Undefined...

[	Tags	\|	lets get political	]
[	mood	\|	optimistic	]

I just have to say, that This Little Boy Rocks

I've discussed it with a few people, and some have said that it's utter disrespect not to say the pledge, and that it's demeaning to the men and women who gave their lives for this country, etc, etc. One person has even said that people who will not say the pledge should just leave the country.

These people are wrong.

This little boy is a true American. He's making full use of the rights which others fight and die to defend. To do any less when he believes he is right would be to say "thanks, but no thanks" to his freedoms as an American, including the 1943 Supreme Court decision that says he does not have to stand and recite the Pledge if he disagrees with it, and he does. He does not believe there is "Liberty and Justics for all" so long as the GLBT community continues to be discriminated against, and he's right.

Good on you Will Phillips. You rock kid!

8^)

1 comment|Leave a comment

Lalalala...

[Oct. 27th, 2009|02:12 pm]

[	Tags	\|	apartment, ert, larp, sims 2, theater	]
[	mood	\|	bouncy	]
[	music	\|	Rum Tum Tugger - Cats	]

I fail at Blogging... really I do... ok... sooooooooo....

I want to take a moment to shamelessly plug some of the stuff that's been keeping me away from blogging by keeping me sooooo damn busy.

First of all, NEW APARTMENT!!! I've moved across town and am no longer living with Katratzi, but have a one bedroom garden level that I'm sharing with DatabaseRanger, (and both of you fail at blog even more than I do BTW, POST!!!!) That took up the last week of September and a lot of the beginning of October, because aaaaaagh... moving!

Speaking of the beginning of October, I'd like to put in a few lines of silence for Eugene Kosarovich who passed away October 4th. There was a lot made of it on Facebook, but I haven't mentioned it here yet.

Ok... on a similar note, Not So Common Player's "Clue the Musical" was terrific when I saw it on Friday. You guys were great! Jon, you did a great job stepping into your role so late in the production.

Also I've been working on RPI Player's "The Visit" as the Master Scenic Painter. What's that you say? Who ever heard of Players having Master Scenic Painters? Well... this show just has that much paint. Players who read this, come to Work Parties Please. I did the forest drops mostly solo because their organic and need to be done all at once while wet and by one person to look natural, and also because the set isn't ready for paint and the street scape drop still needs priming... but we've got a whole town set coming up these next two weeks to paint and once I rough in the overall design I want painters all over it like ants on a dropped Popsicle in July, painting in the different buildings Caleb and Liz have designed, both on the practical set and on the street scape drop.

And I've been ramping up to the impending end of Power Rangers RPM by roughing out an idea for a 26 vignette series about Doctor K called "Alphabet Soup," which would of course, include Thanatos as chapter T.

Also I want to pimp the Vampire the Masquerade/Requiem LARP I've been playing, because they were absolutely terrific with the Masquerade Ball this weekend. I know I already thanked them on the forums, but you guys should know how awesome they are too, and if anyone's interested in joining... please contact me and I'll put you thru to them. (Disclaimer: Yes, they're offering XP bonus to people who recruit others.)

And lastly... Erters who read here, just FYI, I bumped a bunch of the old EzBoard/Yuku forums while I was on today, so the archives on those ones are still active, but I think we lost a couple more of the old forums to inactivity... if you need a link to any of them let me know here or on the forums and I'll point you there. If you have anything you care about you really should archive it because the ezBoards are expiring faster these days and I wouldn't even have thought to check on them if the sort of a gripe community I've been posting on on Yuku for a few months now, hadn't gone mega-downhill with the infighting lately. It turns out there's not much left to read there after you put a few psychos on block.

And all of this reminds me that I don't just fail at Blogging... I fail at Sims too... I haven't done anything in the Sims Community in ages.

8^P

So... yeah... damn...

[Sep. 14th, 2009|06:03 pm]

[	Tags	\|	alpha psi omega, theater	]
[	mood	\|	annoyed	]
[	music	\|	Irving Berlin: There's No Business Like Show Business	]

Ok, so as most of you know, because I know most of you IRL, I've been Assistant Stage Managing the Delta Xi Cast of Alpha Psi Omega's Fall show "Arcadia" by Tom Stoppard. It's pretty much eaten my life since early August, because the Stage Managers has to be there for every. Single. Rehearsal. But I'm not bitter... nope nope... it was actually fun. There were a few times when I felt one of the adult cast members wasn't taking Bisco and I seriously as stage managers, but her attitude improved in time and I hold nothing against her.

On the other hand, we did have a COLOSSAL problem with one particular young cast member. I'm not going to name names, but if you were involved then you can probably figure out who I'm talking about... in fact, if you were involved, then you probably already know who I'm talking about since you probably didn't fail to miss the issues we were having with her.

( Major Ranting about an Actress who can't be UPSET... )

Oh well.

Someday she'll learn how to cope with being upset, or she'll have to stop doing theater, because no one's going to tolerate that out of a grown woman. Theater is Blood, Sweat and Tears, and it doesn't matter what's happened, the show must go on. I've seen the Tin-Man go on in a costume that's cutting into the backs of his knees. I've seen Aldonza go back on after getting whipped for REAL by accident during "Little Bird." I've seen Fruma Sarah get into a car wreck on the way to the theater and still go on. I've seen actresses stuff broken toes into stiletto heels and go back on for 3 more nights. I've seen girls get dumped at half hour and go on anyway. If being "upset" is going to keep you off the stage... you're not fit to be there.

8^/

9 comments|Leave a comment

Ok, so I'm hooked...

[Jul. 18th, 2009|12:38 pm]

[	Tags	\|	icons, power rangers	]
[	mood	\|	amused	]
[	music	\|	K's Butterfly's Piano Music	]

No I mean I'm Seriously Hooked. I haven't been this into a season of Power Rangers since Mystic Force. Yes Power Rangers. Shut Up.

Whilst Mystic Force had the Potteresque charm of a bunch of teenagers gifted with magical powers fighting the big bad while discovering their own true power, RPM has a post apocalyptic landscape populated by characters all dealing with issues of family acceptance and/or loss, whilst battling with giant robots.

It's Evangelion for kids.

The center peice, at least for me, of this whole shebang, is the Rangers Mentor, Doctor K, who could give Katsugari Misato and Agaki Ritsuko a run for their money for the titles of Most Messed up Mentor, and Most Damaged Computer Genius, respectively, and Gem and Gemma, two trigger happy ADDers whom I expect to pull an Asuka in the bathtub, in the event they are for some reason unable to blow the enemy up real good, which seems to be their only purpose in life.

Then we have Ziggy Grover, incompetent, blustering, clumsy, and for some unknown reason, infatuated with Doctor K. His main skill is SHADOW PUPPETS, and his foot is in his mouth more often than not. It's cute. So naturally Doctor K pushes him away at every opportunity.

How do I know I'm hooked? Other than the rambling? Check the new Icon, featuring Doctor K, and the following... I wrote PR Fan Fiction...

Yeah... I did.

Thanatos: People who hide themselves from others seldom turn on a dime to wear their heart on their sleeve, but if pressed, they may fake it. Doctor K is nearly clever enough to pull it off. (Read Story)

It's on the FanFic.net. I know... it's sad. But these days Private Archives don't get enough traffic.

8^P

Crazy Co-irkers strike again...

[Jun. 4th, 2009|12:33 pm]

[	Tags	\|	lets get political	]
[	mood	\|	annoyed	]

Ok... despite the title, I actually kinda like these guys... where by "these guys" I mean the two loudly right wing fellows on my team. (There's 3 more who just turn up their headphones every time the three of us get into it.) Just want to get that out of the way... I'm fully capable of disagreeing with you vehemently, and still enjoying your company.

In my last, (also first) political post, I was ranting about my co-irker the Right-Wing Libertarian, a fellow who disavowed his Republican roots and became a Right-Wing Libertarian instead, to distance himself from their recent behavior.

I keep saying "Right-Wing Libertarian," because there is, in both his mind and mine, a world of difference between them and what I previously believed "Libertarians" to be, whom he describes as "Left-Wing Libertarians". He doesn't like them. I do. I will not refer to them as "Left-Wing Libertarians" myself however, as I'm pretty sure that this is a case of classifying everyone not as conservative as he is, as a "Liberal" which is how I came to have that label in the first place.

I'm the only reason I choose to embrace the "Liberal" is because it seems that these days, everyone hears "Centrist" and assumes you're in the opposite camp to them, but just won't admit it. As a left-leaning centrist, I would rather the Liberals didn't think I was a Conservative, and the Conservatives think I'm a Liberal anyhow. Though to the World's Smallest Political Quiz, That's exactly what I am... a Centrist, with my dot squarely on the line between that and a Libertarian, a little to the left of center. (It's an old quiz... with no hosting for your results. I've saved mine and e-mailed it to myself and will upload it when I get home to my webspace to share.)

The other Right-Winger in my office is a dedicated dyed in the wool Republican, who aligned on my side of the debate, on the "Chilling Effect" issue. He doesn't like the policy, but was every bit as confused as I was on the assertion that it was a violation of our First Amendment rights. Despite scoring on the World's Smallest Political Quiz as a Libertarian (albeit one far to the right, like my other politically vociferous co-irker) the only part of the Republican Party which he disavows, is the "Religious Right." He denies that they hold any sway with the party, or are anything more than an embarrassing outlier which the Liberals latch on to and flog the crap out of.

So... it's the Republican's turn to be lambasted, (I'll keep calling him that because he wants to be called that) and here's why...

He continually and unabashedly conflates "Theory" with "Hypothesis."

If I hear, one more time, that something is "only a Theory" my head is going to explode. When faced with the "Theory of Gravity" he only replies that gravity isn't a theory but a Law. He cannot be swayed off this position, because I don't have a textbook handy, and "Wikipedia is full of liberals" so their page on Gravitation is invalid.

This isn't even strictly political, I should point out, because one of the big things which to him is "only a Theory" is the link between Cigarette Smoking and Lung Cancer. It's "only a Theory" so of course, it's an infringement on our rights to bar smoking from enclosed public spaces where other people have to inhale your smoke. After all it's not PROVEN that they WILL get sick from it, only that they might. The Anecdotal Evidence that his Grandmother has not yet died from smoking proves that smoking does not "cause cancer." The term "Significant Risk Factor" means nothing to him, because unless it is "100% proven" then our laws shouldn't take it into account. I asked him how it could be "100% proven" (as theories are generally falsifiable but not provable, otherwise they would be proofs) and was told that a one to one correlation between smoking and dying of cancer would be required.

The RW Libertarian is with him on this... *sigh.*

I have no clever arguments this time... because you can't argue with someone who has adopted a differing definition of a word from that which you hold, and will not budge off the spot unless a credible Right-Wing source tells him otherwise. Unfortunatly, according to both my Right-Wing Co-irkers the education system, like Wikipedia, is "Liberal," ruling out science text books, encyclopedias, peer reviewed papers and any and all other educational sources.

I'm starting to think I should change these from "lets get political" to "logical falacies in action" or some such...

8^S

2 comments|Leave a comment

Afraid of the Chilling Effect? Man Up.

[May. 8th, 2009|05:40 pm]

[	Tags	\|	lets get political	]
[	mood	\|	annoyed	]

( Disclaimer )

So...there's alot going around at the moment about the "chilling effect" that the The Matthew Shepard Act will have on people's freedom of speech... the logic, as explained to me by the office right wing libertarian, is as follows:

If you include sexual orientation in the list of groups protected by hate crime legislation, it will make people who disagree with the homosexual lifestyle because of their religion afraid to say so, because they don't want to be lumped in with racists and sexists, and anti-foreigners.

This, according to their logic constitutes "abridging the freedom of speech," which is explicitly forbidden in the constitution.

Now, I putting aside whether or not we should even have hate crime laws in the first place, (As according to some, they're past their prime, along with Affirmative Action, because isn't a problem anymore... right...) because that's a whole other freaking argument and we'd be here all day.

I'm also putting aside the part where I already lump people who discriminate against people on the basis of sexual orientation in with those who discriminate on the basis of race or sex, because if I didn't I'd just say "too late" and call it a day.

Instead I'd like to address the logic behind these statements and how it makes no freaking sense.

First of all: As the law is currently written, it is a hate crime to beat someone up for having a different religion than you do.

Has this had a "chilling effect" on peoples freedom of religious speech thus far? I don't think so... given the door to door Mormons that visited my mother the other day, or the Evangelical gentleman who handed me a "How to be Saved" pamphlet in the AutoZone Parking Lot after helping me toggle a rusty switch to get my old windshield wipers off. It certainly hasn't stopped various campus groups at RPI from holding events encouraging others to come and learn about their religion.

All it's done is make it a bit more of a crime to beat someone up for having a different religion than you, than it is to beat someone up because the person as an individual, has pissed you off.

That said, if one is going to take the stance instead that there was ALREADY a "chilling effect" in place regarding the existing hate crimes law, then we come to my second point.

The Mathew Shepard Act does not make it a crime to say "it's disgusting and sinful and wrong to commit homosexual acts, and I don't want to be friends with any of them awful gays... and neither should you." It only adds extra penalties to the existing prohibition against beating the crap out of your fellow man. Putting aside, remember, whether or not these extra penalties are proper or needed.

The Act, in and of itself does NOTHING even approximating "abridging the freedom of speech." All it says is basically: "We are taking the official stance that hitting someone on the basis of that person being gay, is a bad bad thing." Hitting them. Not saying they shouldn't be married, not saying you don't want them in your car... just, not effing hitting them.

Now if, as a side effect this causes people to feel that the government is also saying that it's wrong to talk smack about the gays, well whoop-de do. As it so happens in the United States, where even tho it's a crime to hit a guy for being black, it's not a crime to call him the N word. It is if you're refusing to serve him in a restaurant on that basis... because that's discrimination, but if you're a fellow customer, just saying you don't think the black fellow at the table next to you shouldn't be getting served isn't a crime. It's just in very, very, very, VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY poor taste, and will make people think you're a bigot. (Which you are. Bigot.)

That said... the people who still strongly believe that sort of thing, will still say that sort of thing, because they have the courage of their (misbegotten) convictions (god save them.)

So, if you have the courage of your anti-gay convictions, then it shouldn't be a problem for you to continue speaking out against them, whether or not it's the popular thing to do.

No one said your Freedom of Speech was going to be easy.

8^S

8 comments|Leave a comment

Slap Chop, Remixed

[May. 7th, 2009|08:58 am]

[	Tags	\|	video	]
[	mood	\|	amused	]
[	music	\|	Steve Porter: Slap Chop Remix	]

James, my co-worker just sent this to the group, and I thought, knowing my friends, some of you would get a kick out of it too...

8^P

1 comment|Leave a comment

Reasons why Delmar is cooler than mSS (Update)

[May. 5th, 2009|12:58 pm]

[	Tags	\|	delmar, mss	]
[	place	\|	in my new cube!	]
[	mood	\|	chipper	]

Some updated lines for my previosly posted chart...

	mSS	Delmar
Space	Shared Office 1 Drawer 0 Shelves 0 Coatrack Doesn't Lock*	Full Sized Cube 7 Drawers 4 Shelves 1 Mini Coat Closet All LOCK
Kitchenette	1 Fridge (Sometimes) 1 Microwave 2 Servers	2 Fridges (ALWAYS) 2 Microwaves 0 Servers

Today the team moved out of our shared office (where my setup was basically the same as at mSS,) and into our new cubicles with awesome amenities... as a result we now use a different kitchenette, with an additional fridge.

*Ok, so... you're probably wondering why it matters if my space locks or not... in fact I don't even use the locks at Delmar. I don't need to because of the culture differences. At Delmar my cube is "my" space. No one would dream of walking in and riffling thru my things, whereas at mSS, my drawer was NOT considered "my" space, in fact, I went to see if I could link this story, and then realized it took place during one of the times that I was AWOL from LJ over working too much... so I'll have to write it now.

( Why locks matter... )

8^)

Lynn Wilson wrote my Grocery List...

[Apr. 30th, 2009|08:43 pm]

[

mood

confused

]

So... I went to the Hanniford on my way home from work, to pick up a steak to broil rare and consume for dinner, and ran into my radio station B95.5, running a drawing for $25 Hanniford gift certificates... so I entered, and in the prosess wound up in a conversation with Lyn Wilson, who does the mid afternoon show, famous for her Lunch-Box Trivia contest.

By the end of the conversation she'd written me up a grocery list.

I wound up eating cube stake, chicken fried, for dinner.

It kinda tasted just like chicken.

I mean it was good... it's just that it wasn't much different than when I do chicken that way, and when I do chicken that way it usually winds up in a chicken parmesan... radio people are really good at convincing you to do things, and I don't know why. I don't listen to sales people, and I don't listen to radio people doing product placement (which is why I didn't buy the Scott's Brand Paper Towels she put on my list,) but apparently I'm really susceptible to recipe suggestions.

8^S

I finaly gave in...

[Apr. 28th, 2009|08:28 pm]

[	Tags	\|	facebook	]
[	mood	\|	embarrassed	]

Remember waaaaaaaaay back when when I wasn't ever going to get a Livejournal because I had a DiaryLand account and totally didn't need the social networking crap on Livejournal? Remeber how one by one all my Diaryland affiliates moved to Livejournal and in the end so did I?

So remember how I said I was NEVER going to join Facebook?

Yeah.

I'm not leaving Livejournal tho... I'm still using that for my blogging... but yeah... all the photos, them are on Facebook... and I wanz teh fotos.

8^P

4 comments|Leave a comment

Reasons why Delmar is cooler than mSS

[Mar. 27th, 2009|05:52 pm]

[	Tags	\|	delmar, mss	]
[	mood	\|	amused	]

	mSS	Delmar
Commute	35 minutes up Northway	5 Minutes Across Town
Parking	On Street	In Lot
Overtime	Frequent Unpaid	Infrequent Paid
Hours	Rigidly Set	FLEXITIME
Computer	Dell Desktop Loud Dying Fan 1 Moniter	IBM Thinkpad Quiet Efficient Fan Dual Moniters
Boss	Totally Different Sense of Humor	Rick-Rolled me in Training
Atmosphere	Competitive Discourages Talking	Cooperative Encourages Talking
Cafeteria	None	Panza's Cafe
Kitchenette	1 Fridge (Sometimes) 1 Microwave 2 Servers	1 Fridge (ALWAYS) 2 Microwaves 0 Servers
Kitchen Cleaning	My Problem	Not My Problem
Waste Paper Basket	My Problem	Not My Problem
	mSS	Proliant
Benefits	Kinda Blah Health Insurance Costs > $150 per month	Kinda Awesome Health Insurance Costs < $50 per month

Yes... I took a bit of a paycut... but if you factor in the amount of unpaid overtime I did at mSS, I'm making about the same amount an hour... and I'm so much happier.

8^)

I CAN HAZ JOB!!!

[Mar. 13th, 2009|03:12 pm]

[	Tags	\|	delmar, unemployment	]
[	mood	\|	excited	]

I'm going back to DELMAR LEARNING!!! Remember them?

Back when I was an intern, they were Thomson Delmar, now they're Delmar Cengage, but yeah... WOOT. I realize looking back that mostly all I posted about it was about a certain slightly pompus co-worker, and the noisy people on the other side of the cubicle walls... but my supervisor was great, I loved the casual office atmosphere, and most of all I loved that they LIKED me there.

I'm going to be an hourly subcontractor, working thru a local contract company called Proliant. I'm making a few thou a year less than I did at mSS, but the benefits package WAY better, and since I'm hourly, if they ask me to work overtime I get TIME AND A HALF, which is a huge incentive for them not to ask me to do that unless it's truly necessary.

The coolest thing is, I never even had a formal interview. I just had a phone interview with my prospective boss and apparently I has an internal recommendation or something. I'm guessing they talked to Wendy, my supervisor when I was an intern, who liked me a whole hell of allot more than my boss at mSS did... but then all my old bosses liked me a hell of allot more than my boss at mSS did... which is why I totally didn't use him as a reference.

I can't WAIT to be back there... it's only 5 minutes from home, with off street parking, and a lunch counter by PANZAS and a gym downstairs. I'm pretty sure that contractors, like interns, don't get to use the gym, but... I don't do gyms anyhow, and I highly doubt they'll forbid contractors from giving business to the lunch counter... mmmmm... I can taste the BLT now.

I start next Monday the 23rd!!!

Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to get some sushi...

8^)

Kinda like a vacation... except without Sushis.

[Feb. 5th, 2009|11:58 am]

[	Tags	\|	unemployment	]
[	mood	\|	optimistic	]
[	music	\|	Sheryl Crow: Soak Up The Sun	]

Now initially, when I became unemployed, I did a quick check of my savings to determine the damage that would be done to them by living off them while I looked for a job... and was rather freaked out at the rate at which they were going to deplete. I never previously realized how much living costs, because I was making more than enough to cover my personal expenses (rent/utilities/cable/food/gas) and cat upkeep (kibble/litter/healthplan) and don't buy much of anything else... however, an analysis of my spending, using the handy tools provided by Bank of America's online banking... tells me that that's... well... allot. I'm not using any real numbers here because that would be telling... and I don't.

Suffice it to say, in order to stretch my savings, I then resolved to cut expenses to at or under $1,000 a month, without stiffing Rachel (

katratzi17) on rent/utilities, or downgrading my cable internet/TV services (also not fair to Rachel) and in order to do that I will take the following 5 steps:

1. Cut all luxury spending. No more buying: DVDs, DS games, Wii games, Sims expansions, Spore expansions, desk trinkets (like I need them now anyway), cat toys, books, graphic t-shirts, or anything from ThinkGeek.com

2. Cut back on gas by cutting trips to-from Troy by either staying home when I don't need to be down there, or staying over a few nights when I get down there.

3. Start buying catfood in the 8.5 pound bags, instead of the 3.5 pound bags. It's a pain to carry/store, but I'll save money. Cut treats entirely. (Sorray kitttays... just hope I get a new job before the ones in the cabinet run out, ok?)

4. Buy store brand alternatives at the grocery store. Eat alot more of the following cheep foods: Shake N Bake Drumsticks, Pasta, Breakfast Cereal, PBJ.

5. Cut restaurant attendance down to 2 cheep sit down (under $10) and 2 fast food meals a month. Cut all sushi, with the exception of a post-interview maki for reward/incentive, in the event I get an interview.

So, with my 2 weeks severance pay having run out, I applied this Sunday for my NYS unemployment... I got a thing in the mail today telling me how much they are sending. I though it would be a pittance... but as it turns out it's actually nearly livable... meaning my savings will take a much lower hit than I thought.

So... being unemployed is kinda like being on vacation, except without any Sushi.

8^S

Heh... Where have I BEEN?

[Jan. 29th, 2009|09:20 am]

[	Tags	\|	frankie, larp, mss, theater, unemployment	]
[	mood	\|	calm	]

Well there... I seem to have been poked to write a blog entry so here it is. Ta Da!

Fact of the matter is, until recently my working hours didn't really give me time to do much else, and I was squeezing in plays, as the last post suggests, first Wizard of Oz with the Not So Common Players, and then Rumors over at RPI. Oh and I adopted a cat off the street in August. His name is Frankie. I'll backpost about him later.

It's not so much a problem anymore as I've been let go from my position at mSS: condolences not necessary. It's a bit of a blow to my finances, but I don't have debt, and I do have savings, and I qualify for unemployment and COBRA so I'm free to look for another job carefully, instead of desperately jumping into the first job I get offered, whatever that may be.

In the mean time I'm APSM for EOP at RPI. (Acronym Translation: I'm Assistant Production Stage Manager for Evening of Performance at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.) Also I've just been cast as Lynette "Squeeky" Fromme in their upcoming spring Musical, Steven Sondheim's Assassins.

That means I can spend the time I'd spend at work normally looking for jobs, and spend my evenings the same as I always do.

Also I'm joining a LARP at SUNY Albany it's V:tM with V:tR mechanics. (Acronym Translation: Also I'm joining a Live Action Role Play at State University of New York Albany it's Vampire: the Masquerade with Vampire: the Requiem mechanics.)

So yeah... that's what I've been up to. I'll try and post blog entries more often now that I've got the time on my hands. I definitely need to backpost a trip report from my Disney World Vacation, and also backpost the lovely story of my car trouble earlier this month, and the day I got fired... which happen to co-incide oddly. My luck was not in that week.

8^)

1 comment|Leave a comment

Sometimes Life Just Hates You...

[Jan. 9th, 2009|04:00 pm]

[	Tags	\|	mss, unemployment	]
[	mood	\|	ambivilant	]

This was one of those times: A backpost about the day I was fired.

Ok, so... the last week of December, I woke one morning... I believe Tuesday the 30th... but it could have been New Years Day, as I'm writing this in February, to discover before work, that a lighting fixture I'd been harassing my landlord about, had fallen out of a tree and onto my car, conveniently removing my rear wind shield in many MANY little pieces, and putting a hefty scratch on my trunk.

Now mind you I hadn't been harassing them about the light being unstable or anything... just about it not lighting. They started work on that problem before the ice storm (another backpost about that later) and left the work unfinished. It's still unfinished as of this writing.

Anyhow, my neighbor knocked on the door to let me know that the light had fallen on my car, and that her husband (fiance back then, I think) was taking pictures. I came out... gawked... went inside, called in to mSS to let them know, I was going to be late, if I came in at all, because my car was nigh on undrivable. Then I called my parents, and my insurance company and a bunch of other places, and suffice it to say I took the car into the shop, and was provided with an Enterprise Rent-A-Car (not only do they pick you up, but when you're in a rush and your car is a wreck, they drop off cars at collision repair shops.)

Kia Rios are ADORABLE but they are SHIT IN THE SNOW.

I got to work mega late, but left on time anyway, because I really didn't need (mental health wise) to be there any longer that day, and besides, my boss let it slip to me in December that the girl who started Jan 2nd, was coming to replace me. Not really the wisest move.

So la-de da. My father picked me up for New Years at my parents house because Jake was down in Somers, and I wasn't driving the Kia over there in that weather if I didn't have to, and certainly wasn't driving it HOME at 3am with all the drunk drivers, in the snow, since it was crap to begin with.

Tuesday the 6th, I show up at 8am to get my car back... and at about 8:40 they bring it around to the front: running, and clear of snow. I think "YAY!" and hop in my Civic with full set of snow tires, and ride off to work, only a little bit late. That night, as I tried to leave work, I discover why they gave it back running.

The Battery was dead.

So was my jumper box.

I had to get a jump off my boss.

Now at this point I thought the battery had just run down during the time it spent sitting in the repair shop, and surely driving it home, the alternator would give it a charge and everything would be fine. No dice. The net morning it was still dead. I borrowed charger cables from my downstairs neigbor, and got a charge off another neighbor, and arrived way late for work as a result... I got another charge off my boss to get home... next morning same deal, except I got up early to try and get a charge before I got late. It didn't work.... that night, Thursday night, I said to hell with staying late to make up the time, I need to get this battery replaced, and got out of there on time, and went and did just that.

Friday was much better... woke up, got dressed, started my car without a problem and headed off to work. Found a parking space, and started up for the office... only about 5 minutes late... and as I crossed the last intersection onto the block with my office building, hit black ice and landed on my back in the street. I didn't know it at the time, but the sales force saw from upstairs and were laughing their butts off. In the morning meeting, I got a splinter from the conference table... then I tore a belt loop off my jeans adjusting my pants... then I got a call from a dear friend saying she was in the hospital (she's fine as of this writing,)...

Then I got fired.

Sometimes life just hates you...

8^S