Tis the season

Well tomorrow is Christmas Eve. Gonna spend the day getting the house in order. That means cleaning, dusting, vacuuming etc. Gave the dog a much needed bath today. She really hates that. Poor dog lays down in the tub & let's me have my way with her. Shampoo wise that is. Nothing like a fluufy dog for Christmas.
The Mrs. is lying down as she seems to be displaying flu-like symptoms.
The weather forecast calls for +12 inches of snow through Christmas Eve. It's snowing & blowing now. White Christmas . Ho Ho Ho. Ah Nutz.
Looking forward to the annual Whoville type feast.
Hope the Kid & husband can make it. Storm sound pretty bad, with poor road conditions. Gonna let the dog out one last time tonight & shut down the lights.
So from all of us here, to all of you there, Merry Christmas to all & to all a good night.

It is now mid December & we are 5+ inches above the average monthly snowfall. More subzero temps on the way. This time of year my heart fills with joy & sorrow as I remember times long gone.
Long gone, just like the bottom of the 9th inning home run hit by Bill Mazeroski beating my beloved New York Yankees in the 1960 World series.
Before all the Yankee haters start to piss & moan, please indulge me a moment of childhood fantasy.
What mid-western 12 year old boy didn't dream of growing up to be a Yankee in the post WW II era. You could be the best. You'd be on a team that would win 10 out of 12 pennants, play ball with guys named Mickey, Clete, Moose & Yogi. Names that sounded like they could be your very own version of the Dead End Kids.
Growing up in a market that at the time had no major league team to call your own, watching these larger then life ballplayers televised weekly in orgasmic black & white on CBS. Who could not hope to dream?
Well the Mick has long retired from the game & life itself.
I haven't been a Yankee fan since Steinbrenner bought them and as life get shorter, & dreams are never realized, there is a certain sense of joy & sorrow that creeps into my heart this time of year.
Joy in the blessings of a wonderful wife & daughter who have put up with an disillusioned , embittered old man's bullshit for all these years. Sorrow for never quite having dreams come true for myself & the human race.
So, for everyone who has dreamed or is still dreaming. I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. Play ball.

Liars & Bloggers & Bears , Oh My

Well, here we are, the first "significant" snowfall of the season.
Been snowing & blowing for 12+ hours. We can expect "blizzard or near blizzard like conditions" What the hell are "blizzard like conditions"? It's either a freaking blizzard or it isn't. One Local weather guesser even had the effrontery to suggest we should stay home & ride out the storm. Nice concept if some people didn't have jobs they had to get to. Sorry REO Speedwagon.
How on God's green earth (actually it's now white) did the early settlers handle this?
Sven, I don't care. We are moving. We are going anywhere as long as it is south of here.
The pioneers were either the most hardy stock or the completely oblivious.
Hey Bing, I got your "White Christmas" right here.
Gotta go now & think up more cultural references for the next posting .
Hey honey, hand me the freaking shovel.
In the words of Digger O'Dell, "I'll be shoveling off".

Ho Hum. Another start to another week of unemployment. Coming up to 10 months.
The local paper had an article in Saturday's edition regarding the problems faced by the older job seeker. The whispered but never spoken age discrimination. Good luck trying to prove it. Employers want younger workers who will work for less. (you get what you pay for) Employers want someone they can mold into the conformity of company policy.(wouldn't want anyone with experience raising questions) Blah Blah Blah.
I went to a state sanctioned unemployment seminar about seven years ago when I first got laid off and was told along with about 100 others about age discrimination starting at age 40. I am well past that age.(have been several other layoffs since)(how many times can I reinvent myself and pursue a new career?)
Having at one time been in the corporate structure laughingly referred to as management, or as we used to refer to it as mismanagement. Nothing was better for the business then having a new degree bearing gung ho type wanting to put his stamp on the corporation. No actual experience, but sure had a handle on what was best for the business.(business before people) God save us from Six Sigma and other rejuvenation programs. Well I and others outlasted a few of these over-educated and heartless bastards who would move on after a few months or years to pursue other challenges and would leave the smoldering ruins behind them.Helluva legacy. Lower morale, lower production, hostility and loss of faith in the business. Yeah, once upon a time workers actually cared about the companies they worked for. It was called pride.
Nothing like ignoring a natural resource such as experience. Sure, we older workers have opinions that sometimes don't seem to fit in with the new corporate image. Yes we are still all capitalist and want the company to realize a profit. But it sure would be a nice concept albeit an old one to reinvest in the company. Business now days don't seem to be in it for the long haul. Need that quick profit to satisfy the board and the majority of the share holders, which by coincidence are generally one and the same. Collusion? Unethical?
Called old fashioned,outdated,nostalgia or what ever label you want. I miss the times when businesses had a heart. That heart was and should still be the employees.

President Obama seems to be stuck in the morass created by the Bush administration.
Change is difficult to achieve, especially when you have to deal with the idiots & asswipes in Congress. As someone who supported him,I am still waiting for the real change in the economic infrastructure,Afghanistan,Iraq,"don't ask don't tell" and other promises you made. I do not have the quality of unlimited patience. I know that he is doing the best he can faced with the standard of political correctness timidity that is rampant in this country. Just do it faster. This country is hurting.
My God, he's the President. Steamroll,crush the opposition. It has work before. Reference the previous administration. Mr. President, you are at risk of losing two things that must be earned ... my respect & my vote.

Afterthought:
Senator McCain you lost. America rejected the bilge that you spewed in the 08'campaign. Losing a presidential election does not restrict your right of freedom of speech. Perhaps you should think before you popoff. No one cares what you have to say about the issues. If they did, we'd be calling you Mr. President. Shut up.