A New Path

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Word came down yesterday that my job is soon to be by-by.  As a contractor I am subject to the whims of management.  They hired someone to do my job, my exact job.  I'm assuming they are paying them less, which is fine, but they could tell me that instead of making me believe I pissed someone with a long memory off and they want me to leave.  I'm worried that they didn't find the right kind of stupid for this job, but that's really not my concern, besides, who wants to work for a company that doesn't want them?  Seriously.  This is just the kick in the rump I need to get my certificate back and start tying to find a job in the medical profession.  I don't know what your opinion is about Obamacare, I love it.  It has caused an uptick for secondary testing which means more blood tests which means more need for phlebotomists.  To be fair though, I have insurance through one of my jobs so I haven't had to deal with the website or any of the Scheisters out there that are trying to make a buck on the process.  I hear it's frustrating, but in the end it will be worth it because then you can have your blood tested by me.

So here's the dilemma/opportunity this poses.  I got a not from my bank inviting me to apply for a loan.  So, they refinanced my car once and the lady told me I could do it again in a year or two to try and get a better rate (I went from 12% to 5% which I thought was pretty good).  I thought about this.  With unemployment looming in the distance I was worried about my debt.  If I could get enough on my refinance of my car to pay off the approximate $3k in debt I've accumulated it would be easier to pay one payment once a month then trying to keep track which one has the 90 day or the 180 day payment delay and one of them (PayPal Credit) will only let you defer payment on items over a certain amount so the other things that I've purchased that weren't under that amount need to be paid now.  So, I have a small window of time to decide "To Refinance or Not To Refinance".  Opinions are welcome on this topic.  Fiances scare me.  Not enough to not open credit accounts and use them confidently....

The current plan starting November 1 is as follows:

1. Get re-certified
2. Start shopping my resume for any kind of Hospital/Clinic job
3. Finish the final chapter "House of Dragons" and prepare for submission for January 1
4. Do NaNoWriMo my way and edit "Hearts of the Mothers" all the way through so it's about 60k words
5. Get a job
6. Get published
7. Make oodles of money
8. Move to Oregon/Washington and live happily ever after

What's really exciting is Mom now has a daytime caregiver that will allow me to leave the house and do this.  I only have to be at home and take care of Mom from 3:00pm and weekends.  It's going to be totally do-able! (Well, 1-5 anyway I have some control over those....yes I know control is an illusion)

There will be some belt tightening, {sigh}.  Isn't there always.  I'm going to take out the cable and put in one of those year specials from a different company that provides phone, internet and cable.  Or I'll see if having three different companies provide it is better.  Take some of the data off my phone and hopefully I won't run out before the end of the month so I can finish watching The Walking Dead on the treadmill at the gym.  I'm not giving up my gym membership, but I will be giving up the spa membership attached to it.  Sigh.  I think I'll miss that most of all.  I'll have to rely on the kindness of strangers to give me massages and facials.  If you'd like to donate to the charity of keeping me well massaged and beautiful, contact me and I'll tell you where to send the money.

Though life is a little crazy right now with the what-ifs it's still really really good and promising right now.  Wow, life has changed over the past few years.

Addicted to Addictions

Someone stop me before I go broke(er)!!!

I've known about eBay, I mean seriously, who hasn't heard about eBay?, for a while now.  I have a friend that works there and she does a great job finding tech deals which I check daily, but what really, truly draws me in are the BEADS.  I found this necklace to the left and instantly fell in love with it.  I won't pay the price for it, not when I can make it myself.  (it probably won't be this nice, but it will be me).  So, I set off looking for a labradorite pendant that flashes the blues and greens like this one does.  Labradorite can range from a dirty gray crystal with flecks of color to something this sumptuous and ethereal.  What I truly love about this stone is that it looks like a drop of water with a world frozen inside.  The wire is oxidized sterling silver, which I learned you can put shiny sterling silver in a bag with a hard boiled egg and it will oxidize it for you, they caution you not to eat the egg afterwards.  The smaller beads are 4 or 6mm faceted garnet.  The other findings I can make up as I go along, which is exactly me.

Here's the rub.  Do you know how many beads, pendants, crystals, necklaces and other doo-dads that are on eBay for a remarkable price?  I could die a happy little addict if I hadn't tallied up my costs of what I've paid for so far....$107!!!!  I could have bought the necklace for that price!  Now, don't get me wrong, most of the money is coming out of my allowance, which I can spend anyway I see fit, but still that's a lot of money for four or five labradorite pendants that I purchased and then found what I thought was the perfect one on a Buy-It-Now vendor.....and then I found the ultimate bead for my necklace, and it isn't labradorite at all....It's amethyst.  I don't think it shows well here, but if it has everything I see in it, it should suit me just fine, and amethyst has an innate power of, get this, self-control.  Boy do I need that.  I plan on putting the other pendants to use too, who know, I might inspire someone's addiction in the future with eBay being the dealer of all addictions. After all, a good addiction is a shared addiction.

If I just bought labradorite it would be one thing, but I bought more amethyst, ruby, emerald, ruby in fluorite, druzy, sea settlement jasper, jasper, and peridot and so much more....the only thing bad for the addict is the waiting for it to ship from all over the freaking world!  What addict has that kind of patience, I ask you?  I have to keep my ruler handy too, because it looks HUGE on the screen and it arrives in a flat parcel and you realize it would best fit Barbie and her skinny little friends. Grrrr.

(For those of you wondering why I've been so quiet it's because I've been so internally dead from a tsunami of emotions I was barely keeping my head above water to do my jobs.  My mom is still alive and just turned 85, my parrot is doing fine, and I am getting my creativity on.  I'm even writing again.  I'm stockpiling all these elements for when my mom goes on vacation with my sister in June and I can take over the kitchen table so I can luxuriate in the creative juices.  I'm hoping this won't be the end of the imagination train.)

It's a Conspiracy!

First let me state, I'm not paranoid.  I don't believe the government is monitoring my calls, reading my e-mail and following me around.  Maybe you if you lead a less than honorable life, but not me.  (I'm not going into the constitutionality of it, that's a whole different rant).  I'm talking about my Smart phone and the weight equipment at my gym.  Yes, I said gym.  Those of you who know me well, know that is equivalent to a swear word to most of the civilized world.  I joined Total Woman Gym & Spa and I joined both, the gym and the spa (And I'm proud to say I've used the gym now more than the spa...just for the record).

They have this equipment there from a company called Peva through Precor that has an App.  Yes, I said app.  I'm turning Apple savvy.  Anyway, you scan the QR code on the machine it tells you based on your age, your weight and your work out history how much weight and how many reps and then you can do the set of reps as many time as you want.  So, I did leg presses.  It said 100# and 12 reps.  So I did 100# and 12 reps....twice.  I felt okay, pushed a little, the muscles weren't worse for the wear, but they were cranky at me......That was Saturday. 

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and today I have been in pain.  Not just oww-I-tore-too-many-fibers-in-my-long-muscles pain but my back feels like it's going to snap at the base and my left hip (which I broke a few decades ago when I was just a wee lass) feels like it's half out of the socket.  I touch the outside of it and it hurts.  So, I'm taking something called "Pain Away" which worked great yesterday but I'm on my second dose now.  I'm a big baby when it comes to hip pain, it brings back the memories of believing I'd never walk again without pain. 

So, how is this a conspiracy......Where to begin.....

- My 'Smartphone' is supposed to be smart, it shouldn't have let me do something so dumb.
- The weigh machine is out to get me because I think I weigh more than it and so it wants me to stay away.

If this keeps happening I'll have to just use the spa services.  Dang!  I hate conspiracies.

New Years Resolutions

For those that know me I am something of a New Years Resolution fiend.  I have a theme, and how that theme will work in each facet of my life.  My theme this year is HEALTH.  And to be healthy I need to write.  So armed with that ubiquitous theme I am going to resolve to do at least two blogs a month.  I've been so self-absorbed the past year.  Literally self absorbed to the point that I've turned my insides out and I'm still trying to put things back where they belong.  Believe me,  it wasn't fun.  Maybe I'll share some of those lessons learned in the coming year, maybe I'll just share the bits and pieces that make a life worth the taxes we pay for it.  No matter what it is, please hold on, as in most of our lives, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

Feeling the Grrrrr in Disgruntled American

Okay, I get that we are in the middle of an election year.  I get that the candidates, even the president, needs to put that somewhat first on his agenda.  I get it.  I don't like it, but I get it.  What I really can't abide is a theme I keep hearing on all the news and political pundit shows:

"Nothing will get passed until after the election."

If nothing truly is going to get passed until after November then why oh why are we paying them then?  Some say it's strategy, some say it's cowardice, some say it's just politics at it's worst.  But seriously, if they aren't going to work couldn't we save some money if we put the House and the Senate along with all their staff and toadies on furlough?  That's been the solution for the smaller government groups like the States and Cities, isn't it?  I know there will still be a need to have some people there, the paper doesn't push itself.  However the rest of them that are just waiting for the Elephant or the Ass to take up residence before they do anything.  The concept is equally repugnant and mind-numbingly inane that we shouldn't have to pay for it.  Both sides are screaming for reduction in spending, here's one way they can cut the fat, trim the gristle and maybe show the voters they are willing to go from a fillet mignon diet to chicken for a few months.

This would actually be a good time to put in a reliable, secure BYOD (as in they bring their own device they've paid for instead up upgrading on the tax-payers dime) so they can be just as mobile and responsive to their constituents as we have to be to our subordinates, peers and management.  (I'm not saying we need to run the country like a business, because seriously, you can't lay off the voters).

What are my political views, you might wonder:  I'm undecided.  I call myself a free-thinker because I look at both sides, see which one can do the most good, get the most done and then I vote for the lesser of the two evils.

P.O.T.s (Pockets Of Time)

I've come to the conclusion that I will never have a stretch of time that I can write now that I'm back in the salt mines with the rest of the working world.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining.....much.  I miss being able to spend my time working on intricate plot twists, figuring out unique and un-written ways to kill people.  There's not a lot of need for that mining for nuggets of revenue in a virtual gold mine.  Between Job 1, 2, and 3, there isn't any time left for work.  Well, there is time, but my mind is completely blaaahhhh when it comes to anything creative.  Well, except sarcasm, I'm always game for sarcasm.

On Saturday last I was running late to the dentist grumbling because I had planned to spend the whole day just me.  Maybe a movie, get a manicure, do tea, a nice dinner...you get the idea, but that got changed because of family plans.  So, to my surprise and welcome my dentist had an emergency and was running way later than I was.  So, I went across the street to the SBux and got a protein drink and banana and pulled out my editing.  It hit me like a lightning bolt.  I can't have days any more, or even set hours per se, but I can carve out pockets of time.  Time to write.  Time to plot and plan and work on the exact way to kill someone where no one needs to know. In my Franklin now (Yes, I went back to a paper planner) I am penciling blocks of POTs.  No one need know what they are, I can erase them out when plans change, and they always change.  I think it was L.W. Lynett who said "The most effective way to cope with change is to help create it."  Well, I'm creating POTs for change.  This means more posting, more journal writing, more just being who I am.  I am a WRITER, and writers WRITE.

A Murder of Crows

In the Santa Clara County I was told we are over-run by crows and there is talk afoot about culling the murder (which is the proper term for a flock of crows) down to a more reasonable number.  I thought it was much ado about nothing.  Yea, I normally see five or six on my street at one time.  Crows are part of the Corvid family of birds.  Corvids are Ravens, Blue Jays and Crows.  They are the smartest birds, I would wager that there are some Ravens and even Crows out there smarter than some of our, well most of, our elected officials.  And as snarky as that sounds, you know I'm right.  "poor people just need jobs in order to stop being poor."  I read of a raven that could, on the second try, figure out how to pull up a bit of meat through an intricate set of pulleys.  Being omnivores they will clean up the roadkill faster than the street cleaners, that due to budget cuts, come once every other year it seems like (In my neighborhood anyway).

I was driving home from work and was watching the greying rainy sky wondering when the next downpour would break when I noticed several, like forty or more,  crows crossing over the freeway over to a small cluster of trees to roost for the night.  I enjoy watching birds fly with just a little green in my eyes because I've always wanted to fly like them.  I inched along with the traffic but I never took my eyes off the sky.  Forty quickly turned into eighty and then hundred and then more and more, it never seemed to end.  My mind flashed to those scenes in vampire movies when the unsuspecting dinner guests disturb Vlad's pets, blocking the moonlight in an ominous warning of pending doom.  I actually had to drive out from under the winged migration but it was still going long after I drove away.  As much as I hate the idea of killing something intelligent and beautiful, it might just be time for a murder of crows.

Violence Against Berkeley Students

My nephew witnessed the brutality he's reporting on here and I feel it needs to meet a wider audience.  Please re-post, respond, resend to anyone and everyone you can think of.  It is our right and responsibility to speak out against injustice in this country, we shouldn't be beaten into submission.  We are supposed to be living in a DEMOCRACY, aren't we? 

 

Please take 10 minutes of your time to help California students:

Although the Penn State rape scandal and Rick Perry's debate blunder dominated the news cycle this past 48 hours, there is a much more horrifying story being pushed to the side. I was on The UC Berkeley campus when STUDENTS were assaulted and beaten by UCPD and Alameda County Sheriffs. Among the many students arrested was my English professor Celeste Langan, and Nobel prize winning Poet Laureate Robert Haas. These elderly, meek professors were arrested for placing their bodies between the students and the cops batons. Somehow, that qualifies as "resisting arrest."

PLEASE DO NOT ALLOW POLICE BRUTALITY AGAINST STUDENTS TO GO UNCHECKED. I am asking that you take 10 minutes to first read the link below explaining why the students are protesting, then watch the video of the UC response. I have provided below the E-mail addresses of some people who need to know your opinion on the manner. You do not have to agree with the protestors, or even be political to be against violence. What if the small girl who is hit first in the video was your child? Look and see what happened to these kids and voice your opinion! If you don't do it, no one else will.

If you do not want to write a letter, please forward this e-mail along.

Thank you for your time,

-Patrick Gartner, Junior at UC Berkeley

Links:

1) The protest was to send a message to the UC Regents. Over the past two years, the Regents cut staff and wages, increased tuition and gave themselves raises in the mean time. Now they want to increase tuition another 81%. If that was your tax-rate, you would probably march too.

http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/2010/11/18/uc-regents-approve-some-big-salaries-along-with-tuition-hikes/

2) This is a video of police beating students. I was personally there to witness this interaction. The cops said they needed to clear the fields to take down the tents, but this is a lie. At the time this happened the tents were already down! Also, I don't see tent poles in anyone's hands.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buovLQ9qyWQ&feature=player_embedded

Voice Your Feelings as Citizens, Activists, Parents and or Tax-Payers.

 

EMAIL THE GOVERNOR DIRECTLY HERE: http://gov.ca.gov/m_contact.php

 

Addresses: Send a letter to one, some or all please! It only takes a few minutes.

EX OFFICIO REGENTS
Jerry Brown Governor of California State Capitol Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-2841 Gavin Newsom Lieutenant Governor State Capitol, Room 1114 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-8994 John A. Pérez Speaker of the Assembly State Capitol, Room 219 P.O. Box 942849 Sacramento, CA 94249 Mark G. Yudof President of the University 1111 Franklin St., 12th Floor Oakland, CA 94607-5200 (510) 987-9074	Tom Torlakson State Superintendent of Public Instruction 1430 N Street, Suite 5602 Sacramento, CA 95814-5901 (916) 319-0800 Bruce Hallett Alumni Regent (President, Alumni Associations of UC) 1111 Franklin Street, 12th floor Oakland, CA 94607 (510) 987-9220 Lori Pelliccioni Alumni Regent (Vice President, Alumni Associations of UC) 1111 Franklin Street, 12th floor Oakland, CA 94607 (510) 987-9220
APPOINTED REGENTS
Richard C. Blum Office of the Secretary and Chief of Staff 1111 Franklin Street, 12th floor Oakland, CA 94607 (510) 987-9220	David Crane Office of the Secretary and Chief of Staff 1111 Franklin Street, 12th floor Oakland, CA 94607 (510) 987-9220
William De La Pena, M.D. Office of the Secretary and Chief of Staff 1111 Franklin Street, 12th floor Oakland, CA 94607 (510) 987-9220	Russell Gould Office of the Secretary and Chief of Staff 1111 Franklin St., 12th floor Oakland, CA 94607 (510) 987-9220
Eddie Island Office of the Secretary and Chief of Staff 1111 Franklin Street 12th Floor Oakland, CA 94607 (510) 987-9220	Odessa Johnson P.O. Box 580595 Modesto, CA 95358 (209) 521-0887
George Kieffer Office of the Secretary and Chief of Staff 1111 Franklin Street 12th Floor Oakland, CA 94607 (510) 987-9220	Sherry L. Lansing, Chairman Office of the Secretary and Chief of Staff 1111 Franklin Street 12th Floor Oakland, CA 94607 (510) 987-9220
Monica Lozano Office of the Secretary and Chief of Staff 1111 Franklin Street 12th Floor Oakland, CA 94607 (510) 987-9220	Hadi Makarechian Office of the Secretary and Chief of Staff 1111 Franklin Street, 12th floor Oakland, CA 94607 (510) 987-9220
George Marcus Office of the Secretary and Chief of Staff 1111 Franklin Street, 12th floor Oakland, CA 94607 (510) 987-9220	Alfredo Mireles, Jr. Student Regent University of California, San Francisco 500 Parnassus Ave. MU-232 East San Francisco, CA 94143-0244
Norman Pattiz Office of the Secretary and Chief of Staff 1111 Franklin Street, 12th floor Oakland, CA 94607 (510) 987-9220	Bonnie Reiss Office of the Secretary and Chief of Staff 1111 Franklin Street, 12th floor Oakland, CA 94607 (510) 987-9220
Fred Ruiz Ruiz Foods, Inc. P.O. Box 37 Dinuba, CA 93618 (800) 477-6474	Leslie Tang Schilling Office of the Secretary and Chief of Staff 1111 Franklin St., 12th floor Oakland, CA 94607 (510) 987-9220
Bruce D. Varner, Vice Chair Office of the Secretary and Chief of Staff 1111 Franklin St., 12th floor Oakland, CA 94607 (510) 987-9220	Paul Wachter Main Street Advisors 3110 Main Street Santa Monica, CA 90405 (310) 392-7607
Charlene Zettel Office of the Secretary and Chief of Staff 1111 Franklin St., 12th floor Oakland, CA 94607 (510) 987-9220
REGENTS DESIGNATES
Ronald Rubenstein Alumni Regent-designate (Secretary, Alumni Associations of UC) 1111 Franklin Street, 12th floor Oakland, CA 94607 (510) 987-9220	Alan Mendelson Alumni Regent-designate (Treasurer, Alumni Associations of UC) 1111 Franklin Street, 12th floor Oakland, CA 94607 (510) 987-9220
Jonathan Stein Student Regent-designate 1111 Franklin Street, 12th floor Oakland, CA 94607 (510) 987-9220
FACULTY REPRESENTATIVES
Robert Anderson Chair, Academic Senate University of California 1111 Franklin St., 12th Floor Oakland, CA 94607-5200 (510) 987-9303	Robert Powell Vice Chair, Academic Senate University of California 1111 Franklin St., 12th Floor Oakland, CA 94607-5200 (510) 987-0711
STAFF ADVISORS
Penny Herbert Staff Advisor Program Human Resources and Benefits 1111 Franklin St., 5th Floor Oakland, CA 94607-5200 (510) 987-0217	Kevin Smith Staff Advisor Program Human Resources and Benefits 1111 Franklin St., 5th Floor Oakland, CA 94607-5200 (510) 987-0217

Occupy Cal 11/9/11 PART 1

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