kittylady's Blog

The woman asking for help on how to give her family a 'decent' Christmas got my dander up, and I just had to reply in my own blog.

Why does everyone think the only way to have a 'decent' Christmas is to spend money on tons of gifts?  For the past two years, my husband and I have not been able to buy anyone anything.  Last year, I gave away canned apple pie filling and things I made myself.  I had a great time doing it and people acted appreciative, yet I couldn't help but feel like a jerk for giving away cheap stuff while they gave us nice gifts.  Why should something I worked hard on feel cheap?  Why is a store-bought gift more important? 

It looks like this year is going to be more of the same, and I'm inclined to tell everyone not to bother giving us anything because we can't reciprocate.  I would much rather just spend time with family than go through the gift orgy.  When you show up at the in-laws and all the kids are whining about wanting to open presents NOW!, you've got to wonder what happened to the real meaning of Christmas.  Sometimes, I think we'd be better off calling it Giftmas, and leaving Christ's name out of it, because it's obvious He's not welcome in this holiday any more.  Greed is the order of the day.  Oh yeah, and let's not forget gluttony. 

I used to get all caught up in the decorations, the music, the lights, the gifts, etc., but it's amazing what a little poverty will do to your perspective.  It's not a pleasant state, but maybe if everyone went through it without the trappings of Christmas just once, they might realize what's really valuable.  Besides, no earthly gift can rival what God gave us: salvation through Christ.

"We have other people to interview, but we'll get back to you."  Nine times out of ten, that phrase is the kiss of death in an interview.  I heard it on Friday.  The interview didn't start out very well, considering that the guy who was supposed to talk to me first sprained his ankle playing basketball at lunch time.  One of the women who was scheduled to interview me after him called in sick.  So it was just the one woman and me.  I had to take a test beforehand.  I'm not sure if it was some kind of IQ test or what, but it was actually kind of fun, especially trying to figure out the number sequences.  I love puzzles, and it was just like a puzzle.  I know I aced the word relationship section, and the math was pretty easy.

Anyway, she said they would call me this week and set up a different interview, but so far nothing.  They pulled the job from Job Net, but I think that's because they received more applicants than they could handle.  That doesn't bode well for me, either.  So yesterday I sent out three more resumes, and hopefully something will come of those.

After my last switchboard stint this morning, I came back to my cubicle.  First thing I saw were three foil helium balloons flying over my desk.  Then the pan of brownies.  By the time I saw the card, I was bawling.  Inside I found signatures from most of the people I worked with, even a couple who were on a less than friendly basis with me.  Not the president, though.  Not that that was any surprise.  What really floored me was the gift certificates for Piggly Wiggly and Applebees.  The Applebees one is enough for my husband and I to have everything from appetizers to dessert!  Also, there was some cash.  I cried even more, and then, the phone rang. 

I don't think I'll ever know how I managed to turn off the emotions and pick up that phone in two rings, but I did.  Fortunately, it was my husband.  When I told him about what my co-workers did, the waterworks came again.  It reminds me that I won't miss the company, but the people are a whole different story.

Only 4 hours and 15 minutes to go.

Last week Wednesday, I heard back from one of the places where I sent a resume.  After a short interview over the phone, they sounded really interested in talking more with me, so I have an interview this Friday afternoon.  This job would be such a blessing!  It's less than 8 miles from home, versus the 21 I drive now.  It pays a little more, and the benefits are probably better.  Plus, I'd be working for a growing company doing something valuable, rather than sitting around doing nothing half the time, feeling like dead weight in a sinking company.

But if it doesn't work out, I'll just apply to another couple jobs I found in the past few days.  I know I have valuable skills, and it's just a matter of finding the place that needs them.  The last time I was unemployed, I felt rejected and pushed down, like I was useless.  It took eight months to find a suitable job, and even then, it wasn't a good fit, but it was an income.  In all the interviewing I've done over the years, I've learned that if you don't go in thinking you're worthy of the position, you won't project that onto the interviewer, and you probably won't get the job.  So as long as I keep feeling good about myself and what I can do, and verbalize it during the interview, that's half the battle.  The other half is making sure that I'm following God's will! 

Thursday, November 15, is the last day of my job.  The company is moving its headquarters, and I'm being downsized.  Just a week shy of three years here, and at the point when I could have been the biggest help to everyone moving, they yank me out.  Why?  I joked with one of the salesmen that if they waited another week, they would have had to give me a three-year service pin. 

I knew this was coming two months ago when I tried for an open position in the company and the president told me I was losing my job.  So for the past two months, every day I came to work wondering if it would be my last day.  I tried looking for other work, but the prospects have been pretty thin lately.  I tried for another open position and didn't get that one, either.  Monday, I put in resumes at three places, and if I don't get any responses by next Thursday , Friday morning I'll dress for battle and hit all the temp agencies. 

What is really comical to me about this is that my co-workers are all sad for me, and some of them are truly angered at the way I'm being treated and cast aside.  But I keep telling them that God has a door open out there for me, and it's my time to find it.  They've promised me pay for unused vacation and a severance package, so I know the Lord is taking care of us and He has something better out there for me. 

I have never felt so at peace with a job shakeup in my life.  The last time I was laid off, I embarrased myself by bawling in front of the boss when he told me.  This time, I won't give the president the satisfaction.  Sometimes I wonder why I even got this job, and I know this job came from the Lord, because my unemployment ran out just as I got my first paycheck.  Now I see that maybe the way I handle this transition, if I do it with grace and display my faith, it'll be a ministry to someone in the company who doesn't believe.  What a great way to go, if my 'tragedy' and the way I deal with it can inspire someone.  

Over the past weekend, there were two 18 year olds driving drunk in Sheboygan...again.   Just about every week there's a report of another young driver causing a stupid accident.  Oh yeah, and what about that girl mowing down the 17 year old?  When I was 16, 17, 18 years old, almost everyone I knew took driving very seriously.  We realized we were driving a lethal weapon, and gave it the respect and care it deserved.  In 26 years, somewhere along the way, we've impressed upon our youth the idea that a car is a toy to be played with, and look at the results.  I'm so tired of it, I'm starting to wish they would raise the driving age to 21. 

Last night there was an accident at the intersection three doors down from our house. I didn't see what happened, just heard squealing tires, then sqcreeching brakes. I looked out the window just in time to see a van nearly plow into the back of a car. Then another car drove slowly out of the intersection and parked in front of our neighbor's.  Eventually, a teenager got out.  Two people walking down the street apparently saw what happened.  The kid must have tried to feign innocense, because I heard the guy yell at him, "Don't try to lie! I saw you come flying down the side street like a bat out of hell and not even stop." A van pulled up behind the kid's car. He was on the right of way and hit the kid's car, bending the wheel in, so it was undrivable. When the sheriff's deputy showed up he talked to the kid and witnesses and didn't even appear to write up anything. He let the kid go with his mom or whoever she was, no ticket. What's up with that???? 

This isn't the first time some teenager has pulled this at that intersection.  It happens at least once a week.  They peel out of the Piggly Wiggly parking lot, tear down one block, and dart out into traffic, expecting everybody to stop safely for them.  When people drive west on Hwy A going 45-55 into downtown Oostburg when the speed limit is 25, and people leaving downtown start speeding up to 45 (in the 25mph zone) at that intersection, how on earth can you expect them to stop?  I am so ticked that this kid suffered no consequences other than a bent wheel, which Mommy and Daddy will probably pay for through their insurance, and he'll go right back to his reckless ways.

Now, I know kids were stupid 'when I was their age'.  Yet it seems like they're getting dumber by the year and more of them are getting into accidents.  Accidents, what a misnomer.  How can you call it an accident?  Accidents are things that happen, well, by accident.  These incidents happen because of carelessness, and are bound to happen.  If they don't, they were just lucky.  Using the word 'accident' sugarcoats the stupidiy, shifts away guilt, and takes the responsiblity off the idiot who caused it.  Like it was some freak thing that happened.  No, it wasn't.  We need another word for these senseless collisions, something that better fits the circumstances.  We need stiffer penalites for infractions. 

When I first got my license in Michigan many years ago, the law dictated that if I had an accident, it was enough to take away my license until I was 18.  At 17, I was hit by another vehicle, and I was so freaked because I thought I'd lose my license.  Fortunately, since I didn't cause it, I didn't.  But the fact that I could lose my license for a minor fender bender kept me driving safely.  It's the other idiots out there you can't control, and they're the ones who should suffer consequences for their carelessness.  But that's not the way things work any more, and I for one am sick and tired of it.

Rant off. 

The key for my Kaspersky System Mechanic was about to expire in three days, and with money being so tight right now, I couldn't really afford the $39.95 to renew it.  Still, I didn't want to risk my computer's security, so I had to something!

I tried Walmart online, and they had System Mechanic 7 Professional, the latest version, for $39.95.  Not bad, but that still wouldn't solve my dilemma.  So, with little hope for success, I went to Best Buy's site.  I nearly had to pick up my jaw with a crane when I saw the sale price - $4.99!  They were selling a $69.95 product for $4.99!  It had to be a typo!  There was no way I'd get it for that in the store, so I took advantage of this 'mistake' and bought online.  I was able to arrange to pick it up at the Kohler store, so I hurried over there last night to pick it up before they realized their mistake and wanted to make me pay more before they'd give it to me.  Seriously, I was afraid they might do that!  But they didn't.  The sales guy thought it was odd, but I had the printout receipt to prove it, so it was there in black and white.  He just smiled, said I got a cool deal, and sent us on our way.

This morning, I checked Best Buy's web site, and the price went up to $9.99.  However, they're sold out, both online and in the stores!  I don't know what Best Buy was doing, but they did ME a huge favor.  For $5.24 (price with tax), I have new software that works better than the old version, AND I can use it on up to three computers! 

I'm still in awe, I just had to tell about it.  I've seen some ridiculously cheap sale prices on Best Buy's site before, but this one beats them all!

Commercials are a fact of life. Some of them are boring. Some of them are hilarious, watch after watch (i.e. the Bud at the opera commercial). Marketers are constantly trying new ways to grab our attention, always looking for new trends, pushing the envelope of decency.   There's a new trend that I find really disturbing. At first, I thought it was an anomaly, but now I'm afraid this is the future of marketing that I call "mean marketing."

For example: the McDonald's commercial with the two guys going on about how great their breakfasts are.  Okay, no problem.  Then the camera pulls back and we see their friend sitting watching them enviously in a major neck brace and jaw wired shut, with a simple coffee in front of him.  I can't imagine how someone could be so cruel to a friend by letting them suffer watching others eating while incapable of enjoying food.

Then came the AirTran commercials, showing businessmen in various situations showing a lack of integrity, one of the most recent being a guy mocking his boss right in front of him.  And let's not forget the grandparents arriving on the doorstep, ecstatic to see the new family.  The husband and wife hand off their babies to the grandparents and tell them they'll call when they land.  I'm sorry, since when has abandoning your children been funny, even if it is to the custody of the grandparents?  All these commercials add up to this impression: people with no sense of right and wrong fly AirTran.  Given how they handled their obsession with buying Midwest, it makes me wonder if advertising like this is just par for the course as part of a trend, or if the ads reflect the company's lack of morality.

I'm sure it's a matter of time before we see more companies jump on the mean marketing bandwagon.  Am I the only one who is disgusted by these ads?  What can we do to make it stop? 

I know it's kind of early, but did anyone notice that the Fox6 day at the state fair is Monday, Aug. 6?  How coincidental! ;-)  This is pretty cool, since my son is visiting me that week, and I was planning to take him to the fair that day, before I even knew it was Fox6 day. 

I love the state fair, even if it is expensive.  My son was 12 the last time we went, and I was kind of disappointed beause it didn't seem like he really enjoyed himself.  However, I heard from his dad that after he got home, he begged to go the Virginia state fair.  They went, and he kept saying it was really lame, that the one in Wisconsin was a lot better.  When I talked to his dad about having him here in the summer, he asked when the fair was, because our son wanted to go again. 

How's that for some props for our fair?

Oh yeah, and the way things are going this year, I'll probably be able to afford rides and lots of food, which will make it even more fun!  I can hardly wait!!!!! 

My husband and I have to go to a funeral tonight at Krause on 90th and Capitol.  Is it possible to get there without driving through a war zone?  We'll be coming down I-43 from the north, and with all the stuff going on in Milwaukee lately, we'll be saying a prayer for our safety before we go.  I was never scared to go to Milwaukee before because we usually stick to downtown or Brown Deer, but the more I think about it, the more anxious I get!

You know what's really sad?  When I lived in Michigan and was going to school for photojournalism, I went to some nasty parts of Detroit to visit recording studios and a church where Aretha Franklin was singing, and I didn't have half the fear I have now!

Last night's Idol results were not what I would have wanted, but the more I thought about it  leading up to that night, I realized it wouldn't be too surprising.  Melinda was too polished and professional to win.  For a long time I felt like she really shouldn't have been there.  It was unfair to compare her to the others, since she was leagues ahead of them.  Winning Idol would have been anti-climactic for her.  She's proven herself so above that.  It would be like an honor student graduating from kindergarten instead of high school. 

So now Idol is down to two 'amateurs.'  I'd much rather see Jordin win than Blake.  With a little more polish, Jordin could be just as good as Melinda.  She's got the voice and she's pretty.  She just needs a little more...I don't know what, but I'm sure they'll figure it out when the Idol machine molds her into star material.  Blake winning would be like Taylor Hicks all over again - great entertainer, but not much more. 

The thing that really creeps me out about Blake is he reminds me of Kevin Max from dcTalk.  He even sings a little like him!  The weird beat boxing doesn't help much to round out the picture.  Not that K-Max beat boxes.  He's just...bizarre.  And to me, the b-box is bizarre. 

Maybe I'm just too old for American Idol! LOL  I know one thing though; this is probably the last year we'll watch.  None of the contestants really grabbed us and made us want to buy their CDs when they come out.  It was nice entertainment on the screen, but later...meh.  Even Melinda, sorry to say.  She was too good and right on every week, it got boring.  We might check out the Band Idol, or whatever that is they're working on, but American Idol is fading into the sunset, I'm afraid.  Next week we'll probably wait until the last five minutes of the results show to see who won, but after that, bye-bye AI!

Man, I'm still freaking over that Celine Dion/Elvis duet on AI last night.  How on earth did they do that?  My husband and I were so fascinated by the schitck, we totally ignored the song itself! LOL!

This morning, on the way to work, I was listening to a report on the radio that said VT is allowing students who want to 'call it a year' to take their grades for the semester and make them their final grades and go home. At first I thought, wow, that's really good of them. But then I realized that they're really not helping these students. Granted, they have a lot of pain to deal with right now, but I'm afraid that some students will take this offer, go home, and not come back in the fall. They may opt out of college altogether because over the summer their fears of it happening again get the better of them, and they can't set foot on a college campus again.

A better plan would be to hold off classes for a week, enough time for people to mourn, refocus, and get back into a semi-normal rhythm of life. To conquer the fear of living and attending classes on campus could be a real cathartic experience. If they quit and go home, the killer has scored another victory. Continuing with the rest of the year chokes off the seeds of fear that the killer sowed among the campus population. From what I've seen on the news, the Hokies are resolved to stand tall and get through this together. To me, that means they'll get back on that horse in unity, which is the best medicine they could get for the road to healing.

All of this tragedy unfolding at VT and how the students are acting with such courage, poise, and grace reminded me of another campus tragedy.

It happened in 1990, in Gainesville, Florida at the University of Florida campus.  For several days, students and staff were paralyzed with fear as police discovered five students brutally murdered.  CNN and all the networks parked their trucks in a quarter mile line across from the last crime scene, trying to get every morsel of story they could.  Classes had just started, and yet some students fled for home in fear, or crammed into pawn shops to buy guns for protection. 

However, the majority of the campus took a different action.  Students banded together, piling into dorms and having impromptu, yet somber, sleepovers.  Fraternities started a program that allowed lone students, not just women, who felt unsafe get an escort home.  People in the community took students into their homes because they felt scared in their apartments.  Despite the tragedy, the beauty of human nature came out.  Townies embraced the students, and the students the townies and each other.  The city police worked hand in hand with the county, never arguing over who had jurisdiction where. 

Within days, someone created a simple memorial mural on the 34th St. wall, a place rife with graffiti.  Someone had the audacity to paint over it, but the next day, it was back and better.  The last time I was there, it was still on the wall, with a concrete frame around it, and touched up with fresh paint.

Today, we're seeing a lot of that same beauty in the students at VT.  Nearly 17 years later, and people are still capable of showing compassion and concern for others, despite one person who was incapable of those qualities.  It's easy to get discouraged at humanity when we see all the horrible things going on in the world.  And most days, it seems like people are all about themselves and to he** with everyone else.  But maybe, until a crisis tests our real mettle, some use that as a way to cope and insulate themselves from the nightmare, because they don't want to live that way. 

I keep hoping that some day all the unity we feel after tragedies like this will stick around for longer than a week, or a month, and help to make our world a better place.  Maybe then we wouldn't have people falling through the cracks and shooting out their frustrations at the end of a gun barrel.  This is a hard lesson that we need to concentrate more on loving our brothers, our fellow human beings, as ourselves.

Spring is great!  I love spring, especially the smells and the return of the birds.  Last weekend, our friend the woodpecker came back to our willow tree.  For an hour, at least, he pttttttttttttttt'd, probably increasing the size of his favorite hole.  Some people hate woodpeckers because of the damage they do, and while that is a downside, I love the sound they make.  I really like it in the woods, how it echoes all around and mixes with the soft swishing whisper of the evergreens in a soft spring breeze. 

What I don't like about spring, especially this year, is when the ground defrosts and gets squishy.  When we go from a big snowstorm two-three weeks ago, followed by a quick melt, and lots of rain last night, this morning I was in for a rude surprise as I walked to my car.  We really need to put some paving stones in from the walkway leading to the garage, going to the driveway!  Our driveway isn't paved, just gravel, so it's pretty spongy.  The ground between it and the walkway is sludgy, mucky grass, with the addition of a puddle six feet in diameter .  I had to tip-toe my way around, close to the garage, around the truck, and over to my car.

Now, if I could just see a robin, I wouldn't mind it so much!