A Whole New World

Yesterday I did something I haven't had to do for eight years. I interview for a job. A job within the department I work in now. This is for a QC position. In the eight years I've been with the company I have done QC work. Not as extensive as what the full time position calls for but pretty close.

My interview was with the newly appointed QC manager and Supervisor. QC right now consists of 1 person. If she's busy the manager helps out or we help her. The position is open because she is leaving. I knew this interview was going to be odd when (let's call him Farley) started asking me questions from a formal interview instruction sheet. What is your experience here, What do you feel is your biggest accomplishment, biggest challenge and so on. I've been told he has a very dry personality and it showed. The manager who I've worked with for about 1 1/2 years now kept looking at him oddly and looking at me and smiling. I think it went well but there is another girl interviewing next week. She's pretty confident she's getting the job. She feels she's put her time in. Let's see, two years vs. eight years. And her schooling for a Para-Legal should land her the job. All we can do is wait and see.

The past few weeks I've been working in a QC Lab on the other side of the building. A world not seen by us production workers. This was my third week and I had a lot of visitors today. People coming in and introducing themselves and thanking me for helping out over there. I kept thinking to myself "they are thanking me yet they are getting me my 40 hours?". I got to go on a tour of the "other side". I was given a ten minute tour of the CSI Lab. Found it very interesting. The best part of the day was no stress. Zip...none what so ever. It was great. I came home in a great mood, I wasn't tired. I wasn't crabby and I actually enjoyed my day. This is the kind of work environment I could be very happy in. This is not where I will be if I get the QC job. I will still be in the same department.

I did get an interesting bit of information. The lab I'm helping out in is trying to justify the hiring of another person. They are about two weeks behind in testing. Their budget comes up in a month or so and they are pretty sure they will get approved for the hiring. I was told to put in for the job if it opens. This could actually make going to work somewhat enjoyable.

Sharing Is For The Birds

I felt it this morning as soon as I woke up. The nagging pain above my eyes. As the day went on I developed the "tickle" in my throat. I managed to keep the pain at bay with a few Dayquil tablets. Thought maybe I could beat this thing.

I have felt a little tired the past day or so and have had the chills. I didn't have the chills when it was in the teens outside but now that its in the 30's I have the chills. Could it be?? Yes, I think that I can now confirm that my husband has been so kind as to share his illness with me. Of course, mine won't be as full blown as his was. Because I won't let it.

I have the DayQuil and the Nyquil (Walgreens brand, same ingredients) my orange juice and just enough stubbornness to fight this thing.

Happy Valentine's Day

This is a note that my daughter made me years ago. I save the sentimental things in life.

My husband seems to be on the road to recovery. I think that fact that he slept about 16 hours straight may have something to do with it. He's at least up and moving now. He moved from the bed to the basement and then back to the bed to watch TV. He's currently chowing down the bag of Peppermint Patty mint hearts I got him. So fast that he didn't even notice the minty goodness on the inside is pink.

I'm almost certain this is going to turn into a lazy day. I've been up since 7 and haven't really accomplished to much yet. A few phone calls (received) and cleaning of the litter box. I'm currently smelling the goodness of two apple pies I'm baking to bring along to the Turkey Dinner at Ben & Nannettes house tomorrow. I'm sure they're not as good as Connie's but they should come in a close second place. (if I don't burn them). If I do I have enough apples for a do-over.

I received a recipe for Mac & cheese that I may make but it will require a visit to the grocery store. Seems we're lacking the cheese. Guess it just wouldn't taste right without it.

So am I the only person that is hungering for spring to arrive? I'm not asking for much, just some days with sunshine and temperatures around 65 for starters. Just enough to open some windows and maybe sit outside on the deck and soak up some sun. Winters are just way to long around here. Yes, the snow is pretty and I can deal with snow. I just want some warmth.

Got a little sad & bad news this morning. I'm not sure how this is all going to pan out so I'm trying not to go into any panic or deep depression about it. It seems my son-in-law has an urging to move to Denver. He has a brother there and they've been out to visit quite a few times. My daughter likes Denver, but isn't sure she wants to live there. Right now he's unemployed and can have a job in Denver if he wants. They are pondering him going and checking it out and her and the girls following if it works out. She was telling me via phone and I could hear him in the background "It's only 15 hours away". "Maybe your mom would move out there also". I had to explain to her that I would not freak out and although I would miss them, they're young enough to pull off a life there. It would give me a place to visit. Then I started to remember how I felt when my parent's moved to AZ. This should me that's moving....not her.

Random Bits of Un-Interesting Things

• Leave your crummy mood at home. Those you work with don't want to see your scowling face day after day.
• I can be stubborn, although it doesn't suit me.
• When you fight with your spouse and one of the things mentioned is leaving a TV or radio on when you vacate the area, it is sure to happen several times.
• When you fight with your spouse and mention that the dirty laundry does not have just one person's name on it, you can be rest assured that when they hear the washer start they suddenly throw down all their dirty clothes.
• My cat's love me because I am the one that feeds them, gives them water and cleans their litter box.
• My dog loves me because I am the one that think she deserves clean water several times a day.
• When you fight with your spouse about who should be the one to cook dinner, they will call you when you are on your way home to see if you want dinner from the China House.
• I realize that either I am mute or my spouse is deaf.
• The toothless shoe-shine man at Southridge must be good as he had a few people in line.
• When you get a male nail tech. they are a bit rough on your hands and then think they did the best job ever until you point out an imperfection.
• I hate left-overs and came very close to turning down the take out order just to prove a point.
• I may be stubborn, but I am not stupid.
• Silence is golden. It's very quiet here.

Happy Birthday Randy

Not a day goes by that we don't think about you!

One Brave (or stupid) Cat

Does this not have "Do you realize I could squash you like a bug" written all over it?
So far Sadie has put up with a lot and not made a stink. He's been found sleeping on her bed, eating her food and attempting to move her bone. Beside the one incident where she dropped her bone on him, she's been really calm about him invading her territory. The other one still will not come upstairs unless we hold him and I'm not starting that so I guess he stays put downstairs. He's probably glad to get rid of Mitchell for a while.

It was back to work today after 5 days off. Nothings changed. I did notice that a barrel of trash that was tagged was still sitting there. Yes, tagged. We are currently in the midst of starting "The 5 S" program. It's all about being clean and organized. At the end of each day a member of management goes around a tags anything that is out of place or dirty. Then in the morning we're supposed to fix the problem and remove the tag. So you would think that after getting tagged for the same thing 5 days in a row you'd have the sense to check it before you leave for the day. Not where I work. You just ignore it or wait for someone else to do it. Then the next day you claim you didn't have time, yet you stood around talking to someone for 10 minutes. Probably not a good thing to do in front of the person who is going to issue the tags. This is the mentality of some of the people I work with.

I had to chuckle today as I watched someone screw around with a stapler and attempt to use different staples for over 10 minutes. Twice I mentioned that the line could use his help and that there was another perfectly functional stapler sitting right on the desk. This guy actually left the line with the stapler and headed for the office. Once again, this is the mentality of some of the people I work with. He was pissed when he came back and I had stapled what he needed stapled. I just couldn't resist it.

Not a Sheet In Site

We arrived home today to find our house intact. I half expected to see my yard toilet papered and a line of food delivery people on my door step. Maybe someone really didn't know my address, or maybe it was the threat of sending Bible toter's to his home, or maybe he realized how expensive toilet paper is now days. At any rate it was a relief to see that he decided to leave well enough alone.

Once again a good time was had in Green Bay. We picked up these drifters along the way. We had stopped at Cruiser's for lunch and they suddenly decided to tag along. They were okay, they made the weekend fun. You may know them yourselves as they go by the names of Babbette and Benny. We tried to leave the hotel this morning without them but they were just to quick for us.

I had not one ounce of luck at the Casino. The closest I came to luck was when a woman sat down on the machine next to me and won $1200.00. As usual it was the machine I had thought about playing but it didn't look to interesting. After about 3 hours of rotten luck I went in search of my husband. Found him sitting at a Let It Ride table and after a few minutes got his attention. I mentioned that I was done and going to sit in the lobby. I got a nod and "Okay" out of him. For some strange reason I thought he'd offer me a few bucks. My luck this weekend wasn't entirely bad as I did win two pools. The game was good, but I'm going to have to catch a repeat of the commercials as I missed a few of them.

Poor Sadie must have had a exhausting weekend. We picked her up from my daughter's house and she's been sleeping ever since. The boy's did good. The basement wasn't torn apart. The most I could find that they did was dump their food bowls out. They seem to be healing nicely and have maintained the same pitch of their meowing.

Tomorrow will be another day off as I'm heading out to make some bucks doing a survey and then off to several appointments. Trying to get all the insurance related things in before I get my walking papers.