Posts (page 2)

Next month is the second anniversary of his murder and it is hitting me a little hard this time around.  I just really miss him. 

I was talking to my aunt and asked her how his wife is doing.  I haven't talked to her in a long time and really didn't even know where she was now.  she's living with her mother now and has been trying to sell the house she and my cousin lived in but of course, no one wants to buy because a murder took place there.  So she has decided to let it fall into foreclosure.  She can't afford to keep paying on the house payments and taxes.  It all just makes me so sad.

My first post of 2009.  :)

Today I am celebrating the new year by going to see Twilight for the 4th time.  I can't help myself.  It may not be in the theater in another week or so.  I have to see it one last time   I just HAVE to!!!

Tomorrow is Angel's 4th birthday.  I can't believe she is 4 already!  I raised her since she was 4 weeks old.  She is literally my baby.  I hate the thought of her getting older and I'm always telling her that she can never leave me but I know one day I'm going to have to face that fact of life.  Doesn't last forever.  We have many good years to worry about that though so I refuse to dwell on it.  I just enjoy every minute and hold onto so many good memories we already have.  Cindie, I don't know if you read here or not but I have always said that you gave me the most precious gift when you gave me Angel and I will always feel that way.  (((hugs)))

Now I'm all misty.  I get way too emotional these days.  I don't know if it is a hormone thing or what.  Probably is. LOL 

Oldest is still employed.  She is still very unhappy and angry... as she should be... but at least she still has a paycheck. 

They had her down on a list of temp employees to let go by mistake.  She isn't a temp.  She was hired just before they started hiring temporary holiday employees apparently and her name was put down on that  list in error. 

Thing is, it is an inexcusable error.  It put her through a lot of anguish and it infuriated me beyond all reason.  I am so disgusted by it all. 

The manager was very sorry and apologized not only to her but to me as well. 

All I know is that they need to get their heads out of their behinds over there and start paying attention to what is going on with their employees because this is beyond ridiculous!!

I'm speaking of Oldest's boss.  She had to work yesterday and when I went to pick her up, she was in tears.  She was let go.  I understand that this is not uncommon these days with the economy the way it is.  But here is what I am so pissed about.  She has been treated like crap from day one.  When it was time for her review, she was never given one... was just sent an email.  No one said a damn thing to her.

Now... I find out she was let go because sales are down and yet there are people that were hired AFTER her that are still on the payroll.  And it was HOW she was let go.  As she was leaving, a reception person handed her a letter.  No word from a supervisor or manager... just a letter that was dated Dec 17!  WTF!   :rant:

The letter said this...

"Oldest",

Recently you joined our JCPenney team here at --- ----- and even though our sales were not up to our plan based upon a number of reasons, your efforts to make JCPenney a destination for customers was very much appreciated.

As you know we hire a number of associates on a temporary basis to help us get through the holidays and it has come to the time we have to make some decisions on future employment.

We thank you for the efforts but unfortunately we will not be able to keep you on our staff after january 3, 2009.  We all appreciate your efforts and wish you the best.  If you have any questions or concerns, please see your Sales Manager or Supervisor.

Have a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and a wonderful holiday season.

Sincerely,

--- -. -----
Store Manager

I find this VERY irritating that a receptionist handed this to her.  And the letter isn't even signed.  There is a space for a signature but there isn't one.  AND it pisses me off that this talks about temporary employees but Oldest is NOT temporary!  OMG WTF!

I am also pissed that no one can be bothered to talk to anyone.  I fired off an email to the manager last night.  May not be my place but I WANT SOME ANSWERS!

Hello.  My name is ---- -------.  My daughter, "Oldest" was hired in mid August as a full time permanent employee.  She came home this evening with a letter saying that she was let go.  It talked about temporary associates but Oldest was *not* a temporary employee.  I am  also aware of the fact that there are full time and part time employees that were hired after Oldest that are still on the payroll.  I would appreciate an honest reason as to why Oldest was let go.  In addition, I would like to know why you or a supervisor did not speak to her about this matter instead of having someone at the reception desk hand her this letter as she was leaving her shift.  That is a horrible way to handle a matter like this.  You are dealing with a full time employee who has bills to pay and medical insurance that was needed.  The *least* someone could have done is talk to her.

Honestly, I am greatly disturbed by this entire matter and would like to speak to you directly about it as opposed to email.  I work during the day.  When would be a good time to reach you?  If you work evenings at all or weekends, I will happily stop by in person to discuss this further.

Thank you.

I am infuriated.  The nurse I saw yesterday should have taken my blood pressure last night.  I bet it was  A LOT higher than 160!  

Oldest was tempted to just not bother going in the rest of this week but I told her that I need to see if she qualifies for unemployment.  If she does and then just doesn't show up the rest of the week, she will lose out on it.  But I'm not sure if she does.  The site says this...

To qualify for unemployment benefits filed on January 1, 2008 or later a worker must:

    *

      Have worked in covered employment and earned wages of at least $1,500 in one quarter of the base period and there must be wages in the other quarters of the base period which total at least $750 to establish a minimum claim. A worker's base period is the 12-month period consisting of the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before the beginning date of the claim.

      The total wages in the base period must be at least one and one-half times the worker's high quarter wages. The worker may still be qualified if he or she has wages in at least two quarters of the base period and the total of these wages equal $18,000.
    *

      Be out of work due to no fault of his or her own.

If you are an insured worker and qualify for benefits your weekly benefit amount will be 4% of the average of your two highest quarters. This amount cannot be more than $320 per week.

The most you can receive during the benefit year is 26 times your weekly benefit amount or one-third of your base period wages, whichever is less. When figuring your maximum benefit amount using either method, the base period wages are limited to 26 times your weekly benefit amount.

I don't know what that means exactly.  I'm so angry right now I could literally kill someone.  Her income didn't help much but I count on that little bit to help with monthly expenses around here!

Let's see... where to start.  I guess I will start by wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!

My last post was about my clogged bathtub.  At the time... the latest on my list of problems.  Husband called the landlord the next day and as he was on the phone with him, the stupid tub decided to drain.  Go figure.  GRRR!! LOL  Landlord came out and checked it anyway.  That was nice.

Yesterday was a very, VERY bad day.  Let all pet owners take a lesson from this because it is very serious.  Chocolate is very toxic to dogs.  This is pretty much common knowledge.  Going from least dangerous to most dangerous, you have

• white chocolate
• milk chocolate
• dark chocolate
• bakers chocolate

I had bought a Chocolate Orange... the milk chocolate one.  I don't normally get them.  So I was sitting in the recliner, enjoying some of it.  I set it down on the table and forgot about it completely.  I got up to do something, came back, remembered it and realized it was gone.  I then heard Precious under the chair.  She ate about 3/4 of the whole thing.  Needless to say, I panicked and called the vet... hoping that they were open.  They weren't but someone was there taking phone calls at least.  They said she consumed a toxic dose and we needed to induce vomiting immediately.  They also said whether she vomits or not, we need to run her to the emergency vet right away.  The closest one is about a half hour away.  UGH!!!

So I had to run up to Walgreens to get a bottle of hydrogen peroxide to induce vomiting.  Walgreens is just two blocks away so I took off at 50 miles an hour down a 35 mile an hour street and got some.  Got home, gave some to Precious and she didn't throw up.  Took her to the vet, showed them the box of what she ate and they said that it was NOT a toxic dose and we can go home but definitely continue to induce vomiting because that much chocolate will at the very least make her REALLY sick with vomiting, diarrhea and lots of jitters.

We went home and I continued to induce vomiting.  Took about 10 minutes but we got it going.  By yesterday evening, she had vomited a good 10 times at least... and A LOT of it.  Because of the bubbling peroxide, her stomach hurt so bad and she was having a really hard time getting comfortable. But she was pretty comfortable wrapped in her blanket and laying against my chest so she slept a good portion of the night.  Late last night she woke up, got up to potty and was then feeling A LOT better and was even hungry so I fed her just a tiny bit.  We went to bed around 1am and she slept with me all night.  

This morning, she is 100% back to normal.  I cannot tell you how relieved I am. Kiddo was so upset when husband and I ran Precious to the vet.  She was so sure she was going to die.  I was pretty worried too honestly.  When we got home, Kiddo was crying so hard.  Needless to say, she is feeling better now too.  That poor kid.  She gets so emotional.  Just like me.

So... if you have dogs... PLEASE take a lesson from this and be EXTREMELY careful that there is no chocolate within their reach!!  Accidents happen... just like this... but let my accident be another lesson for you.  Just because you think that candy is out of reach, if they want it, they will find a way to get it.  Play it safe and keep it put away and WAY out of reach.  In our case, there will be no more chocolate in this house.  I won't take any more chances.  

Ok fine... when am I ever?  That's not the point here.

I go in and take a bath last night.  I pull the plug to drain the tub.  Only... nothing happens.  The tub won't drain.  I have tried everything including dumping a half a bottle of clog remover down over the drain.  Nothing.  And it is just the tub... nothing else is having a problem.  So I have a tub full of dirty bath water.  Great.

And to top that off... my husband is being a jerk and I am about ready to just tell him to find another place to go because I'm sick of it all.  I just won't bother to go into more detail than that.  I'm sure you don't want to read the details anyway. 

Yeah... happy holidays.

Well it would be more quiet if the wind wasn't blowing so hard but that's beside the point. LOL

Angel went to the vet yesterday because she was having trouble with her ears.  Shaking her head really bad and scratching at her ears.  Turns out she has a mild infection going on (how she got it I don't know) so the doc gave her some drops for her ears.  I'm glad I took her in.   In addition, she had to have her anal sacs expressed.  Aren't you glad I shared that with you? LOL!!  She needed meds for that too because she was getting a possible infection there too.  Poor girl!  She's running a low-grade fever too.  Hopefully she will be better in a day or two.  If not,  I'm supposed to call the vet back and see about getting different meds or re-assessing the situation.

Precious isn't really feeling great today.  She threw up early this morning and was just looking crappy.  Not sure what's going on there.  What is with these two all of the sudden?!

I'm thoroughly enjoying my AT&T U-verse.  The internet isn't QUITE as fast as cable but it is fine.  I'm not all that picky.  Its faster than dial up so I won't complain at all.  What I am really loving right now is the connection between the internet and the tv.  I can program my dvr online so if I am on the computer and want to look up a tv show, I can do that and set it to record right then and there.  I can cancel recordings, edit up coming recordings and delete old ones.  Very nifty!! 

I also love the U-Bar.  On the tv, it pulls up the weather, sports, stocks, traffic... right from your AT&T page online.  You can play  Yahoo Games on the tv, look at your Flickr photos... it is so cool!

I NEVER would have thought I would like anything from AT&T.  You know how against them I have been for the past year or so.  But that has changed lately! 

AT&T?  You are AWESOME!!  Thank you for the fantastic service!!!!

Not much to talk about really.  I've been off work since last Tuesday and don't go back til Monday.  Had to use my paid time off because most of it doesn't roll over into the new year.  It was either use it or lose it.  Not a hard choice to make, right?  :)

Today, ice is expected in the evening so I'm glad I'm not working.

Almost done with Breaking Dawn.  I will be so sad when I reach the end.  I just love it so much!  It makes up my happy place these says.

Since I've been working, we.ve been doing homeschool online.  Today, we are hitting the books.  I need to see what areas need additional focus.  I get a good idea with scores online but I want to test it myself with more traditional lessons.

So today, I get to spend the whole day over at my dad's house doing laundry.  My damn machine is busted.  I'm really not happy at all.  This happened last Thursday.  My husband loaded the damn thing up with a comforter and a blanket.  Way too much for one load.  The thing was unbalanced apparently and was knocking around.  Not good.  Well... when I got home from work, I was told that the machine is broken.  Great.

I go down and look at it.  The stuff is still in the washer and it is still full of water.  That means it was sitting there like that all day long.  The machine will not rinse, spin or drain.  It just shuts off if you move the dial.  It will start the wash cycle but once it gets to rinse, it just continues with the wash... doesn't change cycle at all.  I've tried all settings.  Doesn't work.  So I had to take the stuff out of the water, getting water all over the basement... and I asked my husband if he called anyone.  Nope.  So I told him to call in the morning.  He didn't.  He eventually did later on in the day but no one could come out til at least Monday.  Monday is supposed to be horrid winter weather so I'm not even sure they will come out then.  So I have about 5 loads of laundry that need to be done, almost no clean clothes or towels and no way to take care of it unless I drag it all over to my dad's today.  Yeah... that will be thrilling.  I am SOOOOO not happy!

Right now I have that comforter and blanket hanging off the railing of my deck because they are beyond sopping wet.  I'm killing myself trying to drag them outside (because they weigh about 3000 pounds completely full of water) and my husband is asking me why I don't just put them in the dryer.  Um... I don't know.  Maybe because I don't want to break the dryer too???!?!! 

I also have to take Oldest to and from work all weekend.  And I have to go to the cable office and return all their crap since I'm done with them.  Pisses me off that I have to drive all the way over there and lug all that crap in there when they have trucks around all the time.  I paid them a good $200 a month.  Why-TF can't they pick the crap up!