This thread Will never die!

Insanity runs in families, and we're all simians. Therefore, simple logic says yes, you are, simply because there are some acknowledged loons here. (Yes, I know this---)

 

An end of an era...... 4 years ago, my son joined the Marines..... and a boy became a man.
He has served honorably and his time in the service comes to an end....
He will be leaving and coming home in 5 days to a proud family!!!

 

Thank him for his service.

 

Someone asked me tonight if I had thought about what I would do when I retire. "No" I said, "probably just lay around in my casket and watch the mold grow" Where did I get this macabre sense of humor???

 

-- Quigley_Sharps, Aug 5, 2005

LOL.

 

Heh. Since you brought it up, I went back and flipped thru the first few pages. Some insights into some of the early joiners. (And a LOT of out of date stuff with some fun thrown in. Hm. Feature the thread for newbs? Nah. It's distractive, good rainy day reading.)

 

I'm one of those odd individuals who can eat the same thing day after day. My most recent dietary obsession is a salad I make from 3-4 cups of raw baby spinach, a garden fresh tomato cut into chunks, about 3/4 cup black beans, crumbled bacon, about 1/2 cup shredded cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese with extra virgin olive oil drizzled over the top then all mixed up. mmmm Then a nice big locally grown fresh peach for dessert. I think my body is craving the nutrients that this offers me because I can't seem to get enough of it. Its my every night supper at my desk. alas, when the fresh veggies and fruit season is over, I will have to find a substitute to satisfy my cravings but until then.......

 

I had the radio on today when I was traveling from point A to point B and the talk radio discussion was about the new iPhone 7 and how it will only support wireless earphones. This led to the reporter explaining to the audience about the old switchboards. It made me smile because while working a regular job, I took a second shift job as a switchboard operator for a major department store. I was about 17 or 18. the switchboard was a pretty interesting piece of technology at the time. the operator sat in front of a panel with cables plugged into the incoming lines. We would answer the call on our headset then plug the other end of the cable into the extension the caller wanted to reach. when someone in the company wanted to reach someone else in the company, they would ring the operator and ask to be connected to "whoever" and we would plug into that extension. I was the only switchboard operator for second shift from 4:30 to midnight and it got pretty busy some nights.

One particularly busy night, the owner of the department store chain, Mr Calvin Bennett, called to speak with the store manager. In the process of handling many calls, I inadvertently pulled the plug on Mr. Bennett's call leaving him disconnected. Oops. Half expecting to get fired, I called him back immediately and told him what I had done. to my surprise, he laughed and said "Young Lady, you are the first switchboard operator who has every admitted to disconnecting my call. Keep up the good work." I reconnected him to the store manager and didn't think too much more about it other than being happy I still had my job.

From that night on, every time he came to the store, he sought me out. About a month later, the manager pulled me into his office and said that he and Mr. Bennett had decided that I should be promoted and I was interested in running the "money room" for second shift. That was like an in-store vault and responsible for collecting all the register drawers, accounting for the cash, preparing deposits and making the late night bank drop with a police escort. My first accounting job - at 18 - handling hundred of thousands of dollars a week and balancing everything to the penny (or not.)

The night of the disconnected call, I learned what has been the most valuable lesson of my business career. Never be afraid to admit a mistake. Take ownership of your failures just as you do of your successes.

A little addendum to the story is that as time went on, Mr Bennett and his wife had me to their home many times, often inviting me and a date for a weekend of sailing on Long Island Sound. I had a dream of going to law school and he encouraged me without hesitation, always. We stayed friends until the day he died and I thought of him as my first mentor.

 

I really hate the coming of winter...rain for the next few months is draining my motivation.....

 

Prepping for survival at the office

Sitting at my desk tonight not having too much luck finishing up a few deadline projects when it dawned on me that my desks hold the keys to eat, drink, and be merry. In my bottom left hand drawer I have a bottle of Virgin Olive Oil for salad suppers at my desk, my center drawer has 3 nippers of Jack Daniels to get me through the impossible, and in my top right hand drawer is a box of dark chocolate covered espresso beans, what I fondly call my "magic beans" to reward myself when I'm done. The olive oil is ever present because with that and a heel of bread, I know I'll never go hungry. The nippers, a gift from a friend, have been there for years waiting for the impossible to occur. And the magic beans? well, they're magic so I always keep some handy just in case the JD needs a little assist if the impossible does occur.

 

A rainy evening sitting inside by the fire...... dogs laying all around snoring and enjoying the heat. Nothing better IMO!!!

 

Our belief in absolute truth ended the day that Google replaced the Encyclopedia Britannica as our source of information

 

Hmm another rainy night in the NW... dog's snoring yet again...contemplating the same for me.

 

Sometimes, regardless of the idiot sitting next to you or the person responding to your questions, you have to just sit back and thank whatever Gods may be that today is such a grand day. Be grateful for each of those days and forgive the all the other idiots on earth

 

People are stupid....some people are frigging idiots. Two days ago, my daughter discovered that her live in boyfriend and father to their 1 year old son...... has been chatting up a couple of gals on his cell phone and had a rendezvous scheduled for this weekend with one of them. I am so very disappointed in him... and sad for my daughter and grandson!! She booted him out yesterday.

Now as a family, we will have to pick up the pieces, help her through this situation and do what we can. Trying hard to not be angry....but I just am.