One of the reasons I gave up my other blog (which I don't even remember the name of now) was because it had really degenerated into a pity party of which I was the only guest. Although granted there has been some whining in this blog, I hope there's been more to it than that.
My point? Well, no point really. I just wanted to get that off my chest. And maybe to re-state my promise to keep the whining to a minimum (which some days is much harder to do than others).
Now that that's over with, I want to tell you a story. This is the story of a couple of girls I work with. Let's call them Ava and Bee. Ava and Bee are friends, best friends as it were.
Things were going good for them. Though both divorced, with children, each had a man in her life. Ava was engaged and Bee's man had her and the kids move in with him.
Time passed. Bee's man had a change of heart. He couldn't deal with her three teenagers after all. Bee found a new place to live and Ava and her fiance were drafted to help her move.
Moving day came and Bee unlocked the door of her new home . . . only to be greeted by a flood of water. While the house had been empty the water had been turned off. Add to this a cold snap and you get burst pipes.
This is the part I want you to think about. What would you do, not in Bee's place, but Ava's?
Remember that Bee has three teenagers. She also has three cats, two kittens and two Alaskan Malamutes.
Would you calculate how much room was in your basement and offer to take Bee and the kids in until she could come up with some other solution?
Would you offer to lend moral support to Bee as she drove back to the boyfriend to tell him it would be awhile before he was rid of her?
Would you hesitate only briefly, until Bee's crying got to you, and offer to take her and the kids in?
Would you breathe a sigh of relief that the insurance would pay for Bee and her family to stay in a hotel while the repairs are made to the house?
Or would you do something else? Think about it. I'll tell you what happened on Friday's post.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Serious Sunday
I think I need to come up with themes for the various days of the week. I haven't posted since Tuesday, but that's because I haven't really been doing anything exciting. Maybe having a theme for each day would help inspire me.
I woke up today in time to enjoy a thick, but softly falling, snow. It's sunny now so it's probably going to melt away, but it was really beautiful at the time. I find that my mood for the day tends to be set within the first hour or so of getting up. So today colour my mood good.
The writing is . . . going. I can't say it's going really well, but it is going. I've been working on Driving Into Forever, doing some serious editing. So far I've added about 1,000 words to it. One thousand down, nineteen thousand to go.
One thing that is really helping with the writing, I figured out how to disable the touch plate on my laptop. In theory the touch plate is a good idea. However, it's centered just below the keyboard and my thumbs keep dropping down and accidentally hitting it. I'll be typing away and then suddenly I'm typing in a completely different place. It's like the cursor had a mind of it's own. Now, we're good to go.
I woke up today in time to enjoy a thick, but softly falling, snow. It's sunny now so it's probably going to melt away, but it was really beautiful at the time. I find that my mood for the day tends to be set within the first hour or so of getting up. So today colour my mood good.
The writing is . . . going. I can't say it's going really well, but it is going. I've been working on Driving Into Forever, doing some serious editing. So far I've added about 1,000 words to it. One thousand down, nineteen thousand to go.
One thing that is really helping with the writing, I figured out how to disable the touch plate on my laptop. In theory the touch plate is a good idea. However, it's centered just below the keyboard and my thumbs keep dropping down and accidentally hitting it. I'll be typing away and then suddenly I'm typing in a completely different place. It's like the cursor had a mind of it's own. Now, we're good to go.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Coincidence? Or is it?
Several years ago I went to a Tarot reader who was a friend of a friend. I don't remember much about the reading, other than the fact she was pretty accurate about several things.
On the way out the door she gave me a quote she had taped to her fridge. After reading it she told me to keep it because it was "meant" for me.
Fast forward to the present day where I re-discovered the quote in a pile of papers I was sifting through in my office:
A Challenging Perspective
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the Glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our our fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
Marianne Williamson
A Return to Love; Reflection o the Principles of a Course in Miracles
Interesting coincidence, isn't it?
On the way out the door she gave me a quote she had taped to her fridge. After reading it she told me to keep it because it was "meant" for me.
Fast forward to the present day where I re-discovered the quote in a pile of papers I was sifting through in my office:
A Challenging Perspective
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the Glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our our fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
Marianne Williamson
A Return to Love; Reflection o the Principles of a Course in Miracles
Interesting coincidence, isn't it?
Monday, January 21, 2008
WTF!?!
Okay, I want to know what happened to all that "good luck" that was supposed be be headed my way? Today was certainly not an example of good luck. In fact, the expression if it wasn't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all comes to mind.
The customers today were getting a jump on the full moon. Everybody wanted discontinued promotions, and when they couldn't have them they kept chatting anyway, jacking up my chat time. At least I didn't get the woman who chatted in to technical support asking how she could meet people. I kid you not.
My longest chat of the day came just before quitting time. I was 20 minutes late leaving. But I made it to the railway crossing just in time for a humongously long freight train that was inching along the tracks. When it came to a complete stop I turned around and cut through the industrial park. When I got back onto the road on the other side of the tracks the train was still sitting there!
I got supper made just under the wire and sent the husband off to bowl. Then I decided to check out what I've been missing on the internet. Oh, did I forget to mention I couldn't get onto the internet yesterday?
Remembering my cognitive therapy I turned a negative into a positive. Instead of looking at it as not being able to surf from the living room, I looked at it as not being able to fritter my time away on the internet when I should be writing. And lo and behold, I got some writing done. Not a lot, but more than I've done lately.
Tonight I came down to my office and plugged directly into the lap top. Still no internet.
No biggie, I used to work tech support. I powercycled. No connection. I checked my settings - everything was perfect. No connection. I checked the cables to make sure everything was plugged in tightly. No connection. I bypassed the router and plugged directly into the modem. No connection. As a last resort I switched ethernet cables (no mean feat in itself as it involved crawling around under the dark, cat-hair filled desk). Finally, I got a connection.
Why am I hearing the Beach Boys singing ". . .let's go surfing now . . ." in my head?
The customers today were getting a jump on the full moon. Everybody wanted discontinued promotions, and when they couldn't have them they kept chatting anyway, jacking up my chat time. At least I didn't get the woman who chatted in to technical support asking how she could meet people. I kid you not.
My longest chat of the day came just before quitting time. I was 20 minutes late leaving. But I made it to the railway crossing just in time for a humongously long freight train that was inching along the tracks. When it came to a complete stop I turned around and cut through the industrial park. When I got back onto the road on the other side of the tracks the train was still sitting there!
I got supper made just under the wire and sent the husband off to bowl. Then I decided to check out what I've been missing on the internet. Oh, did I forget to mention I couldn't get onto the internet yesterday?
Remembering my cognitive therapy I turned a negative into a positive. Instead of looking at it as not being able to surf from the living room, I looked at it as not being able to fritter my time away on the internet when I should be writing. And lo and behold, I got some writing done. Not a lot, but more than I've done lately.
Tonight I came down to my office and plugged directly into the lap top. Still no internet.
No biggie, I used to work tech support. I powercycled. No connection. I checked my settings - everything was perfect. No connection. I checked the cables to make sure everything was plugged in tightly. No connection. I bypassed the router and plugged directly into the modem. No connection. As a last resort I switched ethernet cables (no mean feat in itself as it involved crawling around under the dark, cat-hair filled desk). Finally, I got a connection.
Why am I hearing the Beach Boys singing ". . .let's go surfing now . . ." in my head?
Saturday, January 19, 2008
The More Things Change . . .
As you know, I'm the head paver of the road of good intentions (you know, the one that goes straight to hell).
I started out today with an episode of Clean Sweep (for inspiration). Since I'm a multi-tasker I also had my breakfast and made out a list at the same time.
First thing on my list was to finish shovelling out my office. It helped that the daughter took most of her stuff that had been stored in there with her to London, but in the process she uncovered a few boxes of my stuff that had to be dealt with. Four hours later and it's just marginally better than it was. However, I came up with a plan for more shelf space in there. Dare I hope I'll finally be able to find a home for all my books?
And in case you're wondering, the whole reason I started with getting my office cleaned out was so that I could write in there with a clear conscience.
Believe it or not I have been experiencing the urge to write, too bad it doesn't involve one of my current works in progress.
*sigh*
I started out today with an episode of Clean Sweep (for inspiration). Since I'm a multi-tasker I also had my breakfast and made out a list at the same time.
First thing on my list was to finish shovelling out my office. It helped that the daughter took most of her stuff that had been stored in there with her to London, but in the process she uncovered a few boxes of my stuff that had to be dealt with. Four hours later and it's just marginally better than it was. However, I came up with a plan for more shelf space in there. Dare I hope I'll finally be able to find a home for all my books?
And in case you're wondering, the whole reason I started with getting my office cleaned out was so that I could write in there with a clear conscience.
Believe it or not I have been experiencing the urge to write, too bad it doesn't involve one of my current works in progress.
*sigh*
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Stuff
I'll let you in on a little secret. I have been totally off my medication since before Christmas.
It probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, going off my meds right before the season of high stress, and right before I changed to a day shift, but I'm not sorry I did it.
My doctor and I had discussed me going off my meds in the summer time, or at least cutting back on them, but every time I tried bad things would happen. But this fall I started feeling more depressed. The medication wasn't doing its job any more, so why keep taking it?
I have a prescription for a different medication, but I haven't filled it yet. I'm feeling better than I have in a long time. The best part is, I'm getting the urge to write again.
I was in London this weekend visiting the Kids (the daughter and the daughter's boyfriend) and on the way home I got an idea for a new story. Three hours on the 401 gives you lots of time to think, and by the time I got home I had it all worked out from start to finish.
Go me!
It probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, going off my meds right before the season of high stress, and right before I changed to a day shift, but I'm not sorry I did it.
My doctor and I had discussed me going off my meds in the summer time, or at least cutting back on them, but every time I tried bad things would happen. But this fall I started feeling more depressed. The medication wasn't doing its job any more, so why keep taking it?
I have a prescription for a different medication, but I haven't filled it yet. I'm feeling better than I have in a long time. The best part is, I'm getting the urge to write again.
I was in London this weekend visiting the Kids (the daughter and the daughter's boyfriend) and on the way home I got an idea for a new story. Three hours on the 401 gives you lots of time to think, and by the time I got home I had it all worked out from start to finish.
Go me!
Friday, January 11, 2008
Post BD Quiz
Well, my birthday was over 45 minutes ago. I was going to take my actual birthday off from work but figured why take Thursday off when you could take Friday instead and have a three day weekend. Which is why I'm sitting here surfing the net instead of sleeping.
It's been a while since I've posted a quiz, but when I saw this one I just couldn't resist.
It's been a while since I've posted a quiz, but when I saw this one I just couldn't resist.
You are The Moon
Hope, expectation, Bright promises.
The Moon is a card of magic and mystery - when prominent you know that nothing is as it seems, particularly when it concerns relationships. All logic is thrown out the window.
The Moon is all about visions and illusions, madness, genius and poetry. This is a card that has to do with sleep, and so with both dreams and nightmares. It is a scary card in that it warns that there might be hidden enemies, tricks and falsehoods. But it should also be remembered that this is a card of great creativity, of powerful magic, primal feelings and intuition. You may be going through a time of emotional and mental trial; if you have any past mental problems, you must be vigilant in taking your medication but avoid drugs or alcohol, as abuse of either will cause them irreparable damage. This time however, can also result in great creativity, psychic powers, visions and insight. You can and should trust your intuition.
What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Life & Death
Right now I'm kinda leaning towards the latter. I've still got this bug that has sucked every vestige of energy out of me as well as other, assorted side-effects. I feel queasy if I eat, I feel queasy if I don't eat. Blah!
Okay, finish your cheese, the whine is over.
Check this out fellow Capricorns. Several different sources all say the same thing:
Capricorn (Dec. 22 - Jan. 19)
No sign more than you appreciates being prepared: you have a long-range view of life, and you plan for a rainy day. This year not only encourages you to prepare but also makes it doable. During the next 12 months, two wonderful changes will make a dramatic difference in your life. For the first time in 12 years, lucky Jupiter is in your sign -- this means that you'll be lucky! The gods are with you for 2008, bringing you excellent opportunities. Meanwhile, back at the drawing board, you see exactly what you want to achieve -- it's almost within your grasp. Now is the time to further your training, travel or do whatever you can to enhance your chances for your destined success, which is about two years away -- it's all up to you!
Okay Fates or Lady Luck or whoever, any time now would be good.
A friend sent me this link and it is really cool! This isn't the typical what happened on the day you were born, it's a little more cosmic than that. Check out the Birthday Calculator
And what is life without death? So for the morbidly curious I also have the Death Clock so you can check out when you're going to die.
Okay, finish your cheese, the whine is over.
Check this out fellow Capricorns. Several different sources all say the same thing:
Capricorn (Dec. 22 - Jan. 19)
No sign more than you appreciates being prepared: you have a long-range view of life, and you plan for a rainy day. This year not only encourages you to prepare but also makes it doable. During the next 12 months, two wonderful changes will make a dramatic difference in your life. For the first time in 12 years, lucky Jupiter is in your sign -- this means that you'll be lucky! The gods are with you for 2008, bringing you excellent opportunities. Meanwhile, back at the drawing board, you see exactly what you want to achieve -- it's almost within your grasp. Now is the time to further your training, travel or do whatever you can to enhance your chances for your destined success, which is about two years away -- it's all up to you!
Okay Fates or Lady Luck or whoever, any time now would be good.
A friend sent me this link and it is really cool! This isn't the typical what happened on the day you were born, it's a little more cosmic than that. Check out the Birthday Calculator
And what is life without death? So for the morbidly curious I also have the Death Clock so you can check out when you're going to die.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Happy New Year!
Have you made your resolutions yet?
I haven't. Why bother making something I know I'm only going to break?
I hear resolution and my mind thinks revolution. An uprising in my psyche, truly a revolting situation.
However, that being said I have to admit that the beginning of the new year is a good time for fresh beginnings.
This is the time to start sloughing off bad habits and maybe gain a few good ones. A perfect time to make changes, like eating healthier and trying to fit exercise into my life.
Less gaming and more writing.
Organization for all!
I haven't. Why bother making something I know I'm only going to break?
I hear resolution and my mind thinks revolution. An uprising in my psyche, truly a revolting situation.
However, that being said I have to admit that the beginning of the new year is a good time for fresh beginnings.
This is the time to start sloughing off bad habits and maybe gain a few good ones. A perfect time to make changes, like eating healthier and trying to fit exercise into my life.
Less gaming and more writing.
Organization for all!
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