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Sir_Cat's Live Journal
Jul. 27th, 2010
04:00 pm - My Information Post
( EXTRA! EXTRA! Read All About Me! )
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accomplishedJul. 4th, 2009
04:15 am
Happy 4th of July all. If you go out to celebrate, have fun but be safe. I'm sure there'll be a lot of idiots out there. Don't be one of them.
I'll be at work.
~~~
My friend Leslie didn't make it to the winner's spot in the Hot Mom's contest Mix 96.9FM was holding. But I tried. And thank you to anyone who may have voted.
~~~
It tried to rain yesterday evening, but didn't do much at all. I got a trace in my rain gauge here at home. Probably about the same at work. I was watching the clouds from 5pm when I got to work till dark, and although there were some promising buildups, it looked like they hit a patch of dry air over north Phoenix and just disappeared...There was a severe thunderstorm warning in effect for the East Valley at one point though. So once again, the East Valley got to play but the West Valley didn't.
~~~
My front wheel bearings went bad on my truck, and finally gave up completely Wednesday. Called my mechanic and they sent a tow truck out to my home to get my truck. It only took them a day to get it fixed, but I had to wait til Friday to pick it up 'cause I had no ride to the shop when it was done. $650 later...front wheel bearings, front brake job, plus tighten the radiator drain plug and the fuel inlet to the carb both of which were leaking, and the cost of the tow. Labor, shop charge, taxes...
It's annoying, but it's to be expected with a 23 year old vehicle. One of these days maybe I'll replace it.
~~~
I've located and friended 16 distant cousins so far on my dad's side of the family on Facebook and MySpace. I've also located and friended 3 first cousins so far from my mom's side of the family all on Facebook. Still waiting on several more confirmations between FB and MS.
I've worked on my family tree off and on since I was a teen if not before. I have my dad's side of the tree posted online, and I share the link with each of the distant cousins I contact. I plan on posting my mom's side of the family tree in the near future.
~~~
I think that's all for now. Take care all.
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okayJun. 23rd, 2009
04:05 am
So my friend Stacy didn't make it to the next round of voting, however Leslie did. If you follow the link below, it will take you directly to her page where you can vote for her from today untill the 26th, when the current round ends. (Hopefully, she'll make it to the next round.) 1 vote per day, per computer/email address. (IP addresses are logged to prevent vote fraud.)
As I said previously, if she wins the contest, the central AC system will go to their mom. Thank you.
http://www.mix969.com/pages/hot-moms/vo
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hopefulJun. 22nd, 2009
02:22 pm - Cool
Amazing volcano photo shows shock wave
Image from space shows several phenomena that occur early in eruption
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3149180
An amazing new picture from space reveals a volcanic eruption in its earliest stage, with a huge plume of ash and steam billowing skyward and creating a shock wave in the atmosphere.
Sarychev Peak on Matua Island is one of the most active volcanoes in the Kuril Island chain, northeast of Japan.
The new photo was taken June 12 from the International Space Station. NASA says volcano researchers are excited about the picture "because it captures several phenomena that occur during the earliest stages of an explosive volcanic eruption."
Read more at the link above.
geekyJun. 21st, 2009
05:10 am - Help me help two friends.
Help me help two friends. Go to: http://www.mix969.com/pages/hot-mom
Leslie is one of the day bartenders and Stacy is the Saturday night bartender at Connolly's. I've barbacked for them both. (Leslie has worked nights to cover for others.)
Like I said, if either one wins, the central AC goes to their mom, so it's for a good cause! Just follow the rules, one vote per day, per computer/IP address, per email address. I don't want either being disqualified. Thank you!
hopefulJun. 5th, 2009
12:25 pm - One flew over the cuckoo's nest...
So I met a girl last night who actually thinks I'm cute.
Besides the fact that she was drunk, she may or may not be engaged. (Quote: "I'm engaged but I'm not. My dad actually bought the ring.")
And that makes me think that she may or may not be a nutcase.
Or maybe it's just the alcohol she had drank coupled with her being a blonde...
Why can't I just meet a nice girl next door-type who thinks I'm a nice guy?
*Sigh*
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cynicalMay. 25th, 2009
03:20 am - Happy Memorial Day
I want to say thank you to our veterans for their service on this Memorial Day. It is greatly appreciated.
My dad was in the USCG from 1964-1968, serving on the USCGC Halfmoon, at the Sandy Hook, N.J. Coast Guard base, and the Roamer Shoal lighthouse in New York Harbor. His brother retired from the USAF at Malmstrom AFB, Great Falls, Montana, having worked on ICBM's most of his career. I think their dad was in the USCG Reserve in the 1940's, but I'm not positive. A couple of my dad's cousins were USN. (2 or 3 generations in that branch of the family.)
My mom's dad earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star serving in the U.S. Army during WWII.
~~~
May's weather here has been unusual. We had a record-tying, if not record-breaking (for the month of May), string of 14 consecutive days of 100+ degree temperatures. This was followed by 3 or so days of monsoon-like weather.
I had 0.29" of rain in my rain gauge the 21st-22nd. (One of the weather forecasters on KTVK-TV3 called it the "May-soon".)
I think it was last Monday evening, the winds caused a couple second power outage at the store. Probably crossed a couple of power lines which tripped a fuse in the power company system somewhere. Fortunately it didn't last long.
We're looking at mid-90's today.
~~~
I think my alternator has gone and fried. I'm not sure if Checker will be open today, but my mom is off work so I'll be using her car once again to get to and from work this evening. (I'll be working from 5-11pm.) I don't have the right tools to remove it, so I gotta wait till a friend is available to help me with it anyway.
~~~
Nothing else really to mention. I guess that's it for now. Have a good day all. Enjoy your barbeques, pool party's, or whatever way you're gonna celebrate the holiday, but remember to take a minute or two to remember our veterans, especially those who gave their lives for our country.
okayApr. 20th, 2009
03:55 am - Here's Johnny!
Hi all.
No I haven't dropped off the face of the earth. Just haven't been posting. Tried to post an update one day last month on MySpace and was going to copy it to here, but MySpace decided to be stupid and lost it, and I was just too frustrated to try again that day. And I just haven't gotten around to trying again untill now. So I'm going to try posting here 1st, then copy it to MySpace, and see if that works better.
~~~
Anyway, let's see...I last posted Feb. 24th. Mom's doing ok. She now has a CPAP machine due to sleep apnea that was putting a strain on her heart that she didn't need. But the cats won't sleep with her now because they're afraid of the hose for some reason.
She ended up spending 2 weeks in Nogales for work, (with a weekend off at home) and made it home safely without incident both times. I think 2 other employees are supposed to go down soon if not already there.
(The local CBS station here had recently done a series of stories on our border issues, capping with a hour-long special last Wednesday evening, and during the series of reports, a reporter and cameraman spent a day in Nogales, Mexico with the police there. There were 5 gun battles in one day between rival drug cartels and/or between cartels and police while they were there. In case any of you were wondering why I wasn't happy about my mom being down there.)
Anyway, she's home and safe.
~~~
My brother just passed his 3 years clean and sober date. I'm very proud of him for that. It wasn't all that long ago that we hated each other.
~~~
I can't recall what day it was, but during the last week of Feb or maybe the 1st week of March we had some rain 1 day, and I had 0.06" in my rain gauge. Saturday the 11th, the day before Easter, I had 0.45" in my rain gauge. We've had several cold fronts move through the state in recent weeks, bringing windy weather, but only that one day of rain here. We had lows in the 40's middle of last week, and now we're forecast to hit 100 by Tuesday. The average 1st 100 degree day is something like May 13th. I prefer the cooler, windy, and wet weather myself. Even if the wind does aggravate my allergies. Maybe 1 of these days I'll be able to spend a year or 2 up in Oregon or Washington state and get to enjoy the rainy weather there.
~~~
Work is being stupid. They cut my hours again, saying that having worked 40 hours a week for the past almost 8 years means nothing because my position isn't protected by the union contract. They only cut 5 hours a week off my schedule, but that translates to a loss of $280 a month before taxes. Fortunately, 1 of my coworkers was actually willing to give up 4 hours a week due to her Social Security limits on the number of hours she can work a week, so I only lost those 5 hours for 1 week. I'm now at 39 hours, which is only a loss of $56 a month before taxes. Unfortunately, I have to work 6 nights a week to do it. But what choice do I really have? Work 5 nights a week and lose $280 a month, or work 6 nights a week and only lose $56 a month?
Of course I should be grateful that I wasn't 1 of the 120 employees (90 of which were in salaried, management positions) laid off last month. I knew several people who lost their jobs. And 1 of my managers knew a former store manager of hers who got laid off, and had a heart attack the Monday following. It didn't kill her, but still.
I just want to win a really nice sized jackpot in the Pick or Powerball lottery and not worry about money so much anymore. And so my mom, and my dad, and my brother and my sister (and her family) don't have to worry, either. Enough so that we can each have a couple million. So I can have a nice place to myself, and either quit Fry's or voluntarily cut back my hours. And my mom can have a nice place to herself, and quit her job that gives her so much stress, and get to visit with her parents and sisters and all back east when she wants to. And my sister and her family can do anything they may want with their place. And my brother, and my dad can do what they want as well.
I don't think that's too much to ask, is it?
*Sigh*
~~~
I think that's all for now. I'll try to post a little more frequently. It may not be much more than there's nothing of significance to post, but at least ya'll will know that I ain't dead.
Take care everyone. I hope ya'll are doing well.
accomplishedFeb. 24th, 2009
05:40 am
My mom goes to Nogales next Sunday to train the new office employees there. I was thinking it was this past Sunday she was going.
Her birthday is tomorrow. I'm taking her to dinner. Hopefully my brother can go as well.
~~~
Very early Tuesday morning the 17th, the day of mom's angiogram, we had some rain in the Valley between midnight and 2am. (Monday night/Tuesday morning.) It rained at Connolly's while my friends and I were there after work Monday night, and there was some large puddles of standing water in the flood control channel/green belt at the hospital in Scottsdale when my family and I got there as well.
But I'm not sure I could even claim a Trace in my rain gauge here at home. There were some droplets of water on the sides of the tube, but nothing at the bottom. Oh, well.
~~~
Off to bed. Have a good day all.
blahFeb. 22nd, 2009
03:55 am
So my mom's angiogram went well. And no stent was needed. They'll modify her meds a bit, and continue to monitor her heart, but so far so good.
My sis, brother-in-law, nephew, brother and I all went. Sis and BIL got someone to watch the other kids. I was 2 hours late to work, but they knew about it ahead of time and weren't bitching about it. I worked 6:15-12:15. My brother stayed here a couple days as well, to help me keep an eye on her.
Now I'm just gonna worry about her being down in Nogales next week to help train the new office people there...
~~~
THE THEORY OF INTELLIGENCE:
"Well you see, Norm, it's like this...A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members."
"In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Now, as we know, excessive intake of alcohol kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. And that, Norm, is why you always feel smarter after a few beers."
eh...Feb. 14th, 2009
07:05 pm
Happy Valentine's Day
Not that I have anyone to share it with. Or ever did for that matter...
~~~
My mom is scheduled to have an angiogram done next Tuesday afternoon. They want to check for a possible blockage in one of the arteries that supplies blood to the heart itself. They know one artery is already completely blocked and probably has been most of her life apparantly. Cappillaries coming off a 2nd, the one they want to check, have been supplying blood to the portion of the heart that the blocked artery cannot. If that 2nd artery becomes blocked, then there's a serious problem. If they find a blockage, they'll put a stint in it right then and there, and she'll stay overnight. If not, they'll just continue to monitor it, and she can go home the same day.
I'll be late to work, although work doesn't know it yet. I'm the only one available to drive her to and from.
Prayers please? I don't know if this is considered a minor or major procedure, but Murphy's Law seems to apply to this family more often than not.
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worriedJan. 30th, 2009
07:35 pm
Being on vacation, I've grown out my mustache and goatee again. I tried to post a pic of me with it on mysapce and make it my default so everyone could see it even though my profile is private, 'cause I wanted ya'll to vote as to whether or not I keep it, or shave it before I go back to work Sunday afternoon. But it won't work and I don't have time at the moment to futz around with it.
If you have a cell and can recieve pics I can send it to you. Just let me know in a comment with your number, and I'll send it. (Or text me if you have my number.) Or I can send it to your email address. Again, leave it in a comment and I'll send it to you. (Comments are screened for your privacy.) Another option is email me, my address is viewable by friends only in my profile here.
So far, I have 4 votes to keep it, and I have 3 votes to shave it.
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curiousJan. 26th, 2009
08:40 pm
If I'm coming down with a cold on my vacation, when I want to go visit friends in Vegas on Wednesday, I'm gonna shoot myself.
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sickJan. 25th, 2009
04:10 pm
It rained twice this past week. Thursday evening I had 0.14" and Saturday morning I had 0.04".
~~~
Went to my friends Josh and Kristina's wedding yesterday too. It was very nice. Beautiful weather for an outdoor wedding. I rode with Erin and her boyfriend Nate. Most of the guests outside of family were Fry's employees from various stores Josh and Kris work(ed) at.
~~~
Now I'm on a vacation for the week. Will probably do an overnight trip to Vegas to visit friends up there mid-week. Other than that I have no other plans but to just hang out here.
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lazyJan. 18th, 2009
10:25 pm
So sometime around 2-3pm today, my brother-in-law Bill managed to wreck his motorcycle on a curve near his home in Camp Verde. They took him to the hospital there and decided that he needed to be flown to one of the trauma centers down here in Phoenix. Most likely just as a standard precaution due to the possibility of severe injuries.
My sister called my mom about 3:25 right after I left for work, and mom called me just as I got to work at 3:40 or so.
I told my managers I'll clock in but may not be able to stay all that long. My battery was in the red at this point. (I had sent a mass text asking for prayers right after mom called me.) I ended up texting my sister giving her the store number in case she needed to get ahold of me and my phone was dead. She called right away and asked me to just be there for support. So I clocked out after just under an hour being on the clock, came home, changed, grabbed something quick to eat, and mom and I went to the hospital.
Most of his family was already there when we got there. We went up to his room and we all got to visit. He didn't break anything, thankfully, and although he wasn't wearing a helmet, he only had a bump and some scrapes on his head, along with all the roadrash and various other cuts, bumps and bruises, he didn't have any serious trauma. He also bit his tongue when he bit it (dark humor there...) but only put a real good gash in it. He didn't bite through it. He doesn't remember the accident, or the helicopter flight.
We figured he'd be spending the night, but the doc let him go about 9pm I guess it was. His dad and my sister took him home, and mom and I came home. Personally I think they should have kept him overnight for observation.
He's gonna be hurting for awhile. And he hasn't been working much either. 1 day last week was all he got. (He's a trucker.)
So, I'd like to ask for prayers for him and my sister and the kids.
indescribable10:05 pm
This is a joke that is supposed to bring you luck. (And I need all the luck I can get. - John)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
An elderly woman walked into the Bank of Canada one morning with a purse full of money. She wanted to open a savings account and insisted on talking to the president of the Bank because, she said, she had a lot of money.
After many lengthy discussions (after all, the client is always right) an employee took the elderly woman to the president's office.
The president of the Bank asked her how much she wanted to deposit. She placed her purse on his desk and replied, "$165,000". The president was curious and asked her how she had been able to save so much money. The elderly woman replied that she made bets.
The president was surprised and asked, "What kind of bets?"
The elderly woman replied, "Well, I bet you $25,000 that your testicles are square."
The president started to laugh and told the woman that it was impossible to win a bet like that.
The woman never batted an eye. She just looked at the president and said, "Would you like to take my bet?"
"Certainly", replied the president. "I bet you $25,000 that my testicles are not square."
"Done", the elderly woman answered. "But given the amount of money involved, if you don't mind I would like to come back at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning with my lawyer as a witness." "No problem", said the president of the Bank confidently.
That night, the president became very nervous about the bet and spent a long time in front of the mirror examining his testicles, turning them this way and that, checking them over again and a gain until he was positive that no one could consider his testicles as square and reassuring himself that there was no way he could lose the bet.
The next morning at exactly 10 o'clock the elderly woman arrived at the president's office with her lawyer and acknowledged the $25,000 bet made the day before that the president's testicles were square.
The president confirmed that the bet was the same as the one made the day before. Then the elderly woman asked him to drop his pants etc. so that she and her lawyer could see clearly.
The president was happy to oblige.
The elderly woman came closer so she could see better and asked the president if she could touch them. "Of course", said the president. "Given the amount of money involved, you should be 100% sure."
The elderly woman did so with a little smile. Suddenly the president noticed that the lawyer was banging his head against the wall. He asked the elderly woman why he was doing that and she replied, "Oh, it's probably because I bet him $100,000 that around 10 o'clock in the morning I would be holding the balls of the President of the Bank of Canada!"
The origin of this Canadian story is unknown but it brings luck to everyone to whom it is sent. Whoever breaks the chain would definitely be unlucky.
Do not keep this letter. And do not send money. Just forward it to five of your friends to whom you wish good luck. Something good will happen to you in the next four days. If the chain is not broken, you will have good luck during the four days.
Even if all you do is make someone laugh, send it on!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
If you send this page to more than 5 people, you will have good luck for the next 5 years in addition to the luck you will have within the next 4 days.
amusedJan. 17th, 2009
01:30 am
My friend Josh and his fiance Kristina are getting married on the 24th and I got invited. I asked for and got my request for the day off from work. Josh is an assistant front-end manager at Fry's, used to be at my store which is how I know him. Kristina is also a manager at another Fry's.
I also asked for a week's vacation time the 25th-31st. I think I got that approved as well. I have no plans other than going to the wedding at this point.
~~~
So for those with an interest in football, who all are you rooting for to go to the Superbowl?
Mom and I are split over Sunday's Cardinals-Eagles game down here, being from the Philly area but liking the Arizona/Phoenix teams too. We figure we'll root for whoever is winning at that moment. LOL (It starts at 1pm AZ time, so I'll only be able to watch till 3-3:15pm when I have to go to work. I don't know how long it'll actually go.)
A Pennsylvania Superbowl, east vs. west (Eagles vs. Steelers) would be cool, but at the same time I'd like to see the Cardinals get there.
The consensus seems to be (from what I've heard on the news) that it'll be the Cardinals and Steelers in the Superbowl, and the Steelers will win it. Guess we'll see.
I think that's all for now. Have a good day all.
okayJan. 15th, 2009
06:05 pm
Did I forget to mention that back on the 6th, we had an armed robbery of our pharmacy? Guy got oxycontin. Nobody was hurt. It happened before I got to work, fortunately.
~~~
Our high was 79 today.
Hope everyone else is staying warm, and not slip-sliding all over the roadways...
*Evil Grin*
okayJan. 12th, 2009
01:50 am
Sunday Jan. 4th, I had 0.10" of rain in my gauge.
~~~
Just after 3am Friday morning, my sister and brother-in-law show up here. Their marriage is in trouble. Hence my previous post. They need marriage counseling. The kids, especially my eldest (step)-niece, need some kind of counseling. Or it's only gonna get worse. And there's not a damned thing mom or I can do...
~~~
Saturday night at work, first we had some guy trying to sell his food stamp card for cash to customers in the store. That's highly illegal, and he was told he can't do that. So he goes outside and continues to try to do it. We call the cops, and when they search him, they find 6-7 pair of sunglasses on him that he had just stolen from us as well. Although selling your food stamp card is supposed to be a felony, they just do a cite and release on him. That was at about 8pm.
Around 11pm, while hearing and seeing several cop cars running lights and siren to some incident nearby, we have a 1 second power failure which of course screws up the checkstands and they have to be reset. Which pisses off a couple of customers who storm out of the store. Oh, well. Cry me a river.
We then come to find out that the police incident is a shooting in the townhomes next door to the store. I saw 4-5 ambulances come and go with lights and sirens, so it had to be a multiple shooting. And a customer told us there was at least 1 body over there.
It takes some 30 minutes for our parking lot lights to come back up when the power goes out. So the neighborhood is cordoned off by the cops who I assume were still looking for the shooter, and our lot is dark...the girl who was out collecting shopping carts is told to forget it and get inside once we figure what's going on. But she had been out there for nearly 20 minutes before we did find out.
~~~
Sunday night, some drunk guy allegedly makes some sexual comments to an adult woman and her mom. The daughter gets bent out of shape, and asks if we have security, which we don't. She's unhappy that the only managers we have are 3 women. She's unhappy 'cause I'm not gonna go confront some drunk, whom she even says she's afraid may have a gun. (WTF am I gonna do?) I tell her the best we can do is call the cops, so I do. Meanwhile, 2 of the managers go talk to him, and he denies doing anything wrong. His sister comes up and confirms that he's drunk, and tells him he needs to get back in the car. He continues to argue with the managers that he didn't do anything wrong all the way out the door. The customer is unhappy that I and any other male employees didn't drag him out forcefully. (She even told 1 of the baggers that he should be ashamed of himself as a man for not doing something.) She's even more unhappy when the first cop on scene is a (*GASP*) FEMALE cop. So she refuses to go outside to talk to the cops untill male cops show up. (She even said that she doesn't believe a woman should be a cop.)
(I gotta wonder who brainwashed her that way. Her daddy or her husband? I'm sorry Princess, grow up and kick him in the balls like a real woman...)
Anyway, turns out he's got a warrant for his arrest, so he goes to jail.
~~~
Only 1 more night of the full moon, right?
pessimisticJan. 9th, 2009
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