Greed Greed Greed.

Just read this on money.cnn.com:

The most profit in a year. Ever.
10:17am
Nation's No. 1 oil company reports larger than expected jump in 4Q income to cap record year, quarter for a U.S. company.

This headline is talking about ExxonMobil. So as Americans pay more and more for gasoline, the rich get richer. GW is taking care of his oil barron buddies, isn't he.....

I am a prisoner to money

I am becoming more and more cognizant that I am a prisoner to money. We all are to a point. But I won't go find another job, and continue to be somewhat miserable in my current one because it pays well. I had to work another Saturday today. I almost thought my head was going to explode as I watched other people were dismissed early. My head did explode when my boss announced he was leaving to go pick up an item for his daughter. Yet, I was stuck there. This is BS. We were told we would get comp time for all this, but they aren't giving it now. This is crap. But I continue to put up with it because the job pays well.

I do know one thing, and that is if they EVER fire me, there will be hell to pay. I will want to be compensated for all this time. If they don't, then things will get really ugly. I have worked for this company for a LONG time, and know A LOT of things.... I'll just leave it at that.

I am an enormous putz.

Ok, so I got an email. I now know her full name. I googled her. I found more pictures. She looks big. Big as in heavy. I am so incredibly shallow. She seems really nice. Admittedly, this could be an act (doesn't everybody put on an act when trying to meet someone?), but assuming she really is, that should be enough, right??? And it isn't like I am thin either, so what right do I have to judge?!?! But I do.....

Sigh. I give. I throw in the towel. I am better off alone anyway. No hassles. Nobody to answer to about anything but myself (and of course the ruler of my life, my dog). I am sure somewhere down the road I will regret this decision to be a loner, but right now it just seems like the best thing to do. Keep it simple stupid.

On I will go. Work, home, couch, bed, repeat.
The story of my life in a song:

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an off hand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way

Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun

And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it’s sinking
And racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in the relative way, but you’re older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death....

(Time - Pink Floyd)

I am a putz.

I feel like a bit of a jerk. One of the women I emailed on match did respond to me yesterday. Turns out her grandmother passed on. I am so impatient sometimes.... anyway, the test now will be to see if she emails me outside of match. I quit the service so I didn't have to pay for subscription - the trial period had ended.

I had a really good idea for the subject for a post yesterday. I never got around to writing it (since I worked until 8 last night), and was busy with other stuff. Since I am so scatter-brained, I now cannot remember what it was..... ugh.

It is snowing here again. What a surprise. Guess I should take the golf clubs back out of the car....

What am I doing?

I am sitting here, the TV is on, and yes, "Skating With the Stars" is on again. I am not changing the channel.... Why? Help me..... ok, I can't deal with this. I am changing the channel. Whew. That was close. I flipped over to ESPN, and of course the SU basketball team is losing. I really don't enjoy watching this team this year, not sure exactly why.... Guess I will turn off the TV for a while. Gonna flip on the XM radio, one of the comedy channels, I think....

I still didn't get any replies from any of the chicks I emailed on match. I sent one of them a second email, just to see if I can even elicit a reply. I let my dog type part of it. Just because.

I played golf yesterday, which in Syracuse NY in the middle of January is quite a feat. I would have rather played Saturday, but of course was stuck working. It was in the 50s in the AM Saturday before the front came through. It was in the 30s yesterday, but I wanted to get out. Played a course in Lafayette, NY called Orchard Valley. Not a great track, but hey, beggars can't be choosers. It was great to get out and get some fresh air and exercise. Played fairly well too. Probably put the clubs away for another 3 months.....

One weird thing was that the guy I was golfing with who lives not too far from the course was giving me some information about the area that I didn't know. I was asking about some of the local hamlets and villages in the area, as I am not familiar with it. I live in the northern half of the county, and don't get down to the southern half too much. He brought up a town a couple miles down the road named Cardiff. He said it was home of the Cardiff Giant. I had no clue what he was talking about. He couldn't believe I hadn't heard of it. He gave me a little info, and said to look it up on the net. So I did. Quite interesting. Called by some the greatest hoax of all time. You can find more info here. It amazes me how little I know about the local history of the area. I bet I am not alone in this, I am sure many people know surprisingly little about the history of the area in which they live. Maybe I'll have to do some research.....

Sub-Par Products Redux

I am following up on this topic for a couple reasons.

First, the original post was regarding the Delphi MyFi. I can see why Delphi is in financial trouble. There was a recall for the original battery that came with the MyFi, Pioneer AirWare, and Tao XM2GO. They were apparently melting.

My radio that I received as a Christmas gift has the new white battery in it. They (Delphi) must not have had any idea which units had shipped with the old black battery that melts, or new white one that doesn't. Why do I say this? Because I got a little present in the mail today, another battery.

So I think, COOL, now I have a spare. But then I remember that since I can't get any reception in "portable" mode, I will probably never use it on battery power anyway.... unless I spring for that other antenna, which is sounding more and more plausible...

I also bring this up because my brother's 36" TV that can't be more than 3 years old died a few days ago. It is a JVC, which consumer reports rated as excellent, go figure.

I also had my compact RCA stereo apart the other night, as one channel wasn't coming through when listening to CDs. Really weird, the radio and cassette were fine. So I took it apart, expecting to find something fried, but I didn't. I wiggled some wires around, put it back together, and VOILA!, it works again..... weird.

Stranger in a Strange Land....

I actually received a comment/feedback from a complete stranger a few days ago. I am pretty much amazed that someone read my rambling rants. Well, anyway, thank you. She did ask if I had a picture of my previously mentioned dog. Well, here he is, in his favorite pose.

The Treadmill of Life

It doesn't seem to matter what I do, I end up in the same spot. I really think my destiny is precalculated. I have signed up on Match.com again. I figure I will quit at the end of the 7 day free trial. I have emailed a couple women, but I am already thinking this was a bad idea. I am sure this will go nowhere. I will invent reasons why these women who are most likely perfectly nice, normal women, are un-dateable. If that doesn't happen, I will most certainly never actually ask them to meet. Or they will just never return my emails. Sigh. What was I thinking?

This is what it has come to

I am sitting here watching "Skating with the Stars". Prior to this, I was watching American Idol - well most of it anyway, I didn't get home from work until 8:20. This is freaking pathetic.

I'll go to bed at 10, get up at 7 most likely, and go back to work. There has got to be more to life than this.

I wish it was acceptable for people to hibernate

I think I would love to just sleep all winter. I hate winter. It doesn't help that I think I am getting sick. My back and hips are killing me too, thanks to a general lack of exercise. I really need help.....

My dog rules my life

I have a 3 1/2 year old miniature schnauzer. I love him to death. But the truth is, he is the master of my domain, not me.

I won't look for a new job because I live so close to my current one, and it allows me to come home daily on lunch to let him out. I don't go out much at night because I want to be home with him. Part of this is out of guilt - he is home alone all day, part of this is because I truly like hanging out with him more than most people. But unless I can find a woman (see previous post) who most likely will already have a dog or dogs, I think I would probably be viewed as insane....

How do other people that own dogs do it? Especially ones that require a lot, I mean A LOT of attention? I mean, I am even having difficulty writing this post without having to entertain him!

I don't even think about going on vacation anymore. Putting him in a kennel is something I would never do, unless I had no other choice, and impositioning friends and relatives is not something I like to do. I could take him camping or something, but I have the feeling neither of us would really like that too much....

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't have it any other way. Anyone who has a dog knows what I am talking about. But sometimes being a responsible dog owner is a pain in the butt!!!!

So what do I want?

I have myself convinced that I could truly be happy if I could find the right available woman.

This in itself, is a sad statement - that my happiness is dependent on someone else.

But aside from that, assuming it is true, I doubt it will ever happen. I generally believe that at least 50% of the female population is a pain in the ass. So based on the fact that most of the good ones are already taken, that leaves me with basically 3% to choose from. So with those odds, I decided it just isn't worth it. So I remain unhappy, unfulfilled. I think what prevents me from doing anything is truly this: I am afraid I won't find the happiness I was so sure I would feel when finding the right partner. So it paralyzes me, and I do nothing.... a vicious cycle.

Why is nobody ever content?

Everybody I know is miserable. Why? We all have nice homes, nice things, live in the wealthiest country in the world.... but yet we are miserable.

I have some theories on this. People fall into different classes.

The greedy. These are the people who will never be happy no matter what they have. Things are never good enough, and they must get more. This person is typically a manager or executive in a company. They are hell bent on higher profits, owning a nicer house, expensive cars, etc. They are consumed with more, no matter what it is, they want more... and while they may seem happy, I cannot believe they truly are. I cannot relate to this group of people at all.

The downtrodden. These are the individuals that are tyrannized by the greedy. If the greedy didn't demand more and more from these people, they might have a chance to be happy. But the greedy will not allow it, as they must get more for less from the downtrodden. My latest example of this is all the free forced overtime I am working. Part of me falls into this category.

The apathetic. Nothing in life matters all that much. These people are not necessarily miserable, but are rarely happy, because not much matters to them. These people are almost the polar opposite of the greedy. I find myself increasingly feeling this way.

The chronically miserable. No matter what happens, there is no happiness here. It is almost like these folks look for things to be unhappy about. The most insignificant thing can put them in a spiral of misery where nothing can make them happy. This group scares me.

I know people in all these groups. I fall into a few of them myself. The question is why, and how do we get out of our ruts? These are really, unfortunately, personality traits more than anything else. Do people really have the ability to change? I don't know. I guess if I have to be in any of these groups, apathy is the way to go... You get too upset being downtrodden, so apathy is a good alternative, the least of all evils. So that is where I am and will stay, unless someone can show me the way to happiness....

But I just don't trust anybody to do it. Least of all myself.

Fiscal insanity

The White House projected a 2006 budget deficit of more than $400 billion Thursday...... Sigh.

I am tired.

Worked a 12 hour day today. Well, I use the term "work" liberally. I feel like I was involved in a lot of stuff today, but nothing got done. Oh well. I have pretty much given in to the fact that I am stuck working overtime. Eventually, I will probably get fired, or the company will go out of business. It is pretty sad when you get to that point where you WANT something like that to happen. Common sense says it is time to move on. The issue is I don't think I can find a job that pays as well very easily. I think I am ready to take a substantial pay cut. I dunno.

Baseball Hall of Fame

The idiots have done it again. They have failed to elect Jim Rice to the HOF.

It amazes me that a guy who was arguably the most feared hitter in the game during much of the time he played cannot get the nod into Cooperstown. This is the guy who the great Hank Aaron himself thought would break his homerun record. The baseball writers of America must not be the sharpest tools in the shed, as they are ignoring the facts.

Rice's ability to hit for average (.298 career) and power (382 HR in a non-steriod, juiced ball era) is only paralleled by a few. The other retired players to hit as many HR and have as high a career average are Aaron, Foxx, Gerhig, Mays, Musial, Ott, Ruth, Mantle, and Ted Williams. All of these men are Hall of Famers.

Rice hit more home runs (46) in 1978 then anybody did in the period between 1969 (Harmon Killebrew) and 1987 (Mark "I don't want to talk about the past" McGwire).

From 1977 to 1979 Rice was the most dominant hitter in baseball history for any 3 year period. He had 35+ homers each year, and 200+ hits each year. Nobody else has EVER done this.

I can guarantee if you ask ANY of Rice's peers from his playing days, they will tell you he is most certainly worthy of induction. Unfortunately, it is the writers call at this point.

While he was reportedly surly with the writers (probably a big reason why he doesn't garner enough votes), Rice certainly had a compassionate side. I still recall him jumping into the stands and carrying an injured young boy who had been struck in the head by a Dave Stapleton foul ball to receive medical attention. The stars of today jump into the stands to start fights with spectators. Not Rice. He did the right thing. Someday I hope the writers do the same.

Nervous Breakdown.

I was teetering on the brink of a nervous breakdown today.

I don't think I can last much longer. I really wanted to quit my job today. I am on a HUGE death march project, and the more time I spend on it, the more my brain turns to mush. I will be in a full time care facility by the time this is over with.

I would like to get a job stocking canned goods on the shelves in the local grocery store, preferably in the middle of the night. I think that would be a good way to recover from this current nightmare.

I can't even write anything intelligent or witty out here. I am brain-dead.

Somebody please help me.....

Sub-Par products made in the USA (well sort of)

I received an XM satellite radio as a gift over the holidays. The radio is a MyFi, which is produced by Delphi. Really a neat little toy, and a nice service from XM. The radio comes with everything to use it at home, in the car, or as a "portable" radio, like a walkman.

This product being advertised as "portable" is where the problem comes in. It is also advertised as coming with a "wearable antenna" to improve reception when using it in a "portable" fashion. It did NOT come with this wearable antenna (which based on all reports out on the internet is useless anyway), and basically does not get any signal indoors with the internal antenna. So looks like the options are return it and cancel subscription, shell out another $20+ for the apparent third party ClipXT (which sounds promising), or live without using it in "portable" mode.... Just out of curiousity, why hasn't anyone sued over this? This seems to scream for a class action lawsuit.... Lots of false advertising going on here.... of course with Delphi being bankrupt and all, I guess it is pointless at this juncture.

Delphi is an American based company, but the radio was of course, made overseas - Malaysia I believe. The box it came in might have been made in the US though.... :)

I Hate Mondays

Back to work today. Feel like I was just there.... oh wait, I was. Can't wait to hear what forced uncompensated overtime awaits me this week. Is it just me, or do many companies have no idea how to motivate their employees? Do they really think forcing employees to work overtime will result in things getting done faster? For some of you clueless managers and executive types out there, let me shed some light.

If you make me work overtime and are not going to pay me, the following things are going to occur:

I am going to do less work ALL DAY, EVERY DAY, until the overtime goes away.
I am going to come in late and take long lunches to help make up for the extra time you are making me spend.
I am going to do as many things to make your life difficult as I can get away with.

Overall, it is a losing proposition for you. In the long run, I will be a less effective, resentful employee. I will think of every way possible to get even.

Bottom line, think twice before you try and tap into this "Free" resource, because it has a hidden price that you wouldn't believe.

I like Blogging

It's funny, I heard about "Blogging" a long time ago. As a matter of fact, I think I even started one a year ago on this site, just to check it out. Must not have interested me at the time, because I never did much with it.

I have recently, however, decided this is a great outlet for VENTING. Even if nobody ever reads any of my rants, there is something therapeutic about this. I hope that maybe this will enable me to be a happier person in general and not burden my friends and family with things that trouble me, unless I really need their help.

So if for some reason you do read this, and decide to visit on occasion, I am going to guess that if I am not posting much, it means things are going pretty well.... if I AM posting a lot, it means I have a lot to complain about.... I dunno, maybe it will take on a different life.

My Second Blog - Labor Law Talk

I want to talk about labor laws. The labor laws in this country need help. Let me paint this picture for you.... An employee has worked for a company for 15 years, being a model citizen, doing whatever needed to be done, including occasional overtime. This particular employee is classified as "exempt". What does that mean? It means he is not paid for overtime. So a new boss arrives, and says "You are expected to work 60+ hours a week if you want to work in my department", and "You have to work starting this Saturday". Employee says "No Way". New boss fires employee. Employee is denied unemployment insurance compensation.

Don't think this can happen? Think again. The labor laws that govern many white-collar workers in the US are extremely skewed towards the employer, not the employee. Based on what I can interpret, the only part of the laws that favor the exempt employee is that an employer may not deduct from their pay for missed time if they work any part of a pay week. So basically if you go to work on Monday, stop to pick up a quart of milk on the way home and get run over by a beer truck while walking to your car, end up in the hospital the rest of the week, you will get paid for the entire week.

There is one caveat, however.

If you happen to have vacation time available, or "personal time", as my company calls it, the employer can use it to offset your time out. How can they do this? They can do this because your "personal time" or vacation time is not viewed as compensation. So basically, there goes your trip to Aruba you were planning in 4 months.

To put it simply, if I understand the laws correctly, if you are an exempt employee, you are basically an indentured servant the rest of the time. Employers that want to get rid of you can tell you to work around the clock without pay beyond your normal shift, and if you refuse they can fire you and you are not eligible for unemployment.

So with corporate greed being as widespread as it is, more and more Americans are working longer and longer days, largely uncompensated. Spending less time with their families, and enjoying life.... just another reason why the divorce rate is so high, our kids are out of control, and generally, America is becoming less of a nice place.

My First Blog

Welcome to the common sense dribble blog. I have not entirely decided what the specific theme of this is going to be, but I think it will mostly be rants about the lack of common sense in society, specifically the United States. I figure there is so much material out there when it comes to lack of common sense I will always have something to talk about.

I'll try to keep the links on the right appropriate to the subject matter in the latest posts.