No matter how much I want the mailbox to be bill-free, reality seldom matches desire. It has become a running joke in our family that with each opening of the mailbox, I'm going to find monthly reminders that no one is paying me. My kids even enjoy uttering the phrase "I wish someone would pay us!". I truly hate paying our bills.
Before this goes any further, let me just say that I know I can get a job and could be receiving a check in the mail once in a while. Put that aside for the point I'm about to make:
If our government has gotten into the system of bailing out failing industry that is essential to the economy, why don't stay at home parents get a check twice a month?
If I do my job correctly, my children will be nurtured, educated, mentored, and given a solid moral foundation. Isn't that the stuff that we want for our future leaders and productive members of society? Think of it this way, if a stay at home parent successfully does all these things, won't future generations stand a better chance of making decisions for the betterment of themselves and our nation? Perhaps kids that have learned right from wrong won't give poor people false hope of buying homes that they can't afford. Maybe these same kids will grow up building cars that won't break down quickly and understand what getting a job done is really all about. Is it inconceivable that kids raised by good stay at home parents might have a brighter future than others? No, and I'm surely not being politically correct by saying this either.
In my opinion, proper parenting is a dieing industry that needs a bailout.
Stay at home parenting, done by well trained adults, is an essential industry that goes unnoticed when done correctly. I willingly gave up my career to raise the girls because this is what my family needed and also because we could afford to temporarily lose one income. If the government supplemented what I monetarily lost, bill paying would become less painful and I could focus all of my attention to helping my children reach their fullest potential. That's what every parent should want for their child and what society needs for it's future as well. If our government can give the wealthiest 1% a bailout so their estates can have green grass all year long, why can't the other 99% of us get a little watering can to keep things alive too?
My mailbox is stuffed with reminders that I have to pay for the services I need. I pay the electric company because my family needs to eat and have light to read. I pay the phone company because my family needs to communicate long distances and I pay the utility bill because we need water to drink and clean our bodies with.
As a parent, I am staying at home to raise my daughters so they have more time with me in which to learn how to make good choices in life. Doesn't society need that? Seriously people, if we're looking at how things are done these days, the government needs to pay me for this.
By the way, my services don't come cheap. Hard to come up with a figure but I'll give it a shot if this desire ever matches reality.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
iFuture
I'm playing iTunes in the background and the shuffle option is enabled. Just for curiosity sake, I want to figure out if the music I listen to says something about how I view life. Here are the major refrains:
Don't ever look back. Don't ever look back.
She wore a Raspberry Beret. If it were warm she wouldn't wear much more.
I think I'm falling for you. I'm falling for you.
The band on the run. Band on the run.
Future love paradise.
New York. Concrete jungle where dreams are made of. There's nothing you can't do.
Baby are you down, down ,down, down, down?
When the cats come out, the bats come out to play, yeah. In the morning after.
Never an honest word, but that was when I ruled the world.
Have you ever felt this way?
OK; that was interesting. If I postulate that the computer is perceptive and clairvoyant, here's what I am going to expect through interpretation of its randomly selected songs and lyrics:
On a trip back east without the family I left behind, I will find enormous fame and fortune as a musician despite being a pathological liar. Somewhere on the summer tour, I will meet wife #2 (groupie?) who is scantily clad, works a morning shift at an animal shelter, and gives me several reasons to question her belief structure. Despite the choice of French fashion, I will stay with her and not return to Texas.
I clearly didn't see this coming. Did you?
I better stop now before Dana takes away my car keys and credit cards. She's not usually the jealous type but there's no need to give her reason to doubt my commitment. I love my wife with every fiber of my being and would never leave my family despite what the computer is predicting.
Oh crap, the next song isn't helping my cause.
I'm already gone.
Time to start buying copious amounts of Christian Rock. That should work, right?
Don't ever look back. Don't ever look back.
She wore a Raspberry Beret. If it were warm she wouldn't wear much more.
I think I'm falling for you. I'm falling for you.
The band on the run. Band on the run.
Future love paradise.
New York. Concrete jungle where dreams are made of. There's nothing you can't do.
Baby are you down, down ,down, down, down?
When the cats come out, the bats come out to play, yeah. In the morning after.
Never an honest word, but that was when I ruled the world.
Have you ever felt this way?
OK; that was interesting. If I postulate that the computer is perceptive and clairvoyant, here's what I am going to expect through interpretation of its randomly selected songs and lyrics:
On a trip back east without the family I left behind, I will find enormous fame and fortune as a musician despite being a pathological liar. Somewhere on the summer tour, I will meet wife #2 (groupie?) who is scantily clad, works a morning shift at an animal shelter, and gives me several reasons to question her belief structure. Despite the choice of French fashion, I will stay with her and not return to Texas.
I clearly didn't see this coming. Did you?
I better stop now before Dana takes away my car keys and credit cards. She's not usually the jealous type but there's no need to give her reason to doubt my commitment. I love my wife with every fiber of my being and would never leave my family despite what the computer is predicting.
Oh crap, the next song isn't helping my cause.
I'm already gone.
Time to start buying copious amounts of Christian Rock. That should work, right?
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Patience Outage
Our cable sucks.
I'm watching TV today and wondering why the morons at Time Warner Cable can't continually give me the service I pay for. Our HD channels may or may not come in, may or may not break up, and may or may not require that I unplug the whole damn system to fix any and all problems. I don't ask for much; I really don't. Here's my bottom line: if you expect me to pay for your service @$100 month, I don't think I need to be on a first name basis with all of your service technicians. Simple enough, right?
Our cable provider is a means to an end but they're not the only game in town. They are either going to deliver the programming or find themselves being replaced. Since I have Scotty the tech coming for a visit between 11-2 PM on Tuesday, I'll have a few days to find an alternative cable company. I mean, all Scotty is going to do is turn off the power to the receiver anyway and HOPE that my channels come in; that's what his seven other stellar coworkers have done so far.
Time Warner Cable: Viewing your favorite channels will never be easy.
I'm watching TV today and wondering why the morons at Time Warner Cable can't continually give me the service I pay for. Our HD channels may or may not come in, may or may not break up, and may or may not require that I unplug the whole damn system to fix any and all problems. I don't ask for much; I really don't. Here's my bottom line: if you expect me to pay for your service @$100 month, I don't think I need to be on a first name basis with all of your service technicians. Simple enough, right?
Our cable provider is a means to an end but they're not the only game in town. They are either going to deliver the programming or find themselves being replaced. Since I have Scotty the tech coming for a visit between 11-2 PM on Tuesday, I'll have a few days to find an alternative cable company. I mean, all Scotty is going to do is turn off the power to the receiver anyway and HOPE that my channels come in; that's what his seven other stellar coworkers have done so far.
Time Warner Cable: Viewing your favorite channels will never be easy.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Do You Know The Muffin Man?
I'm making muffins again.
Yes. You read that correctly. I'm doing my best Emeril impersonation and baking muffins for Sami's snack day tomorrow. I made a batch of these muffins last week for Emily's snack day and, of course, Sami wants to have the same. God forbid I send her to school with anything other than what Emy had. No need for originality when all you want is whatever your sister has.
In case you wanted to make a batch of these yourself, here's the recipe:
JJ's Bran Muffins
3 cups sugar
5 cups flour
2 tsp. salt
3 tsp. cinnamon
4 tsp. baking soda
(mix all these together in a very large bowl)
1 15oz. box of Raisin Bran
1 cup raisins
1 cup chocolate chips
(mix these together into the very large bowl)
Beat together:
4 eggs
4 cups buttermilk
Add:
1 cup melted butter
Mix all the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients by hand. Use a large wooded spoon if you have one.
Bake @ 400 degrees in greased muffin cups, 15-20 minutes
Keep batter in refrigerator and use as needed.
Dana had a version of this recipe and I changed it around a little. The kids love the muffins and they often ask for more. I guess the fiber benefit is just a throw in at this point.
Now that I've given you the recipe, I think I'm officially done blogging about food. Time to talk about neighbors making a porno or why some parents don't mind letting their 4 year olds play in traffic. Those topics are a little less formulaic and a lot more freewheeling. Should make for some interesting blogs.
I'd better go eat some of the muffins now to give me the strength I'll need to keep writing. Bon appetit!
Yes. You read that correctly. I'm doing my best Emeril impersonation and baking muffins for Sami's snack day tomorrow. I made a batch of these muffins last week for Emily's snack day and, of course, Sami wants to have the same. God forbid I send her to school with anything other than what Emy had. No need for originality when all you want is whatever your sister has.
In case you wanted to make a batch of these yourself, here's the recipe:
JJ's Bran Muffins
3 cups sugar
5 cups flour
2 tsp. salt
3 tsp. cinnamon
4 tsp. baking soda
(mix all these together in a very large bowl)
1 15oz. box of Raisin Bran
1 cup raisins
1 cup chocolate chips
(mix these together into the very large bowl)
Beat together:
4 eggs
4 cups buttermilk
Add:
1 cup melted butter
Mix all the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients by hand. Use a large wooded spoon if you have one.
Bake @ 400 degrees in greased muffin cups, 15-20 minutes
Keep batter in refrigerator and use as needed.
Dana had a version of this recipe and I changed it around a little. The kids love the muffins and they often ask for more. I guess the fiber benefit is just a throw in at this point.
Now that I've given you the recipe, I think I'm officially done blogging about food. Time to talk about neighbors making a porno or why some parents don't mind letting their 4 year olds play in traffic. Those topics are a little less formulaic and a lot more freewheeling. Should make for some interesting blogs.
I'd better go eat some of the muffins now to give me the strength I'll need to keep writing. Bon appetit!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Another Day Another Post
I just re-read yesterday's blog and realized it was lousy. I should not have posted it.
From now on, I'm going to wait a day. If I read my stuff the day after writing it, and believe it's worth sharing, then I'll let everyone see it.
Thanks for reading. Have a nice day.
Bye.
Hold on. Now what do I do? If I hit the button "Publish Post", won't I be breaking the rule I just established for myself? And what if I hit the button "Save Now"? Say I save it but wait til tomorrow to post. Will the time frame I established no longer have meaning since it will then be two days since I posted the lousy entry?
This is more confusing than it should be. I think the 4 AM bed wetting accident/ wake up call from my youngest affected me more than I thought. My marbles are clearly all over the place and the bag is lost.
I'm just going to end this now and go take care of the laundry.
From now on, I'm going to wait a day. If I read my stuff the day after writing it, and believe it's worth sharing, then I'll let everyone see it.
Thanks for reading. Have a nice day.
Bye.
Hold on. Now what do I do? If I hit the button "Publish Post", won't I be breaking the rule I just established for myself? And what if I hit the button "Save Now"? Say I save it but wait til tomorrow to post. Will the time frame I established no longer have meaning since it will then be two days since I posted the lousy entry?
This is more confusing than it should be. I think the 4 AM bed wetting accident/ wake up call from my youngest affected me more than I thought. My marbles are clearly all over the place and the bag is lost.
I'm just going to end this now and go take care of the laundry.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
A Blog For Myself (but you can read it too)
It's become personally obvious that I'm out of shape since I haven't practiced in weeks. When I get ready to start working, the muscles just don't feel strong enough to withstand the required effort. How am I ever going to be productive if I stop producing? Like Nike says: Just Do It. Seems that's the way I'm only going to get better at this, or anything for that matter.
In case you were wondering, I'm not talking about physical fitness. This blog is about using my ability to coherently put sentences together to form a written thought. I haven't blogged in a while because I threw myself a pity-party and gave up on the belief that I could be a writer; making a single attempt to sell myself as such didn't produce the instant success I thought it would. My bad. I should have known to keep trying. I have a talent I never gave myself credit for and oh, by the way, writing is rather enjoyable. I'd be a moron if I let this circle of consternation and procrastination kill the time I have left.
A good friend recently shared with me a motto he came across that is truly meaningful: Turn Around. If I examine it closely, it's what I need to do in my own life. God didn't give me the ability to write just so I could walk away from it. He put a sidelight on it during a time of intense emotional upheaval, told me to look at it carefully, and expects me to use this ability for _______ (fill in the blank if you have any idea since I'm still trying to figure it out). Perhaps it is "the process" that will reveal "my purpose" and not the other way around. Better get started if I'm ever going to answer that question. Tick-tock; I can almost feel time slipping away.
This blog entry was an exercise and flexing a mental muscle should help remove obstacles that block the path I think that I'm supposed to walk. I'm not the fastest, quickest, strongest, or most talented, but I do have God-given abilities and they will be wasted if I do nothing, Worse than that, if I don't use that with which I am equipped, what kind of example am I going to be for my children?
I already know the answer and all I need now is to get started. Thankfully, I won't have to do this alone. If I'm as smart as I want to think I am, Inspiration and Perspiration will be my workout partners until the end.
In case you were wondering, I'm not talking about physical fitness. This blog is about using my ability to coherently put sentences together to form a written thought. I haven't blogged in a while because I threw myself a pity-party and gave up on the belief that I could be a writer; making a single attempt to sell myself as such didn't produce the instant success I thought it would. My bad. I should have known to keep trying. I have a talent I never gave myself credit for and oh, by the way, writing is rather enjoyable. I'd be a moron if I let this circle of consternation and procrastination kill the time I have left.
A good friend recently shared with me a motto he came across that is truly meaningful: Turn Around. If I examine it closely, it's what I need to do in my own life. God didn't give me the ability to write just so I could walk away from it. He put a sidelight on it during a time of intense emotional upheaval, told me to look at it carefully, and expects me to use this ability for _______ (fill in the blank if you have any idea since I'm still trying to figure it out). Perhaps it is "the process" that will reveal "my purpose" and not the other way around. Better get started if I'm ever going to answer that question. Tick-tock; I can almost feel time slipping away.
This blog entry was an exercise and flexing a mental muscle should help remove obstacles that block the path I think that I'm supposed to walk. I'm not the fastest, quickest, strongest, or most talented, but I do have God-given abilities and they will be wasted if I do nothing, Worse than that, if I don't use that with which I am equipped, what kind of example am I going to be for my children?
I already know the answer and all I need now is to get started. Thankfully, I won't have to do this alone. If I'm as smart as I want to think I am, Inspiration and Perspiration will be my workout partners until the end.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Lady, Just Shut Up!
"Man Attacked At Food Store for Having More Than 15 Items in Express Lane."
"Opinionated Shopper Verbally Assaults Man Behind Her In Line Due To Perceived Injustice To Store Employee."
"Kroger Employee at Register Attempts to Turn Away Paying Customer Though Store Is Empty".
Welcome to the headlines that could easily describe my battle this morning at the supermarket.
Let me set the scene for you: it's 8:30 on a Friday morning, I had significant purchasing needs since I had not shopped for food earlier in the week, and the store is practically empty. Most of my walk around Kroger had been quiet and uneventful so when I proceeded to checkout I figured that there would be very few people in line. For that I was correct.
As I walked from one side of the store to the other, I noticed that there were 4 self checkouts, 1 store employee at the Express Lane, and one other lane open which was busy. My basket was pretty full, not mega-packed, and I knew that the only lane that was probably available to me was currently being attended to by one store employee, one manager, one sack stuffer, and a woman in line who was having some problem with her receipt that they all were taking several minutes to resolve. I steered my cart into that lane, like a good lemming should, but I soon realized that there was another customer waiting ahead of me with an overflowing cart. It was as soon as I stopped my cart and began to understand that I had quite a long wait ahead of me, that I glanced over to the "Express Lane" and saw that there was no one waiting, a customer who was just about finished checking out, and a possible alternative to standing in line unnecessarily.
This is when the fun began.
Being the good natured person that I am, I walked over to the "Express Lane" to ask if the store employee would let me pay for my groceries there, but before I could say anything, I was told that I was in the "Express Lane", and my cart had more than 15 items in it (as if that really mattered considering the situation). Lakeitha, the ever so helpful employee, almost finished saying that she wasn't going to take me when I decided her reason was pure BS, and I unloaded my cart onto her conveyor belt. This was my non verbal indicator or unhappiness. No interpretation was needed.
Here's what was obvious: THERE WAS NO ONE ELSE IN THE LANE BEHIND ME, THE STORE WAS EMPTY, AND THE ONLY OTHER AVAILABLE LANE HAD UNRESOLVED ISSUES AND OTHER CUSTOMERS! Being that her customer service was shoddy at best, I decided she was going to take me whether or not the sign said "Express" or not. Seriously, what was Lakeitha going to do with herself once she finished checking out the customer ahead of me? Drink her coffee? Read a magazine off the shelf? I guess reminding employees to give good customer service at Kroger is such a problem for management that they truly do need the little bell the customer can ring to alert everyone in the store that he/she just had a wonderful checkout experience. I considered ringing her bell but it wasn't the one they provided.
Just when I was just starting to really enjoy this moment, my fun was taken to a whole new level.
Apparently the customer ahead of me, the one who was just about done purchasing her groceries, decided she was going to teach me a lesson. "That's messed up!" she loudly proceeded to tell me while giving a dirty look. I looked at her, gave her the face right back that I was getting, and said "Do you think I need to wait over there where they are having problems?". "This lane is open and the store is EMPTY."
"Well you need patience". Seriously? This woman just couldn't mind her business a minute longer that she needed to lecture ME about patience? Considering that Althea Sharpton grumbled a few more unintelligible sentences and was getting all riled up because I kept poor Lakeitha working, at the place she is supposed to be earning a paycheck, I decided to give the civil rights activist the one thing she wouldn't know how to handle: politeness.
"Ma'am, you sure do have a right to your opinion" I said with my best faux southern accent.
That about knocked her off her pedestal. Immediately she went from combative to flustered, "That's the problem in the United States; everyone is in a hurry." I wasn't in a hurry at all despite what she thought. I was just trying to buy food and saw an opportunity to do so without causing anyone to suffer. My actions gave an employee some work to do that would pass the time.
Again with a smile I turned to her and said, "Ma'am, you have every right to your opinion."; despite the fact that you are obviously ill informed, ignorant, racially prejudiced, obnoxious, and arrogant to think you need to lecture me on anything. I left that last part out for fear that this interaction would last longer. No need to get shot at Kroger today.
With that, the woman said "Have a great day" a few extra times to Lakeitha, and walked away in obvious frustration because I wouldn't engage her in an argument. Maybe this woman thought she needed to protect Lakeitha from me, a bald middle aged white guy who couldn't obey the "Express Lane" laws of our country. Who knows? Who cares? I just told the employee "Thank you for checking me out" because that's the polite guy I am, and wheeled my cart out of the store. Shopping excursion over. Drama too.
"Loyal Customer Won't Shop At That Location Again Due To Poor Customer Service." That's the headline that will run in my mind every time I think about stopping to shop there in the future. I just hope that my 53 items helped Lakeitha's day pass more quickly. I'm so thoughtful that way. :)
"Opinionated Shopper Verbally Assaults Man Behind Her In Line Due To Perceived Injustice To Store Employee."
"Kroger Employee at Register Attempts to Turn Away Paying Customer Though Store Is Empty".
Welcome to the headlines that could easily describe my battle this morning at the supermarket.
Let me set the scene for you: it's 8:30 on a Friday morning, I had significant purchasing needs since I had not shopped for food earlier in the week, and the store is practically empty. Most of my walk around Kroger had been quiet and uneventful so when I proceeded to checkout I figured that there would be very few people in line. For that I was correct.
As I walked from one side of the store to the other, I noticed that there were 4 self checkouts, 1 store employee at the Express Lane, and one other lane open which was busy. My basket was pretty full, not mega-packed, and I knew that the only lane that was probably available to me was currently being attended to by one store employee, one manager, one sack stuffer, and a woman in line who was having some problem with her receipt that they all were taking several minutes to resolve. I steered my cart into that lane, like a good lemming should, but I soon realized that there was another customer waiting ahead of me with an overflowing cart. It was as soon as I stopped my cart and began to understand that I had quite a long wait ahead of me, that I glanced over to the "Express Lane" and saw that there was no one waiting, a customer who was just about finished checking out, and a possible alternative to standing in line unnecessarily.
This is when the fun began.
Being the good natured person that I am, I walked over to the "Express Lane" to ask if the store employee would let me pay for my groceries there, but before I could say anything, I was told that I was in the "Express Lane", and my cart had more than 15 items in it (as if that really mattered considering the situation). Lakeitha, the ever so helpful employee, almost finished saying that she wasn't going to take me when I decided her reason was pure BS, and I unloaded my cart onto her conveyor belt. This was my non verbal indicator or unhappiness. No interpretation was needed.
Here's what was obvious: THERE WAS NO ONE ELSE IN THE LANE BEHIND ME, THE STORE WAS EMPTY, AND THE ONLY OTHER AVAILABLE LANE HAD UNRESOLVED ISSUES AND OTHER CUSTOMERS! Being that her customer service was shoddy at best, I decided she was going to take me whether or not the sign said "Express" or not. Seriously, what was Lakeitha going to do with herself once she finished checking out the customer ahead of me? Drink her coffee? Read a magazine off the shelf? I guess reminding employees to give good customer service at Kroger is such a problem for management that they truly do need the little bell the customer can ring to alert everyone in the store that he/she just had a wonderful checkout experience. I considered ringing her bell but it wasn't the one they provided.
Just when I was just starting to really enjoy this moment, my fun was taken to a whole new level.
Apparently the customer ahead of me, the one who was just about done purchasing her groceries, decided she was going to teach me a lesson. "That's messed up!" she loudly proceeded to tell me while giving a dirty look. I looked at her, gave her the face right back that I was getting, and said "Do you think I need to wait over there where they are having problems?". "This lane is open and the store is EMPTY."
"Well you need patience". Seriously? This woman just couldn't mind her business a minute longer that she needed to lecture ME about patience? Considering that Althea Sharpton grumbled a few more unintelligible sentences and was getting all riled up because I kept poor Lakeitha working, at the place she is supposed to be earning a paycheck, I decided to give the civil rights activist the one thing she wouldn't know how to handle: politeness.
"Ma'am, you sure do have a right to your opinion" I said with my best faux southern accent.
That about knocked her off her pedestal. Immediately she went from combative to flustered, "That's the problem in the United States; everyone is in a hurry." I wasn't in a hurry at all despite what she thought. I was just trying to buy food and saw an opportunity to do so without causing anyone to suffer. My actions gave an employee some work to do that would pass the time.
Again with a smile I turned to her and said, "Ma'am, you have every right to your opinion."; despite the fact that you are obviously ill informed, ignorant, racially prejudiced, obnoxious, and arrogant to think you need to lecture me on anything. I left that last part out for fear that this interaction would last longer. No need to get shot at Kroger today.
With that, the woman said "Have a great day" a few extra times to Lakeitha, and walked away in obvious frustration because I wouldn't engage her in an argument. Maybe this woman thought she needed to protect Lakeitha from me, a bald middle aged white guy who couldn't obey the "Express Lane" laws of our country. Who knows? Who cares? I just told the employee "Thank you for checking me out" because that's the polite guy I am, and wheeled my cart out of the store. Shopping excursion over. Drama too.
"Loyal Customer Won't Shop At That Location Again Due To Poor Customer Service." That's the headline that will run in my mind every time I think about stopping to shop there in the future. I just hope that my 53 items helped Lakeitha's day pass more quickly. I'm so thoughtful that way. :)
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