Happy Thanksgiving!

Welcome back blog readers,

In this entry I'd like to reflect on all that I am thankful for. So in no particular order, here it goes...

First off, I am most thankful that I have a wonderful husband! My partner in life that inspires me and encourages me to follow my dreams. He's the one person I can truly be myself with and not be afraid of being ridiculed, or feeling like my dreams & ideas are insignificant. He's genuine, brilliant, charismatic, so full of life, and knowing that I'm loved unconditionally is the best feeling in the world!

Second, As much as I vent about my job and how unfairly I feel that I've been treated... I still am thankful that I still have a job. The economy now is very hard on many people. The unemployment rate is at an all time high, many are finding themselves deeper in debt and even losing their homes. I do hope that those who are less fortunate find the support they need.

Third, I am thankful for my health. For the most part I have always been fairly healthy. No major issues or illnesses, nor have I been prescribed anything for longer than 2 weeks. Sure, I catch the common cold... but that's too be expected when working with the public.

Fourth, Even though I don't have too many friends IRL, nor do I have a big family... I am thankful for my brother and his wife and their 2 kids. I'm glad they are in good health.
I am also thankful for my soc mates and the friends I've made in EU They have all been so supportive and are like my extended family.

I just thought that since the holiday are upon us, it's usually a time for family gatherings, and a time of reflection since another year is almost over. Many things have happened to me over the last 11 months. With that said, I just wanted to give a little recognition to those people that have touched my life and let them know how much they are appreciated. You all know who you are

Happy Holidays!!!

A non addictive alternative.. Zzz..

Welcome Back blog readers,

Fortunately for me, I have always been fairly healthy, never broke a bone,never had a bloody nose, no surgeries/operations, and only a few prescriptions in my 30 years.

Even for pain, I try not to resort to asprin/ tylenol/ anti inflammatory pills. But just recently I was informed by a co-worker about a pill that is all natural, non addictive and it helps you to fall asleep without any crazy side affects. This was all confirmed by a second co-worker, so I figured I'd give it a whirl.

After James did a little research about melatonin, we discovered that your body naturally produces melatonin... about 2 micrograms.... .5 gram will make you feel sleepy. Scientists have been able to link an increase in melatonin to helping certain mental disorders, relieving headaches, improving circulation, and helped to treat ADHD.

The only known side affects were drowsiness after waking up... some people have reported vivid dreams... but other than that... it's better than all the possible side affects for the prescriptions you see on TV, nasuea, dizziness, vometing, swelling of the joints, well I'm sure you know what I mean...

So I went out last week to the local retail store and picked up a bottle of Melatonin. I bought the smallest bottle I could find, by smallest I mean the dosage. I purchased a bottle with 120 pills 3grams each.

My whole purpose of even trying this is due to the fact that for as long as I can remember, I have had a hard time falling asleep... my mind wanders and I am not equipped with an OFF Switch. After my co worker told me about his experience with it, I was eager to see if it would help. Keep in mind that .5 gram will make you sleepy... my co worker took a 2gram pill at 8pm and was asleep on the couch by 8:30pm, felt a little groggy when he woke up but was fine after he showered.

After telling James, he thought I should cut my pills in half... Well I would attempt but they are so small, it hardly seemed worth the effort. So Saturday night was my first night I used melatonin. I popped 1 pill around 9pm and was feeling very sleepy by 9:30pm. I had no trouble falling asleep around 10pm and was awake by 8am Sunday morning. That was a definite improvement. No grogginess, a bit of dry mouth... but I can deal with that.

I should mention that even though it was easy for me to purchase these pills here in the USA... this is banned in Canada as far as selling... Canadians can order up to a certain quantity online... I don't know the regulations for all countries. I do know that we here in the USA label melatonin as a "Dietary Supplement" and that's why we are able to purchase this with out a prescription. Where as Canada labels it a "Drug" and cannot be purchased anywhere.

Although a Drug chemically alters the way your brain functions, more or less to feel high and/or halusinate. Your body naturally releases melatonin, it's not like it's a toxin you're putting into your body, nor do experience any sort of buzz while taking this.

Anyway, I just thought I'd share my experience. Hopefully those of you who have a hard time falling asleep, for whatever reason... this is one alternative. For me, spending the $5.45 on a bottle of 120 pills was well worth it. More than likely you can find melatonin where vitamins are sold, but please consult your doctor first! Certain medications may not react well when mixed.

Big 3 Bail Out...

Welcome Back avid blog readers,

In this entry I'd like to share my thoughts, concerns and ideas pertaining to what's going on with GM, Ford, and Chrysler... also known as the Big 3.

For those of you who are not aware of the situation... Seems the Big 3 are all very close to filing for Chapter 11 if they don't get financial assistance from Congress.
Of course by filing for Chapter 11, that would put millions of employees out of work. Not just those employees that are directly working for the Big3, but thousands of others that supply parts and materials from all over the world!
Being an employee of Chrysler, I am very concerned about what will be decided on December 2,2008.

You see the Big 3 went before Congress yesterday to plee their case as to why they all feel that Congress should give each company Billions of dollars to help "bail" them out of the rut they put themselves in.
But that was after they all flew in on a private jet and was ridiculed Not just 1 private jet, no no each top dog took his own jet. Yeah, that's a good way to get sympathy and show just how much of a sacrifice you're willing to make to keep your company alive.

So Congress told them that they will NOT bail them out at this time; however, everyone will meet up again on December 2,2008 and the Big 3 better have a plan of action and be able to prove to Congress that they are serious about making the necessary changes in order to receive any type of financial aide.

It's unfortunate that there are so many greedy people in this world, those types of people that only think of themselves. Millions of people are already out of a job due to down sizing and companies closing their doors. Thousands more are having a difficult time paying their mortgage and car payments.

Why? Because of the greedy bastards that shoved them into a payment they couldn't afford. Banks and lending companies giving the "OK" when they should have said "NO". People out for themselves and not caring about anyone else and not thinking about the consequences it may have in the future.

You see, A couple buying their first house gets approved for a mortgage that will cost them $1000.00/month for 30 years....the realitor gets a cut from that deal, the agent who financed that deal get his/her cut, the manager of the finance company gets a cut also. So over a year or two, the mortgage and property taxes go up along with the APR that is not at a fixed rate fluctuates and that $1000.00/month mortgage goes up to $1350.00/month...
Well the same thing goes for the car business. You go in to buy a new car, the salesman and the finance manager fiddle around with the numbers and after a few attempts with a few different lending companies they are able to get you approved! Sounds great doesn't it, especially since your old clunker died in the parking lot before you traded it in.
Well, the salesman get his commission for selling the new car, the finance manager gets his/her cut for selling you the extended warranty, the Sales manager gets a cut for making his quota for the month, the agent at the lending company gets his/her cut along with their manager, and so on.

So you can see where the greedy bastards want to throw you into something you can't afford. They don't care that you will have a hard time making your monthly payments in 18 months. It's not their credit score that will be affected. You were just a bonus check for them, you were never seen as a human, just a paycheck.
So multiply these 2 scenerios by the thousands of mortgages and new cars that were sold over the last 8 years! That's mainly why this ecomony is the way it is today!

It hardly seems fair that many CEO's and top Exec's are being paid Millions of dollars as a BONUS while their company is down sizing, hundreds of their employees are laid off, or they have closed their doors completely, taking their money and running. Why are they getting paid to drive their company into the ground? I wish I had an answer for that...

Anyway, back to the Big 3....As I said Congress wants a plan of action. I personally don't think Congress has any intention of helping GM, Ford or Chrysler. After all it's not Congress's fault that they are in the mess they're in... Congress sure won't help me pay off my debts if I asked them.

However, I have a plan that just might work. it's unlikely that Congress will give out 20 Billion to each company, especially since that kind of money could be put toward a better use(in my opinion). but if they can agree to work together, Merge the 3 companies... Congress may consider helping them while they restructure.

So the only way the Big 3 can stay alive is to Merge and work together! They cut off the fat (over paid CEO's) that drove their company into the ground, Hire business men/women that give a damn and all work together.
After all, Ford, GM and Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep were the innovators behind the "Muscle Cars"! Without them, what will Nascar do? Same goes for the heavy duty Trucks...

So here's my plan.. we all know that each company has there pros and cons... So they take the best features and work together to build the best trucks, performance cars, luxury cars and of course the eco friendly cars to be able to compete with Toyota and Honda.

For example... they could use the Dodge Ram body (because imo it looks better) combine that with the GM engine and Ford suspension.

Same goes for the Muscle car enthusiasts... Why not take the best of the Mustang, Corvette, and the Charger and build the best performance car Nascar has seen!

Sure the engineers better get a move on the Eco friendly cars, but you see where I'm going with this, right?

By doing do, there will be less jobs lost... Especially if we can keep more business here in the US and out source less... I'm not against helping other countries and providing them with jobs, but when I'm selling 12 stabilizer links and 12 sway bar bushings a week, that's due to poor quality!

Sure they're spending less by having another country make them, but why not make a quality product from top to bottom and keep your customers coming back because they love how reliable their cars/trucks have been... Not every 30,000 miles pissed off because they've already replaced their sway bar links and bushings twice since they've owned their new Caravan.

My whole point being... We are the United States! It's about damn time we live up to our name! We've had far too many walls built up for too long.... We have our Die hard Ford fans... Die hard GM fans... Die hard 4X4 Jeep fans... Not just in this matter, but in other areas as well... There is no need for all this separation, can't you see that we can get more accomplished by coming together. It's time to put our differences aside, It's a new era folks! You can either part of the problem or you can be part of the solution!
I think you know where I stand.

Well, I can see that I've rambled on for far too long... Thank you all for listening/reading. I'd love to hear your comments.

I love my job... I love my job...

Welcome back,

Don't let the title fool you!

I should warn you that this may sound like a bit of a rant.... well because it is But at least I'm showing a bit of courtesy before the bad mouthing begins.

Where to start..... I suppose the beginning is a good place.
I'd like to start off by saying that my Employer SUCKS big hairy monkey balls!! Now that I've got that out of my system, we can continue.

For some reason my employer likes to screw with my pay, or in my case the lack there of I was working at one store helping to return all of the part back to Chrysler in October... Well half way through the month, Chad ( the one making my life miserable) tells me that I'm being transferred to the Dodge Store (where I worked for 2 years before). That was good news at the time since my other option was being laid off.

At this point, Chad and most of the company it seems, are aware of my intention to make the Big Move to Canada in the future. I let Chad know that I will be out of the country and will be taking Oct 23- Oct 29 off. My 1 week paid vacation time does not roll over until Dec 1,2008 but I still have 1 sick/personal day maybe 2 at most left to use.

So I start over at Dodge on Oct 20th work 3 days and take the time off as granted. I was fully aware that I would not be getting paid while I was not working, so that's not my issue. My manager, Al was understanding about my situation and he was also transferred from the same store I just came from. He was given 3 more sick/personal days even though he had used his during his trip to England in July. His idea was to put me down for my sick days so that I would at least get some sort of paycheck for the time I took off. Which I totally agreed to do since I know my time will roll next month....

Well Al told the Office Manager, she asked Chad about it, Chad said NO! I could not be put in for sick time since I was on an vacation. Al and Chad went round and round about this, so much in fact that Chad finally hung up on Al. Well Al gets the A+ for effort in my book. But still, I had been prepared for not getting any sort of pay for that time, it's just the principle of the matter...

Seems the rules don't work for everyone. Al and one of the tech's that were transferred over from our other store both got extra sick time they didn't deserve. They both had used all of their sick/personal days and bragged to me about how they received 3 more days since they were sent to this location. Do you think I got that same treatment? Hell NO! I even have 2 years seniority over that tech.

But still, that's not all... Along with my regular weekly paycheck and I can't stress weekly enough I also get a commission on what our department makes after expenses. I wasn't sure whether I would see a full month's commission since I was only an employee there for the last 2 weeks of October I received that check last Wednesday and thought it looked a little skimpy. Of course it was just a check and didn't include the slip with all of the figures for our department. That should have raised a flag there. Al was asking me about it, he crunched a few numbers and guessed I should have seen at least $100.00 for the 2 weeks I was there(even though I was on vacation for 1 of those weeks). He was surprised to hear I was given a check for less than 1/2 of that amount

Al called the office manager and then called Chad, and all Chad could say is that my commission check was based on my time in that store, kept insisting that I worked 1 week and that's all I was entitled too. Which is complete BS!!!!! I was always paid for a full month during the months I took a week vacation...Same for everyone else! Why are the rules changing now? I never signed any form that stated these new rules just for me! Al even asked if it were him taking time off, would he be shorted in his commission check? No of course not, was Chad's answer to him! So why am I getting shafted and only getting 1 weeks worth and not 2 since I was/am an employee. All Chad could say was that I was not there.... Unfreakin' believable!!! So the special order parts I ordered for customers before I left mean nothing? The transactions I started and Al finished mean nothing? WTF!!

Supposidly Chad is going to look into that, but he shouldn't have too... it's just a given... besides I don't expect to receive a reimbursement check, since that would be the RIGHT thing to do.
By the way, Chad gets a commission on what all of our stores make, I'm sure he doesn't tell the office manager to short him a weeks worth of his bonus while he's out on vacation... greedy bastard!!

*sigh* Al even asked why I put up with Chad. I keep thinking to myself that this is only temporary, soon I'll be making the big move to Canada. The way things are here economy wise, I'm better off staying here where I have a job. Many Dealerships are closing in my area, now is not the time to jump ship.

I understand that times are tough, we are all feeling it more so these days. Many companies are down sizing, more people out in the unemployment line, many companies are closing their doors. I can understand cutting back a few hours, but not cutting into someones check like that.

In my eyes they broke their contract with me. I will bring that up to Chad next time I see him! And I'm even half tempted to say something about the extra time Al and Chris were given. I better get mine or they better lose theirs.

Alright, I'm done venting and talking like a sailor For those of you who have read this in it's entirety, You too get an A+ and a Gold Star for the day!

Thanks for reading/listening, I hope my potty mouth hasn't scared you off for good

Newly Wed!!!

Welcome Back avid blog readers,

That's right! You read that correctly! James and I were officially Married on Monday November 3rd 2008

We had to jump through a few hoops to get to this point, and I'm here to share our story.

As previously mentioned, James and I could not get married as planned in Canada. Of course that's not we wanted to hear after all of the planning we put into making that happen. But we came up with a Plan B, and that was to get married down here (in the United States) and luckily his parents agreed to take the 7 hour drive down to attend our ceremony.

So, Monday morning we drove over to City Hall and picked up our Marriage License.
We came back here to decorate a bit, move the furniture around, get the appetizers on the table, and make our wedding cake.

His parents arrived a little early, but no biggie... James was keeping them company while I made the final touches on our cake. For those inquiring minds, I made a 2 layer carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, decorated with festive autumn leaves.
The Justice of the Peace (J.P) was also a little early. Which really worked out for the best.

James' s dad took great pleasure in recording our ceremony, while his mother (who sadly was suffering from a migraine headache all day) had the best seat in the house.

After the J.P verified our marriage license and verified that we still wanted to use our own Vows, we were ready to begin

At this point all is going well, James and I are smiling like the Cheshire cat, looking into each others eyes with excitement and with a feeling of relief, knowing that with in a few short moments we will be Husband and Wife!
The J.P reads through the first part of our ceremony, Then it's time for us to read our Vows to each other. I went first, hoping I could get though them with out sniffling and crying too much... Not an easy task I lasted 2 paragraphs before my hands started trembling and my eyes started to water.
James was next and he appeared cool as a cucumber while reading his Vows. The J.P was impressed and complimented us on how well they were written.
Next up.. time to say a few words and place the rings on each others finger...

James went first this time, first grabbing his ring... then realized it was too big and grabbed the smaller one hehehe... as he's saying, " In token and in pledge of our constant and abiding love, with this ring, I thee wed." He's trying to place the ring on the wrong ring finger, and I'm trying to let him know very subtly by pulling my hand away as he's holding on to it.
I repeated the same phrase and was trying to gently place his ring on his finger... I was having issues getting it passed the knuckle. The J.P notices and tells me to rub his knuckle and that should help...Hmm.. no it really didn't... this goes on for a few minutes with me wiggling and trying not to cram it on his finger, and as I'm doing this his mother sneezes( or so I thought) She apologized.. I guess for disrupting the ceremony... until she made another noise.... yeah, that wasn't a sneeze... she just threw up on herself and my carpet. No, it wasn't the booze.. like I said earlier, she was suffering from a migraine and the piece of bread and ginger ale she consumed an hour earlier had just came back up. Fabulous!! Keep in mind she's literally 3 feet/ 1 meter away from my bathroom with her husband video recording. Do you think he stops to help her?
Nope... he doesn't move out of the way... She continues to get sick a few more times all over the carpet, my couch, and herself before James speaks up and indicates that maybe she should get into the bathroom Once she's in there, his dad is still in the same spot, leaving the bathroom door wide open, she's still getting sick.... His dad doesn't think to close the door, or grab a towel,something to clean up the mess... Seems he was more afraid of missing a few minutes of our ceremony... which we of coarse stopped and waited to make sure she was alright. Not like the J.P was being paid by the hour. At this point I was going to grab something to clean up the mess.. James insisted that I don't.. hoping his dad would take the hint... NOPE... only after his mother was done, she came back out... Then his father grabbed a towel and placed it over the mess... I suppose that was better than Not covering it up...

Anyhoo... on with the ceremony...The J.P continued with a poem from Wilferd Arlan Peterson called The Art of a Good Marriage. Then we went on to the next part of the ceremony which I held James's hands so his palms were facing up, and the J.P read a little something about how these are the hands of my best friend, they are young,strong and vibrant... these hands will work along side of mine, together as we build our future....
We reversed the roles... he held my hands with my palms facing up and the JP read to James, that these were the hands of his best friend, they are smooth, young and carefree..These are the hands that will comfort you, console you through the tough times. These hands will love you passionately love and cherish you through the years for a lifetime of happiness.

Well there was a lot more to that part, but you get the idea.
The J.P also included a little part of the ceremony for his parents to take a part in..basically just agreeing to continue showing their support for us. And then by the powers invested in the JP, we were pronounced Husband and Wife.

I looked over at James, his eyes were starting to water, The JP said he could kiss his bride and the tear trickled down his cheek... that was the sweetest moment.

Our Ceremony was really sweet... all things considered... The J.P was really cool about everything and especially about being available with less that 7 days notice. Naturally he was tipped generously.

The J.P left and we cleaned up the mess, I let his mother borrow some clothes to change into before dropping her off at their hotel... His father took us out for a great dinner and we went back to their hotel room to visit with them, have some cake and champagne, before calling it a night... more like early morning. Since it was after 1:30am before we arrived back here.

I suppose all weddings have that 1 thing that makes them memorable... Sometimes it's the long train on the wedding gown.. Sometimes it's the grooms men drinking a little too much.. or it the food at the reception.. or maybe the fancy pants Ice Sculpture... and sometimes it's how amazing the Wedding cake turned out, so incredible it would be a shame to cut into it. In some cases it's not the wedding but the Honey Moon that the newly weds remember most... their exotic get away, or their lost luggage

It will be interesting to see how our video comes out... James will get the untouched version to edit as he sees fit, then I'll get a copy... Definitely makes for a crazy story.

So yeah, that's our wedding night in a nutshell. James is back in Canada now... considering the time... he's actually in Toronto waiting for his flight to Ottawa and hopefully his friend will remember to pick him up.
It's always hard saying good bye. I know it's not forever and I know we made plans for Christmas. I'll be making the drive up to spend the holiday with him and his family. But I still miss him and wish we didn't have to spend time apart.
Hopefully this next month will go by quickly... after all I still have to change my last name That should keep me busy.

Well I've rambled on for far too long... I hope that you enjoyed our story. As things develop, I'll keep you all posted.


To Be Continued....