Monday, November 19

Sitting,

staring into space

Wishing for the phone to ring,

A message, email, anything

Bored.

At last,

A project

Something to do.

Five minutes,

Done.

Now what?

Sitting,

Staring into space

Looking at the clock

Only 7 hours

55 minutes left

Of this 8 hour day.

 

 

Ugh

OMFG. I am so bored. This has been the longest day. I’m  ready to cry I’m so bored. I hate this.

 

 

Whitley

The pic I promised.

Thursday, November 15

Tell us about your favorite pet.

Today's prompt is an easy one.

My favorite pet is my dog, Whitley. He's my favorite for many reasons. First
of all, he's the first dog I've been able to have as an adult. Let me
explain. After I moved out of my parents' house after college, I lived in a
series of apartments that didn't allow pets. Then, when I bought my first
house, I just had a cat, because I worked all the time. When I got married
the first time, my ex had a dog, a Dalmatian. He never worked with him and it
was one crazy ass dog. One day my husband got tired of the dog and took it to
the pound. That should have been my first clue that things were not going to
work out in the marriage. Several years into the marriage, I found out I
couldn't have children. Ex didn't want to adopt, so I threw myself into pets.
We had two cats at the time, and I asked for a dog. He said ok, and we spent
a lot of money on a cute little West Highland White Terrier puppy. I had the
dog only about two weeks, when I came home from work one day and the dog was
gone. Gone. The ex had given the dog away. Because he decided he didn't want
it. My feelings were never considered and it was never discussed. His word
was law. If he'd wanted a houseful of dogs, horses or trained elephants, we
would have had them. That was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's
back. The marriage was downhill from there. I've never forgiven him for that.

Anyway, my current husband and I got a dog a couple of years ago. He's our
'baby'. We'd talked about it for a while. We didn't want a big dog; I was
looking for either a Yorkie or a Sheltie. We got neither. I saw an ad for
Silky Terrier/Jack Russell Terrier mix puppies. I called and we went to look.
There was one male and two female puppies. I latched on to the male the
minute I laid eyes on him. My husband knew he was going home with us. We even
already had names picked out. He was either going to be Whitley (after
Whitley Strieber, Ben's favorite author) or Jack (after Johnny Depp's
character Jack Sparrow in the POTC movies). Since he's part Jack Russell, I
thought Jack would be silly, so we named him Whitley.

I wouldn't trade Whit for anything. It's been fun watching him grow, since we
had no idea what he was going to look like as he got older. He's a funny boy.
He's got a Jack Russell body, with shortish hair, long tail and long legs,
but the hair on his tail is long, and his legs are sticks. His nose/snout is
long, but the rest of his face is silky. He's quite unique, and he's our
baby.

I can't post a picture with this post, but I will send one from my phone.

Tuesday, November 13

What is the bravest thing you’ve ever done?

 

Two things  come to mind: divorcing my first husband, and moving from Kansas City to Kingman, AZ.

 

Asking my husband for a divorce took a lot of courage. Even though it was a horrible relationship, it was comfortable. But, I finally reached my breaking point and had enough. I just wanted out. I didn’t care how.

 

I never thought I would leave Kansas City. However, after getting together with my second husband, my ex would not leave me alone. I, we, needed to get away from him. My second husband already had his new start – he had moved from Indiana to Kansas City after his divorce, so he was away from his ex-wife. By staying in Kansas City, I was too close to my ex. So, we made the decision to leave. It was a relatively quick decision too. We got married in July in Las Vegas, spent part of our honeymoon in Kingman, and rented a house. When we went back to Kansas City, we quit our jobs and were moved a month later. If we hadn’t made the decision to move then, we probably would still be in Kansas City.

 

 

Monday, November 12

Since I don’t have internet at home, and yesterday was a holiday, I didn’t get a chance to blog.

 

The prompt: Where is your favorite place to blog?

 

My favorite place to blog is sitting out on my back patio on a gorgeous summer day. I much prefer blogging at home, but since we don’t  have internet at home right now, I have to blog via email from work. During Christmas break, I will most likely blog from either the library or someplace like Starbucks.

 

 

Friday, November 9

Today’s prompt:

 

If you could change one thing about your life right now, what would it be?

 

That’s easy: If I could change one thing about my life right now, it would be to have more money. I’m not talking about millions of dollars, I’m just talking about a little extra each month so that we can do things, like go to Vegas, or Sedona, or the Grand Canyon, or even just Laughlin. It seems like whenever we get a little bit ahead, something happens that we have to use what little we have and we don’t have any left just for us. Even an extra hundred or two a month would help. But, things happen for a reason, so a cash infusion will happen when it’s the right time.

 

 

Thursday, Nov. 8

If you could have any job (and instantly have the training and qualifications
to do it), which job would you want?

My first thought in response to this question was "any job except the one I
currently have". But that's not completely true, because I could definitely
get a worse job than what I have right now.

Truthfully, I would love to be able to write full-time. I just don't make
enough money at it right now to be able to quit my job and stay at home.
Writing is a tough business to break into. There are a lot of clients who
don't want to pay anything, yet they expect high-quality writing.
High-quality writing and low pay just don't cut it for most writers. There
are those who are willing to make next to nothing, and they make it harder
for writers who won't accept low pay to get good gigs.

And, it seems to me anyway, the majority of writers who do get good gigs
can't write. To me, writing includes using good grammar, spelling,
punctuation and proofreading. Yet I see article after article where there are
numerous errors. It's not just online writing either. I read my local
newspaper primarily for the laughs, because there is at least one article in
every issue that is full of errors. Usually, there's more than one.

Sadly, kids today are not being taught how to write. They are barely being
taught how to spell. Working at a school, I see so many grammatical and
spelling errors every day, and those come from the teachers.

Wednesday, November 7

Prompt for Wednesday, November 7:

Talk about the last compliment you received.

 

I receive compliments daily from my husband, so most likely, his was one of the last I received. However, I’m not going to talk about his compliments. I’m going to talk about a compliment I received from my employer. At work, I was named Support Staff of the Month for November. It was a surprise, especially since I don’t particularly like my job. I like the people I work with, I just don’t like the position I’m stuck in. That’s another story, one I’ve addressed before I believe. Anyway, receiving that recognition from administration just goes to show that even when I don’t like what I’m doing, I do an awesome job and rock it.

 

 

Tuesday, November 6

Prompt for today:

 

If you were President of the United States, what would be your first act in office?

 

If I were President, my first act would be to abolish pay for all US political offices, including the President. Especially the President. He’s given a place to live, he gets his meals cooked for him, he doesn’t have to drive, all his bills are taken care of while he’s in office…what does he need a ridiculously high salary for?  Same for the VP and US Congress. If they didn’t get paid, maybe we’d have individuals who really want to make a difference in office. Plus, we’d be lowering the national debt.

 

Monday, November 5

I didn't get any writing done over the weekend. It was a whirlwind weekend.
We currently don't have internet at home, so any writing done on the weekends
either has to take place using my phone, or if we go to the library or my
father-in-law's house.

Anyhow - I'm back for today. Today's prompt has to do with the election. I
don't have my prompt list with me so I'm not exactly sure of the wording, but
it's something like what are your thoughts on tomorrow's election.

I, along with so many others, will be glad when tomorrow is over. I'm also
really glad that I'm no longer working in television - political season in
television is an absolute nightmare.

I'm voting, and I'll be voting for the least offensive of the two candidates.
You can decide who you think that is.

There are a couple of changes I would like to see made to the Presidential
election. First, I think the Electoral College should be abolished. It's
worthless, and makes me feel like it's a waste of my time to vote. But, I do
it anyway. Second, I think that there should be one candidate for each party
- no running mates. Then, whoever gets the most votes on Election Day is
President, and the second place vote getter becomes the Vice President. That
would be a true bi-partisan government. Neither of these things will happen,
at least in my lifetime, but I can dream, can't I?

Friday, November 2

Today's prompt: If you could live anywhere, where would it be?

Easy, peasy. I'm right where I want to live, right where I belong. Before
moving here, I'd never even dreamed that I would leave Kansas City. Now, I
can't imagine ever going back, or to anywhere else for that matter.
I used to think that I would want to live in San Diego. Now, I love San
Diego, but I don't think I'd want to live there these days. It's just too
expensive and "citified". I love to visit though. If I had to choose one
place other than where I'm at, though, it would be in Grand County, Colorado.
If I could take the cold and snow, that is. I love Grand County. Any of the
towns there would do. We started taking family vacations to the Bar Lazy J
guest ranch in Parshall in 1971. My parents bought a condo in Grand Lake in
1985 or 1986. They moved out there full-time many years ago and my dad still
lives there. It's gorgeous country. Peaceful and beautiful, even in the snow.

Thursday, November 1

Prompt for Thursday, November 1:

 

Tell us your favorite quotation and why.

 

My favorite quote is from my favorite movie, “The Wizard of Oz”.

 

The quote comes from the scene where the Wizard is giving the Tin Man his testimonial, and says “A heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others”.

 

This is how I would like to be judged, by how much I am loved; not by how much money I have (or don’t have), or how successful or powerful I may be. I do believe though that you have to love others in order to be loved.

NaBloPoMo

I’m trying NaBloPoMo, again, for November. NaBloPoMo is National Blog Posting Month. November is the “official” month, although they do it all year long. The goal is to post every day for the month. So, I’m going to try it. They provide daily prompts during the week, weekends are for free writing. We’ll see how I do this time.

 

 

Wednesday, October 17

Things are not really getting any better with my job. I haven't gotten any of
the positions I've requested a transfer for, although I've interviewed for 3
out of the 4 requests. The 4th one, I didn't interview for because the
position was filled the day after I put in my transfer request. The first
transfer request was for another position here at my school. I really
thought I had a shot at that position since the person doing that interview
was the person who offered me the first (library) position that wound up not
being available. Anyway, I've heard a rumor...one that better not be
true...that I didn't get that job because they didn't want to have to hire
another receptionist. I do have a feeling that that was a factor in me not
getting the job though.

Lately all the job postings for the school district have been jobs that pay
less than I'm making now. Unfortunately, when you transfer to another job,
you transfer at the pay rate for the job you are transferring to, not the pay
rate you are currently at. Good if the job pays the same or more, bad if the
job pays less. (And the reason why I didn't get the job I was originally
offered...the girl from the library was going to transfer to receptionist,
but it pays less than the library, and she didn't want to take a pay cut).

Anyway, I'm starting to look outside the school district because there's been
nothing for weeks at any of the schools. There's a clerk job at the prison
that I'm going to try to apply for tonight. I say try, because right now I'm
(we're) having to do everything by phone, because our internet is acting up.
I'm going to be cancelling it with Frontier (they suck) and try someone else.
Frontier has not been very helpful at all in resolving the problem.

I have absolutely nothing to do since I got back from lunch, other than a few
phone calls. Bored bored bored bored bored.

Thursday, September 27

Another boring day. To top it off, I have a migraine today as well and a tingling in my forehead. Makes for an extra-special, lovely day.

 

This week has been Spirit Week at the high school – Homecoming is this weekend. Today was the first day I participated. Tuesday was SciFi Day and I had nothing SciFi to wear. After the fact, I remembered that Ben had a Star Trek shirt that I could have worn. Wednesday was Zombie Day. Today is Rep Your Team Day, so I’m decked out in Chiefs stuff. Tomorrow is Blue, Gold and White day, so I’ll just wear my KHS shirt.

 

It’s Andy Devine Days this weekend. Saturday, Ben and I will go to the parade downtown. That’s major excitement for this town. Other than that, we have nothing really planned, except for our usual Sunday breakfast with Fred and Dr. Who with Drew.

 

We bought The Avengers DVD on Tuesday. I think it’s the first time ever we’ve bought a DVD on the day it was released. Usually, we won’t spend full price for a DVD – heck, we’re cheap and wait until they’re under $10 before buying them. But, we both love this movie. We’ve already watched it twice since we got the DVD…and we saw the movie twice at the theater. I think it’s safe to say that this is going to be our standby movie when we aren’t sure what else we want to watch.

 

That’s about it for now.

 

 

Tuesday, September 24

Well, I didn't get the On-Line Educational Specialist job. I've put in one
more transfer, to White Cliffs, for SPED Secretary. There's also an opening
in the court system for a probation clerk. I may go ahead and apply for that
too. I just know I can't do this much longer. Today was a little busier than
yesterday, but not by much.

Monday, September 24

 

This has got to be the worst day so far. I’ve been here 2 hours, and all I’ve had to do is answer about 10 phone calls that were transfers, and type up the daily announcements. I had the announcements typed up in about 5 minutes.

 

If I don’t get this Online Educational Specialist job, I don’t know what I am going to do. I just can’t take this anymore. Can’t afford (money-wise) to quit, but can’t afford (mentally) to stay here.

 

Excruciating is the word I would use to describe this. I’m so bored I want to cry. I’m sure this job would be great for some people, but it’s just not for me. I really wish I hadn’t conceded to take this position when they screwed me out of the other position I was offered.

Monday, September 17

Today is Monday. It’s been a typical Monday. Boring as hell, as usual. I’m not sure if I mentioned this, but I had to go to the ER on the 6^th. I stayed home from work that day because my face had swelled up like I was storing nuts for the winter. My throat was extremely sore. I couldn’t swallow, and I couldn’t keep food down. I’d gone to urgent care earlier in the day; got a shot in the butt and a prescription for antibiotics. That night, I’d gotten up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, and my face was about twice the size it had been earlier and my glands on the right side were swollen. I woke Ben up and we made a trip to ER. Spent about 4 hours there, got a CT scan, and an IV. Determined it was a lymph node infection. I’m still on antibiotics and have a knot in my butt where I got the shot. Fun times. Just waiting for the bill now.

 

I mentioned that I didn’t get the HR job…it went to the HR Admin Assistant. I just wish they’d mention up front that they already have someone selected rather than wasting everyone’s time. I know they have to interview, but still. So, now the Admin Asst job is open, but it’s kind of a catch-all position, and I’m not really interested. However, there is an opening for Online Educational Specialist, which is a new position they’ve just created, and I have applied for that. It looks very interesting. If this one goes nowhere, I will be looking outside of the school system. I’m not sure how much longer I can take this…Out of 8 hours, I’m busy on average an hour a day.

 

We went to the county fair over the weekend. Not bad for what it is. There was really no entertainment per se though…at least nothing while we were there. There’s usually several bands performing, but all that was there when we were was a hypnotist and a magician.

 

As usual, on Sunday, we had breakfast with Fred. That’s always an adventure. Lately, Drew has been coming over on Sunday afternoons. We record Dr. Who for him on Saturday nights, so we usually fix something for dinner and watch that. Yesterday, he and Ben worked on the trucks, so that kept them busy for a while.

 

 

 

Thursday, September 13

Well, I didn’t get the HR job. The HR Administrative Assistant was promoted. While still disappointed, that doesn’t bother me as much as an “outsider” getting the position. So, that means that the Administrative Assistant position is open. Not sure I want that, but I figure I’ll get a job description and find out. There’s also a SPED Secretary position open, but I’m not sure which school. And, the Student Services position is still open, at least according to the listing. I know they interviewed for that position last week, but evidently didn’t find anyone. That position would be cool, but they want a Social Worker or Counseling degree for that position.

 

Bored shitless today, hopefully something changes soon.

 

Wednesday

Today has been one of those days. I have not felt well all day. Started over the weekend, but really hit me last night. My glands are swollen, the entire right side of my face hurts, my throat hurts, I have a headache and probably a fever,  and my stomach is upset. Last night I had a popsicle, and couldn’t get warm afterwards. I mean, I was freezing. Shivering. It wasn’t good. Today, I’ve not been able to keep any food down. Fun.

On a more positive note, I’ve got an interview on Monday for Human Resources Specialist with the District Office. Hopefully, something happens there.

 

 

 

Tuesday

 

I have never been so bored in my entire life. This is torture. I just sit here. Answer the phones occasionally. In the last 30 minutes, there’s been one phone call . Yippee. I can’t have anything personal here, so no books, no craft projects, no notebook. Nothing. So I sit. Sometimes someone, a parent, comes in with something for their student, or there’s someone wanting to register. I can take items left for students, but most people who come in I have to direct to another office. Just like phone calls – I transfer 99% of those to someone else.

I put in a transfer request for human resources specialist. The only requirements were GED or high school diploma and customer service  experience, and I qualify on both, so we’ll see. I’m probably too qualified, as is the case with most everything.

 

This is a test

I’m just testing this to see if my post by email is working.

 

Today is going to be a long day. It’s only 10:15 and I feel like it should be 3:00

 

Sunday, July 29

My brother reminded me the other day that I hadn't posted here for a while, so I figured I give everyone a brief(ish) update on what's been going on with us.

 

We both started new jobs this week. I started at Kingman High School as receptionist on Monday, July 23. My last day at MCC was June 28, and I finished the inventory at Attwoods on July 19. Ben's last day at Attwoods was also the 19th. He started with Patriot Rail/Kingman Terminal Railroad on Friday. He worked (actually, went through training) on Friday and Saturday. Today, we  went to Vegas so he could catch a flight to Salt Lake City, and  then up to Ogden for more training. He'll be in Ogden all week.

 

After dropping Ben off at McCarren, I stopped at Trader Joe's, since I was in Vegas anyway. Then came the drive home, which meant driving over the BRIDGE at Hoover Dam. The bypass bridge, that stupid bridge that's way, way up in the air.  Crossing it as a passenger while someone else is driving is one thing; driving across it....well, since I HATE bridges, I wasn't looking forward to it. I'd rather drive on a two-lane road at 12,000 feet, with lots of switchbacks and no guardrails (Trail Ridge Road) than cross that bridge. I white knuckled it, in the left lane, and made it across - with my eyes open. :)

 

 

Whit is missing his daddy.  I'm missing his daddy too. Ben called a bit ago and Whit heard his voice but couldn't find him. Poor baby. He's gonna be messed up all week.

 

 

Going to Bullhead pt 2

After getting through Golden Valley we go over the Black Mountain range. On the other side of Union Pass, it's a steep grade downhill from about 3,500ft. to about 600ft. to the Colorado River. The Bullhead City sign shows the close proximity to Laughlin Nevada. The last photo is at the same location and a lefthand turn we once used to take to go to Matt's house when he still lived here.

Going to Bullhead

Went to Bullhead City today for work.

A little further down the road (upper right^) is the interchange with AZ68.

At upper left, I'm headed west on AZ68 entering Golden Valley. This is about a 15 mile stretch of straight highway between the Cerbat Mountains and the Black Mountains. Golden Valley is primarily residential. It's a huge area, probably as large as Kingman. To the south of AZ68 (left), the basin stretches all the way to I-40, which is probably about another 15 miles or so.

Ben's Little Helper

Whitley watching Ben work on the van. He's Ben's little helper.

Whitley's Ride

I hope this works! We took Whitley for a ride this afternoon. Shot this with our new (to us) video camera. It's a little jerky and dark, but it's my first attempt.

Welcome To Kingman!

Welcome to our home, Kingman Arizona. In this view, shot from AZ93 South (from Las Vegas), you can get a sense of how Kingman is situated. This is Coyote Pass, crossing the Cerbat Mountain Range. The Haulapai Mountain Range can be seen in the distance.



The I-40 Junction is about two miles ahead at this point, just inside the city limit. The Cerbat Mountains divide "Old Kingman" and the newer, larger part of town. The view in the rear window is of Golden Valley and the AZ68 Junction.



We'll keep adding more photos from time to time to share our part of the world. Trying to figure out how to post video as well as the camera!

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