Rock and a Hard Place... Here or There.... Stay or Go??

 It's all about the job.

Fighting battles just to see someone else undo everything I have built up. 

No Rest for the weary and burnt out.

Something has GOT to give... and I'm done giving.

Decisions, Decisions.

Not At All The Relaxing Weekend I Had Envisioned!!

  So... this weekend wasnt as relaxing as I thought it was going to be. 

It didnt rain nearly as much as the "Weathermen"/"Meteorologists" had predicted!!! Bloody Liars. But I suppose it was okay. My sister and her friend delivered a new(to me) top loading washing machine. It works divinely!!!! Sooo happy about that!!

Then my daughter got a call from her eldest- Lexi thought she might be in actual labor and Julie had agreed to come stay with the other 3 babies so TJ and Lexi could enjoy being with and focusing on getting to know the new baby after it was born before coming home with her.

That's 4 kids under 6 years old. Mercy.

I also got to meet my sons newest addition this weekend. Levi is now 4 months old. After the visit-(he was napping so didnt get to hold him or anything...) me and my daughter got about 7 miles down the road and I said "OMG- WHYYYY did we not offer to keep Levi for them while they went to Samantha's graduation???" It was too late then tho.  Next time for sure!!!!

Then when we got home my daughter got the call to come to TJ's  and she's been there ever since.  So I tried to watch movies and veg out- but I decided  to tidy up a bit. Now anyone that knows me knows my tidying is more like a spring clean. I SWEPT the living room rug, then proceeded to sweep the rest of the house as well. And then I threw on a load of clothes into the washer to test it out while I washed the dishes and "tidied up" the kitchen.

I cleaned out the fridge, the countertops, , washed the dishes, dried the dishes, put them away and wiped down all the countertops(yes- that's two seperate things for the countertops.) and appliances- Then for good measure I wiped down all the cabinet fronts as well.  Then I noticed the boys had left their socks and a few shirts lying about in the family room so I gathered all their things up as well.  

I cleaned up the front porch when I went out for a breath of fresh air and  a bit of a "break". 

OCD much?

Anyway- the only thing I didnt do that I wanted to get done was mopping the floors. I might get to that  when I get home from work today. Or Not-

So then I tried to get on my Ranch Simulator Game to play with my sis for a couple hours. And guess what? I was BITLOCKED out!!!!! Dang update caused it and I'm gonna find out how to disable that bullshit.(Pardon the language.)

 I was NOT happy to say the least. I was dang LIVID is what I was. I tried and tried to get UNBITLOCKED but they wanted info I didnt have anymore. Yesterday my nephew Craig came over and sat for about 4 hours trying to get it unlocked to no avail. I've got a good buddy who is an I.T. Guy who would have helped me I'm sure- he's offered before, but I was NOT going to message him with IT issues on a long holiday weekend. So....... Craig ended up resetting to factory..... UGH. Then he spent another hour getting me set back up on my STEAM acct.... Bless him!!!! I love my nephew- he's more like a little brother than a nephew tbh.

Funny things is- I couldn't restore my account for love nor money when I bought my gaming laptop and did the set-up, so I had to start a whole new STEAM account. Had to buy my 4 fav games again and everything- start from scratch.

Well, when Craig set it back up after the reset- my OLD account is the one that was restored. I don't know how ... I'm not questioning it. He offered to find my other account but I told him maybe another time. He had done enough for me  after all that.

 It wouldnt let me download any of my old ranches- but its okay even tho I had a ranch that was a 7 year project...an entire community. LOL- so I'm back to starting over again. I don't care. I've got it to play.

I'm just so glad I hadn't downloaded my books I'm writing onto the laptop yet.

Thank Goodness for small miracles. Eh?

So Just NOT the relaxing weekend I had envisioned after all. Roll on "Retirement"......

Vacation Vs. Retirement

 I sincerely hope we get as much rain over the weekend as they think we are going to here in the Carolinas. It will give me a damn good reason to not do a dang thing but get in some R&R. 

I had to face the fact that I'm getting seriously burned out after working two years with virtually no vacation time.  

Over in England I got five WEEKS of paid vacation time including paid holidays- not counting sick days.

Company now? ZERO Paid Vacation Days. Oh sure- I can TAKE a week or two off, but with prices of everything these days- I can't afford to take the time off and lose the pay.  So instead of losing pay- I'm losing my sanity.

Me and the Boss had an almost two hour meeting today to discuss some issues....mostly that I'm having. 

Also tho also for him to remind me that when I reach my retirement age in February I can continue to work my 40 hours here at my job.....he said he REALLY doesnt want to lose me to retirement. I don't think that's going to be an issue with the price of living these days. However, I did tell him I WILL be taking a weeks vacation every 6 months- I don't care if it's a stay-cation and I sit on my backside on my back porch and look at the clouds or the stars roll past- I WILL be taking those two weeks every year. 

Gar-UN-Teed!!!!

In My Life- One Of The Saddest Red Letter Days EVER.

 This morning, at 8am, one of my grand's Graduation ceremony commenced. 

It was CJ- my grandson from my youngest son Clayton who passed in 2005.  I haven't got to see him since I moved back home... CJ is a very busy and ambitious young man....but I have spoke with him on the phone once. 

His Mom and Grandma completely forgot I was back in the states until last week and then they mailed me a graduation announcement and told me that they had a ticket for me if I could make it to the ceremony. I would have been there with bells on for him, but my job requires 2 weeks notice for non- emergency days off. 

I was heartbroken. I still am- but hopefully we can get together in a couple weeks or so and have a big ol catchup!! Or a few smaller ones- I'm good with whatever time he can give me!! I'll take it!!

But I am the most proud Granny ever of him. He's already signed on as a full fledge fireman with his local fire department last week. He started a couple of years ago as a cadet with the fire department. Spent every spare moment he had up there. He also had a job at McD's at the time (He's given that one up now tho). He has his entire family's work ethic... My son was a hard worker and very ambitious. So is Kathy, CJ's Mom...And his Granny on his Mom's side, And his step-dad, Thomas, and his whole family too! I am so happy that Kathy picked such a good man to step in for Clay to raise CJ and be her husband!!!...and I honestly believe Thomas and Clay would have been close friends had they met when Clay was alive. 

Our side of the family are and were people with good work ethics too... My Dad  for one- and Clayton adored his Grandad... Clay's dad  and grandfather were also hard workers as are  all his Aunts and Uncles on our side.... and I am borderline workaholic - BUT I know when it's time to take some important downtime as well.

I had a bit of a breakdown today when I was on patrol and glanced at the clock and realised that the ceremony had begun.  I've missed out of so much of my grandkids growing up when I moved to England.

It will forever be the biggest regret of my life.

But Congratulations, CJ- on becoming a wonderful man and an example for our whole family!!!

I love you and I know your daddy is looking down from Heaven just beaming with Pride.

In Response To Evan's Post

 In Response to Evan's Post about Gun Rights In America...

First of all- I like that phrase MUCH better than calling it GUN CONTROL. And I agree the two groups are having different discussions.

I don't know much about the historical part of the weapons issue- except it exists just as Evan explains it in his post.

What I DO know is that I feel much safer even if everyone around me is carrying a weapon. 

Most times I will get a side eye when I walk into a place of business carrying..... but here's the thing. I'm an expert marksman. If someone comes in and pulls a weapon and starts firing- you will be damn happy I've got my Glock. I carry with the thought of protection only. And the way I see it there is a MUCH better chance of someone NOT shooting a place up when it's an open carry- because they don't know WHO has a weapon on them or how many would be willing to take a bullet to protect  you and your loved ones should the situation arise. I am one of those people who would take the bullet gladly- but whoever is stupid enough to carry out an active shooting anywhere near me will have one damn hard time getting one in me before I take them down and I can back that up. And that's all I got to say about that.

I dont have my weapon because it's cool- or because it looks or sounds good.... I have it to protect me and mine- and you and yours, regardless of the arguments for or against people carrying or owning. And to be honest- I don't trust many of the politicians in the separate states to pass the laws governing my weapons ownership.

I only trust myself and my integrity and a handful of like minded individuals. 

That being said- I know of LOTS of people that I WOULDN'T care to see owning weapons of any sort- simply because of Irresponsibility and Lack of Integrity in other parts of their lives. 

So how do we respond to that issue and still be fair to everyone?... like Evan said- harsher punishments for weapons criminals is shutting the barn gate after the horse is long gone.  

It's a HOT Topic and will be debated to eternity.

I Hate When That Happens

 On the way to work this morning I had the most fabulous idea for my post today...I planned it out paragraph by paragraph and thought it was perfect for this Monday morning.

Then work happened and now I've a few moments to sit down and tap it out- I can't remember even the title for it- let alone any of the rest of it!

They say the memory is the first to go....I can't remember what the second thing is.....

Such Is Life, eh?

JUST WHYYYYY??????

 Okay so today is my bill paying day..... 

I went online and paid my auto insurance by talking to a real person in my local office.

No Problems at all.

Next came the power bill... It associated my phone number to my account and boom!! Done deal!!!

Both of those bills took less than 3 minutes each.

My water bill I have to pay in person- OMG seriously... they open at 8am- close at 3pm- except on Fridays when they close up at noon and are closed all weekends. And I work 6am-3pm...Monday thru Friday. And they don't let you call a payment in- it has to be in person pay or mail delivered.

 "Small town USA"...... LOL- But I aint even mad about that.

So I'll get my daughter to run that one by their office on her way to one of her doctors appointments before the due date.

I'm going to pay the Netflix bill when I get home. 

But I did try to pay the Spectrum bill by phone- and online both.  And there lies the issue.

It requires a 4 digit code  specifically linked to my account to be able to accept payment. 

Ummmm... can someone explain to me WHY I can't just pay the dang bill and be done with it? They have my name, my address, the phone number, card number and email address linked to my account- why do I need yet ANOTHER verification to GIVE them my money????? 

Is someone trying to impersonate me and pay my bills? And if so- why aren't you LETTING THEM?????

I mean if someone wants to pay any of my bills- or a portion of any one of them- for goodness sake LET THEM!!! I have Mother's Days, Birthdays, Anniversaries and Christmases coming up- that would be a GREAT surprise gift!!!

Red Tape is RIDICULOUS!!!!!

And for no good sense reason if you ask me.

Just sayin'.....