Crash!

OK, so back in September my main computer died. Specifically the hard drive. I managed to get things up and running, but I lost a lot of the links that I used to visit on a regular basis, this blog being one of them. I've fixed my computer the best I can considering I didn't spend any money, (used a backup hard drive, got a legit copy of XP from a friend, etc.)

...so yeah. I'm still around. I mostly update on Twitter, which I have linked to in posts previous to this one.

-'Mad

Flabicide

Came across an article that listed the worst drink in America for your health:

The following is a quote from the full article here.

WORST DRINK IN AMERICA

Baskin-Robbins Large Chocolate Oreo Shake

• 2,600 calories
• 135 g fat (59 g saturated fat, 2.5 g trans fat)
• 263 g sugars
• 1,700 mg sodium

Is this the worst drink on the planet? All signs point to yes. First off, it has an ingredient list that reads like an organic chemistry final. Those 70-plus ingredients conspire to pack this shake with more sugar than 29 Fudgsicles, as much fat as a stick and a half of butter, and more calories than 48 actual Oreos. Oh, it also has 3 days’ worth of saturated fat and, most bizarre of all, as much salt as you’ll find in 9 bags of Lay’s Classic potato chips. Need more proof? Let’s hope not.

Ouch.

-'Mad

This world is too sue-happy...

So after years and years of not being active in the SCA, I am back. It's great to be back, but I have noticed one change that has irritated me:

Waterbearers are no longer allowed.

A Waterbearer is simply what in football or basketball would be called a "waterboy." They bring water to the fighters out on the field. Dehydration is a huge issue when you are out fighting, and a critical thing to watch.

However, because the lawyers think that there is the risk that someone will sue the SCA if they got a disease (drinking from a waterbottle that someone else drank from, I guess) they no longer allow waterbearers to go out and provide water to the fighters. The fighters must come off the field to a "courtesy station" and get water for themselves.

Sounds like a simple solution, but when you are out there on the field, hopped up on adrenalin and working out strenuously, the idea of water doesn't always cross your mind. It's easy to forget unless someone reminds you. Even if it did cross your mind, you often don't want to unless someone is shoving a straw in your face.

I forsee quite a few fighters collapsing in the future due to a lack of waterbearers. STOOPID sue-happy world.

-'Mad

Oops...

I changed my name on my twitter account, not knowing that it would change my URL and everything related to it. Here's the new link.


Otherwise, what is there to talk about? With any luck, Steph will be going to school this fall. I am hoping that it works out, I'd hate to think we moved to Pocatello for nothing. The latest plan is that once she gets through school, then I will go through school. I still don't know HOW I would go to school, but at least one of us would have a good job in a few years.

I'm still looking for a better job. Work is chaotic right now in regards to my job security: When I think I am on pretty solid ground, something happens to make me think that I'm less than a month away from loosing my job. When I think I am about to lose my job, something happens to make me think "no, I guess I'm OK and my job is moderately secure."

The corporation I work for DOES NOT believe in ANY KIND of positive reinforcement, choosing instead to actively pursue a highly negative reinforcement approach to employee management. It makes employee morale very low across the district, as we are "under the gun" on a daily basis to avoid being fired for failing to meet goals set by some guy we've never met that lives in Texas. He's never been here, he doesn't know or care about us, we are just numbers on a paper that continuously need to be "corrected." It's often disheartening, especially knowing that I am just a number to some guy that I work for.

On the other hand, my immediate manager is very good at her job, very good to all the employees in her store, (myself most definitely included) and handles a lot of the horrible crap that is dished out by the people above her. I certainly wouldn't want her job when I see what she has to deal with. It certainly takes the incentive to try for a promotion right out, especially when I see her in the back room at lunch eating ramen noodles and driving her beat up old car. She works incredibly hard (80+ hour weeks are not unheard of, 6 day weeks are mandatory at the least) and apparently doesn't get paid very well judging from her lifestyle. If a person works as hard as she does, working as many hours as she does, the corporation should at least have the decency to pay her enough so that she can afford better than ramen noodles and drive a beat up old '80s car.

...But then, like I said, the company I work for doesn't believe in positive reinforcement. It makes me rather depressed and angry sometimes.

-'Mad

I hate to say I like it, but I like it.

I've discovered that twitter is a much better fit for me. It's a ton easier for me to just post my random, spur-of-the-moment thoughts on there. It's less of an ordeal to post there than it is here, so as a result, go there if you want to read the stuff that comes out of my head.

....not that anyone actually reads this blog anyway, this is kind of like posting an advertising billboard in the middle of the Sahara desert.

https://twitter.com/bitebishop Go.


(and yes, I will keep posting here occasionally...)

-'Mad

TWEET!

I am twittering now... https://twitter.com/bitebishop. Hopefully I will update more there than I do here, since the updates there are limited to only a sentence or two. Be sure to check there for more frequent (and much briefer) updates.

-'Mad

Steph has a blog now:

http://www.danandstephreese.blogspot.com/

That blog won't replace mine, it's just the one that Steph is doing...


-'Mad

Long term goals

I am reposting this from one of my Facebook pages... just thought it would be good to have here, too.


My goals include: Graduating from college, becoming a teacher, traveling to Europe, (specifically Greece, Rome, the UK, Ireland, Germany, Romania, Denmark, and Finland) buying a house, rejoining the SCA as a member and being very active in the group, and doing volunteer work.

The volunteer work would involve teaching, of course. ;-)


-'Mad

In order to find something, I've gotta look.

I really enjoy elements of my job, and I certainly get along well with my boss and coworkers. The problem is, the money just isn't there, and the benefits certainly are NOT there, either. Leaving a job you enjoy isn't easy, and it makes it hard to get motivated to look for a different (hopefully better paying) job, too. I need to do it though, if I ever hope to do more than live from paycheck to paycheck.

Going back to school would be nice, but frankly I don't think that finding a better paying job will ever provide me with the means for going to school: There is the day-to-day expenses while working a job that you need to pay for, making saving for school difficult. If I were to save up enough to go to school (spare $25,000 for 4 years anyone? ...Anyone?) then there is the day-to-day expenses that you need to pay for while in school, and finding a job that pays well enough to pay for that while you are in school is very hard.

School or not, I need to find something that pays better.

...and that means looking. Bleah. I hate looking. It seems like I just did that.


-'Mad

The music of Black Happy

Back in the 90's, the Seattle music scene was where it was happening. There was a band that came out of Coeur D' Alene, Idaho named Black Happy that was probably the best and most original band to emerge during that era. They didn't really last long, but they were great. The band had 9 members: 2 drummers, 2 guitarists, a bass player, 2 trombonists, a saxophone player, and the lead singer. The lead singer's name was Paul Hemenway, who I have heard is now a minister in the midwest. (I don't know if that's true or not, it's just what I have heard. Considering that they were a rather religious group, I wouldn't be surprised at all.)

Their music was simply great: different, uplifting (rare in music anymore) and very well done. I really miss them, and wish my CDs of their music weren't stolen. I had 4 CDs: Friendly Dog Salad, Peghead, The Last Polka, and an album made by 4 of the members after the band broke up called Shoveljerk. I wish I could find them again.

A few lyrics from the song The Life and Times of...

I'm just walkin down the street singin' that same old song
I've sung a thousand times before, I know the verse
I know the chorus, I even know the part before
It's called we're gonna' even the score


And a few Lyrics from the song Home...

So many things have changed in my short life
that I thought would always be there
Yet when all that passes by my eyes none of it
will come as a big surprise, I'm expecting it
To tell the truth I know that when my eyes are closed
and shut again I'll be happy that way

Cause if I don't know where I'm going
if I don't know where I've been
maybe you can show me now
can you tell me how
I'm going home

Blerg

We moved to Pocatello to go to school. That goal is further than ever right now. I found out that ISU is raising tuition 10% and lowering all budgets by 11%. We are both working full time and living paycheck to paycheck. We are still unable to afford things like basic medical care. Jobs are scarce in this town, so looking for a better paying job isn't working.

Something needs to change, but I don't know what or how.


-'Mad