Yep, back to the grind today. Slow periods followed by calls stacking like aircraft on a busy day at O’Hare followed again by a slow period (for a minute). I had one point where I had a call camped on my 2nd line while finishing an order on 1st line, then while taking order on 2nd line, 1st line lit up again with yet another order. 3 orders without a chance to input any of them before the next call was waiting for me!

Then along came Dragon Lady with some comparatively minor detail-y thing before I had a chance for a breath, so, yeah, I got grumpy. But Dragon Lady is so *nice* that our grumpies roll off her like water off the proverbial duck’s back. As Dragon Lady would say: “Bless her heart!” But, still, please gimme a breath before forcing a change of horses in mid-stream? Hm?

Don’t read me wrong, here! We all love Dragon Lady, just… well… she also does her share of driving us around the bend on occasion. Took me a bit before I could figure out what I was doing at the time of the interruption (involving *orders*, not *quotes*, mind you!).

Survived the first day back at work of the New Year… albeit with a bit of overtime.

Or was it the gloomy, lack-of-sun/drizzly day? I dunno, but it’s no fun. Somehow got laundry finished, completed the put-away-Xmas stuff project, even located the “Battery Tender ‘Automatic’” device to plug in the Miata battery (yeah, my basement remains a House of Horrors, but partly because I haven’t had the psychic energy - or whateveryoucallit - to ensconce myself in that dungeon-with-teensy-windows long enough to actually organize… but the current disorganization results from the helter-skelter Get Stuff Off The Floor action that occurred during the Weekend Of Hurricane Ike when the basement flooded… THAT weekend that resulted in my missing a day of work so I could get stinky wet carpeting OUT… meaning stuff had to get shoved around to *get* the carpet cut up!).

We retrieved Valdemort last night; the SMB pulled into MSU about 9:30PM, we got there 9:45 (as planned) so we only had to wait a few minutes for her to get her uniform turned in - they’d already had the buses unloaded (8 of ‘em, well, OK there were 7 of ‘em, the 8th was left on the side of the road near Ft. Wayne after transferring the passengers to the other buses - yeah ANOTHER breakdown, making 3 for the trip). There was already a “streamlined plan” in place for uniform turn-in, but these band-o’s took it a step further on their own and instinctively grouped themselves in ways that made the operation even faster. Amazing how well this group of over 300 people can cooperate and get stuff accomplished efficiently! A lot of businesses could learn something from observing… y’hear me, GM?

Got home about 11PM-ish (told ya the SMB was efficient - it’s a one-hour drive between EL and GB, so we were on-site only about a half-hour). Fed Valdemort the homemade bean soup she’d requested, got more “download” of the week’s activities, then hit hay. Didn’t see her again until early afternoon… Same with The Dogz - they BOTH spent the night with her, reluctantly got up long enough for me to let them out, then they were back snuggling with their “litter-mate”. Guess they missed her

Tonight… *sigh* yeah, it’s the Monday Blues. Seems about the time I’m mentally ready to dive into doing what needs doing around here, it’s time to go back to work. I’ve accomplished more in the past 2-3 days after a couple days to “veg” than I can in a normal weekend bracketed closely by work days. Wondering if I would be more productive if I could work 4 10-hour days and get 3-day weekends, instead of the current schedule??? Somehow don’t think that would fly at my job though…. Eh, it was a thought.

I’ve discovered a site (via Twitter ) that is hosted by a political cartoonist (Daryl Cagle), featuring the *best* political cartoons/cartoonists around. You can either go by subject or by artist, and get quite the eyeful of visual commentary. Anyway, I like Cagle’s New Year’s cartoon: click here.

In the meantime, I’m on “Saturday #1″ for this week. My week this week is designated: Monday, Friday, Saturday, Saturday, Saturday, Saturday, Sunday. Today? Got up, let dogz out, showered/dressed, cooked breakfast and made coffee, and proceeded to sit on my a** until Nook & I decided to make a run out to JoAn’s for dog-toy makings. Then a Little Caesar’s “Hot-n-Ready” pizza & Crazy Bread for lunch, vegetate, then grocery run (Colony’s Quality Meats & *gag* Kroger - the whole time we were in Kroger we were wishing for a LOCAL Plum Market!!). Back home, I ran the snowblower while Nook put groceries away (hey, seemed a fair trade-off to me! Got me outside playing with the snow for a little while ).

Been catching up on “CSI” and “Twilight Zone” a bit, in between everything. Dogz have been scratched, napping, out, in, cookies, fenced into the kitchen, out, in, cookies, out, in, fenced into the kitchen, out, in, brushed, out, in, napping, cookies, out, in, napping, scratched… you get the idea.

Doubt I’ll make it *conscious* to midnight to usher in the New Year. I have champagne, but will probably hold off on that ’till Valdemort gets home Saturday night (unless there are *more* bus breakdowns for the trip back to E Lansing, which would delay their return). They had 2 breakdowns (1 mile apart) south of Indianapolis that put them something like *6* hours behind schedule for the trip to Orlando. At least they got to have a meal at “Buca di Beppo” on Tuesday - lunch instead of Sunday’s supper (because they got in after 11PM instead of the scheduled 5PM).

Anyway, here’s their itinerary: Spartan Marching Band Citrus Bowl Itinerary

In the Flint area, the Citrus Parade will be televised on Saturday at 2PM on WNEM DT2 (#4 on the Comshaft dial). The Citrus Bowl *game* will be on ABC starting at 1PM EST. Keep an eye open for whatever brief flashes of the Marching Bands that the Network Gods may decide to bless us with.

Looked it up. Has to do with the Olde Tradition of boxing up usable (but no longer needed) items and giving them to the Needy.

In the “modern day version”, we used this day to “box up” our stuff and load into DGSLD for the trip back downstate into Troll Land. Today’s trip was by far much safer and Nook took the wheel for the entire (shorter) trip South. [Frankly, I’m not used to back-seat driving riding. A little hard trying to read in the backseat compared to being in the front… ]

Anyway, we stopped at home long enough to unload DGSLD, then turned right back around, tanked ‘er up, and hit the kennel to bail out the Boyz. Early! We had to bathe them upon arrival back at home, but they tolerated that, ‘cuz they were SO happy about being home! [Big Sis Valdemort took care of that little task… Thank you V!]

Now? The Guyz are working on some rawhide chewies, ignoring the stuffed toyz they got for Xmas… and we’re in front of the red stove in the solar waiting for potatoes to bake for supper

…from the Great White North!

We arrived yesterday evening after about 6+ hours driving through all versions of precipitation, ranging from 37-degree-rain through 31-degree-mixed-precipitation-and-slush/black-ice to snow. All the time battling the over-cautious/under-safe drivers who do not understand the physics of Snow Driving.

Crossed the Bridge, never really saw the Straits (lotsa snow in the air, the Straits themselves nearly 100% snow-covered), no way to even hope to see Mackinac Island!

Anyway… Merry Christmas!

Madonna divorce settlement: $75 million. Doesn’t matter which side got it (I think the hubby got it). a) when will the news focus on what most of us can really conceptualize? b) who can I marry, then divorce, to get $75 million? O_o

Cute broccoli-loving “kitteh”: click here

Big 3: will they or won’t they? a) get the “bailout”? b) run out of money? c) go bankrupt? d) cause domino/ripple effect in causing thousands of their suppliers to also a), b), or c)…or even d)? Think about it…

Weather: Brrrr. 40-something this AM, but windier than [you-know-what] for trip to Dearborn. This evening on the way home from work? 17 deg F. And there’s still wind (not as strong, thenkyewveddymuch).

McCain/Palin: McCain: I can’t promise to support Palin for president [obvious change of heart *after* the campaign! I mean, if you choose someone as your VP candidate, that person should be one you CAN support for Pres, right?]

There’s something drastically wrong when I am SO sick of “Christmas” even before Thanksgiving. I mean, geez, I miss all the excitement and anticipation, because… frankly I’m already saturated from all the commercials and merchandise that’s been out since before Hallowe’en!! So from now on, Christmas is known better as “Xmas” in my writing, because all the retailers seem to have put a Big X on the Friday after Thanksgiving as their Target Profit$ Date.

I hate being cynical about traditional holidays. But, geez folks, the only holiday that seems to have escaped being retailed and commercialled to death is Thanksgiving, and that’s only because it’s between Hallowe’en (the big candy-and-costume-sales holiday) and Xmas (the big retailers-make-their-profit-for-the-year-or-go-bankrupt holiday), therefore Thanksgiving becomes a mere speedbump in between profit-making dates. OK, so we all buy groceries in preparation for Thanksgiving… but we also know that grocery stores operate on very slim margins, too, so I guess that doesn’t really count as a retailer’s holiday. Yet, now it seems to be the only holiday that truly has any Meaning left to it.

Think about it. Valentine’s, Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Grandparent’s Day are all about CARDS. Christmas is all about materialistic purchases of items that cost too much and have no real purpose; the symbols are hollow shells masking retail greed. Easter? It is the Vernal Equinox Celebration taken over by the CrusadersEarly Christians (just as Christmas was formerly the Winter Solstice Celebration), and has been pretty much reduced to candy, hard-boiled & dyed eggs and - you got it - cards. July 4 is still a National Holiday, and if you can manage to get your hands something more exciting than a sparkler, you can make your own celebration. Just don’t let State Trooper Badge #3 catch you leaving Mel’s with ANY purchase and crossing that reservation boundary…

Then there are all the “holidays” that seem to be enjoyed only by Government employees: all those that got switched to Mondays so they could get 3-day weekends - while the rest of us still have to go to work… and not even get mail delivery! Heck, Lincoln’s and Washington’s birthdays got merged into “President’s Day”, then there’s M.L. King, Jr. Day, and - heck, I don’t remember all the rest!!! I have to work all of them anyway, so they’re just calendar notations so far as I’m concerned.

Oh, yeah, and the “created” holidays - which seem to happen in the Big 3 (days off for Election Day and the first day of Firearms Deer Season, not to mention the “holiday shutdowns”). Lessee, when I was a contract employee for one of the Big 3, I was lucky to get 7 paid holidays plus 1 week paid vacation. However, there were annually a week around July 4 and another between Xmas & New Year’s that were “shutdowns” plus another - what - 7 or more days NOT on the contract houses’ “paid holiday” listing. So, are “holidays” really-truly holidays anymore?

All that said, what I look forward to is Winter. I’ve always really liked the season and am saddened when I hear folks bitch about it. Yeah, it can be a pain getting around in it. I happen to like driving in snow! I just don’t care for the idiots who are incapable of safe driving (under any condition, when you get down to it) who screw it up for everyone else. I wish we had MORE snow that would STAY so I could get out on my XC skiis and tromp around. But that doesn’t work too well here; I’m not sure if there are any truly viable trails within a reasonable distance here. As in, can I get to any within a 15 minute drive from my house? So, I hope the weather holds for a weekend that is free for me to head 2 hours north to where I *know* there are groomed trails.

Enough grumping on my part here. Don’t worry - I’m not in a Blue Funk! Just having to air my Cynical Feelings about how the holidays have been ruined… that’s all. You all are welcomed to comment on how you feel about the holidays then & now, too. Please!

“Straight No Chaser” is a men’s a capella group that started at IU in 1996. Apparently, this YouTube video of their original incarnation has gone “viral”, and the group is back together and performing!

Anyway, this version of “The 12 Days of Christmas” (same video as above) is amazing refreshing!!! Enjoy! Then, click on some of their other videotaped performances … entertaining!

I have a green corduroy couch in pieces (but that’s OK, because it’s a “Simply Together” couch, meant to be taken apart & put together as often as needed) in my front room. Along with her rug, my [former, perhaps again] kitchen TV, and a buncha other Nook-dorm-stuff.

It’s the weekend before Finals. Which means the End of Fall Semester. Which means that [hopefully] the countdown to a new roomie for Nook has started officially. Which probably also means a new dorm room, hence the movement of major goods earlier today. Timing of new room/roomie is still indefinite, however. Bleah. Better be soon, though.

Attempted to roust Valdemort with minor success after putting the couch in the DGSLD. She was catching up on sleep and was best described as “not very lively”. So we left her to catch a few more ZZZ’s, gave up on trying to put said disassembled couch in her room (which is due for re-plastering - repairs from the damage caused by Hurricane Ike’s RAIN - over break anyway) and went to get IHOP before stuffing the rest of *stuff* into DGSLD.

Trip back home was even slipperier than the trip to EL. Saw the aftermath of at least 3 single-vehicle accidents that occurred on the west-bound lanes; road was feeling somewhat slick nearly the whole trip home. But, that’s OK for me cuz I like winter driving (when I don’t have to worry about the idiots around me that might do something Stupid and take me out with them). Got my Winter Driving training in the Keweenaw, and learned enough to NOT be cocky but to be aware of my (and my vehicle’s) limits. Amazing how much sticks, even with the knowledge that my current vehicle is far safer than those I drove back in those college days.

Er, gee, that was like… a quarter century ago… or so… Yeah, auto safety has definitely improved! Think “Chevette” versus “CR-V” and you get the idea.

Wow.

The Big Three are on their knees. In front of Congress/Senate. Layoffs at auto plants. Auto suppliers closing doors. In the 4 months that I have been an active Inside Sales, I have seen a definite change in the types of orders coming through. Lots of calls coming in, lots of quotes going out, even a fair number still turning into orders… but… tending to be smaller quantities per order AND different kinds of *stuff* from the “previous normal”…

I have “donated” my 7.5 ft Hudson Valley tree of [many] years to my branch. It was taking up space here, and I just don’t have the “psychic energy” (thanks for the term, Bananne) to assemble it when it’s just me and two pee-brains living here. I have a couple of cute LITTLE trees (pre-lit, even) that I will be using, instead. In fact, I want to get them upstairs this weekend and get ready to put them in place. Just WHERE….

The girls are heading into Finals for Fall Semester. Valdemort also has a Bowl Game to perform at with the SMB - one of the Best University Marching Bands in the Nation! Too bad the networks are so arrogant as to snub their performances at pregame & halftime….

Favorite shows continue to be “NCIS” and “House”. For a break, “CSI”. In my case, it’s all the re-runs on USA and Spike… I don’t pay enough attention to have a clue what is on the “regular” networks… LOL.