Added Awareness

My buddy Tony sent me a pic of a ribbon he recently saw:



I laughed.

Thanks, Tony.

I'm Aware Already... Sheesh

You've seen them. During rush hour. During that short stop to the grocery store. When you're waiting in the drive through. On the back of people's cars. You know what I mean. Those magnetic awareness ribbons. Yeah, those things.

I'm getting pretty fed up with them. Scratch that. I'm getting damn near murderous rampage fed up with them.

They started simple enough. I saw the first ones awhile back. They were yellow, like "Tie A Yellow Ribbon"- y'know... "Support Our Troops". Yeah, whatever. I don't need reminding that there's a war on. I hear about it every morning and evening on NPR. Don't get me wrong, I support anyone willing to put themselves in harms way, I'm just a wee bit tired of every bandwagon hopping sheep who wants to feel better about themselves by reminding me to support folks I'd rather see come home.

If anyone really remembers, the original ribbons were actual ribbons- and they were red. AIDS awareness. Remember that? Most people don't.

Mac tells me that Pink ones used to be for Breast Cancer awareness. I can get behind that, too.

But now, I'm seeing these things all over cars. For shit I never think about. A rainbow colored one is now for "General Cancer Awareness". Wait- I thought gay people officially took the rainbow thing for thier symbols. So when I see something like that, I think "Gay Awareness". Lemme tell ya, I'm plenty aware of homosexuality. PLENTY. As is said "a lot of my good friends are gay". Cliche, but true.

I've seen ones that are multicolored puzzle bits- apparently for "Autism Awareness". I've got news for people who think these are useful. Everyone does a Dustin Hoffman "Rain Man" impression at least once in thier lifetime. We're aware there are Autistic people pining for Judge Wapner, okay? We don't need to see it on your car.

Another favorite- one with the Stars and Stripes on it, says "In God We Trust". What the hell is this raising awareness of? That you're more patriotic than me? That the US is turning more and more secular as we worry about the future? Or perhaps that the stupid little flag that used to flutter from your rear door window is in tatters... Way to go, patriot.

Some others in the same vein are "Proud to be an American", "I *heart* Freedom", and "Iraqi Insurgents Suck the Big One". (Okay, I made that last one up, but I wouldn't be suprised to see it someday)

Alright, then. These things, I can tolerate, because hey- people think they're important, and more importantly, they make these folks feel better about themselves. Fine, I can deal.

But- this pisses me off.

I'm starting to see magneto-ribbons for the stupidest crap. I mean, stuff EVERYONE is aware of, and no one needs to see to feel better about themselves.

Shit like this:



And:



This shit has officially gone too far. It's gone from feelgood bandwagon to utter lunacy in under 6 months. Hardly a record, I know, but the fact remains.

So, hey, "Raider Nation Awareness" fuckers- I got something for you...

No one remembers the last time the Raiders went to the Superbowl.

Be aware.

Lazy

*sigh*

 

That's the most common sound I make these days. 

 

Somehow, I've gotten in a state, and I can't seem to get out of it.  I'm tired all the time, I don't have the energy to be productive, or the motivation to do the things I want to do.

 

I think that the root of the problem is my job.  I'm swamped with work, and it's not very inspiring.  Now, I know that it's not the purpose of work to be a beacon for one to achieve greatness, but, the place I toil away at on a daily basis is really starting to wear thin on me.

 

Since about a year ago, the Company has been chipping away at little perks they had previously given us, in an attempt to cut costs.  Mind you, the big benefits are still there- insurance, etc, but the little things they're doing is enough to make me want to nail my foot to the floor.

 

Things like... getting rid of paper paychecks.  All our payroll info is now going to be accessable through a private intranet site.  Oh, joy.  Now, anyone who has my password info can view everything about my checks.  And don't tell me the I.S. guys don't have access to that.  As a side effect, every employee must be enrolled in direct deposit.  Your banking institiuton doesn't offer it?  Too bad.  Go somewhere that does.  Not comfortable with it?  Too bad, it's the wave of the future.

 

Anyways, this is but a sample of the mediocrity around my workplace.  We're all overworked, underpaid- woefully underpaid, especially in comparison to the market for what we do- and totally un-appreciated.  The execs pay lip service to being open to employee concerns, but they really don't give a damn about anything but the bottom line.  That's corporate America for you.

 

Did I mention I was underpaid?  Yeah.  I can name 3-4 other places I've heard tell of that pay $5,000-$10,000 more a year for what I do.  I'm barely making it right now, because I have to pay the majority of the household bills.  I've got NO money to do anything but survive right now.  I don't blame anyone else for this, as I knew it would be this way for a while, but I'm getting very depressed at not being able to do what I want or buy what I want.  Mac knows how I feel, she's been in the same boat since moving up here.

 

So, the net result of my dissatisfaction with my employ is that I have no real will to do anything once I get out of here.  I'm easily bored (which I've hardly ever been before), I've got no motivation, and without the aforementioned cash, I can look forward to long nights on the couch in front of the TV- mostly because we're down to ONE computer still.

 

And now my car is making funny noises, too.  Yay.

 

I feel so lazy.  So damn lazy.  I want to scream about it, but it wouldn't do any good.  Living this way is driving me crazy.  I don't want to be this way, but I see no way out at the moment.  Next month, I'll get a good paycheck that I can use to repair my PC, or buy a video game, or something fun from Disneyland or whatever. 

 

ANYTHING.  Anything to get me out of this blue funk.

Happy Birthday?

Today is my birthday, and no, I'm not telling you which one. I've only come with updates, thanks.

First up, on this very site, we're proud to announce our first photo gallery! Phreddie Du Mahnke, Esq. had dropped in with Nate and Charlie during Memorial Day weekend, and has left us a little something to remember him by.

He also let us put up some pictures.

Go ahead and click on the "Galleries" button above, it finally works.

Secondly, over at DizHub, we got to visit the El Capitan theater in Hollywood, to view a pre-opening screening of Howl's Moving Castle. They had a Q&A session before the show, with the English writers, directors, and some of the actors.

http://www.dizhub.com/

Let us know what you think.

So anyways, my birthday. Mac just got home with some birthday pastry, so I'm gonna go nosh a bit.

Later.

Whew...

Addendum to the below post.

Seems the files are alright. Copied them to another PC. The bad news is that for some reason, the other PC isn't booting at all.

I think the motherboard is fried. Fun.

I'll take it to my contact Monday.

Oh well.

-Talk Hard

Rain/Pour

So, everything seems to come to a head when you don't want it to.

I had an absolute blast last week with Nate and Charlie. It was the most fun I've had with friends at Disneyland in a long time. Apologies to Deb and Dave, but it's true. The boys are just too much fun, and it can't compare to anything else.

I didn't want it to end.

But, all things do, and reality hits you hard. I overspent last week, and now have no money until next week. Literally. If I hadn't stocked up on food earlier this week, I'd be eating my shoe. Bills will get paid, but have to wait until I do. Ugh.

Our only DVD device, the PS2 has decided it doesn't want to work anymore, the controller is busted or somesuch. Can't even watch a movie.

Now, my PC is dead, too. Some technical crap that I can't even fathom prevents it from even booting up. I did some research and attempted a fix, but proceeded to make it even worse. It won't even boot from the CD anymore. I just hope my files are still intact. I'm going to go spare if I lose everything.

I've got a buddy at work who helped me put together the 2nd PC, and he said he'll take a look at it and see if he can get things going. I'll try to do my recovery, and then hand the machine over to him Monday. It's all screwed if he can't. New harddrive, maybe.

Like I can afford that.

So, no Disneyland 6-CD set for me. No Space Mountain figurine. No new pins, and no new Goofy beanies.

All of this just in time for my birthday. I'm going to be 32 this year, and I feel like I'm going in circles. If it weren't for Mac, I dunno what I'd do. She's the cream in my coffee. *sigh*

-Talk Hard