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My thoughts released; a mind set free |
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These pages contain my thoughts, from meandering ideas and persuasions to deep cerebrations and serious mentations. Why, for what purpose? To release my mind and set creativity free. Somewhere inside the constraints of my mind dwells a writer, a poet, an artist who paints with words. In here I release those constraints and set the artist free. Perhaps, lost somewhere in the depths of thought, is a story or a poem, waiting to be written. 
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| I was scrolling through some prompts, looking for something to write in my blog about; this was an idea I had some time back for days when I just could think of anything to blog about. I came across the following prompt, and remembered just such an incident. The dog jumps out the window of a moving car and... Of course, there are many ways this story could progress, but since I had just such an experience, why not write about that. The dog was Sade, a down on her luck miniature poodle who had belonged to my ex-wife. Sade had belonged to a teenage girl who dotted on her and gave her a good home --- most of the time. Her brother was a brat and loved to torture the poor dog. But, as long as Sade's girl was around, she was protected and life was pretty good. When the girl wasn't home, however, all sorts of evil deeds befell the poor poodle. When the teen girl entered college, she was not around to protect poor Sade, and the girls mom feared that Sade would end up severely injured or even dead, so she looked for a new home for Sade. My ex didn't treat Sade bad, but didn't really go out of her way to make her life grand, either. Sade just kind of existed and did her own thing, which often was misbehaving and in her own little dog way, rebelling. She wasn't happy with her new life, had been abused in her old life, and abandoned by the only person who had ever shown her love. I already had a dog, a beautiful Golden Retriever, and not looking for another animal. I was raising two of our three teenage children, and trying to restart my life after the divorce. But, when my ex explained to me that she was moving into an apartment and couldn't take Sade with her, so she was going to have her brother take the poor thing out and shoot her, I had to intervene; I know had two dogs to go with the two teens. Sade needed attention, liked to misbehave, and had her own negative attitude, but with a little time and effort, she adjusted. She was never a good dog for us, but she did drop the bad attitude and didn't cause any real problems. With time, she accepted us as family, just as we accepted her. The kids gave her a nickname that fit her profile, Sade was the "Goat Dog". She did look quite a bit like a little goat, walked like a goat (I believe she had suffered some damage to her legs from previous abuse), climbed on things like a goat, and got into things like a goat. Sade could manage to get up on counters and tables, no problem, although we never discovered how. I was aware of her past and tended to be more lenient with her doing these things than I probably should have, but knowing how abused she had been and how close she had come to being put down, I couldn't do more than scold her and try my best to teach her a few good manners. All in all, we had a good relationship and Sade would live out her life in a loving family. Now, my Golden Retriever and I were real close, even though she was still a puppy. We had a wonderful bond right from the first and we went everyplace together, if it was possible. Of course, Sade didn't understand any of this, and wanted to tag along as often as she could. Sometimes it was practical, so she would have to stay home with the kids, which worked out fine. but, if she was left home alone, she was guaranteed to cause some problem or another. She just refused to get left behind and insisted she be included in everything. It was on one of these times when my dog and I were going for a drive, I forget the details. Sade would have been home alone, unhappy, and gotten in to mischief, and since it was a nice day, it would do her good to get out for a while with us. It was spring time and very warm out. My dog loved having the window down so she could put her head out and feel the wind in her fur. Of course, I never put the window down far enough she could jump out, even though she was very well behaved and likely would never try anyway. My thoughts were, why take the risk. But with the window down halfway, it was enough for a Goat Dog to fit through. I had not even thought about Sade jumping out, mostly because she wasn't much of a jumper and could barely see out the window when she stood on the seat, with her front paws on the armrest. I wasn't thinking about how this same dog could find her way onto tables and counters, defying the laws of physics. One minute were were driving down the highway with Sade standing and looking out the glass while Klarissa, my dog, had her head out the window. Driving fifty-five miles an hour was a bit too much wind for Klarissa, so she sat down next to Sade and before I could put the window up, Sade had managed to launch right out the half open gap. I didn't see how she managed to get from her seat to the open top fo the window, but I did see her dropping towards the pavement going by at fifty-five miles per hour and my heart stopped as I pictured in my mind the devastation she was about to endure. Without hesitation or actually even conscience thought, I lunged towards the passenger side while controlling the car with my left hand. I reached out and down even as Sade vanished from my view and felt my fingers against her curly, goat-like fur. I closed my hand and gripped tightly to the little fur bundle as I slowed the vehicle down and steered towards the shoulder. Once off the driving lane I stopped the car and retrieved Sade through the now fully open window of my Grand Marque. She had been caught by the scruff of her neck and had suffered no injury, but her back feet hung mere inches from the pavement. She had come within less than a second of having her little life ripped and shattered from her small body. Even so, she didn't seem to really care. As I placed her on the seat beside me I could feel the trembling of my hands over the knowledge of how close she had come. Sade on the other hand, just waged her stubbed off tail and seemed to think this had been a fun adventure. With the window rolled up far enough Sade could not possibly fit through, we returned home. Sade lived for years to come, even though she was already getting old when she came into my life. She even found a wonderful gal to dot on her once again when I met my present wife and we all lived as happy as a Goat Dog can be. |
| It's a good thing this isn't a daily journal, but even so, I do need to do better at getting in here and writing. Eleven days... sheesh! I found a wonderful surprise when I logged in today, one of my posts was tagged in the March 2018 Blogging Bliss Newsletter. It's always nice to get a little recognition; just wish that post would have had better results. At the time, I had just done a corrective action for attendance problems and was to review it with the person at the end of the month. She didn't make it that long and has again called in less than twenty-four hours to say she can't make it. I tried to help her find a solution, since it was just a blown tire, but everything suggested was shot down. Then she let me know she could borrow a vehicle to go get a tire, but wouldn't be back in time and have it on the vehicle in time to make it to her afternoon shift. I bit back my question, "If you can borrow a vehicle, why do you have to miss work?" I already knew the answer, she didn't have to miss work, she chose to miss. The verbal warning was nil, and I would have to take the next step, a written warning. I contacted my boss to inform him we need to look for someone to possibly fill her position and that if she failed to correct the problem, I wanted to terminate her. Today, I wrote up a written warning, and on Wednesday I will go over it with her and inform her that the problem ends now or she's out of a job. It tends to take quite a while to find someone, so I'm looking at the possibility of not having much for time off until the position is filled. So much for having more time to write and spend in WdC. But, we do what we have to, even when it's the unpleasant things like reprimanding and terminating someone or having to give up my days off to cover shifts. Things will work out with time and I still intend to do my best at getting here as often as I can. |
| It's been a pretty good week, but a busy one. I was off on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and will be returning to work later this afternoon. Even with the three days off, I wasn't sure if I would be off or filling in for our problem child. If you haven't read anything on this yet, our problem child is a new hire who does a great job, but has a real problem with attendance. It has gotten so bad that I had to do a corrective action, and had planned on going over it with her last Thursday, but she called in and that plan fell by the roadside. Instead, I spent Monday afternoon writing up the document and then went in to work and went over it with her, so much for being a day off. After, however, I salvaged a bit of the remaining day and took my wife out for dinner and then some shopping. Tuesday was another messed up day, but not work related. Both my wife and I had to make a two hour drive to take care of some personal business, nothing enjoyable at all. But, it was nice to get it done and over with finally, a little less stress to deal with now, and just a few loose ends to tie up and that whole situation will be done and over. Being on the road pretty early and then spending an hour or so in conference before heading back home meant we were up way to early for a day off. As I mentioned, it was also very stressful, but everything went well and soon enough we were heading back home. Since we both just wanted to get home, we didn't stop for anything other than gasoline and a breakfast burrito on the return home. Then, after getting back home, we settled in and took a nice long nap. The last month has been exhausting having to fill in at least once or twice a week for our problem child, the stress of that, as well as the stress of the situation we had just taken care of. We slept deep and hard, getting some well deserved rest. Yesterday we just kind of sloughed off most of the day, enjoying the one day off together with nothing going on. It was nice and relaxing, no problems at work, and nothing interrupting or day. I'm hopeful that maybe our problem child responded well to the corrective action and that situation is now under control. Of course, she does have a lot going on and does still need some days off, but nothing we can't handle and plan around; I'm still a bit skeptical and waiting for her to prove me wrong. All in all, not a three days off, not very relaxing, but productive and hopefully paved the way to having our time off undisturbed and open to enjoyable activities. |
| It's been quite a week, but then it's been quite a month, for that matter. I wish I could say that in a different context, indicating it's been a good month and an especially good week. But, in my case, it's just the opposite. I am hopeful that things will get better, but I'm also experienced enough to know they may get much worse first. Time will tell. Despite the problems of the last month and especially this last week, I did mange to get quite a bit of time spent in WdC. I'm especially happy with all the reviews I've done. There was a bit of embarrassment with some I wrote on Wednesday, thinking they were included in a Flash Reviewing Event for the Power Reviewers Group, when in fact, the event was the day before. Oh well, what can I say, it's been the kind of week that I haven't even been sure what day it is. I'm happy to announce that I have gotten my days figured out, today is Friday. For most, the last day of work and the for bearer of the weekend. Not the case here, it's the last day of my weekend, so to speak, and tomorrow it's back to work. Of course, with things going the way they are at work, I never seem to know if I'm working a particular day, except for the ones I'm scheduled for. Days off have been a rarity and sporadic at best. My scheduled time off is about as decisive as the weather forecasts! I'm scheduled to be off Monday through Wednesday next week, but already I see I'll have to go in for a while on Monday for some unpleasant business, Tuesday I'll be in court -- no I haven't been naughty, but Wednesday should be a relaxing day. Hopefully I can get in here for a spell then. |
| Well, I know I wasn't functioning at full capacity yesterday, too stressed and a lot of unpleasant work to do. It even showed up in WdC, when I took a break from work and came in here to relax. I first looked over the latest Newsfeeds, then went to my email. I seen the Power Reviewers has 12 hour flash review event going on, so I began browsing for items and did three reviews before the deadline. Yea me! Today when I logged in, I again looked at the Newsfeeds and then went to my email. I still had yesterdays items in there and looked through both the new and the old, only now realizing that the 12 your Power Review event was on Tuesday not Wednesday. Not that it's bad that I got my dates messed up as far as the reviews, but to not even know what day it is? My lovely wife, Rhonda, who is also my supervisory assistant and fellow worker also noticed how burned out I'm getting from all the problems at work over the last month. She was scheduled to work this afternoon, me this evening. Of course, when I covered a shift for another worker on Tuesday, she had agreed to work my shift tonight. But her attendance is terrible, most of the current problems at work, and as expected, she text me that she wasn't going to be able to work today. When I told Rhonda, she informed me that I am not working this evening, she will cover the shift; I am on direct orders from her to enjoy my day, relax, and not do anything work related. I was a bit heated, since this isn't the first time she's agreed to switch a shift and then called in and couldn't work the shift she had agreed to pick up, so I text her back and informed her that she needed to decide if she wants the job or the time off. I also let her know that if she's not able to work, I would have no other option than to cover for her, but there would be even more corrective actions when she returns (I'm the site supervisor, not the best co-worker to screw over on top of her excessive absences). I still don't know if she will show up this evening or not, she did reply and said if she's able to, she will work today. But, that is not a real answer, so Rhonda may be pulling a double so I can get at least one day off this week, or she may be home around six this evening so we can spent a little more time together. Either way, I'm thankful for the break and a chance to clear my head a bit. |
| My last entry was a short story written from a prompt here on Writing.Com, since I couldn't think of anything else to write about. Not that I don't have anything to write about; I have plenty. It's just that it's the same problem still going on, and who wants to read, over and over, about my problem. Hell, for that matter, I don't want to waste my time writing over and over about it. But, the problem continues on, and if anything, is getting worse. Personally, it's a real pain in my backside because it takes away my time off and often with very little notice. It's created a problem for me to even think about having any activities or going anyplace on my days off without fear of having to cancel, drop everything, and run into work. Yes, the problem, even though I mentioned it a time or two before is a new hire who just cannot work her scheduled shift and tends to call in anywhere from a couple days to a couple hours to say, "I can't make it." For me, it's more than just the time I end up having to work for her. I'm the supervisor and have a professional liability with her absences as well. Even though I try to be a nice guy and try to make things nice and smooth for everyone, I also have to interfere with other's time off if I can't cover her shift. In short, her position exists only so my wife and I can have our days off together, and for the last month, that hasn't happened. Considering this new hire has only been with us for six weeks, you can understand the problem. I find myself dreading any information coming over my phone, both calls and texts, suspecting that she's letting me know once again, she can't work. It's also making more paperwork for me updating schedules and letting everyone involved, the corporate office and the store we work at, updated to the constant changes. I just recently talked with her and informed her that this has to stop. In fact, it was just last week when she sent a text requesting the day off. So how did it go? Well, she worked Monday, called in Tuesday, today, and just a short time ago, text me to inform me she won't be able to work tomorrow. My day has been spent finding someone to cover her shift, updating schedules, and contacting the corporate office with the problem. I had hoped to work on a poem I'm trying to write, but the only writing I've done so fare today is emails with the office, texts with the person needing yet more time off, and filling out corrective action forms. If she does work tomorrow so I get one of my days off, I will have to go into work anyway to give her the corrective action, if she doesn't make it to work... well then I'll be working her shift and waiting for her to return so I can present the corrective action. I have reached the point that I have requested permission to terminate if she continues to take time off, and that is the most unpleasant part of my job. |
| Written to one of WdC's writing prompts, "As the Frisbee left his hand, he knew ..." Jimmy, his mom, and his dad, lived in a small two bedroom house. It was small, just a kitchen and a living room that doubled as the dining room. His parents bedroom was right off the living room, there was a small bathroom off the kitchen, and Jimmy's bedroom had formerly been a fair sized pantry off the kitchen and right next to his parents bedroom. The house was old, the walls thin, and not much for a yard, just a bit of patchy grass behind the bedrooms. His family has just moved to the small, rural town so his dad could take a better job, so they rented the small house, for now, until they could afford something a bit bigger and better. Jimmy's mom had found a job at the littler cafe uptown, working as a waitress. His dad, worked for the sheriffs department and since he was the newest member, worked the night shift. He would get home shortly before his mom had to leave for her job. She would wake him after she got home, either bringing supper with, or after fixing something. They had the evenings to enjoy together as a family, as well as every other weekend. While school was in session, everything had worked fine, but now, it was summer vacation and Jimmy was home with his dad, needing to entertain himself without making much noise, or it would wake his dad. He didn't have enough room in his bedroom to play, so he had to entertain himself in the living room. As long as he was quiet, this was not a problem. But, after pushing his toy cars around the hardwood floor for a couple hours, he had become bored. Not thinking, he had turned on the television and was looking for a movie to watch. He settled in with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich his mom had made for him before she left and was just getting started with the western he had picked out of the DVD's. But, when the cowboys started shooting, it got louder and his dad had waken and stormed out of the bedroom and shut the television off. He yelled at Jimmy, "What are you doing? You know I need to sleep so I can work tonight!" Jimmy lowered his eyes to the floor, "Sorry Dad, I didn't think it was too loud." His dad glared at him through red, sleep depraved eyes. "I know. it's got to be hard for you. But, Jimmy, I've been having a rough time sleeping with the sound of you scampering around the floor in here and the TV was just too much. I know you didn't mean too, but you need to think about what your doing. I have to be up all night and need to get some sleep. Find something quiet to do -- if you wake me up again, your going to find yourself in trouble. Understand?" Jimmy nodded. He felt bad, he knew his dad was tired and didn't get enough sleep, and he had tried to be quiet. "Well," he mumbled to himself as his dad returned to the bedroom, "You will have to try harder." He sat on the sofa for a while, then decided he would read one of his books, that would be quiet. He went to his room and looked through his box of books, picked one out, and headed back to the sofa. He almost fell asleep reading, so he put the book down and walked quietly around the small room to wake himself back up. Stopping in front of the small window, he looked outside. It was now early afternoon and the sun streamed in. A beautiful spring day. Jimmy knew now what to do, he would go outside and entertain himself in the small backyard. He quietly left the house and was exploring around the bushes and hedge that enclosed the back yard when he found a Frisbee wedged into the hedge. He worked his hand and arm into the overgrown shrubbery until he felt the bright yellow plastic disc. He had to work at it a bit to get it free, but after a couple of minutes and a few little scratches, he was staring down at a slightly beat-up and dirty Frisbee. He turned it over and pondered where it may have come from. One of the neighbors, he thought, but who? Most of the people that lived in his neighborhood were elderly, he had not seen any other children close by. he pondered this for a few minutes and then decided that it was unlikely anyone would be looking for this, at least, not anymore. How long had it been stuck in the hedge? Had a former renters child lost it? Well, he thought, it's mine now. He had seen people in the park playing catch with a Frisbee, but he had never thrown one himself. He went through the motions and liked the way it felt in his hand. Cautiously, he tossed the disc a short distance. It curved to the right and went almost straight up. After retrieving it, he turned and tried again. This time it went much straighter and bounced off the over-grown hedge. Jimmy's heart skipped a beat when it hit the hedge, he didn't want to loose this treasure like someone else had. "No," he spoke quietly to himself, "I won't throw it towards the hedge." With his back to the hedge, Jimmy found the proper grip on the Frisbee. He concentrated on holding his hand level, drew back his arm and as the Frisbee left his hand he knew, he was in big trouble. The disc flew straight and level, quickly traveling across the small yard and impacted dead center on his parents bedroom window. With a loud crash of busting glass the yellow disc vanished into the curtained room as a very deep and horse voice cried out, "What in the hell..." |
| Yes, I'm here physically, but mentally I'm not so sure. I have a head full of cobwebs and so far the coffee hasn't cleared any of them. How did they get there? Well, there's a few ways to get cobwebs in one's head. One most of us are aware of is drinking too much. The alcohol creates them but often we don't even realize it until we wake the following day. This often is a very painful way to get a head full of cobwebs. Of course, there are other substances that can do the same thing and have the same results or even worse ones. For instance, I know a few people who smoke something that creates these cobwebs, and they have done it so much that even when they don't smoke anything, they continue to have a head full of cobwebs that never go away. I've heard of this phrased as perma-fried. Another way is just talking to some people, they don't make any sense and trying to figure out what they are even talking about can create cobwebs in the head. More often, however, it just results in a headache and sometimes a stomach ache as well. I learned of this years ago when the Peanuts Cartoon was popular. Charlie Brown often got a stomach ache when talking with Lucy. I've also experienced this myself, numerous times. Other times cobwebs form in the head from medical conditions and or the medications used to treat them. Fevers can create them, severe pain, and even a sharp blow to the head. In fact, having a bad cold often no only stuffs up a persons head, but stuffs it up with cobwebs as well. I'm sure many of you have suffered this form of cobwebs in the head from time to time. Mine are a combination of two things, one being lack of sleep. Again, not sleeping forms many cobwebs in a person's head, and the longer you go without sleeping the worse they get. Other times you manage through many hours of not sleeping without letting the cobwebs develop to much, then sleep for a few hours, but not enough, and wake with a head full of the nasty things. That's partly how I got mine. I was up fairly early yesterday, had a pretty good day, and was looking forward to a nice relaxing evening and getting to bed a little earlier than normal, since I was pretty tired. But, that all changed when I got a call requesting someone to come in and work through the night, from 9:00 pm to 5:00 am. Well, there was only one person who was available to do this, me. So, instead of relaxing and getting to bed early, I had my supper, visited with my wife for a short time and then headed in to work all night. I got home about 6:00 am, had a bite to eat and relaxed a bit, then headed off to bed felling very exhausted. But, wouldn't you know, sleep just wouldn't come. I was too tired to get to sleep. I did finally fall off into slumber about the time the alarm went off for my wife to get up and get ready for work at 7:00 am. Yes, blissful sleep, finally. At 11:30 am, I woke up. Yes, only 4 1/2 hours of sleep, but i was awake and there was no going back to sleep. So, I got my retched carcass out of bed and poured some coffee to get myself jump-started. after three cups of coffee, I was jump-started and ready to start my day, but unfortunately, the coffee wasn't able to burn through those dreaded cobwebs. To top it all off, I have been dealing with a new employee who is taking excessive time off. On Tuesday she was given a firm talk to and it was explained that she needed to work her shifts or face more serious consequences. Later, Tuesday evening, I received 3 requests for more time off for her. I was tired and frustrated, somewhat stressed over it, so I ignored it, deciding to put it off till the next day. Wednesday, before I can even address this with her, she texts and needs to take Thursday off to go to the dentist. I was literally dumbstruck by this. It was like the talk had never happened, or if it did she completely miss understood the part of not taking any more time off to mean she was suppose to take even more time off. My head hurt and I was getting a stomach ache; I know how you felt Charlie Brown. Well, to wrap it all up. I got home this morning, slept for a few hours and then got up to start my day. My wife is working today because the other person took the day off to go to the dentist. So, with a head full of sleep deprived cobwebs, I look on the company web site and find another three requests for time off from this person... As Charlie Brown used to say, "My stomach hurts..." |
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