as you can see we saw some huge gators at Busch Gardens!!

Amazing....

It amazes me how many people just hate taking a hearing test. You would think we are3 the "Little Van of Horrors" the way people act. Some of it, like those who are claustrophobic I can understand. But others? I just don't get it. Some go so far as to either schedule vacation or call in sick. We have noticed though, that the folks who bitch about taking the test are the ones who can't hear. Now as for me, I want people to know that my hearing is bad so they kn ow how to talk to me....saves a lot of frustration for everyone. But I guess its a pride issue for most.

I find it funny, too, how some people try to place blame on me3. As if I control the fact that it is mandatory they take this test. I'm sorry, but I don't make the OSHA rules, the government does. I don't schedule the test, your supervisor does. All I do is give it,....nothing more. Believe it or not, I've had guys cuss me out for taking the test. *sigh* I just smile and say "talk to your supervisor"...that usually shuts them up. I can't get confrontational as it could cost me my job and in these times, I don't need to lose it.

It also amazes me how year after year these people fill out the same paper and take the same test, yet manage to fuck it up every time. "Where do I sign?....I didn't know I had to fill out a paper!....Can I just go now?....Why can't I test while the other guys are in there?"....and on and on and on. I love the person who says "Been doin this for 10 years!!" Then proceeds to not only complete the paper incorrectly, but puts the headset on wrong. Been doin' this for years, huh??? PPFFFFTTT

Some people think its funny to play during the test. For example, instead of pushing the button once when they hear the tone and releasing it, they think its funny to either hold it down the whole time, hit it many times in a row, or just not hit it at all. Its at that time that I stop the test, open the door and point them out. Its not funny after that. Or the person who swears they turned off their cell phone, only to have it ring during the test ....we point them out, too.

Of course, its easy for me to sit here and bitch, but in all reality, I do like my job. I like most of the people I meet, with the exception of the occasional asshole or two, but they aren't too often. I get to see how things are made and even get free stuff once in awhile. LOL And with the traveling, its almost like being on vacation. So I really can't bitch. But if I didn't rant about something, what would you read???

WARNING: This post gets weird and a bit intense!

Yes, I've blogged twice today, (I think) but I'm sitting in the motel in Ft. Meyers, FL and keep thinking of things. I should really keep a notebook of my thoughts, then I can put them all into one entry and be done.

Anyway, I was looking at our schedule for the next week or so, and it looks like after testing in the morning (done by 0930) we travel 130 miles back up to Tampa. After testing for 1 1/2hrs there, its off to Winter Haven, then on Wed afternoon we head to Orlando, bouncing between there and Tampa for the next 2 days. We'll finally be hanging in the Orlando area (and surrounding towns) until 9 April, at which time we'll be in Daytona. But after the Easter holiday, we'll be headed for Georgia.

I have also been throwing around the idea on whether to blog about another issue in my life. Its a pretty serious one, and in my mind, its over. However, it may explain to some people who read this mess to understand my behavior, although its not by any means an excuse.

Lets go back in time about 2 years....

My sister moved to IL, about an hour from where I live. She moved there from NC. I have my ideas as to why, but thats another issue in and of itself. Anyway, DH and I bent over backwards to help her in her transition, even going so far as to build her a new set of steps from her 2nd floor outside entrance down to her back patio. Within that first year, I get a phone call from the woman who gave birth to me, saying "We were planning to come an visit you, and it just so happens to be the same year that your sister is there. Its not what it looks like." um, riiiight. So the entire 5 years I've lived here, you just NOW decide to visit? hhmmm....ok whatever. So she visits my sister, staying in a motel close to her, only dropping into my neck of the woods one day out of 7. No problem, I know what the whole point of the visit anyway, so no biggie.

The following year, she says "We are coming out again to visit"...ask me if I care. So they show up, but wait til the 2nd day to call me "Will we get to see you this week?" ....my reply was "Nope, I'm busy all week." She slammed the phone and I didn't hear from her for the rest of the month of July, all the way to late Feb of this year (thats 8 months, including Christmas) when she decided to call to say she hoped the DH was ok after his heart attack.

Lets digress even further back in time....

We are talking about a woman who watched as her husband kicked, punched, slapped, and otherwise beat her child (me). A woman who would watch for me to 'mess up' and then tell my father so he would beat me. A woman who not only chose to be married to an abusive man, but also chose to have not one but TWO children with this man. Yet somehow the second child was never touched. For 16 years of my life, I was fed to the wolf, and taught that I could not trust her. Anything I said was repeated. There was no 'mother/daughter bond'.

I have read extensively about a child's..no, and infant's intuition. Infants know when a person around them, such as a relative, does not like them, or isn't comfortable with them. This intuition embeds that persons scent, and face into that infant's head, making it impossible for that infant to be comfortable around that person even as they grow up. I firmly believe this is what happened with me and 'her'. Every picture of me as an infant is of me on her lap, crying....no, screaming. As I grew up, the pictures never showed me with her. Always by myself. However, the infant to child pics of my sister show the complete opposite.

Time moves on, and her mother dies. Gram had written in her Will that my sister and I were to get the entire inheritance, period. Well, you can imagine how pissed she was. The screwy part is that she knew this BEFORE Gram died, and proceeded to excicute her plot to get her share. There is more to this part, but I won't go into it here.

So lets go forward to Feb, 09. She decides after 8 months of nothing, she is going to start forwarding me emails about god, calling every weekend and leaving messages on my phone. I obviously refused to answer. Why should I? Now I know I'm leaving a lot of details out, but you get the general idea. I don't have the time nor the space to give out every gory detail. And you don't have the time to read it.

Two weeks ago, she decided since I wasn't answering her phone calls that she would email me a letter explaining how Gram was a bad mother to her because "she never took me to church". WHAT???? Are you kidding me? WTF???? She also proceeded to tell me that the DH was influencing my thoughts about her, and how I need to go with my heart, and not what 'outside influences' are telling me. Um, NO. DH has nothing to do with this, hell it started before I was even of age to marry!!! ROFLMFAO

After about 3 days of mulling it over, I had the time and most of the forethought to sit down and type out a reply. I feel better after telling her everything (well, most of it) that I knew, and my thoughts about her that I'd been harboring for well over 30 years. How I knew she'd been using me from the day I was born. The things I had seen and known about that she thought she was keeping secret from me. Everything. That was last week. I hadn't heard a thing back, thank goodness, and I would like to think that the line "all communication between us is over" might have actually been followed. Although I did recieve another "god" forward today. She's probably in denial of it all, thinking she is going to 'pray and save me'. She's always said I was posessed by the devil. LOL

Whatever. Anyway, I just wanted all of you out there to know that for now, the storm has passed. I feel refreshed and under less of a burden. I believe my mood has improved over the last week, and I look forward to better days ahead with less internal stress. Yes, its sad when something like this happens, but when there was nothing but hatred on both sides from the very, very beginning, then there really is no love lost, and therefore nothing to be sad about.

On another, happier note, DH and I had a nice, lazy day. We had a nice brunch, and even layed out by the pool for a couple of hours. I'm wanting to spend more time doing that...relaxing, working on my tan. So, here's to more time relaxing in FL!!

Shuttle launch, and other random things

 

As you can see from the above collage, we watched the Space Shuttle Discovery launch. It was awsome! We bought tickets to take a bus out to within 5 miles of the launch pad. It was so worth it....we felt the rumble at take off, and since it was just after sunset, once it got above the horizon, the setting sun cast a shadow from the contrail of smoke across the sky. Too cool.

In other news, we are in Ft. Meyers, FL. We drove across 'alligator alley' from Miami, and that was some experience! About half way across is a truck stop, the only place to get gas between Miami and Ft. Meyers. Anyway, there is a spot off to the side that is swampy, and yes, there were 'gators! We were able to get really close, only because there was a fence, LOL. Not to mention all of the 'gators on the bank of the canal/ditch along the entire stretch of road. BIG ones!!

I was also wonderfully suprised when a friend from High School called. We had connected on Facebook, but had not actually spoken on the phone. It was as if we hadn't missed a single year! Same happened when I called my best friend from HS...we fell into conversation about kids, life, and other matters as if 20 years of seperation had never happened. I loved it! It was so nice to connect with them, knowing that they know you for the crazy kid you were, but also knowing that they accept you for that, and harbor no questions or judgements. I knew that when they said "we'll call next week" that they would. They do what they say they are going to do, and I have no worries. Its nice.

I have more to report.....Miami. For those who have never been, its definitely a new experience. And evidently in FL anything goes. And regardless of your weight, or shape, you wear the smallest, or tightest outfit possible. And no matter how much skin you show, anything goes. Personally, I'm a bit self-concious about my weight/shape. Hence, I wear clothes that hide, rather than accentuate. Apperently I'm wrong, LOL Also, just a quick ending tip for those that choose to visit southern FL...through all driving courtesy and rules out the window. Driving here is like dressing here...anything goes. If someone wants to be in your lane, they are going to go there whether you slow down and let them in or not. They don't look, they just go.

Thats what I'm going to do now....just go, LOL

Random Pics

Haunted hotels, and other misc. BS....

This story is a long time coming, but I've been busy, plus trying to figure how to write it. I'll just get right down to business....

As you all have read, we stayed at the Seminole Inn, Indiantown, FL. This hotel is a historical landmark, and really only one of 2 nice things in this town. So we are checked in, and I'm resting on the bed, just being still. I realize that I'm moving...shaking. What it felt like was the bed shaking as if the washing machine was off balance. It wasn't hard, but it was rhythmic. I mentione3d it to the DH, who laughed at me (of course). So the days go by, and I had felt it a couple more times, didn't think much about it. Don't get me wrong, I totally believe in the supernatural, and yes, I did think of ghosts. The final day came when we had to check out, and it happened to be late at night. We were coming down the stairs, and the receptionist said "oh, you scared me, I thought you were the ghost!" So of course, I had to ask and she explained that one night she was locking up, and knew for a fact she was the only one in the hotel. She heard footsteps going down the hallway on the upper level, and promptly went to investigate. Nothing. She came downstairs, and heard them again as if someone was walking around. Again, she checked it out, and again, nothing. Soooo...was it a ghost shaking my bed? Possibly. I'll be happy to believe so. :)

In other news, I feel like we are doing damage control in this job. We are finding that every job we go to we have to hear about the last set of Techs. How they were lazy, and rude. So we spend a lot of time making up for that. However, we are really making progress. This last job was good in that aspect...the contact actually called the office, talking about our professionalism, courtesy, and just overall how much he and the employees loved us, and how he wants us back next year. He's not the first to say it, so I'm hoping our place in this territory is sealed for next year. :)

Also, we had planned to watch the Space Shuttle launch this week, but due to a Nitrogen Gas leak, it has been scrubbed 2 days in a row. We are hoping for Sunday!

DH has lost a ton of weight...going from a size 48 pants to a size 38 in a month. He feels great and is really happy, its awsome...I'm so proud! WTG honey!! As for me? I've started taking a multi vitamin. I was juswt exhausted constantly, always falling asleep as soon as I stop moving. So hopefully the vitamin will help...we'll see!!

Well, time for bed....I'll post pics another day. :)

A few pics

Catching up

This particular entry has been in the making for several weeks, but it seems just when I get it right in my head, I get too busy to type, or seem to lose it in the vast expanse of wasteland known as 'jenz brain'. lol. So, I'll start this out, and hopefully get written what has been floating around.

I wanted to talk about Jacksonville, FL, and cities in general. Those that know me, know I'm a country girl at heart, and love the acres of land that seperate me from my neighbor. Don't get me wrong, I've spent my fair share of time in the city, but I'd much rather live in the 'booneys'. That being said, while in Jacksonville driving from a job the sun was just coming up. It was reflecting off of the many windows of the big high rise buildings, and I was awestruck. The architecture was beautiful, and the set of each building seemed to invite the sun. For the first time I could say "wow, that city-scape is beautiful." I enjoyed driving across the bridge, just admiring that reflection, the rays filtering down in streams to the people below. Stunning.

The other part of the city I wanted to talk about was how it seemed there was a gym, Oriental restaurant, and pawn/thrift shop on every block. I know that sounds crazy, but it couldn't be more true. It was the craziest thing...you could go shopping, eat supper, then go work it off at the gym, all in the same trip! And modes of transportation seem to vary, as in every city. However, the mode of choice down here seems to be a bicycle. Why not? No gas, inexpensive to purchase, and can weave through a traffic jam with no problems, lol.

Other things I wanted to talk about....anyone who knows me, (and I mean KNOWS me) or who even pays attention to my writings knows that with some things I stay pretty general. What I mean is in order to not stir up too much dust, or to spare people involved in my blog the issue of revealing their identity, I stay general. I also speak/write in situations, again, so as not to pinpoint individuals. However, it seems even this gets me in trouble. My generalization has been confused with me being 'insensitive' to a particular "THING". So let me address it this way...NEVER, and I mean NEVER have I ever thought of the DOG I gave away as a THING. NOBODY, not even the DH, knows how long and hard I cried the day I gave him to this person. So to be accused of being insensitive to the situation is just down right insulting. Hell, I cried when I sold my fucking chickens!! I get so sick of this 'back and forth' bullshit. I simply try to explain my feelings on a situation, and all you need to do is read the comments to know what I'm talking about. 'Nuff said.

So...where are we now? We are in a tiny town in southern Florida. Indiantown, to be exact. There literally is nothing in this town. One gas station, a small grocery store, one restaurant, and the rest is run down to nothing. I think this town used to be something really nice at one time. And to be 'politically correct', I'll keep my mouth shut as to why I think it has gone downhill. However, there is a small gem in this rough pile of dirt. Its the hotel we are staying at, called The Seminole Inn. We are near Lake Okeechobee, and this hotel is the only historic landmark. Hell, its the only hotel! LOL But its really quaint. Like a Bed & Breakfast, combined with a modern hotel. They have a small restaurant, and a small gift shop, which contains not only hand-made soap (made by the owner) but also home-made james, jellies, and butters for sale. All throughout the main lobby are antiques that are part of the decore, as well as pictures giving us a visual history of the hotel. Upstairs there is another large sitting area, complete with a small wicker set for the children, a piano, and a reading nook. The walls upstairs in the hallways are painted with beautiful murals depicting the history of Indiantown, to include Chief Osceola. Each room is connected in some way, usually by the items...quilts, hats, or pictures. Our room is a western type theme. Blue and red quilts on the beds, pictures of the original owner on his horses, and even some kids' clothes (jeans, western style shirts) hanging on a make shift clothes line on the wall. Its really cute. One other room we looked at was in a fancy Victorian style. Very nice. The towels in the bathroom actually have color, not the same old scratchy white ones in normal hotels. These are soft and fluffy...not to mention the Earth friendly soaps that are provided...they smell wonderful!

After this job, we'll be off to Ft. Pierce, then in Miami and the surrounding area til the middle of March, possibly after. I'll try to blog more, but it won't be in the next couple of days. Tomorrow we work from 10pm - 2am, ugh.

I'm sure there is more subject matter floating around, but my brain has decided to shut down for the night. Sooooo....until I get it worked back up again, I'll have to stop here. Maybe I'll start hand writing my thoughts so I can transfer them here without interuption.