Seems that we've been having this a lot.

The rain woke me at 0330; it was hammering against the bedroom windows just next to my head. I drifted in and out with it for an hour or so, and then ninety minutes later, the clock alarm went off with the 5:59 KUHF news summary before NPR's 0600 news.

When I wandered into the kitchen a few minutes later, the mutts were in the laundry room. Somehow, the back door wasn't fully shut, it was standing open, and the mutts decided that shelter was better than none.

Nine months and they FINALLY decide to come inside. Of course, the floor was a mess. I'll not wager how much of it was rainwater and how much was .. something other. However, it's all mopped up, the laundry room smells like wet mutt, and off we go.

Off to the chiropractor!

Move me baby

My Wish for You in 2007

May peace break into your house and may thieves come to steal your debts. May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet of $200 bills. May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips! May your clothes smell of success like smoking tires and may happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be that of joy. May the problems you had forget your home address! In simple words ............ May 2007 be the best year of your life!!!

I have just found the COOLEST desk toy.

I've been working since I got home at 1500. I'm just wiped. Time to go to bed so I can get up and do it all again. I have five different appointments tomorrow. Yurg.

LORDY, LORDY, HE DID NOT SPECIFY. As if you didn’t have enough reasons to hope or pray there is not a major attack on the United States this year, Pat Robertson offers another: He says God told him there will be one, late in 2007. Unfortunately, though able to specify the time of year, God did not reveal to the good Reverend the nature of the attack. “I’m not necessarily saying it’s going to be nuclear,” Robertson told his “700 Club” audience last night. So, not necessarily, but it just might be nukes.

Robertson’s prediction comes the same week we learned that a quarter of Americans believe Christ will return to the earth at some point in 2007. Suddenly, just three days into 2007, I find myself already longing for 2008 so Robertson and the millenialists can be proved wrong … again.

LORDY, LORDY, HE DID NOT SPECIFY. As if you didn’t have enough reasons to hope or pray there is not a major attack on the United States this year, Pat Robertson offers another: He says God told him there will be one, late in 2007. Unfortunately, though able to specify the time of year, God did not reveal to the good Reverend the nature of the attack. “I’m not necessarily saying it’s going to be nuclear,” Robertson told his “700 Club” audience last night. So, not necessarily, but it just might be nukes.

Robertson’s prediction comes the same week we learned that a quarter of Americans believe Christ will return to the earth at some point in 2007. Suddenly, just three days into 2007, I find myself already longing for 2008 so Robertson and the millenialists can be proved wrong … again.

Sometimes, decisions are good ones

So, the bank/owner of the house has orally suggested that they've made their bottom line offer, and no other discussion is available.

Uh, okay. Have fun owning that beast until halfway through the next presidential term.

I feel like I have THREE do-overs going on at the same time. First, I got called back to work with John. Second, I get to buy back this house I used to live in and live in it without step-entanglements or misunderstandings. Third, when I used to live in that house, I had a ... RED PONTIAC. What a riot.

I've spent most of tonight listing stuff for sale on Craigslist. Better to sell it than move it. Already getting some interest; coming up next, model cars, sheet music, book music, model trains, the Phaeton collection .. all coming to an eBay auction near you.

Tuesday that feels like Monday

Weight Watchers has two new things; free registration this week and a
monthly pass for forty bucks - which is a BIG discount and includes
unlimited meetings and free online access. I'm going to go join ASAP.
The holiday diet disaster has affected my waistline negatively. I
also haven't really been exercising - I just am not a self-starter
when it comes to that, yet.

I'm looking at all of this crap in this house - all the barware - where did it all
come from? I hardly use any of it. I'm also thinking - how are we
all three of us going to fit into this townhouse? We'll have to move
the metal desk/computer stand to the church and what of the "free"
exercise equipment? I'm planning on selling the stainless
refrigerator and the mostly dead electric dryer on Craigslist. Heh
heh.

We took my mutts and Tyson out on leash into the front sidewalk
yesterday for a formal meeting/greeting. Barney was reasonably well
behaved, but Tyson is very jittery around both of them. Tyson tried
to lick Jackie's butt out - her tooshie was soaking wet by the time we
decided nothing further was going to develop.

No mail today, no government offices open to speak of, no nothing due to the funeral of Gerald Ford. Was it like this for R. Reagan? I don't recall.

Mentally, I'm already moved into the new place. I am focusing on the logistics of packing all this crap up and labeling it, then efficiently moving it to the new place. Another unpacking party lurks!

Fascinating article about oil here.

Today is the national day of mourning for Gerald Ford, who hailed from Grand Rapids - which was my birthplace. When I was a tot, he was first elected to the US House of Representatives. My aunt was married to the GM of Berger Chevrolet there, and they (the Ford camp) asked whether they could use my aunt's 1957 T-bird in a parade. My aunt dragged me and my sister along, and her husband cautioned: "Better not let those kids be exposed." My aunt says all along she knew we were little queers.

Turns out, that's not how it was with Jerry:

Former President Gerald Ford believes the federal government should treat gay couples the same as married couples, including providing equal Social Security and tax benefits. Ford's views, expressed in an exclusive telephone interview, make him the highest-ranking Republican ever to endorse equal treatment for gay couples.

"I think they ought to be treated equally. Period," Ford declared. Asked specifically whether gay couples should get the same Social Security, tax and other federal benefits as married couples, he replied, "I don't see why they shouldn't. I think that's a proper goal."

Here's to ya, Jerry.

This is fun

Jan. 2, 2007, 12:36AM
Just FYI: Bad bosses can do more than annoy

By BRENT KALLESTAD
Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, FLA.— For most people, it's back to work today after a holiday weekend with family and friends. And for many, a new study shows, it will be under a bad boss.

Nearly two of five bosses don't keep their word and more than a fourth bad-mouth those they supervise to co-workers, the Florida State University study shows.

Those all-too-common poor managers create plenty of problems for companies as well, leading to poor morale, lower production and higher turnover.

"They say that employees don't leave their job or company, they leave their boss," said Wayne Hochwarter, an associate professor of management in the College of Business at Florida State, who joined with two doctoral students to survey more than 700 people about how their bosses treat them.

"No abuse should be taken lightly, especially in situations where it becomes a criminal act," said Hochwarter.

Employees stuck in an abusive relationship experienced more exhaustion, job tension, nervousness, depressed moods and mistrust, the researchers found. They found that a good working environment is often more important to employees than pay, and that it's no coincidence that poor morale leads to lower production.

"They were less likely to take on additional tasks, such as working longer or on weekends, and were generally less satisfied with their job," the study found. "Also, employees were more likely to leave if involved in an abusive relationship than if dissatisfied with pay."

The results of the study are scheduled for publication in the Fall 2007 issue of The Leadership Quarterly, a journal read by consultants and managers.

The findings include:

• 37 percent of workers said their supervisor failed to give credit when due.
• 31 percent said their supervisor gave them the "silent treatment" in the past year.
• 23 percent said their supervisor blamed others to cover up mistakes.
Workers in bad situations should stay optimistic, Hochwarter said, because the supervisor will eventually move on. "You want the next boss to know what you can do for the company."

Workers should know where to turn if they feel threatened or discriminated against, he said, whether it is the company's grievance committee or finding formal outside representation.

Hochwarter also recommended how to counteract an abusive supervisor.

"The first is to stay visible at work," he said. "Hiding can be detrimental to your career, especially when it keeps others in the company from noticing your talent and contributions."

As I recall, I developed diabetes (which does NOT run in my family on either side) after having to take anti-anxiety medications to compensate for TWO bosses in a row; PJ whose management style was to shout down instructions over the cell phone while driving through McDonald's, never to commit anything to email, to deny any crazy scheme that didn't pan out as having come from her, and who took all the credit for anything good that happened. This followed immediately by another, who managed by Instant Messenger, who manipulated the business expenses of four offices to reflect that mine had no income (and therefore, I had no profit sharing,) who refused to show me any financial performance once my office became inarguably profitable, who dumped a 17 year old untrained bimbo in my lap as a paid employee (charged against my profit sharing of course,) just because she had great tits, and then tried to have me jailed after reading hereabouts what I really thought. Ah, then, from that I went into an employment/principal engagement wherein my then best friend lied to my face about their company and its prospects.

Thank God my life has moved on. Craziness. It took them this long to figure out that stress in the workplace causes health damage?

I had a conversation on NYE with Bram about psychosomatic causes of illness and he wasn't having much of it. I think I'll send this to him.

The Daffodil Principle

"What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others in this world was and is immortal.

The Daffodil Principle.....

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother, you must come to see the daffodils before they are over." I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead . "I will come next Tuesday", I promised a little reluctantly on her third call.

Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and reluctantly I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn's house I was welcomed by the joyful sounds of happy children. I delightedly hugged and greeted my grandchildren.

"Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in these clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see badly enough to drive another inch!"

My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this all the time, Mother."

"Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears, and then I'm heading for home!" I assured her.

"I was hoping you'd take me over to the garage to pick up my car."

"How far will we have to drive?"

"Oh...just a few blocks," Carolyn said. "But I'll drive. I'm used to this."

After several minutes, I had to ask, "Where are we going? This isn't the way to the garage!"

"We're going to my garage the long way," Carolyn smiled, "by way of the daffodils."

"Carolyn," I said sternly, "please turn around."

"It's all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience."

After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand lettered sign with an arrow that read, " Daffodil Garden ."

We got out of the car, each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, as we turned a corner, I looked up and gasped.

Before me lay the most glorious sight. It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it over the mountain peak and its surrounding slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, creamy white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, and saffron and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted in large groups so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers.

"Who did this?" I asked Carolyn.

"Just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on the property. That's her home." Carolyn pointed to a well kept A-frame house, small and modestly sitting in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house. On the patio, we saw a poster. "Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking" was the headline.

The first answer was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs," it read.

The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and one brain."

The third answer was, "Began in 1958."

For me, that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun, one bulb at a time, to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop.

Planting one bulb at a time, year after year, this unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived . One day at a time, she had created something of extraordinary magnificence, beauty, and inspiration. The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration.

That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time--often just one baby-step at time--and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world.

"It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn. "What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time' through all those years? Just think what I might have been able to achieve!"

My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. "Start tomorrow," she said.

She was right. It's so pointless to think of t he lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, "How can I put this to use today?"

Use the Daffodil Principle.

Stop waiting...
Until your car or home is paid off;
Until you get a new car or home;
Until your kids leave the house;
Until you go back to school;
Until you finish school;
Until you clean the house;
Until you organize the garage;
Until you clean off your desk;
Until you lose 10 lbs;
Until you gain 10 lbs;
Until you get married;
Until you get a divorce;
Until you have kids;
Until the kids go to school;
Until you retire;
Until summer;
Until spring;
Until winter;
Until fall;
Until you die...

There is no better time than right now to be happy.
Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
So work like you don't need money
Love like you've never been hurt, and
Dance like no one's watching .