As Another Year Passes By

Well everyone one more year is slipping by, and we have survived another year of our lives. This has been a crazy year for some of us myself included. I have explored my career opportunities with a couple of avenues all still in the realm of customer service. I am currently working Seasonal for Target..well at least I was, I have been sick for the past week and have had to call off all week so I will see if I still have a position when I go back. Currently I am recovering from a cold that I caught somewhere, it started out as very fatigued which I attributed to working in Toys & Electronics for a week straight and right before Christmas. However, I called off on Monday because I was exhausted and my back was hurting and Monday night I began to feel rough, I immediately went and bought some cough and cold medicine, tissues, and OJ. Tuesday I was feeling about the same a little worse but still not dead, and when Wednesday rolled around I felt like I had been run over by a fleet of semi-trucks. Needless to say I did not work Christmas Eve either, I ended up buying Tylenol Severe Congestion with Pseudoephedrine and it was helping but I still have a lingering cough and congestion in my throat/left lung. Today my back has been hurting something terrible, I was distributing gifts to everyone and I was barely able to bend or twist because my back was so stiff. If things are not better tomorrow we will be making a visit with a doctor immediately.

I know that I started this post to talk about another year but my mind slipped off focus, so now lets get back to reviewing 2009. This year we have lost many people that were great entertainers such as Molly Sugden, Michael Jackson, Paul Harvey, Ron Silver, Natasha Richardson, Jack Wrangler, Bea Arthur, Dom DeLuise, and Farrah Fawcett just to name a few. There have also been many things that have happed such as our first African-American President was sworn into office, the American people bailed out the banks as well as two of the three major automakers (who later filed for bankruptcy protection) here in the U.S., H1N1 (Swine Flu) hit hard and took many innocent lives and is still a risk for many, Cash For Clunkers took a lot of older vehicles off the road and put fresh steel on the pavement. I am sure that this is only the tip of the ice burg on the things that have happened but these are some of the major headlines that I can think of.

Some headlines of my own, on January 4, 2010 I will begin classes with Franklin University working toward a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration and hopefully a minor in Accounting. I have been talking about going back to school for a few years and each year I filled out a FAFSA form and each year I would put it on the back burner and say “Well I have this job that I really like right now, I don’t have the time for classes, and I cant afford to go back” after my stint in the hospital and being on life support I have made the decision that there is no better time that RIGHT NOW to start working for my future. I know that I do not want to be at the bottom of the ladder forever, and I am sure that a Bachelors Degree will not instantaneously put my resume at the top of the pile or get me a six-figure income right away but I want to do more with my life than working in the jobs that I have been. I want Nick and I to be able to enjoy our lives together, and for us to be able to plan things and have nice things, not that we do not now but I want to be able to do things like we used to. Earlier in our relationship we used to get in the car and just see where the road would take us, one weekend we ended up in Pittsburg, PA, another we was in Atlanta, GA, and one night we could not think of anything to eat so we drove to Cleveland to find something different to eat, I loved the spontaneity of our lives, we made plans but we also did what we wanted and did not worry about time frames. 

So here is looking forward to 2010, 2009 has been a year of learning and discovery as well as pain and hardship, I hope that 2010 brings about a better life for everyone. I believe that if you truly want something and you work for it hard enough you will get it, lets hope that 2010 can be the year that we can all enjoy the fruits of our labor, as well as the comforts of family and friends. Lets build memories that will last for many more years and celebrate life everyday, for some of us we never know when tomorrow might not come.

 

God Bless Everyone,

Brian J.

The Video without the Music....

Sorry if this post runs a little long but I wanted to include the whole chat script.....Here is the video without the music... please feel free to read below for more info on the situation. Here is more info that I remembered today while chatting with others on POPTHATZIT.COM where my video is currently featured......

·         Innaffitoften :everyone would LOVE to hear it

·         profderien : did you have nightmares from ketamine?

·         Innaffitoften : brian, did you write all of this in the comments section?

·         CystFace : yay

·         Innaffitoften : yeah, Cy, we are now buds

·         brian12881 : prof how did u find the video?

·         brian12881 : I didnt remember a thing after being on the OR table till 2 1 hour after the surgery

·         profderien : blahblah, sorry!

·         profderien : and used to treat crps/rsd

·         profderien : ketamine is also a form of anesthesia

·         Innaffitoften : hang on, let me look in my old mail

·         brian12881 : I felt special alright

·         Innaffitoften : Cy, your name doesn't come up when I do a search

·         brian12881 : yep sch

·         brian12881 : yeah

·         schmegmie : also know as "special k"

·         profderien : just ask, and people will hit the ads

·         schmegmie : ketamine is horse tranq.

·         brian12881 : 56 hits so far today but unfortunately no hits on my ads on there I have adsense and google pays for every ad click on there

·         brian12881 : the stuff was so bad they could not use anesthesia they had to drug me with Ketamine (like LSD) while in surgery because they was afraid of losing my airway

·         CystFace : why icu?

·               

·         Innaffitoften : brian why?

·         profderien : hi, brian. i bet you've gotten some blog hits coming from here!

·         brian12881 : I was in E-ICU they had another hospital watching me while I was in there by webcam

        

·         brian12881 : yeah I have no memory of what I was on but it worked

·         CystFace : Brian, I wore a pump for 28 days in a fanny pack pumping oxicillan into me aster my knee had MRSA. I hear ya!!

·         brian12881 : 6

·         brian12881 : and of course percocet helped with the pain

·         Innaffitoften : how many days in the hospital?

·         Innaffitoften : good, god

·         brian12881 : then augmentin for 28 days after discharge

·         

·         Innaffitoften : mine were dry socets after I got mine done, and that hurt, I can't even imagine!

·         brian12881 : then some others in the hsp

·         brian12881 : well I was on penicillin for 4 days before being admitted

·         Innaffitoften : for how long?

·         Innaffitoften : now that I said it it's not lol

·         brian12881 : I think I was on every antibiotic known to man

·         brian12881 : even after the tooth extraction the infection got worse they thought it was MRSA at one point

·         

·         Innaffitoften : oh my god!

·         brian12881 : it was an abscessed wisdom tooth

·         Innaffitoften : OH MAN! I just had to look at the pic to remember! What was it!!!????

·         CystFace : and it kept draining

·         brian12881 : the surgeon did the incision

·         schmegmie : shit thats a high bp

·         brian12881 : there are good pics on my blog too I think he linked

·         CystFace : how did you get that cut?

·         Innaffitoften : ouch!, stay, I wanna hear about this, but I watched b4 coffee this morning

·         brian12881 : but they did the surgery b/c it was looking like I had 2 heads it was really swollen

·         CystFace : me too

·         Innaffitoften : let me go watch it again really quick, brb

·         brian12881 : hello

·         brian12881 : yeah I was in the hospital temp went to 104.6 and bp was like 185/124

·         Innaffitoften : yah

·         Innaffitoften : tah, the music was LOUD

·         CystFace : Hi Brian

·         

·         brian12881 : some ppl complained about the music but youtube picked it and I thought it went well with the actions in the video

·     

·         brian12881 : I reposted it with sound

·         Innaffitoften : well hey brian good job

·         brian12881 : it was rough going through all of it but I originally made the video for family and friends to see what it looked like

·         brian12881 : my video is the second one on the homepage right now, someone else found it and posted it

Update Update

 

Ok so I went to the doctor yesterday and he would not clear me to go to work yet. I am not allowed to return to working until September 14, this is going to seem like an eternity. I have posted a video of me draining the fluid from my face on YouTube.com, its pretty neat. I have never really posted much online with YouTube but I did and I was playing with the annotations and then found the music tab and was searching for a song to add to it and finally gave up and chose the Feeling Lucky link and it is hysterical to me what it chose and how well it goes along with the actions in the video this is a must watch!!!

I was also advised by my surgeon/doctor to take hot showers and work out the infection little by little so that is where I got the idea for the video. I played with PhotoShop CS4 and worked with my picture that I posted last time and found that it comes out a lot better if photoshopped ( I think that is a word, if not it is now! :P) Here are the images I have uploaded to my facebook

Me Post Op

Me Lookin’ Beautiful

 

A little blurry but closer up

 

Even Closer

The Closest anyone is gonna get to my incision!

Pretty funky huh? Well this is what happens when shit happens….I am just so happy that things are improving I feel a million and one times better than I have for a long time. I have been contemplating while I have the spare time about creating a website, maybe about Pickles and I just something else for me to have online since I am just an online kinda guy.

 

Also if you know of anyone who needs any computer work done please do not hesitate to have them contact me either email me or get in touch with me and I will call them. I definitely need to make some money and I know that I can do it with computer work. I know a lot and can fix most any problem and I am pretty cheap and flexible. I can also teach people how to use most programs and I am great at setting up networks.

Well kids that is all I have time for now leave me comments or follow me on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2029284&id=1000621084&saved#/brian12881?ref=profile

Talk to you all soon!!

Love and Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes

Brian J.

A whole lotta Pain…

First I want to take a moment to thank everyone who showed me such great kindness and caring in my time of need over the past week or so. In addition to thank the AMAZING Staff at the Dublin Methodist Hospital who without their kindness, generosity, knowledge, and hard work I would most certainly not be living today!  Thanks again.

Also Thanks to my family and friends that were there by my side through it all, Thanks, Pickles, Mom Dad, Sissy Shawn, Grandma, Teri, Brittany,  Haylee, and a SPECIAL thanks to Beth and Melissa the only 2 True Blue friends that made any honest effort to come and see me Thanks again for the Flowers Mel and thanks for trying to keep the humor there Beth!

Well as I have promised, I am posting a blog about my most recent experience in the hospital.  For those of you who follow you all know of my dental drama, generally caused by Dental Works”STAY AWAY” and fixed by a prescription.

So for about two weeks from 7/27-8/08 I was in minor discomfort, I could feel a slight pain in my mouth like I needed to get my wisdom tooth removed, so as usual I did not have the money or insurance so I was Doctoring it along as best I could with Aleve and Advil, usually working pretty well.  Well on August 8 I began to feel a little more pain in the evening and just took a little more pain killer and went on with my night, I had my two girls spending the night, so Uncle Brian needs to be mobile. By the time they left on Sunday night my mouth was beginning to really hurt and on Monday we decided to go to Dublin Methodist Hospital to have it looked at. It was reviewed and discussed and it was a dental abscess and needed removed, they prescribed me Penicillin and Vicodin for pain.

I got the scripts filled IMMEDIATELY and began taking them, on Tuesday I began to notice my mouth was swelling and it was getting hard to open my jaw to eat, I had an appointment scheduled for the following Monday with an Oral Surgeon however they said that they would not be able to work me in any earlier. Finally after nibbling on foods and malnourishing myself for 2 days I was tired of it and I contacted the Oral Surgeon to see about an earlier appointment and there was nothing open, they advised me to call my dentist(DentalJerks) HAHA and ask for a new script, they said to just have them call the surgeon if there was a problem. DentalJerks refused and cited every law, rule and reason not to do anything without me coming in for a paid consultation. So I told Nick that we needed to go to the Hospital. Within 5 minutes of arrival I was taken back to the back room and seen by a doctor who then ordered a CT Scan and blood work.

Within an hour and a half the decision had been made that I was to be admitted. I discovered a new favorite pain killer Dilaudid I received it for the first time via IV and it was nice, within 10 seconds of the injection all you feel is warm and pain free. On Thursday night the doctor on duty was in and informed me that there would be a few doctors in to see me the next morning, I woke up the following morning to the usual vital check then blood work and then off to another CT scan, I would have one every day for 3 days. The CT scan showed a lot of enlarged tissue but no puss buildup, so that is where the fears began for the doctors, I was supposed to see an Oral Surgeon however they were all out on vacation for the weekend so I had and ENT come to care for me and I was amazed with his care and knowledge, he was an excellent choice. He quickly made the decision to pull the tooth the following morning and we would go from there. As usual I was not allowed to have anything from 8 hours before the surgery so I made sure that I had my pudding and Jell-O cups at the last minute as well as my last drink. I was on IV pain killers only which was OK because that meant Dilaudid again  WOO HOO!!! By this time I am on 2 antibiotics, a steroid, and 2 pain killers, I am one happy ass guy. On Saturday we got a little late start on the surgery and it was relatively eventless and quick. When the Anesthesiologist came in he was very concerned for my breathing with the swelling that I had going on and was talking about a drug called Ketamine to sedate me. Ketamine is a strong sedative drug and is very similar to LSD, I was alert during the procedure however I have NO memory for the events of the surgery and the events following it. I was in recovery in my room within 30 minutes. Here is a video from when I came to:

So as time went on I began to try to eat stuff once allowed and I was doing pretty well, I had some swelling still, and the doctor was planning on going in on Monday to relieve some of the pressure and swelling however on Sunday my temperature spiked up severely, and I was swelling like a balloon, I did not look like myself. All I could do is cry from the pain and pain killers did nothing. At this point the nurse contacted my surgeon who immediately began assembling a surgery team and got me prepped for surgery, I was out and do not really remember much of the transfer to the OR except for signing the consent form. I found myself waking up wondering where I was, I felt like I was back in time in a 80’s sci fi movie, with all the life support gadgets and gizmos. I was even on a bed chiller at one point to attempt to bring my temp down into the reasonable range.

This is Post OP 2

There was discussion of transferring me to Riverside but all the Doctors and burses that were working on me did not want to let me leave they all liked me too much. I was a part of the E-ICU where they have a Webcam monitor with a live feed to the Riverside Hospital ICU to monitor me as well, I thought that was a pretty cool idea. My Temp finally broke and I was beginning to turn the corner, at first from the cultures of the fluid that they extracted in surgery they thought I had MRSA and I was PANICED I thought OMG how did I get that I am clean, I shower at least once a day, I wash everything. We was all at a loss but Nick and my mom was also required to use universal precautions which meant a suit to cover their clothes, shoes and gloves. It was later discovered that it was not but it was a good precaution to take anyway.  I was on 3 Antibiotics now and lord only knows how many pain killers at once but I was still feeling pretty well. Later on in the day I finally got my mask off and was placed on oxygen for a few. The recovery is slow but I am working on it, while this blog is not all of the events of my hospital visit it is the major points in it. I will post more later when it comes to me but I wanted to get the main points out there! 

Once again THANK YOU A  MILLION TO ALL THOSE WHO SUPPORTED ME AND PRAYED FOR ME THROUGHOUT THIS TIME OF GREAT NEED, IT MEANS SO VERY MUCH TO ME AND IF YOU NEED MEDICAL CARE AND WANT SOMEWHERE GOOD AND SOMEONE WHO WILL NOT MAKE YOU WAIT FOREVER FIND THE BEST KEPT MEDICAL SECRET IN COLUMBUS, DUBLIN METHODIST HOSPITAL!!!! OFF 161/33 AND AVERY ROAD IN DUBLIN

Nothing but Love

Brian J

Forgiven…..

I was watching a movie tonight on the LOGO Network, and from the storyline I began to think about things that have happened to me in my life. There are things that have happened to me that have shaped who I am and driven my values and my thinking. I am who I am and that will never change, I am here and no matter what anyone does to me I will still be here and remain the same person.

One memory that I have is when I was a teen I worked with a guy and I found him attractive. Somehow he found out and while I was in school he would say rude, derogatory comments to me in passing in the corridors, and he even went as far as to approach me while I was working somewhere else and physically attack me. I was shocked, I did not retaliate, I was bleeding and I can still remember what he said and how he did it to this day. Russ you are forgiven for your ignorance and your poor judgment, I hope that one day you will realize that you are just a person, nothing extraordinary and what you did was wrong, however even if you do not I FORGIVE YOU.

Then there was the teacher who made a comment that made me feel like less of a person, I was in High School and I was beginning to come out to people about who I am. I was asked by a teacher that I respected if I was gay, I reluctantly said no, to which his comment was OK because I had heard that you are and I just wanted to make sure I didn’t bend over with you around if you were. Mr. Teacher, you are forgiven, you have given me a lesson that I will never forget, people come from different generations, different life paths and different religions/family values. Some people will make a comment that is inappropriate and insensitive because they think that it is OK and acceptable when it is not. Their ignorance toward others, their lives and who they are can be degrading and disrespectful however they do not know any better once again, I FORGIVE YOU.

I am sure that there are more incidents that have happened but these seem to stick out in my mind.
When someone in your life gives you a chance to be a part of their life, do not shut them out, do not degrade them or tell them they are a bad person. Just understand that they have a different path for their life, it might be a way of good fortune, and it might be a way of misfortune, but they will make it as they feel is right based upon their circumstances, beliefs and values. We need to respect our friends, family members and neighbors lives and embrace the opportunity that we are given each day when we wake up, because every day is a new day, and we can make of it what we wish but it is up to us to control it as best we can. I am sure that there are many people that I have done wrong to in my life and I sincerely apologize for what I have done, I am sure that some of it I did without knowing that I was doing it and some I did out of carelessness, all I can ask is that you forgive me as I will forgive you.

Best Wishes Friends

Brian J.

So What’s Going On?

Well as I mentioned in my last post I would be writing a new post soon and here it is…

Well I no longer work for the Arby's Franchisee, last Thursday was my last day, I have found a position as a Night Auditor for a hotel here in town which means less hours and if I work over 40 its OT! It is less pay but hopefully less DRAMA! My last few weeks there was a nightmare! I learned that the shift manager was creating problems within the store and I was tired of it all, and every day that I woke up it was harder and harder to force myself to go to work so I got over it and I got out.

I am still looking to see if there is something else out there that I can work at because this one that I accepted is not where I need to be in pay but it is where I needed to be to get out of where I was. Two weeks ago we interviewed with Indus Companies for the NEW Embassy Suites Hotel at the Port Columbus Airport and I was interviewed for the Restaurant Manager/Supervisor position and I really hope that I can get it. After reviewing many sites online I found a lot of information on the hotel and it will be a VERY nice hotel.

This weekend was obviously Independence Day weekend and we had a lot of fun. We visited with Nicks family Friday, then yesterday we visited with my family at my brother Shawn’s house. We had a lot of fun we played cards Friday and on Saturday we played bowling on the Wii. I also got into a conversation about Politics…… Well we all know that is a great talking point for me I will debate till the sun goes down and then some. We discussed healthcare, Bush, Cheney, Obama, Palin, war, bailouts with banks and auto makers and congress/state representatives. I got into the whole religion section as well boy did that get people fired up, but we all had fun and a great conversation.

Some of the political things that we talked about were separation of Church and State, in my opinion we will NEVER EVER have a separation of Church and State, because as long as we are electing people who believe in a god or who attend some form of church/synagogue/temple we will always have some connection between the two. I am not saying that as a bad thing however as a statement of the facts, and these representatives will vote on legislation based upon their beliefs and what they have been taught is right and wrong.

Another issue is immigration, I full heartedly believe in legal immigration, we would not have nearly the brilliant minds or the diverse cultures here that we do if not for legal immigration. NOW I go off on my illegal immigration tangent, I really wish that people would recognize that Illegal Immigration really is hurting our country and the we should not give amnesty to any of the illegal immigrants, we have a quota system in place for a reason we only allow so many in at any given time so that we as a country can monitor the flow of people and we can provide proper support for our citizens and control our economy. All these immigrants that want to come here for a better life I do not degrade them for wanting to do so, however I do wish it was in accordance with our laws. We have so many people who come over here and want a better life but are living off of our systems that we have in place to help the legal citizens of our nation and causing undue hardship for our people. I know people who have went to the county offices and wanted help and could not get what they needed because they are doing things the right way, they are taking care of their responsibilities, but people who are not even LEGAL citizens can go in and receive benefits from my tax money and your tax money with no problems, we have no way to really track them and we have them living with multiple families in a small apartment or house not paying nearly the amount of taxes that should be paid to support our schools cities or local governments but that is OK! I THINK NOT! We need to change this way of governing and this way of thinking, it is not that we are racist or bigots but the buck has to stop somewhere and it needs to stop here and needs to stop NOW. We need to crack down on multiple families in one small housing unit, while that may be the norm in your homeland this is America and we do things a little different. We have some of the most stringent safety standards out there and we have them for a reason, and it is time we start enforcing them. It is UNSAFE for so many people to live in close quarters, it is also not helping support our schools, more homes means more taxes and more taxes means more money to help our deficit stricken schools. We have to add extra programs just for the immigrant populations, programs such as English as a Second Language, DOES THIS NOT COST MONEY TO OPERATE? We need to pay for it somehow, and I think we need to force the people who feel this program is necessary to make sure they are doing their part to help and make it happen.

 

Then on to the banks, we had to bail them out WHY? Yes I understand that they were in bad financial condition, but who made them that way, was it all the American people? NO it was the operators, now an honest hard working American has a hard time getting a loan because they are “TIGHTENING THEIR WALLET” and when they do they get hosed by the bank with a ridiculous interest rate. I know people who have had their interest rates TRIPLED on their credit cards and these are people with 798-820 beacon scores that is INSANE! The banks want us to pay out from our tax money and them pay up with insane interest rates, this is nuts.

Oh and do not forget the Auto Industry, do not get me wrong on this one I understand that we need Detroit and the Big 3 Automakers, they are a pillar of the American Society, but once again we have to help them out throwing money that we do not have at them to save them. They need to streamline, I do not care if there is one dealer per brand or 2 dealers per brand per city we need to have 1 FORD 1 CHRYSLER OR DODGE and 1 CHEVROLET OR GMC blend the models end the other nameplates and make it work, make what people want not what sme crazy designer thinks looks like the future, its OK to dream but lets keep out feet a little closer to the ground. Yes I know Ford is doing OK but still getting rid of Lincoln and blending a couple models into the Ford nameplate will not hurt anyone, the name plate is a status symbol and that is all Just as Lexus, Infinity and Cadillac are as well. Just make one brand and focus on that.

Well I am sure that I could go on for a lot longer but I will leave it at that for now. Please feel free to comment the blog I would love to hear some other opinions.

Until next time…Best Wishes, and God Bless You and God Bless America

Brian J

ok so....

Well its been a while since I posted anything but I promise I will post soon hopefully this week I will recieve a job offer and things will be looking VERY UP!!! Till then take care and have a great day!!

Brian

An even bigger SOAP BOX!

So once again it has been a few since I have posted anything but I really am trying to make things happen...promise! 

We have moved to a new place the old place could not decide what our rent was supposed to be each month and each month it was something different, we now live close to Hilliard in a very nice and quiet community, no more neighbors fighting all night, and no more hearing our neighbor thunder across the floor at all hours of the night.  RJ seems to be much happier here as well and we have a beautiful lake view. We downsized as the economy and my job seem to push for we are now in a one bedroom apartment but it is very nice. I will post more about it in the next blog but for now on to other issues!

I have been working a lot and it seems if I am not working I am out doing something to keep busy, I have decided recently that I will go back to school, I am not sure exactly where I want to go or what I want to major in but I need to decide soon.  I got my FAFSA finished and my EFC is 000!  YAY that is a little light in the tunnel, but still a little lost on my direction. Part of me says go to a school like Bradford of Columbus and get a certificate/diploma in an area that I am interested in and the other part of me says to go to CSCC and get some core courses out of the way and get a degree from a college, I am definitely looking at the financial aspect as well since I cannot afford much of anything out of pocket for it right now.

I am considering a major in Political Science but I also would like to maybe get a Bachelors in Business Administration or maybe go for computer sciences and do something with computers the ideas are up in the air right now. I do know that I want to get out of restaurant management, the pay is just not there and I do not think that my heart is in it anymore.  I want to do more with my life and I want to be able to enjoy being comfortable with my job and my pay.  I want to be able to go out and splurge a little without trying to change my lifestyle.  

Now my rant for the week, does it seem like our country is being over run by immigrants or what? Now do not get me wrong I am all for a better life for anyone, but it seems as if everywhere I go now all I see is foreign nationalities, I understand that this is supposed to be a cultural melting pot but I think the pot is about to boil over! For example, my sister who has two beautiful and intelligent girls was receiving government assistance for rent and food stamps, recently she decided to leave the government housing to make things better for her and her family, with that change she has to work more and that is a good thing, she is doing the right thing and being responsible and working for what she gets however she don't work a full 40 hours a week, it is just not available where she works, and she makes a lower wage, however when she got a re-determination on her benefits they told her that she will only get medical insurance for the two kids and nothing else!  So lets see she goes from $24 a month rent with govt assistance to $585 with ZERO assistance and she is now told that she makes too much to get help with food for her family because she wants better!  There was people doing drugs outside in front of her old apartment and the places did not have good maintenance but because she wants better and is trying to do better we are going to punish her, we should reward that as a society! SO many people want to "work the system" and do nothing for it and expect more to do less but when someone wants to do their part to make things better we knock them down and make life harder, come on lets help OUR people and stop telling everyone that even if you are not a legal citizen we will help you and we will provide for you!  Its time we take care of our own people and tell the illegal immigrants and the other immigrants that if you want the "American Dream" here you go, here it is, WORK FOR IT! This is not the land of the Freeloader! It is the Home of the Brave and the land of the FREE!! If you do not want to come here and do your part and be a productive member of our society, PLEASE FEEL FREE to LEAVE!  We are taking care of enough people and we cannot take proper care of the ones who are here we do not need you to come here and ask what we can do for you, we need you to come here and ask what you can do for us!  We need innovation and ingenuity not laziness and more children to support because you do not believe in BIRTH CONTROL!!! 

OK so I think that I have vented enough for today, I encourage you to PLEASE COMMENT on my blog and tell me what you think, share your ideas, because that is what makes things better, the collaboration of friends, family and community, whether it makes an impact or not we can be heard and we can share with each other to help with a better understanding. Maybe I have closed my eyes to ones views and only opened my eyes to mine but this is how I feel and without more information and other views and ideas that is what it is my opinion whether it it right or wrong is up to interpretation but I want to see some other view points I will not get angry  I might argue my side but that is what is great about AMERICA is the ability to do so FREELY!

My Soap Box!

So What's New?

Well as you can see it has been since my birthday since I posted anything last and this is my first real post on here since I signed up, so there is a great deal of catching up to do.

First of all we are settled in our place the holidays were a little rough but we made it through and we are doing ok, I still have the Toy that I got in November, jobs are a lot harder to come by so I had to suck it up and take a job with Insight Communications for a few to make ends meet and that is now over I mainly did it because of the starting pay of $730.50  a week but the weather sucked and with the economy being in the crapper the job was a lot harder than it had to be.  I made like 3 sales on my own and then one of them rolled back. I would have gotten 6 but 3 rolled back immediately because of stuff beyond my control.

 

I interviewed for Tee Jays Country Place Restaurant and I was not thrilled by that at all, but if I was offered the job I was going to take it because there is not much out there for work.  I got a call from a Arby's Franchisee and was offered a job as a manager for a brand new restaurant and I took it, because I know the product and I was excited about the opportunity for a new store and new stuff, so far things are going pretty well although I cannot understand how I am supposed to be the AGM and I am not included in conversations that impact the operation of the restaurant that I am jointly responsible for, I really want one of my superstar crew members Ashley to be promoted into management however nobody seems willing to include me in the conversation.  I am a little upset with the situation; anyone who knows me knows that I give my 100% to my job and then some.  I am always looking for a way to improve a process or to help create excitement in the position or job. I am just boggled on how I can be excluded from things that totally impact me and the role of my job. Moving on.. I really do like my job and I hope to grow with the company I just have to get past this minor stepping stone and barrier.

Pickles has been having a rough time finding gainful employment and I know it is frustrating him greatly.  I sit and think about the economy and how things are and just wonder how things will be 3 months 6 months and one year from now.  Something has to improve, I know that things have to get worse before they can get better but how much worse can they get?  My mom got laid off from her job and cannot find work, unemployment is only $225 a week and that is nothing but because my dad makes decent money working for the county they cannot get any extra help, my mom’s COBRA insurance premium is $190 a month and I just feel so bad because I know that she has bills on top of that and I wish there was more that I could do to help her but I only make $500 a week which is well below what I am accustomed to making but a job is a job and they are hard to come by these days. Sometimes I just wonder how the big man thinks that we will be ok and that the menial pay that people receive will help them make ends meet. 

There is so much craziness that you hear about in the news everyday and I just wonder how much more of it is being caused by the current situation our country is in. I know that problems will not and cannot go away over night but we need some sort of solution, we need our government to get it together and work for the people who put them there, let business work on business and work for the people.  I really do not know what we can do to unbury ourselves from this mess but we need to do something.  It seems as though before long we will no longer own our country it will belong to all the other countries that we keep borrowing from and we cannot get things together.

We need a reform that starts from scratch, that does not include big business and we need to end the corporate greed, I mean really who needs to make millions a year and then get bonuses and stock options and private jets? This is ridiculous we need to move toward being more humble and spread the wealth, I mean really look at it, the people who make the companies work make so little while the schleps at the top sit and bask in the wealth, I mean don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with someone being wealthy but I feel we need a more even spreading of the profits.  We need to make it so that people can live off of what they take home as a net pay, so people do not have to depend on government aid forever, Government aid is good for helping those in need and for a fixed period of time but not helping till the end of time.

I am sure that at this point I sound like some political machine spewing out a bunch of rhetoric but it is how I feel it is my values and it is what I believe in.  I believe in a country where people can enjoy life we can have family’s that can build on family values whether it is a hetero or homosexual couple. If we could just get the rest of the world to join in and get the corporate leaders to show some moral value and show that they are not just about themselves and money we can get there however I doubt that I will see it in my lifetime.

Another thought that I ponder is how things can be so much harder today than they were years ago, we have so many things that are supposed to make life easier, we have coffee makers with intelligence that will brew when we want them to, we can call people from nearly anywhere and we can communicate in an instant with things like email and instant messaging and text messaging but life is harder and we get less done in a day, is it that we have become lazier? Or is it that everyone wants things now and instant gratification?  Businesses are more customer conscious now I feel that things are more geared to customer satisfaction than ever before, you almost cannot go anywhere and not have someone with some sort of satisfaction measurement process in place but we want more.  How much more can we do, have we as consumers become too greedy? Are we wanting too much from that high school kid making our fries or the clerk at the supermarket?  After being in customer service and management I constantly find myself evaluating the service I receive and the product quality like I am some sort of "expert" or "connoisseur of service and quality"  We need to get back to the basics and start there.  We need to be humble again and be thankful for what we do receive and what we do have, not what we think we deserve or we think things should be, I mean it is good to have standards but I feel that we sometimes set them too high and sometimes out of reach.

I know that I keep going on and on and on like the energizer bunny and most people will not read all of this but it is just things that I think about and things that I want to say so here is my soap box and this is my forum to present my ideas.  Whether you agree or disagree it is not for me to judge, as you too have your own goals, ambitions and values that might differ from my own but I feel that I speak for most people that have little and try to make the best of life.

Best Wishes for a better tomorrow!

Your Friend

Brian

P.S. Please feel free to comment on the above statements I love to hear feedback and sorry if things jump around but it is just thoughts flowing from my head at that moment!