Wednesday, May 31, 2006

http://cbs4boston.com/topstories/local_story_151073805.html

So this convicted murderer may kill himself if he does not get his tax payer paid for sex change operation.
And the problem with that is.....??????????

Monday, May 29, 2006

The History Channel is showing Band of Brothers, and though I haven't been watching non-stop all weekend, I know for sure that it was on yesterday, and I just finished watching episodes 9 & 10 with my boys. They will start showing it again at 3p.m. eastern time.
Band of Brothers is powerful stuff. You'd have to have a heart of stone and a cold soul not to cry at certain points.
If you get a chance, why not sit down, and watch an episode or two? Though it's true that it'd be better to watch it from the beginning, I became hooked on the series two years ago while Rob was watching episode 7, the Battle of the Bulge, and have managed to watch all but the first two episodes since, and not in order, either. You can catch on pretty quickly who is who and really, if you don't know your WWII history so as to know what's going on, then shame on you.
So maybe, take an hour, maybe two, and watch? And think,really think of the sacrifices made and send a silent Thank You heavenward, as well.

Another terrific and thoroughly moving special was Iwo Jima: Red Blood, Black Sand on PBS. Definitely worth watching if it airs again.

American Soldiers, continued...

in the Vietnam War
The Gulf War
and to those lost and still fighting today in Iraq...



thank you for giving so much, so that I can today have the ability and freedom to write this in the comfort and safety of my own home, while being ever remindful of the fact that I do not think to say thank you nearly enough as I should. Posted by Picasa

American Soldiers

in the Civil War
World War I
World War II
The Korean War Posted by Picasa

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Happy College Graduation, Michael!

Here is my nephew Michael as ring bearer at my wedding June 6, 1987. He was three; today w go to a cookout to celebrate his graduation from Bridgewater State. He's 22. Man, time goes by so wicked very fast!!! Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Do yourself a favor...

and don't EVER apply for a job on any one of the job find websites out there found under the SALES heading in which the company's name begins with the letter that follows G in the alphabet.(for a hint as to the name of the company, think of the 1937 movie by Frank Capra)Trust me, don't do it. It's a waste of time.
In the ad,they make it sound like it is an outside sales position that provides a person with a company car, professional atmosphere and some serious paychecks weekly, which are earned by selling high quality foodstuffs to pre-screened in-home customers and businesses. Sounds, pretty good, huh,selling to maybe restaurants, or institutional customers along with some in-home customers that have previously expressed an interest in the product? You think? Ummm..no. Not so. How do I know? I know because I answered the ad for this job a little over two years ago, and actually went on an 'interview' with them. The interview consisted of my speaking with an overly aggressive sales manager for a rather short period of time, who basically asked me a smattering of the usual questions(why does this job interest you? why are you looking to leave your current job? blahblah),gave a not too detailed overview of the job while pressuring me to go on 'ride with' with one of their experienced reps, to see if it would be a good fit for me. I wasn't overly impressed with the interview OR the interviewer, but as I was at the time desperate to leave the crummy job that I had, I agreed to go on the 'ride with'. I wasn't feeling overly optimistic, but figured, what the heck, you don't know till you try, right?So I show up for the 'ride with' dressed in business casual clothing( as that was what I was told to wear), day planner in hand to take notes, cell phone on stun, and ready to hopefully find a job that would be 'the one.' After meeting the rest of the employees during a short motivational meeting meant to pump them up and discuss the day ahead, I met with the guy I was to ride around with. Nice enough guy, polite, but dressed in denim shorts and a sloppy shirt, and rather ratty looking sneakers.THIS was business casual?? That's when my first red flag went up, but seeing as I was trying to keep my jaded side at bay,( and I really, really wanted to be out of the job from hell I was in) I let the sloppy attire go, and went around to the back of the building to join him in his company vehicle. Not a Verc rental type Ford compact or anything close to it, but a dumpy looking older model white pickup with the company logo emblazoned on the sides, and a freezer where the bare bed would be.Ok, so this job entails actually bringing the gourmet food WITH you and selling it, door to door to homeowners and businesses, I ask? Yeah, says sloppily dressed nice enough guy; it's easy!, he informs me,the repeat business is awesome, and the food really sells itself. The right sales rep, I am told, can make some serious cash weekly.And I'm thinking, cash as in a paycheck, right? So I ask if the reps are paid their checks weekly or is it bi-weekly, and oh, there aren't checks, it's a cash daily thing. Cash. The type of situation where you have to keep damn good records of all that you make, so that at tax time, you fill out the 10-whatever form, and..you see where it's going. At this point, I am feeling pretty deflated; this is NOT what I thought it would be, what I was TOLD it would be,and I was starting to feel like I was being snookered. BUT, being the optimist that I can be at times( or the desperate for a different job fool which was more like it!), I figured that I'd go on this 'ride with', MAYBE be proven wrong about the whole thing, and hey, maybe decide that it's not as bad as I was envisioning it to be.
RIIIGGGHHHHTTTT.
To encapsulate the rest of the day...
~the truck reeked of dirty feet, and was a total dump
~turns out this guy's route is deepinahearta Rhode Island, not exactly down the street from the South Shore of Ma.
~I was told over and over how much this guy raked in, how much 'stuff' he bought with his wicked big earnings..it was made to sound like every day was big money day!
~the cold calls we seemed to go on were obviously pre-planned; I mean, who would really drop $500.00 for food that's sold out of the back of a dumpy looking pickup without giving it some thought, or researching the company, or even asking for a damn ID from the rep!In all fairness, there has to be some people who do, as this company is still in business, but there is no way it was done that easily! I mean, one transaction barely lasted 15 minutes!
~ this guy had to make a personal stop halfway through the day, that was going to take, oh, ten minutes TOPS. I was lefting sitting in the hot stinky truck for 38 minutes while this moron did ...whatever! Not even a blast from the a/c with the window wide open could dispel that awful smell! Wow, how professional!
~ I was told during the ride back to the office/warehouse/whatever you want to call it that I needed to make a decison NOW, that this position was top rate, that there were many people after it, and that if I wanted it, I needed to let them know NOW. Talk about no pressure, huh? No reputable company, IMHO, pressures a prospective employee like that!I told the nice enough but now kinda annoying guy that I couldn't decide NOW, that I needed to think about it.Was I going to take it? Hell, no!, but I figured that I wasn't going to be pressured, and be professional about it, and give them my answer the next day.Why I decided this, I don't know ( I have been known to have bouts of DUHH-NESS like this from time to time), but that was what I was going to do, their pressure tactics be damned! So the very annoying and not as nice enough as I thought guy says that he will give to me a list of very important things to memorise for the job, and that I should be ready to recite these earth shattering facts the next day when I call them back.Yeah, ok. So he drops me off, I thank him for his time, and I get out of the truck. And he drives off, no paper that contains the secrets of this vast food empire for me to look at, nothing. What a flipping joke. I was really pissed at first, then the more I thought about it, I realised that I just needed to file the experience in two places; in the Lessons Learned file and the Don't Be So Dense Next Time! file. I swear it took 3 days for me to get that damn dirty feet stench out of my nostrils; BLECH!!
Oh,and the topper of the whole story? The next day I broke out into a mysterious, very itchy rash that lodged itself between every finger and half way up each arm and took half a week to get rid of, thanks to some antibiotics and lots of Aloe Vera.
Job seeker, BEWARE!

Only 52 days...

till I go here http://www.pointsebago.com/resort/lodging.html on vacation!
I CAN'T WAIT!!!!
I am in DIRE need of some consecutive time off!

Saturday, May 20, 2006

Here's Rob and Kelly, Whitman-Hanson Junior Prom, '06.
aaawwww
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Here's Barry in the early 90's...
and here he is today.
No, he doesn't do steroids, now does he?
This lying, shameless, race-baiting son of a bitch just tied the Babe's record, and all thanks to his steroid use.
What a sham.
What a disgrace.
Mind you, I am no huge fan of Babe Ruth, but at least he obtained his record legally , and please, don't give me the arguement that steroids weren't illegal in baseball when ole Barr started using them, because damnit, wrong is wrong, and BARRY, AS A SUPPOSED ADULT, SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER!! But hey, as long as Barry feels good about what he's done/doing, then so what if it's wrong both legally and morally, huh? Isn't it all about how one feels, anyways? Mark my words- there is no way on God's green earth that he will even attempt to break Hank Aaron's record as long as Hank is alive. Trust me on this one.
Oh, and for the record, lest anyone think I am being a racist, Mark Maguire, Palmiero(sp) , Canseco, Bonds , and any other ball player who is doing/has done steriods should all have their records wiped out, and a permanent ban from the Hall, for all.
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Thursday, May 18, 2006

Check This Out!!!

Christy Mihos' new ad on WRKO A.M. 680- it is a riot, and so hits the mark!! Just tune in anytime; it plays off and on throughout the day, so you'd be hard pressed to miss it, and it'd be a shame if you did.
Go to http://www.christy2006.com/ and click on the radio contol located in the upper right-hand corner of the page.

Saturday, May 13, 2006

This stuff is excellent!!(no, not the girl, the moisturiser!) It does what it says, and has not, at least for me, brought on any breakouts or skin irritations. Good Stuff!! Check it out here
http://www.bananaboat.com/products/everydayglow.aspx Posted by Picasa
Vincente Fox- a shameless , conniving, corrupt excuse of a human being.
Paul Martin- I cannot comment as I know next to nothing about him.
President George Bush- the man that once had my vote and loyalty, but I cannot with a clear conscience excuse what he is wanting to do with his 'guest worker program', and the way he is in bed with Fox. He is, for me on this issue, an utter disappointment, and he is losing my trust and loyalty very quickly. Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

If you care at all about what you pay for auto insurance here in lovely Taxachusetts...

then go here-
http://www.autoinsurancetruth.com/Blogs.php

What they say is true. I had a friend from New Jersey, and he would talk about the insane rates he was paying for auto insurance, and all of the crap that the (then) newly adopted rules and regs made a person go through.

Don't believe the hype!
Fight Romney on this!

Monday, May 08, 2006

Melissa L. Leminen

To my friend Tom, his wife, daughters and family.... I am so very, very sorry.
http://ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2006/05/08/news/news04.txt



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Saturday, May 06, 2006

Cancer Walk 2006

Christine and I will be doing this tomorrow- very excited!!! We get to walk for a very good cause, get 4.3 miles worth of exercise in, and spend time together- who could ask for more!
This event is held yearly( I first did it in 2001, less than a year after quitting smoking) , so why not try it for yourselves next year? I mean, what's a few hours out of your day, when the monies raised help so many is so many ways?
Here is a link for your perusal consideration...
http://www.brocktonhospital.org/walk2006.htm Posted by Picasa

Monday, May 01, 2006

Even if you have never climbed in your life( like me) but love a great adventure story that is told straight from the heart with no B.S., then read this book. It is about the '96 Everest tragedy, told by one who was there and aware the entire time (the man below, Anatoli Boukreev) . It refutes the plethora of lies and misconceptions that were told in Jon Krakauer's book, Into Thin Air. I actually read Krakauer's book first, formed opinions,( wrong ones, it turns out) and then read this one and was enlightened as to what REALLY happened on that fateful day that occurred 10 years ago on May 10th.
I have never climbed, and hey let's face it, probably never will. I don't have it in me, but maybe that is what makes reading of expeditions to the world's highest peaks so fascinating to me, and helps to foster the immense appreciation I hold for Mr. Boukreev, who tragically perished while climbing in Nepal in December 1997, and for others who conquer also, if not the world's highest summits, then their own personal fears and limitations.
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